Phil Willmott
04 May
Reviews 
Review of Gypsy at the Savoy Theatre
By Phil Willmott Monday, May 4 2015, 14:35
For musical theatre actresses the role of Momma Rose is like KING LEAR. In fact to get the chance to play it is even more prestigious. Anyone can have a stab at Lear where as permission to play the lead part in the musical GYPSY is jealously guarded by those who control the performing rights. Only actresses of great pedigree and track record are allowed to headline in this classic Broadway show.
30 Apr
Broadway Shows
Review: SOMETHING ROTTEN at the St. James Theatre, Broadway
By Phil Willmott Thursday, April 30 2015, 08:01
This is a show about two theatre incompetents, one a hard boiled cynic, the other a sweet innocent as they wrestle to compete with Shakespeare’s productions in a Monty Python-like version of Elizabethan England. The piece is a homage to and love song for musical theatre, an art form it relentlessly and lovingly pastiches throughout.
29 Apr
Broadway Shows
Finding Neverland
By Phil Willmott Wednesday, April 29 2015, 09:53
Lots of Gary Barlow's score for this musical about how J.M Barrie came to write PETER PAN sounds like vintage Take That. I mean a lot. Not necessarily a bad thing, personally I like a bit of late 90s boy band but it's quite disconcerting when the pop, drum beats suddenly kick in amidst the Edwardian frocks.
It’s impossible to believe Matthew Morrison’s (Mr Shue from TV’s Glee) has the mischievous mercurial mind and energy of Barrie, the role played by Johnnie Depp in the film version of the same name but he's a great singer and as handsome as you’d expect.
28 Apr
Broadway Shows
Review: AN AMERICAN IN PARIS at the Palace Theatre in Broadway
By Phil Willmott Tuesday, April 28 2015, 09:12
You can usually describe a musical by saying "its a bit like" something else.
I think one of the reason why I fell so completely for AN AMERICAN IN PARIS is that it's so fresh and so original in its concept and execution.
Don't get me wrong this is main stream Broadway fare but somehow the Gershwin estate have given these guys permission to retell the story of the classic movie musical of the same name but with a crunchy new script that doesn't shy away from the Nazi legacy in Paris and real heartbreak.
27 Apr
Broadway Shows
The Visit
By Phil Willmott Monday, April 27 2015, 07:58
THE VISIT is a haunting musical by Kander and Ebb (CHICAGO, CABARET, SCOTTSBORO BOYS). Broadway veteran Chita Rivera elegantly and effortlessly plays a glamorous elderly Jewish woman scheming to take revenge on her home town for the heartbreak and anti-Semitism she faced in her youth. Rodger Rees is surprisingly and thankfully understated and unmannered as the man who broke Chita's heart all those years ago.
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