COLIN HOLMES ON MUSICALS 3.

WE WILL ROCK YOU. 5.

If someone had written " My fair lady" today and it was premiered in the West End of London would it have been as popular as it was in 1958 ? You bet it would. It would have beed heralded as a masterpiece. So then why is there such a pausity of talented people around that they have to gather together Queen's best songs together with a bit of linking liberetto and open it in the west end. Is it a musical or a rock concert? The latter is closer to what I think the public expect from a musical. This is not to say that the show is bad. Queen afficianose will enjoy it as a tribute performance but audiences who are not particularly big fans will be disappointed.

BILLY ELIOTT.7.

Not in my opinion as good as the film although it has stirring moments but loses something in it's transition to the stage. As in many musicals there aren't many songs you go out humming after the curtain has fallen but the production is sharp and the performances excellant. I enjoyed the Musical thoroughly and the choreography leaps out at you especially as most of it is performed by youngsters and the script bears an uncanny reality to current trends. .....However one good song " Electricity" does not make ten points.

LES MISERABLES.9.

Musically wonderful as ballad after ballad wafts over you in perfect delight. You are sucked in to the story of a man's passion to arrest an innocent man for a crime that doesn't exist with the background of the French revolution high on the agenda. Stirring and Passionate with the full complement of Choral pieces,supreme ballads and bewitching melodic melodies the whole performance is a treat. A must if you havn't experianced it and the only reason it has nine points are because of the few people I have met who considered it boring. I disagree.

WICKED.9.

I would have thought a prequel to "The Wizard of Oz" was not the sort of musical show that I would enjoy. Forget the prequel business ( except of course for the Wizard of Oz addicts) it was very enjoyable in it's own right. Good performances, good music, good comedy adds up to a great show for all the family. Kids are as spellbound as their parents and their parents and that is why at the moment this show is the most popular show in London and New York at the same time.

PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT.5.

An interesting film which has translated to the stage with no original music. Adult in theme with music grabbed from all sources, it is colourful and the music often entertaining. It might be your type of thing but it wasn't mine.

LOVE NEVER DIES. 7.

If you've never seen Phantom, then I suppose it would be a good idea to book Love never Dies as well, as it is Phantom 2 ten years later. I have not seen this show and only have the CD performance to comment on and will update this blog when I have seen it. From the clips I have seen it is certainly spectacular set in Coney Island, America where the Phantom persuades Christine Dyer, the woman he loves, to cross the Atlantic and sing for him. There are not the wealth of remembered songs that the original Phantom had but I have awarded seven points because Andrew Lloyd Webber really knows what he's doing and there's a nine million advance ticket sale.