Newcastle Theatre Royal – until Saturday 14th October
Reviewed by Sandra Little
5*****
The stage version of 42nd Street is based on a book from 1932 by Bradford Ropes and a Hollywood film adaptation from the same year.
This fantastic musical is set during the Great Depression and is based around rehearsals for a Broadway show. It begins with black and white cinema footage of life in New York at this very difficult time. The programme which accompanies the show informs us that 12 million American workers were unemployed during the early 1930s and nearly 2 million people were homeless. On reading the programme I learned the meaning of the phrase, “on the breadline.”
The stage performance begins when a young and naïve Peggy Sawyer (Nicole-Lily Baisden) arrives in New York City dreaming of stardom. She attends a rehearsal for a new Broadway show, soon catches the eye of director Julian Marsh (Michael Praed) and is cast as a chorus girl. From this point the story moves at a pace with several twists and turns along the way. Romance and comedy play their part and one significant event in the production is when the leading lady Dorothy Brock ( played by Samantha Womack) breaks her ankle when Peggy accidentally bumps into her during rehearsals. Following some persuasion, Peggy steps in to take Dorothy’s place.
Despite the dismal background of the Great Depression, this musical is far from dismal! It is a fabulous, feel good, uplifting experience from beginning to end. The dancing is superb, there are amazing tap dancing routines and the level of energy from the dancers is palpable. It would be unfair to give credit to any one member of the cast as everyone on stage seemed to enjoy what they were doing and give it their all!
Whilst the sets for this musical are not particularly lavish, most have a lovely art deco style which fits the era exactly. The relatively plain sets are a perfect backdrop to the performance of the dancers and don’t detract at all from the wonderful dance routines.
The costumes for this production are stunning. There is glitz and glamour, sparkle and sequins in abundance! They are simply fabulous and complement perfectly the dance routines and the sets.
The singing from several performers is absolutely beautiful and I would find it almost impossible to single out any one performer as they were all equally stunning. Similarly the sound quality for this production was really good. I think that a live orchestra at the theatre was a very positive addition to the evening.
This stellar performance from a stunningly talented cast captures perfectly the glamorous atmosphere which was life in 1930s New York for some people. Needless to say I loved every minute of this performance and found it so uplifting.