Posts Tagged ‘Stephen Sondheim’
Wednesday 18 August 2010
There are some marriages made in heaven. Not that of the Whingers, of course. Their uneasy, warped version of wedlock is one parboiled over the flames of hell, yet still half-baked.
But whoever came up with the idea of staging Into the Woods in the gloriously seemly setting that is the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre should be appropriately ennobled. The biggest question is: why has it taken them so long?
With memories of previous years’ Hello Dolly! and Gigi still transforming the Whingers’ usual grimacing countenances into beaming smiles (despite the downpours of rain encountered on both occasions) expectations were raised to an unreasonably imprudent level. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in West End Whingers | 7 Comments »
Tags: Beverly Rudd, Billy Boyle, entertainment, Gaye Browne, Hannah Waddingham, Helen Dallimore, Into the Woods, James Lapine, Jenna Russell, Judi Dench, London, Mark Hadfield, Michael Xavier, musical, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, review, Simon Thomas, Soutra Gilmour, Stephen Sondheim, theatre, Timothy Sheader
Friday 2 July 2010
One of the troubles with longevity is a tendency towards repeating oneself. Ask Phil. And the same applies in blogging.
After four years the Whingers are now at that stage where shows are coming round again. What to do? Must we really find new gags every time someone revives something we’ve already seen? That’s going to be a challenge as we only have about six gags which are cunningly recycled.
Anyway, we did all the assassination gags when it was done at the Landor two and a half years ago.
And now (to celebrate the 80th birthday of yadda yadda yadda) Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins is revived at the Union Theatre under the direction of Michael Strassen who scored such a critical hit with his production of Sondheim’s Company at the Union a year ago.
Could lightning possibly strike twice? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in West End Whingers | 14 Comments »
Tags: Assassins, fringe, Glyn Kerslake, John Barr a, Leigh McDonald, London, Michael Strassen, musical, Nick Holder, review, Stephen Sondheim, Steve Miller, theatre, Union Theatre
Saturday 24 April 2010

We’re still here.
And despite our involuntary extended status as Broadway babies it wasn’t the least bit difficult to observe the embargo on this show.
Sondheim on Sondheim officially opened at Studio 54 on Thursday night.
The Bellyachers had graced it with their presence at last Sunday’s matinee but had to keep their traps shut until yesterday. Which was a relief really as we’ve been getting way behind with our posts and just when we almost catch up we ruin it all by going to see something else. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in West End Whingers | 6 Comments »
Tags: Barbara Cook, Beowulf Boritt, broadway, David Loud, entertainment, Erin Mackey, Euan Morton, James Lapine, Leslie Kritzer, Matthew Scott, musical, New York, Norm Lewis, review, Sondheim on Sondheim, Stephen Sondheim, Studio 54, Theater, theatre, Tom Wopat, Vanessa Williams
Friday 16 April 2010
Yes, A Little Night Music again, but with Catherine Zeta-Jones…
…but without Angela Lansbury.
Oh, how we agonised over this one. To see or not to see? We’d already loved the Menier production, could its Broadway incarnation match up? Could we ever get over the fact Ms Lansbury had decided to take her 2 week vacation just as the Whingers arrived in New York?
Well yes and no. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in West End Whingers | 7 Comments »
Tags: A Little Night Music, Aaron Lazar, Alexander Hanson, Angela Lansbury, Bradley Dean, broadway, Catherine Zeta-Jones, David Farley, entertainment, Erin Davie, Hugh Wheeler, Hunter Ryan Herdlicka, Katherine McNamara, Leigh Anne Larkin, Menier, Menier Chocolate Factory, musical, New York, Ramona Mallory, review, Stephen R. Buntrock, Stephen Sondheim, Theater, theatre, Trevor Nunn, Walter Kerr Theatre
Thursday 25 March 2010
It seems a curious choice to celebrate Stephen Sondheim‘s 8oth birthday with a Broadway show that lasted for just nine regular performances. That’s probably fewer than Too Close to the Sun (if we could be bothered to check) but if anyone wants to revive that to celebrate the Whingers’ 80th anniversary we will happily hobble along and join in the fun.
But Anyone Can Whistle is rarely revived, so why not? Why not? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in West End Whingers | 4 Comments »
Tags: Anyone Can Whistle, Arthur Laurents, entertainment, Issy Van Randwyck, Jermyn Street Theatre, Karl Moffatt, London, musical, off-West End, review, Stephen Sondheim, theatre, Tom Littler
Thursday 11 June 2009
The Whingers would love to recommend Michael Strassen‘s production of Sondheim‘s Company at the Union Theatre.
But the chances of you getting a ticket now are less than those Labour has of winning a election if one were called tomorrow (the run ends this Saturday 13th June). Unless of course one of the six producers (plus Miss Kazonga 2008, Ruthie Henshall) who were in the house last night decide to stump up some cash and transfer it to the West End.
It wouldn’t be a bad decision – the toilet arrangements would almost certainly be superior in its new home. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in West End Whingers | 10 Comments »
Tags: Company, entertainment, fringe, George Furth, Lincoln Stone, London, Lucy Evans, Lucy Williamson, Michael Strassen, musical, review, Stephen Sondheim, theatre, Union Theatre
Tuesday 17 February 2009

