Musicals are my passion. And I know I share it with quite a nice bunch of theatregoers. This passion is not born out of nowhere. It is nourished by productions like the Donmar Warehouse‘s “City of Angels”.

Sadly, due to the current situation with coronavirus, Garrick Theatre had to suspend the performances until further notice. But when (and not if) the theatre opens again its doors for the public, do not miss the show from your radar!

ROSALIE CRAIG AS GABBY AND BOBBI, © MATT CROCKETT FOR DEWYNTERS

“City of Angels” does not offer already traditional tactics of modern theatre like blind casting or modernisation of any kind. And allow me to say it looks quite refreshing. Guys and Dolls look exactly like guys and dolls, with glamorous 1940s hair and outfits to die for. But behold! “Nothing’s black and white when a dame is involved” – the creators of the musical kindly warn us.

The musical comedy was premiered in 1989 on Broadway and is an homage to great detective stories and the divas of 1940s Hollywood. Think Humphrey Bogart, Rita Hayworth or Black Dahlia. The story is based on a book by Larry Gelbart whose screenplay for “Tootsie” shines bright in his resume. The music is written by late maestro Cy Coleman, composer and jazz pianist, whose evergreens appeared in “The Man in the High Castle”, “The Marvellous Mrs Maisel” and many many more.

HADLEY FRASER AS STINE © MATT CROCKETT FOR DEWYNTERS

And if all this is not enough to make you run to the box office, here is the list of the stars singing, dancing, betraying and fighting for you on the stage: a seductive Vanessa Williams (Wilhelmina Slater from “Ugly Betty”), golden voices of Rosalie Craig and Rebecca Trehearn, extraordinary Jonathan Slinger, multitalented Hadley Fraser as crafty writer Stine, and Theo James (a very much swooned over Four in “Divergent”) as Stone’s literary alter ego detective Stone.

I would like to mention two more main “characters” of the show – the lighting and videos. The way Howard Harris and Nina Dunn made them live and perform together with the actors is extraordinary.

When the show finishes with the “I am nothing without you” tune, it becomes clear that seeing it only once is not enough. So I won’t be surprised to see the same faces next time I am there.

Anton Chekhov is one of the most English among Russian playwrights. If you doubt it, Conor McPherson‘s adaptation of ‘Uncle Vanya’ directed by Ian Rickson is at your service at the Harold Pinter Theatre.

The play was published in Moscow in 1898, but the situation in which all its characters find themselves, their complicated interpersonal relationships, misunderstandings, and unrequited loves look modern and familiar. The bridge between Moscow of 120 years ago and nowadays London gets even shorter thanks to modern language and humour. I have never heard the Russian audience laugh as much during Chekhov’s classic as the English public did during the new West End production. Both Richard Armitage and Tobi Jones showed a surprising talent for comedy.

©HAROLD PINTER THEATRE

Designer Rae Smith created costumes that look out of time and transport us from Chekhov’s Russia to the modern English countryside. Some female characters wear trousers, and you will not see corsets or puffs and frills on the stage. The whole action takes place in the same dining room. Despite the disorder and degrade, it still looks very cosy.

The only piece of furniture that changes its role is a table. At the opening, it is a dining table around which the lives of the characters change in a dramatic way, while they are simply having tea. And at the end of the story it turns into a desk as if to symbolise the end of something extraordinary and chaotic, and the beginning of ordinary life with its rhythmic regularity, order, and stability.

Three big names make the cast list shine like the Milky Way: Toby Jones as uncle Vanya, Richard Armitage as Dr Astrov, and Ciaran Hinds as their antagonist Professor Serebryakov. Their names need no introduction.

©HAROLD PINTER THEATRE

Aimee Lou Wood‘s (Sex Education) acting as Sonya is sincere and touching, but it is also an evident case of miscasting, because you can’t believe her character is a country girl with low self-esteem and not blessed with physical beauty.

Rosalind Eleazar, who plays Sonya’s stepmother, Yelena, unfortunately didn’t manage to use her potential to portray a bohemian femme fatale who made every breathing being fall in love with her. Her love story with Dr Astrov does not look believable, and there is more artistic chemistry between Richard Armitage and Toby Jones.

©HAROLD PINTER THEATRE

‘Uncle Vanya’ will be on at The Harold Pinter Theatre, London, until 2 May.

Flying to Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles to watch a British musical? When it is ‘The Last Ship’ by Sting, it is absolutely worth the trip. It is a celebration of outstanding music and meaningful text that is Sting’s signature. And moreover, the multiple Grammy Award winner and songwriter performs in it. In person.

If you had a chance to see the first version of the show in Chicago or New York in 2014 based on the book by John Logan and Brian Yorkey, this is an opportunity to enjoy a new adaptation by Lorne Campbell.

The story is based on Sting’s childhood memories of his first years in Wallsend, North England, spent in proximity to a shipyard. The main character, Gideon Fletcher (played by Oliver Savile) left his native city looking for a better life. When he returns 17 years later, there are more than one surprises waiting for him. One of them is the closure of the shipyard in the 1980s that leaves the whole local community unemployed and deeply hurt.

©MATTHEW MURPHY

The idea of the musical came to Sting after a long period of the writer’s block. As he openly shared at his Ted talk in 2014, the inspiration came back as soon as he decided to ‘sidestep his own ego and stopped telling his own story to tell someone else’s story. Someone perhaps without a voice’.

