A letter to The Guardian (as yet unpublished)

It is well known that facts are not our forte, but on this occasion we are fairly confident that it is Ray Shell’s memory which is playing tricks (Goodbye, cruel wind, June 12).

Mr Shell claims he went home after the first preview of Gone With The Wind “to read damning comments on a blog called the West End Whingers”. The first preview was cancelled so presumably he is referring to Saturday 5th April. We didn’t see it until Tuesday 8th April and were far too traumatised to type anything about it until Thursday 10th April.

While it may be comforting for Mr Shell to lay the blame for the show’s failure at the door of the blogosphere (i.e. the paying public) his comment that the cast “had doubts about the music and the length of the script” might well prove a more fruitful avenue of forensic investigation, as might his revelation that the 30 non-principals needed something to do “so we became narrators.”

For the record, we had no problems with the cast and certainly no beef with Mr Shell’s Pork.

Andrew & Phil
The West End Whingers
https://westendwhingers.wordpress.com

Review – Gone With The Wind – The Musical! (Act 2) at the New London Theatre

Now, do you promise that you’ve ploughed your way through our account of Act 1? Then you may proceed.

Review – Gone With The Wind – The Musical! (Act 1) at the New London Theatre

The London Marathon arrived a few days early for the Whingers. Standing in freezing weather watching people run past dressed as rhinos would have been a doddle compared to this.

Thankfully the Whingers and their plus-eight (remember that – it is important later) had come prepared: thermos flasks of coffee, energy drinks, sports chocolate, pillows and hot water bottles were all smuggled into the auditorium. Beneath his smart evening-wear Andrew was sporting a natty and almost fresh set of his favourite jim-jams.

Most shockingly of all, Phil had broken his “no caffeine after 5pm” rule (one of the conditions of his ASBO) in a determined effort to make it through to the very end of the four-hour (but getting shorter) marathon that is a preview of Gone With The Wind – The Musical!

The big question on everyone’s lips, of course, was: “How can they possibly squeeze the thousand-odd pages of Margaret Mitchell’s epic novel into “just” four hours? The answer is simple…

Review – Moonlight and Magnolias, Tricycle Theatre

Things seem to be going horribly wrong for the Whingers. Or are things going horribly right? They just can’t tell any more. Their raison d’être has been pulled from under their feet; their laws of the universe have been rewritten; their metaphors have melted away; their similes have dried up like… well, we’re not quite sure like what.

We mean, for heaven’s sake! What’s the point of devoting your time to putting the theatrical world to rights if it’s right already? Having given raves (or as near-as-dammit) to Hairspray, Present Laughter and The Final Shot there couldn’t possibly be more satisfaction to come. Could there?

Did the Peruvian altitude affect their minds that much? Could it be the end of the Whingers as you know and love them?