First theatre of 2025

[lovingboth]

I thought '2024' when I was writing the title, but my fingers got it right...

Road Trip Show

This is effectively Stephen Sondheim's last musical (there's another one, but it was never really finished). It had a very troubled gestation - there were three previous versions, different enough to have had different titles, before this version was settled on in 2008 - and partly because of that, there's not been a West End (or Broadway) production.

I liked it. It's certainly much better than his previous one, Passion, which made the mistake of arriving in London at the same time as excellent Donmar Warehouse production of the much better Company and I would rather see it again than A Little Night Music.

It has humour, a gay lead character, and intelligence. The lyrics are great, but unlike ALNM there is no great tune and none of the songs would really work as standalone pieces (not that that has stopped people including one or two in tributes).

It's on at Upstairs at the Gatehouse in Highgate for a couple more weeks.

Hold Onto Your Butts

It's not quite a shot-for-shot version of Jurassic Park as performed by two actors doing physical comedy, and a foley artist, but it's not far off.

It's been about twenty years since I saw the film, but I still recognised it all. If you haven't seen it (or can't remember much) I suggest doing so before going.. and I do recommend going.

It was an Edinburgh Fringe show and suspect there it didn't have the trailers at the start that do part of padding it out to 75 minutes. It's on at the Arcola before going on tour.

I saw it for £4 via Central Tickets - they have it until Wednesday Thursday at the moment.

Comments

[thekumquat]

It's also Road Show, not Road Trip...
I kept calling it Road Home in my messages - it's a very unmemorable title!

I liked it too - as Ian says, it's a bit of an odd play - had 4 different names and lengths during its gestation. And having a gay lead (which fact isn't part of the plot at all - we got one passionate love song with snogging, then the brother coming in with another dodgy business plan, mentioning 'the newspaper called you partners. They meant business partners, but I saw.' Anyway, let's talk about me and my money-making scheme...) probably adds to why it never got a Broadway production. It's more of a sung play, using music to add to the emotions, rather than a musical. Imagine a TV episode with an excellent soundtrack, rather than a movie, transferred to the stage. Quite Brechtian, even.

It had 8 cast who were all good, and imaginative low-budget props. Similar in vibe to the Menier's Pacific Overtures last year, though partly because it was a similar size stage, auditorium, (possibly budget) and again, more of a play that happened to be sung, than a show with impressive numbers.

Definitely worth 20-odd quid, if you like Sondheim or theatre in general.

On the subject of TV supported by great soundtracks, Quatling and I just watched the Box of Delights, first time I'd seen it in 30 years. She loved it, while also laughing at what I told her had been impressive special effects, and nothing that the baddies are just having a great time being totally over the top.

Black Doves also made use of many great songs in its finale, aligning the words and the action beautifully. While it was hardly realistic, it worked in a Bondverse sort of way - even though there were a couple moments in eps 3 and 4 that were shout-at-the-TV worthy idiocy of the characters, it held up as stylish drama despite some potholes you could drive a JCB through. Turns out Keira Knightley can actually act well, though Ben Wishaw's flexible face is just amazingly talented.

[lovingboth]

Well we both remembered the 'Road' bit! :)

I would say that his sexuality is part of the plot - the opening song has a male character going 'I was the one you fucked' to him - and that he's prepared to go for the money (seduced by his brother's play-long obsession?) over that relationship.

I'd be surprised if it had as much as half the budget of Pacific Overtures - a quarter to a third would be my guess.

That's not convincing me to see more of Black Doves...