The socially meaningful theme is interwoven with the private lives of the characters: love and betrayal, fear and hope, generational differences – all found their place in the story and made it private and easy to relate to. The original score (Tony Awards, 2015) also includes Sting’s evergreens from previous albums: ‘Island of Souls’ and ‘All This Time’ (The Soul Cages, 1991), ‘When We Dance’ (Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984 – 1994), and ‘Ghost Story’ (Brand New Day,1999).

©CYLLA VON TIEDEMANN

The musical engaged magnificent voices: the main female character, Gideon Fletcher’s childhood sweetheart, Meg Dawson is played by Frances McNamee, whose passionate and jazzy performance is as strong as the character herself. The artistic ensemble is also enriched by Jackie Morrison, (Peggy White, Sting’s character’s wife on the stage) and Oliver Savile who could be seen in numerous musicals in the UK, including CATS, Mamma Mia!, and Les Miserables.

One of the peculiarities of the production is the decision to use Geordie, the dialect spoken in the North–East of England, and the organisers of the show kindly included its glossary in the programme (the programmes are totally free in the LA theatres, wey aye, man!*)

©CYLLA VON TIEDEMANN

In 2018 ‘The Last Ship’ was shown in Newcastle Upon Tyne and Salfrod, and it is a true shame it didn’t make it to London. Hopefully, not yet. You can catch this absolute must see in the USA. Check the tour dates and venues on Sting’s official website.

*generic proclamation of positivity or agreement

Brilliant ideas seem so obvious when they are already acted upon by somebody else. This is the case with Edmond Rostand‘s “Cyrano De Bergerac” (1897) directed by Jamie Lloyd (“The Ruling Class”, 2015, Trafalgar Studios). The 19th century French play full of brilliant word fights and poetry was transformed by Martin Crimp (“When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other”, 2019, National Theatre) into a rap battle. “I love words. That’s all”, a phrase that appears slowly on the stage wall, seems to be the very essence of the passionate and tragic story unfolding in front of us. This is the fourth theatrical collaboration between Jamie Lloyd and the 40-year-old movie star James McAvoy (“Three Days of Rain“, 2009, “Macbeth“, 2013 and “The Ruling Class“, 2015).

©MARC BRENNER

Those who were cherishing the idea of seeing James McAvoy wearing Cyrano’s huge prosthetic nose were terribly disappointed. The play is modern in its every element: from text to clothes, from stage settings (close to none) to the body language. Jamie Lloyd’s Cyrano has a regular nose, but nevertheless his troubles and especially those related to his cousin and love interest Roxane (Anita-Joy Uwajeh) seem insuperable. It helps to see beyond Cyrano’s physical peculiarity, as it brings him closer to every person who suffers from an inner insecurity, – Jamie Lloyd said in his interview to The Guardian.

JAMES MCAVOY AS CYRANO DE BERGERAC ©MARK BRENNER

The aim of this new version of the play was to make the story as close to contemporary sensibility as possible: the text is adapted to the modern informal speech, the actors use their native accents and they are wearing jeans and hoodies instead of big hats and capes. Microphones become modern swords.

A transformation was also reserved for the magnificent poem by Emily Dickinson “Because I Couldn’t Stop for Death“, 1890. When Leila, one of the character is reading its adapted version in the second part of the play, the audience becomes as silent as during the already famous Cyrano’s love monologue. A pure thrill!

EBEN FIGUEIREDO AS CHRISTIAN AND ANITA-JOY UWAJEH AS ROXANE ©MARK BRENNER

“Cyrano de Bergerac” is at the Playhouse Theatre, London, until 29 February. When buying your tickets, be aware that on 27 January Philip Cairns will be performing instead of James McAvoy.

There is a pile of books on my desk from the to-read list. Four of them have been there for a while. They are Elena Ferrante‘s ‘Neapolitan Novels’, a four-part saga that tells a story of a complicated relationship between two friends from their childhood to old age. Two friends, different like reason and emotions, but like reason and emotions strongly bound to one another. Their story would have remained forever unknown to me – four volumes look much more frightening than one – if it wasn’t for the play brought by April De Angelis to the National Theatre.

©DIANA DWIGHT

The first scene opens with a lonely chair and a desk in the middle of the stage. A chair for a person who stopped running and took some time to sit still and think or even to be interrogated.

Old Lenù, one of the two friends played by Niamh Cusack (‘Too Good to be True’) receives an unexpected parcel that makes her recall events of the past. There was a lot of suffering and violence in her post-war childhood in Naples, but life is never black and white, as tragedy and comedy often walk side by side. This is where humour, dance and songs find their place and bring a little bit of colour and sparkle into reality. These ups and downs of life are masterly echoed by staircases, the only stage setting of the play apart from the videos and visual effects projected on the wall.

©MARK BRENNER

Lenù meets her friend for life, Lila, played by Catherine McCormack (‘Braveheart’, ‘Dangerous Beauty’) when they are still little and play with dolls. Playing with dolls continues through the whole story: some of the characters are impersonated by puppets, two chairs can easily become a car or a plane. The symbolic language of theatre also allowed grown-ups to play babies, or the same actors to appear from time to time as different characters (that I found a little bit confusing). Some scenes are extremely imaginative and Lila’s wedding will please many fans of Game of Thrones.

©MARK BRENNER

Both Niamh Cusack and Catherine McCormack carry the major weight of the story and are absolutely authentic both as little girls and as elderly people.

The production is divided into two parts, two and a half hours each. As it has to cover all four books and the period of about 60 years, it manages to highlight the main themes and the key events of the novels. But I feel that a lot of the story has been left aside. The play made me wish to discover more about its characters. 

‘Neapolitan Novels’ in my to-read pile, I am on my way!

My Brilliant Friend is at the National Theatre, London, until 22 February.