Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Union Theatre - ★★★★ - Until October 26, 2019


Can a big Broadway musical work in a small space? It certainly does in this terrific production at The Union Theatre. All the energy and big production numbers are here! Anita Loos' wonderfully silly story of the archetypal gold digger, Lorelei Lee, and her friend, Dorothy Shaw, is beautifully re-told in a way that is faithful to the original. We were delighted that the period of the piece was respected, and songs like "Keeping Cool with Coolidge" and all its 1920's references were not spoiled by updating. Indeed, this is a production that captures the era and is unapologetically light and fun. As the girls flirt their way to Europe and take Paris by storm the great one-liners fly and the unforgettable songs, like "Just a Kiss Apart" keep on coming. Overall, the large cast is excellent with the perfect timing required to bring off a good farce. For us the stand out was Eleanor Lakin as Dorothy. She did a great job in the superb production number "I Love What I'm Doing." Abigayle Honeywill delivered a fine "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend," but her 'American accent' sometimes made her lines difficult to understand. Freddie King as Henry Spofford and Aaron Bannister-Davies as Gus Esmond Jr. were spot on. However for us, the ultimate star of the evening was the work of choreographer, Zak Nemorin and the dancers. They completely captured the spirit of the era and the genre. This production got it just right – as light as a soufflé and just as yummy!

 Reviewed by J.C.

  Our Score:  ☆☆☆☆ 

 Want to save on tickets? See our Tips page.

 WHEN, WHERE, GETTING THERE:
Until October 26, 2019
Tue - Sat: 7:30 pm, Sat & Sun: 2:30 pm
The Union Theatre
Nearest tube: Southwark
http://www.uniontheatre.biz/gentlemen-prefer-blondes.html
Map & Location: 229 Union St, London SE1 0LR, UK

Most Popular

Peace In Our Time, The Union Theatre - ★★★★ - Until April 4, 2020

Image
This is a Noël Coward you are probably not familiar with. After WW II, he wrote this more serious play based on the premise that the Nazis had won the Battle of Britain and had occupied the country. There are flashes of Coward's usual humour but the overall tone is quite serious. There is an almost Orwellian tone to the work as we see the new regime bombard Londoners with propaganda about how they have been liberated and the country is now back in business again. Coward, who was a committed patriot, based the play on his experience of occupied France. We are shown how a variety of people respond to what in France's case we now term the German occupation, but which at the time could easily have been a new, permanent reality. The present production beautifully creates the eerie quality of this life with its half-lit set and candles that suggest the fragile light of hope in this place. Situated in a pub near Sloane Square, the regulars run the gamut in terms of how they deal wit…
Full Details »

The Time Machine, The London Library - ★★★★ - Until April 5, 2020

Image
Science fiction is notoriously difficult to present theatrically; this immersive version of H. G. Wells' The Time Machine succeeds where many have failed. In groups of twenty, we were whizzed through the glorious galleries and bookshelves of the London Library. It is difficult to describe unless you can imagine travelling through 'The Crystal Maze' in the company of Doctor Who on steroids! This new dramatic version, written by Jonathan Holloway in November 2019, is loosely based on the novel's premise. The Traveller gives a lecture to his weekly dinner guests suggesting that time is simply a fourth dimension and he then demonstrates his invention. It was rather bewildering at the beginning because the narrative has been updated and jiggled about, but as we went with the flow, the anachronisms, ambience and theatricality of it all became enjoyable and, unexpectedly, spookily realistic. The idea that when we visit the future sections of the population have been infected …
Full Details »

Relatively Speaking, The Mill at Sonning - ★★★★★ - Until April 18, 2020

Image
The words "Alan Ayckbourn" usually summon up fun and this production is no exception. It is a delight in every way. As soon as we see Michael Holt's clever set with all those doors we are anticipating a good time. It's not long before the characters are popping in and out of them and the laughs begin rolling in. Thanks to director, Robin Herford's perfect pacing of this piece the audience is completely taken into Ayckbourn's world and never given a pause to question the delightful absurdity of it all. The wonderfully silly plot twists and hilarious cases of mistaken identity all work beautifully. The entire cast get it just right with performances that make their unbelievably credulous characters entirely credible. James Simmons as the philandering husband on the verge of exposure is suitably self-serving and lecherous, and Rachel Fielding as his wife strikes just the right tone of gullible and knowing. The other woman, Lianne Harvey's Ginny, radiates the…
Full Details »

