Review – Urinetown, St James Theatre

From the moment Phil first saw the St James Theatre’s urinals he has considered them the most stylish of any theatrical gentlemen’s powder rooms in London.

He is so impressed by the venue’s porcelain he once dragged a well known lady actor in with him for a peep, (after checking they were empty first of course). It’s a wonder that the theatre doesn’t take a tip from the show’s plot and charge for their use. Imagine the outrage and free publicity that would attract.

Urinetown is a “hilarious satirical comedy” Broadway musical (music by Mark Hollmann, lyrics by Hollmann and Greg Kotis, book by Kotis) set in a drought, which gets its British premiere after the wettest British winter since our last wettest British winter. The producers probably can’t believe their luck. Let’s hope they’re thanking the gay marriage bill.

Review – Putting It Together, St James Theatre

Brave to stage the London premiere of Putting It Together just after Christmas when telly’s just served countless cobbled together compilation shows, reviews of the year and list shows. And, of course, we hold our hands up, the Whinger’s last post was listing considerably too.

Do we need another Sondheim compilation show? What could possibly be new after Side by Side by Sondheim or Sondheim on Sondheim? Perhaps in the not-too-distant future some bright spark will put together a compilation show of Sondheim compilation shows.

Review – London Wall, St James Theatre

You can rely on the teensy Finborough Theatre (from whence this transferred) to find obscure works worth reviving. London Wall has been described as long-forgotten. Not by us. We’d have have had to have some memory of it in the first place to have forgotten it now.

We also knew little about its playwright. We didn’t know John Van Druten directed the original production of The King and I. All we knew him for was his 1951 play based on the Christopher Isherwood stories that formed the basis for the musical Cabaret. That was called I am a Camera; it’s small wonder they named a Broadway theatre after the critic Walter Kerr who famously came up with the succinctly brilliant review for it, “Me no Leica”.

Review – Bully Boy, St James Theatre

If you only see one soldiers-in-wheelchairs play this week, see Our Boys.

But if you’re planning to see two, then Bully Boy should probably be the other one.