Should you go and see 42nd Street live on stage if you have the chance? Last night we saw the touring show at the Bristol Hippodrome and it was a lot of fun.
For me it was a show I knew little about, and as I often do, I chose not to read up about it before taking the plunge.
The idea of the story is that a big Broadway level musical called Pretty Lady is being cast and we follow inexperienced, but incredibly talented performer Peggy Sawyer.
It’s a show about a show and we see how the director Julien Marsh leads his cast which includes the long time star, but now faded star and diva Dorothy Brock. I’ll avoid spoilers, but it’s a simple story about a newcomer following her dreams and rising to the top.
Within the first fifteen minutes of the show there were some very glitzy song and dance routines and I was worried this may not be my cup of tea. I was concerned this was going to be a truly old school style musical that was all sincere and sentimental. I’m used to modern shows making fun of the shows of the past, and not sure I’d be able to switch of my inner cynic.
We live in an era where most West End musicals are somewhat self referential and sarcastic. Whilst this harkened back to an era where the glitz and show business wasn’t looked at so cynically, I actually found its brighter and most positive outlook soooo refreshing. It was great to be able to enjoy the songs and dances without there being an underlying subtext mocking what they were doing.
The characters were likeable and the cast were very talented. The spectacle of the tap routines, elaborate costumes and in your face lights and sets were great.
It was a show I knew nothing about, but had a bunch of songs I was familiar with such as Keep Young and Beautiful and We’re in the Money. I kept having reactions of ‘ah so this song comes from this show!’
Another fun aspect for me was that I realised that this show was heavily referenced in the musical of The Producers. That is a show I’ve seen a bunch of times and I had no idea how heavily it borrowed and parodied 42nd Street. If you don’t know The Producers you should check it out if you get the chance, but you’ll see a lot in that show that will have originated in 42nd Street.
Another fun story I have for this show is that before seeing the show we crossed the street and I saw a guy who I commented looked just like the presenter/actor Les Dennis. It was only when we got to the show and I saw his picture on the poster that I realised it was Les Dennis. Damn. Missed my chance to make a ‘survey says’ joke to him. Probably for the best.
Conclusion
If you like big showy musicals you’ll enjoy this a lot. Having looked it up since I see that it’s something of a jukebox musical that has songs from a bunch of old films from the era and is based on a film from the 1930s. I thought the songs and dances and humour in the show were all sharp and it made for a very likeable show. May not be for everyone, but for someone who went in a bit skeptical I had a blast.
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