The best and worst

I have been to see two musicals in London in the last few months - one was the best and one was the worst I have ever seen.

Three months ago I went to see "Bat out of Hell" which my wife had bought me as a present - quite ironic that she bought a Meatloaf present as she is vegetarian. For some reason she thought I was a fan of his music - it's okay but I wouldn't choose to listen to it by choice.

This is the review I left on Google after watching it:

Walking out of the theatre afterwards another person turned to their partner and said "What the heck was that?" and that pretty much sums up my views.

Firstly, the positive. The performers could definitely sing and they did all they could to rescue it. A few of them are seriously talented.

However the choreography was very cliched and added nothing to the show. My teenage daughter choreographs better routines than those.

The storyline - I think it had one but it was so badly set up that even coming out I am not sure what it was. The staging tried to be too clever by using a live camera feed - I wondered if this was partly for those sitting on the extreme right who couldn't see what was happening.

And why did we need to see the two oldest characters in negligee and a thong - it added nothing. Maybe it was to distract the audience from everything else?

I feel sorry for the cast as they have been given such a poor base to work from.

It was a by a massive margin the worst musical or theatre production I have ever watched.

Last night I went to see Groundhog Day the musical at the Old Vic with my daughter. The difference between this show and the other one could not be more stark.

It was one of, if not, the best musicals I have ever seen. I love the film anyway and have watched it more times than I can count so I wondered how they were going to make it work on stage.

It is so cleverly staged that it works brilliantly. The choreographed movement of the set, the performances of the cast, the script and storyline are all brilliant. The attention to detail in everything is stunning.

There is a perfect level of humour running through it and even some moving moments (a woman in front of us was in tears at one point). From a miniaturised van to a spinning truck to a drum playing groundhog it all works seamlessly. My favourite part was a song where the main character kept ending up back in bed through numerous clever switches that a magician would be proud of.

Oh and credit to the cast - there are so many costume changes and dance routines every single one of them definitely deserves credit - not just the main characters.

I cannot recommend Groundhog Day enough ... just avoid Bat out of Hell at all costs.

Links

Groundhog Day