&Juliet – Shaftesbury Theatre, 5 December 2019

My last West End trip of the year and what a way to round it off. My friend Jo and I both turned 40 in 2019 and we decided we had to have a theatre night to celebrate. And then &Juliet was announced as a production considering what would happen if Juliet didn’t die with Romeo, all set to Max Martin songs, many of which were part of our university years, and it felt as if it were fate. We had to see it. And it is such a good feeling when something you really want to be brilliant turns out to be even better than you wished for.

First of all there is the quality of the songs. All so familiar, all so good, all integrated into a story and given a fresh feel. Larger Than Life, Baby One More Time, I Want It That Way, Stronger, Oops I Did It Again, Everybody… and loads more. It was nostalgic in the best way, familiar songs but given new meaning and an up to date interpretation.

The story was inspired and original and hopeful. Full of feminist messages and acceptance of people for who they are, it gladdened my cynical heart. One of the creatives here, David West Read, is also a writer and producer on the glorious Schitt’s Creek and this shares that programme’s warm and inclusive depictions of relationships. (If you haven’t watched Schitt’s Creek, get thee to Netflix. It is such a fabulous show.) Juliet’s friend May is gender fluid, played perfectly by Arun Blair-Mangat. The character of Francois (Tim Mahendran) is trying to figure out why he is never attracted to the girls his father, Lance (David Bedella), tries to set him up with. Juliet herself (played by Miriam-Teak Lee in an absolutely towering performance) is trying to find her way in the world without repeating past mistakes.

Throughout Juliet’s adventures, Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway compete to tell her story whilst dealing with their own relationship woes. Cassidy Janson was stunning as Anne, and her rendition of That’s The Way It Is was incredible. We got the understudy Shakespeare but I have no complaints at all about Ivan De Freitas taking on the role. He was great.

It is rare that I want to name so many of the cast in one of my rambles. It is an indication of just how fabulous this group is. And I haven’t mentioned Melanie La Barrie as the nurse yet. Or Jordan Luke Gage as Romeo. Apologies to those I haven’t named. Everyone was brilliant.

I am running out of superlatives. The costumes were brilliant. The staging was brilliant. The story was brilliant. It was all brilliant.

I have a feeling three songs in particular are going to stay with me. Firstly, May and Francois singing Whataya Want From Me: the frustration, passion and yearning of their relationship erupting in a combative way. Then there was the boyband-esque performance of Everybody by May, Francois, Lance, Romeo and Shakespeare. As someone who went to her fair share of boy band concerts in the 90s, I was definitely transported back to those scream-filled days. And lastly, and the absolute peak of the evening, there was Juliet singing Roar.

Miriam-Teak Lee deserves awards for everything she does in this production. But Roar is something else. I almost can’t find the words to describe its power. Anthemic and empowering and delivered with the most awesome voice and perfect choreography. What a star.

I am writing this as it approaches midnight and I suspect that tomorrow I will want to add more. Maybe I will. As it is, my immediate reaction, as you can probably tell, is that I want to go and see it again and soon.

Chess – English National Opera, London Coliseum, 3 May 2018

I have a long association with some of the songs from Chess. I remember distinctly getting drawn in to the joy of Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson, and their huge 80s shoulder pads, watching their rendition of ‘I Know Him So Well’ on Top Of The Pops when I was about five. I didn’t know why I loved the song so much, I just knew that I did. Decades later I witnessed John Barrowman and Daniel Boys doing a bloomin marvellous rendition as part of one of The Barrowman’s concert tours (at Newcastle City Hall, as I remember). It is also a brilliant Twitter song. Tweet just a line from it and you get at least a couple of people tweeting the next line back. Well, you do in my Twitter circles anyway.

My love of Anthem came along a bit later. It’s one of my absolute favourite show tunes and has the effect of making me either cry or sing along with gusto (and it is definitely the tune that gets me – goodness knows I am hardly patriotic).

So, when my friend Jo (one of the aforementioned Twitter people with whom you can duet on IKHSW) let me know that there was to be a production at the ENO, we knew we had to get tickets. Then when we heard that Michael Ball was to play Anatoly, excitement reached worrying levels. I’ve seen The Ball in concert before, but never play a part in a production. Again, I’ve been a fan from the days of Love Changes Everything, cemented by the joy of his Eurovision entry.

Finally, last night, I witnessed the spectacle that is Chess. Subtle it is not. There is quite the mix of musical genres in the score and some audience members were definitely bemused by the experience. You don’t often experience the names of world chess champions being sung in an operatic style, do you?

I loved it. The set is very clever, with projections of the cast as they perform appearing on screens, so you can see the emotions close up. The story focuses on two years of the world chess championships; the first Anatoly (a Soviet) against Frederick (an American). The plot mirrors the tensions of the Cold War and much seems apt in today’s political climate. Of course there is more to it than that brief summary, but I don’t want to give too much away.

The performances were excellent, especially Michael Ball as Anatoly and Cassidy Janson as Florence. Honestly, I would have paid the ticket price for the three minutes of Michael Ball’s performance of Anthem alone. It was spell-binding. Cassidy Janson brought such emotion to Florence and I will definitely look out future opportunities to see her. The duet of IKHSW with Alexandra Burke will live long in the memory too.

The choreography varied from military-inspired numbers (and mimicking chess moves) to acrobatics and cheerleading. Again, an eclectic mix. A particular highlight was the song and dance number by the uptight, pompous British immigration officials. You can certainly see the satire in their self-importance.

All in all, a memorable night. I can see why it may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but I love a bit of melodrama and this certainly provided it.