Theatrical Catch Up: From On the Town to The Mentor

It’s been a while.

Phil’s been busy having a bit of work done. At home. Not on his face. Yet.

Review – The Truth, Wyndham’s Theatre

People in the UK may have had enough of ghastly people who lie, deceive, betray, plot and do awful things behind so-called friend’s backs. This might make The Truth the worst possible time to pop up in the West End or it may possibly be entirely the opposite. Apposite and timely.

Michel (Alexander Hanson) is married to Samantha Bond the enigmatic Laurence (Tanya Franks) but he’s having a regular bit on the side with Alice (Frances O’Connor) when he’s not losing a sock or telling porkies to his wife. Trouble is Alice also happens to be the wife of Michel’s best friend Paul (Robert Portal). And that’s about all you really need to know as what follows is a slew of revelations about who knows what, who is lying and who thinks they are in full possession of the facts.

Review – Sunset Boulevard with Glenn Close, London Coliseum

Well this wasn’t intended to be our 5th in the series of shows-missed-first-time round as we were due to be at The Suicide at the National Theatre but that was cancelled due to laryngitis. Javone Prince’s who plays the lead role – not ours.

And Sunset Boulevard? Well, Phil saw it first time round with Patti LuPone and then Elaine Paige but not Glenn Close who did it on the Broadway some 20 plus years ago, so it does fit our theme. Sorta.

Anyhoo, Ms Close “makes her West End debut” according to the publicity, Phil saw her Blanche Dubois at the National 14 years ago so is this strictly her West End debut? Discuss.

Review – The Father, Duke of Yorks’s Theatre

Florian Zeller‘s The Father  has been knocking around for a while now and is currently back in the West End for a season that is limited even by today’s limited season standards before heading out on tour.

Ravetastic reviews from pretty much everyone. “The most acclaimed new play of the decade” trumpets the poster which raises expectations beyond reasonable expectation. Though even Andrew, who caught it at The Wyndhams last year, bestowed the compliment “clever” on it and since it tackles the zeitghastly subject of dementia, (something Phil has close personal experience of), well, it just had to be seen.

Review – Stephen Ward, Aldwych Theatre

When Phil asked Andrew if he fancied trailing along with him to the new “PG advised” Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “play with songs”, Stephen Ward, he replied, “I hope I’m not too Stephen”.

Phil, unusually, understood Andrew instantly. New cockney rhyming slang for ennui. It will no doubt form a regular part of our lexicon.

Hard to believe it’s getting on for 4 years since the Whingers visited the composer’s last show and inadvertently caused something akin to a minor rumpus.

But this in not the behemoth of Love Never Dies. This take on the Profumo Affair – following Stephen Ward’s part in the scandal and the common consent that the establishment used him a scapegoat – is a decidedly small scale offering by comparison.

Review: Sunset Boulevard, Comedy Theatre

“You can’t write a musical about Sunset Boulevard,” Billy Wilder is said to have told Stephen Sondheim. “It has to be an opera. After all, it’s about a dethroned queen” (We’re not going to insult your intelligence with links to SB, BW or SS – you know what/who they are).

Sondheim got the message but if Andrew Lloyd Webber had any qualms he overcame them and – unhappily – another hit was born, Patti LuPone, Glenn Close, Betty Buckley, Petula Clark and Rita Moreno (ditto) being among the luminaries who have given their close-up, Mr De Mille.

Now, cards on the table. The Whingers have never been struck by Mr Lloyd Webber’s work and they tend to steer well-clear of sung-through musicals. They also believe that Sunset Boulevard is a classic film that no-one has any right to mess with (for heaven’s sake; at this rate they’ll be staging All About Eve next!) but they gallantly overcame all these prejudices and more in order to take a trip down Sunset Boulevard at the Comedy Theatre.