Review: A Little Night Music, Menier Chocolate Factory

This was the show the Whingers had been waiting for.

Not because the Whingers love Sondheim (they do). Not because they wanted to see if Trevor Nunn could atone for the terrible sins he committed with Gone With the Wind – The Musical! (he has). Or to see if, at 34, Hannah Waddingham would convince as the youngest ever Desirée Armfeldt (she did).

No, rising like a shining beacon of common sense and democracy above all of this was the news that A Little Night Music was to be the first production at the Menier Chocolate Factory where they dropped their absurd and unpopular unreserved seating policy*. Yeah! Good old Menier, the Whingers hoops had never been so cocked (or should that be the other way round?).

(Re)Review – La Cage aux Folles – Playhouse Theatre

The Whingers are not known for generosity, fairness or giving things second chances.

But having been rather disappointed by La Cage Aux Folles at the Menier (it was the first preview and Douglas Hodge was indisposed) it was with a quite uncharacteristic dollop of largesse that they decided to take in the show’s West End transfer. Taking a lesson from the show’s lyrics the Whingers trotted off to its new home at the Playhouse Theatre hoping to see things from a different angle.

They had been encouraged by terrific reviews* (particularly for Hodge) such as:

“HODGE REVELS WITH SEDUCTIVE ELAN”
Evening Standard

“AS AN ANTIDOTE TO THE CREDIT-CRUNCH BLUES, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES IS UNBEATABLE”
Daily Telegraph

“SEW ON A SEQUIN, SLIP INTO SOME HEELS AND GO”
The Times

“THERE’S NO BETTER WAY TO CHASE AWAY RECESSION BLUES”
Time Out

Reserved seating at the Menier – another victory for the Whingers!

The Whingers are just giddy with excitement. Giddy, we say.

This just out from a source close to the Menier Chocolate Factory:

For the first time at the Chocolate Factory all seating for A Little Night Music will be numbered – audience members will be allocated the best available seat when they book.

Review – They’re Playing Our Song, Menier Chocolate Factory

Phil got very excited about when They’re Playing Our Song at the Menier Chocolate Factory was announced but got extremely frustrated when no-one else was quite so enthused about the revival of a musical whose main claim to fame is that it has the most annoying title song in the history of musicals (“They’re playing our song oh yes they’re playing our song and when they’re playing our song…” etc).

Review – Maria Friedman “Re-Arranged”, Menier Chocolate Factory

For some reason Phil turned up his proboscis at the opportunity to see Maria Friedman’s new concert show Re-Arranged at the Menier Chocolate Factory.

Heaven knows why. Her shows are always first rate. Unlike some other musical theatre divas, Ms Friedman clearly loves music and arrangements rather than just the sound of her own voice and her shows are always a cut above.

And how many times do you get to experience a 11 piece orchestra (playing 40-odd instruments)? Top notch players too. On violin was Oliver Lewis whose “phenomenal world record breaking speed in The Flight of the Bumble Bee is unmatched by any other violinist”.

In short: it’s real class. Perhaps that’s what didn’t appeal to Phil.

Review – La Cage aux Folles at the Menier Chocolate Factory

Andrew had a bit of a health scare this morning until he remembered that he had eaten beetroot at the Menier Chocolate Factory‘s restaurant last night.

It would have made a fitting theme for the review given that the first three previews of La Cage aux Folles were cancelled due to “cast illness” and consequently last night’s West End Whingers outing was unwittingly to see the first preview. Chest infections, apparently. There’s rather a lot of it about at the moment: Phil has been struggling with something rather nasty for several weeks and he isn’t just talking about Andrew’s new eau de toilette.

Review – Take Flight, Menier Chocolate Factory

The main topic of conversation during the interval was, “Can a turkey fly?”

Even the combined wisdom of the West End Whingers, would-be whinger Mark and special guest drinker/blogger City Slicker couldn’t produce an authoritative answer on the spot.

The truth – according to the Internet at any rate – is more equivocal than one might think:

Wild turkeys can fly, apparently, but not very far: just up into the nearest tree.

However, farm turkeys generally can not fly at all because they have been bred to develop a large and meaty breast which makes them front-heavy and hence even less aerodynamic than their cousins (plus they are probably kept in tiny cages).

Review – All Mouth, Menier Chocolate Factory

It was a rainy Saturday afternoon, the celebrations were over and there was no reply from Phil’s telephone.

Presumably he had yet again nodded off at his Singer, the dressmaking pins between his lips gently vibrating in rhythm with the wheezy exhalations of his snores as he dreamed of happier (and entirely imagined) days when he was the toast of all New Orleans.