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An American in Paris
Aug. 19th, 2017 10:13 pmThis is the first of my posts from my trip to London.
I normally go to one musical when I come up to London for my summer break, and having heard Gershwin's music in a concert we went to in February I thought this looked promising. And it turned out to be the best performance I went to on my trip.
Performed in the Dominion Theatre, it was a traditional West End musical, although in fact it's a new musical, first performed in 2014 and had its UK premiere only a couple of months ago. The music, of course, was excellent, played by a thirteen piece orchestra.
The staging was brilliant, so many scenes, conjured up apparently effortlessly. The costumes were wonderful - I was especially taken with the ballet costumes for the show within a show.
I hadn't realised how much ballet there was. I had expected lots of tap dancing, and there was one memorable number which was tap, but there was lots of ballet - not the very complicated solos and duets found in traditional ballet, but beautifully executed ensemble pieces (which are my preferences anyway).
There is a story, which is straightforward, but has surprising depth. It is a real feel-good production, in which I was caught up in the action and the dance. It does exactly what it sets out to do - entertain, but not in a trite way.
The programmes are quite expensive - £8 - so I didn't buy one on the day. Instead, two days later I was back in the area and went in and bought one as a souvenir, because it's a performance I want to be able to look back on. So, if this is a genre you like, I thoroughly recommend it.
I normally go to one musical when I come up to London for my summer break, and having heard Gershwin's music in a concert we went to in February I thought this looked promising. And it turned out to be the best performance I went to on my trip.
Performed in the Dominion Theatre, it was a traditional West End musical, although in fact it's a new musical, first performed in 2014 and had its UK premiere only a couple of months ago. The music, of course, was excellent, played by a thirteen piece orchestra.
The staging was brilliant, so many scenes, conjured up apparently effortlessly. The costumes were wonderful - I was especially taken with the ballet costumes for the show within a show.
I hadn't realised how much ballet there was. I had expected lots of tap dancing, and there was one memorable number which was tap, but there was lots of ballet - not the very complicated solos and duets found in traditional ballet, but beautifully executed ensemble pieces (which are my preferences anyway).
There is a story, which is straightforward, but has surprising depth. It is a real feel-good production, in which I was caught up in the action and the dance. It does exactly what it sets out to do - entertain, but not in a trite way.
The programmes are quite expensive - £8 - so I didn't buy one on the day. Instead, two days later I was back in the area and went in and bought one as a souvenir, because it's a performance I want to be able to look back on. So, if this is a genre you like, I thoroughly recommend it.
