The British summer is bringing us buckets of rain, the six weeks school holidays loom with two small children to entertain and I had the horrendous displeasure of watching the messy disaster that is the ‘Barbie’ film the other night.
I needed a good show to cheer me up…..and this one tapped those troubles right out of my head and placed a smile on my face.
Although the musical ‘42nd Street’ was originally produced as a stage show in 1980, it was based on the 1933 musical film of the same name, which is very much firmly set around the glitzy Broadway life of depression era New York. It follows that ye olde tale of young, innocent, newcomer gal Peggy Sawyer who has extraordinary dancing talent and who must find the courage to bring down the hard-faced, cocky and unnecessarily rude superstar Dorothy Brock in order to make it into the limelight herself.
You can guess most of the story, but that doesn’t matter. The show is one big ball of dancing, singing and comedy as we see the famous Julian Marsh produce a brand-new show for Broadway, allowing insights into the behind-the scene-drama of the production process, in a similar style to shows like The Producers and Holiday Inn, another two of my favourite shows.
As with Holiday Inn, most of the musical numbers are performed as songs they are either rehearsing or performing as part of their own show ‘Pretty Lady’, so it doesn’t matter that they don’t necessarily match wholly with the drama on stage (such as the moment the dancers are dressed as giant flowers!) – it just adds to the entertainment.
It’s not often I start with this but the absolute star of the show was the costume designer Robert Jones, who also beautifully designed the set. Every scene the chorus has an entirely new outfit and the glitter and bead box must have been left bare. This unique co-ordination with the set and lighting designer was evident as each scene seems to have a specific colour theme and style which gave an exceptional visual engagement to the show.
My next praise must be for the band, led by Grant Walsh, as they literally blew us away for over two hours. The three trumpeters especially were phenomenal, their raspy sounds and high pitched, close harmonies a delight to listen to. The dancing in the show is an obvious feat of endurance, but if you’re not a brass player, let me tell you, playing those notes with that amount of gusto for that length of time is physically impressive. The whole band was tight, with an exceptional sense of style and rhythm.
My third praise is for the choreographer, Bill Deamer, and the whole cast of dancers on stage. The singing definitely comes behind the dancing in this show. The whole production has dance at the heart and even the couple of slower numbers have some beautiful movements within them. The majority of the show is upbeat and energetic, with an impressive amount of chorus dance work, tap dancing being central to most numbers. Their precision and control of movements are outstanding and absolutely spellbinding to watch. The male dancers are particularly impressive in a time when male numbers of dancers in schools are dropping. Watching this show would be an inspiration for any male floating with the idea of wanting to dance.
Finally, I must of course praise the performers themselves directly. It’s hard to pick out a particular role as so much of it was an ensemble effort. This show is littered with people you may know: Les Dennis, Faye Tozer, Michael Praed (Emmerdale). I particularly liked Samantha Womack, famous for being Ronnie in Eastenders, who played the role of the diva, Brock. She has presence on stage and her deep, powerful singing voice made her stand out on stage. In addition, the fact that she was not meant to be able to dance in a dance-heavy production was really hammed up, showing Womark’s ability to create comedy on stage, too. The heroine of the play was performed by Nicole-Lily Baisden, whose incredibly impressive dancing and believable naivete captured the heart of the audience. Her singing didn’t have the power and depth of Womack’s, but then the show is more of a dance show rather than being about the songs. Saying that, another standout performance was that of the tenor in ‘Pretty Lady’ Billy Lawlor, played by Sam Lips, who had the triple threat of an amazing voice, stellar dance moves and strong acting, making the stage come alive whenever he entered.
This is a good old-fashioned musical and, yes, some of the songs are most definitely not appropriate for this day. They should be taken with a pinch of salt, though, and used as an historical lesson about the attitude that was around 90 years ago. The line ‘keep young and beautiful, if you want to be loved’ and basically the whole entire song ‘Dames’ had me laughing at the absurdity of it. So do try not be offended by it: shows like this are magical and shouldn’t be taken away from us, but can be used to educate the younger audience about attitudes that have been changed and highlight ones that can be still altered today.
This is a show I’ve never seen before but many of the songs were familiar: ‘We’re in the Money’, ‘Happy Feet’ and ‘Dames’. Even you haven’t heard of any of them, it really doesn’t matter as they are so catchy and the dancing so visually captivating that you will be enthralled for the entire show.
It was fantastic to see a whole range of ages there at the performance, with smaller children enjoying it as much as the older ones (the recommendation is for 5+). It was also great to see a theatre almost packed to capacity on a Tuesday night. This is clearly a popular show, so get your tickets whilst you can (this week only)…it’s the perfect summer treat!
42nd Street is at Leeds Grand Theatre until 29 July.
Book tickets online at leedsheritagetheatres.com or call the box office on 0113 243 0808
Cover image: Nicole-Lily Baisden (Peggy Sawyer) and Company.
All photography by Johan Persson unless otherwise indicated.