The Jermyn Street Theatre certainly knows how to suck up to the Whingers. Rolling them on their backs and tickling their tummies (sorry, that’s a rather unpleasant image – we do hope you’re not eating) could have produced no greater wagging of tails than took place on Sunday afternoon.
With practised insouciance, the Whingers waltzed (literally, since you ask) into the venue at one minute before the 3pm start time for Stephen Sondheim‘s early musical Saturday Night, yet the Whingers were able to take their second row seats without the hassle of a pre-show scrummage for a decent position.
For there they were: three empty seats (one each for the Whingers, one for Andrew’s “manbag”) at this tiny but perfectly formed fringe theatre. No detestable unreserved seating policy here. The Jermyn Street Theatre proves it can be done: it is possible for a fringe theatre to put numbers on the seats and on the tickets. Three cheers to them!
Of course, their moods were also helped by the fact that the seats were free-of-charge for the Whingers were there at the invitation of the producers and, boy, were they feeling grand. Hence all the insouciance and the waltzing.
Easily bought, they were in very relaxed and generous frames of mind and already on the side of the show before the lights went down.
But the problem was not the venue, it was the piece. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in West End Whingers | 7 Comments »
Tags: David Ricardo-Pearce, fringe, Harry Waller, Helena Blackman, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, Jermyn Street Theatre, Julius J. Epstein, Lloyd Gorman, musical, Primavera Productions, review, Saturday Night, Stephen Sondheim, theatre, Tom Littler
Monday 1 December 2008
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?). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in A Little Night Music, alex hanson, entertainment, Hannah Waddingham, Hannah Waddington, Hartley T A Kemp, Hugh Wheeler, Ingmar Bergman, Jason Carr, Jessie Buckley, Kelly Price, London, Maureen Lipman, Menier Chocolate Factory, musicals, off-West End, review, Smiles of a Summer Night, Stephen Sondheim, theatre, Trevor Nunn | 13 Comments »
Tags: A Little Night Music, Alexander Hanson, Hannah Waddingham, Hannah Waddington, Hartley T A Kemp, Hugh Wheeler, Ingmar Bergman, Jason Carr, Jessie Buckley, Kelly Price, London, Maureen Lipman, Menier Chocolate Factory, musical, off-West End, review, Smiles of a Summer Night, Stephen Sondheim, theatre, Trevor Nunn
Sunday 6 July 2008

“Dear ENO. The West End Whingers would love to see Candide but their policy of paying to see West End shows has reduced them almost to penury and an ENO ticket might well push them over the edge. As both are adamant that they never want to shop at Lidl, they are reduced to begging for two excellent press seats. Andrew has two cats to support and Phil has a very expensive Night Nurse habit.”
Yes, it’s pathetic, but that’s the credit crunch for you. And with stalls seats at £83.00, what can you do?
Fortunately the ENO came up trumps and offered the Whingers FREE seats – “on this occasion”.
Unfortunately the reviews came out the very next day:
- “Loud, brash, heavy-handed and leaving little to the imagination” Evening Standard
- “What a load of camp old cobblers” The Times
Too late. The trap had snapped shut. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Alex Jennings, Beverley Klein, Candide, Coliseum, Dorothy Parker, English National Opera, ENO, entertainment, Leonard Bernstein, Lillian Hellman, London, Marnie Breckenridge, Michael Levine, opera, operetta, review, Stephen Sondheim, theatre, Toby Spence, Volataire | 8 Comments »
Tags: Alex Jennings, Beverley Klein, Candide, Coliseum, Dorothy Parker, English National Opera, ENO, entertainment, Leonard Bernstein, Lillian Hellman, London, Marnie Breckenridge, Michael Levine, opera, operetta, review, Stephen Sondheim, theatre, Toby Spence, Volataire