Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London – until 26 March 2024
Reviewed by Emily Smith
3***
The world premiere of Wild About You took place at the stunning Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Monday night, with the audience full of anticipation to see this musical staged, in concert, for the first time ever. This production, in London for two nights only, follows a 29-hour read-through in March 2023 and cast recording released in November 2023 that featured the vocals of theatrical royalty, such as Lea Salonga.
The star-studded cast of six West End and global theatre heavyweights included Rachel Tucker as Olivia, Eric McCormack as Michael, Oliver Thompsett as Thomas, Tori Allen-Martin as Jessica, Jamie Muscato as Billy and Todrick Hall as Nurse Shae/Robin. To include all the cast’s theatre credits would take up too much space here, but suffice to say, they are incredibly talented and experienced performers and it was a pleasure to see them come together in this production. Each stole the show, which seems as though it should be impossible, yet, it happened!
The plot, based on a book by Eric Holmes, centres around Olivia who wakes up in a hospital having lost her memory. What follows is a series of cut scenes through her past which explore the intricacies of her romantic relationships, and that of her relationship with her son. The entangled stories explored in this production highlight the complexities of human relationships; those we form when we are here, and the lasting impressions we leave behind when we are gone.
The set design by Justin Williams was more substantial than I had imaged it would be considering this was a musical ‘in concert’. The stage was divided into three main scenes with semi-transparent panels at the rear which periodically featured cast members looming somewhat ominously behind them. Generally, I found this simple staging very effective for the purposes of the production – it was more than ‘in concert’, yet not a fully staged version either.
Rachel Tucker, who remains onstage almost throughout the entire duration, delivered an enchanting performance as Olivia, showing incredible stamina and flawless vocals, cementing her position as one of the greatest performers of our time (and my personal favourite!). Her rendition of What I leave behind was beautiful yet powerful – a real highlight. She was authentic and captivating all at once.
Oliver Tompsett was a fantastic Thomas; his smooth vocals were those of a true West End leading man. I really enjoyed his beautiful duets with Tucker that were reminiscent of Elphaba and Fiyero’s As long as you’re mine (despite the two never performing together during their respective stints in Wicked). While Jamie Muscato (Billy) doesn’t enter until Act 2, he brought a new burst of energy to the performance and was an incredible performer delivering effortless vocals.
Todrick Hall (Nurse Shay/Robin) was another stand-out of the evening with his comedic timing and reactions to the scenes as they unfolded leaving the audience laughing away and feeling engaged with the performance. He was a real star.
Unfortunately, the majority of the songs by Chilina Kennedy were not memorable, each sounding similar to the previous and none leaving a lasting impression. This becomes more apparent when you consider other West End shows with songs that are stuck in your head for days afterwards. The titular song of the show Wild about you, for example, did not feel integral enough to the storyline to be the title of the show, but that being said, there were some well-written numbers that did fit the storyflow well and showed promise.
The show has a good heart yet feels disjointed and disconnected in parts. In my opinion, the audience never fully feels the depth of the relationships that are explored which, if developed further, would lead to more emotional investment from the audience.
There were also a few teething issues such as microphones not being turned on at the appropriate times and audio issues making it difficult to hear the words the cast were singing, potentially an imbalance in the volume of the live band versus the cast’s microphones. That being said, the live band was brilliant throughout.
Overall, the cast delivered a performance that I am sure made everyone involved in bringing this production to life very proud indeed, and I am honoured to have attended the world premiere.