Not Quite Jerusalem, Finborough Theatre - ★★★★ - Until March 28, 2020

Image
What happens when some young British volunteers take up residence in a kibbutz outside of Jerusalem in 1979? This is a story which explores a clash of cultures and some complex personal growth stories. Perhaps even more, it uses these young people's experience in a society built on sharing and equality to reflect upon the class and social realities of Britain. Paul Kember's script almost feels like pages ripped from a diary chronicling the oddly assorted, idealistic and directionless people who showed up on kibbutzes and who then had to face the hard and practical realities of that life while coming to terms with their own issues. The first act seemed to take a long time to establish the characters, but a stronger second act took the narrative to more interesting places as we got a deeper look into the forces that had formed these young people and brought them to their present undertaking. Ryan Whittle did a fine job as Mike but the character of the moody, university dropout n…
Full Details »

Kimono: Kyoto to Catwalk, Victoria & Albert Museum - ★★★★ - Until June 21, 2020

Image
For many the word "kimono" may long have been simply a synonym for housecoat or dressing gown. This fascinating exhibition first looks at the history and importance of this most versatile of garments in its Japanese home and then considers its impact after being introduced into Europe. Some stunningly beautiful examples of traditional kimonos from Japan's Edo period through the Meiji restoration are on display. These are sumptuous garments that reflect the growing fashion interest of a rising merchant class and offer lovely examples from both the geisha and kabuki theatre cultures. Indeed, the history of Japan is woven into the story of  the materials and techniques employed to create these wearable works of art. The post-war period saw the kimono's use relegated to cultural and ceremonial occasions, but there are some delightful examples of its resurgence in Japan's contemporary youth culture.  Since its introduction in the west, there have been a variety of use…
Full Details »

On Blueberry Hill, Trafalgar Studios - ★★★★★ - Until May 2, 2020

Image
"Though we're apart, you're part of me still" goes the song. Separation cannot break some bonds. Parent and child are indivisibly linked in Sebastian Barry's play, but can one reconcile with someone who has tried to break that bond? Two men in physical and mental prisons look at where life and death have brought them. Social impositions of self-loathing and vengeance are challenged by the recognition of a common humanity but can they find it? It is hard not to see this very thoughtful, and often humorous, piece as a metaphor for the challenges that Ireland has faced in its recent cruel and divisive history; however, it always remains a fascinating insight into two flawed, yet surprisingly sympathetic, characters. The story may be dark but its eloquent script makes it riveting. Sebastian Barry's mastery of the language is positively Shakespearean. The two prisoners' rich and comic recounting of their lives keeps the audience on the edge of their seats as t…
Full Details »

Nuclear War, Buried, and Graceland - Old Red Lion Theatre - ★★★★★ - Until March 21, 2020

Image
“Oh death, where is thy sting?” could well be a subtitle for Alexander Knott's enthralling triptych comprising Buried, Graceland and Nuclear War. The first of these, Buried, is brilliantly performed by James Demaine as a man temporarily entombed in a collapsed building. His entire life flashes through his mind in a torrent of words and actions. His first drink, his first sexual experience, military service, boxing are all presented with tremendous physicality. In Graceland, Anthony Cozens plays an endearingly dysfunctional teacher who is pilloried by his class. By using the audience as his class, Cozens gains a terrific and often hilarious rapport. Kids can be both perceptive and cruel so when they discover that he is being cuckolded a different side of the teacher emerges. Using combustion as a metaphor for life we enjoyed this ingenious play and the performance enormously. Nuclear War comes as a shock when we meet two women, played by Zöe Grain and Freya Sharp, who portray two s…
Full Details »

Cecil Beaton's Bright Young Things, National Portrait Gallery - ★★★★ - Until June 7, 2020

Image
In many ways Cecil Beaton and his images created the world of the 'Bright Young Things' that existed between the two world wars. His pictures of young artists, socialites and aristocrats were about reflecting his own social aspirations and aesthetic values. Beaton wanted to escape what he considered his dull middle-class background and to enter his imagined playground of high society and celebrity. The people in these pictures are frequently posed in costumes and are invariably striking an attitude. The subjects' demeanour is frequently an aloof detachment and the settings are consciously theatrical. These photographs are about surfaces, and while there is a striking lack of vitality in the sitters and in their 'fun,' the work is not a conscious commentary on the vapidity of it all. In his diary, Beaton wrote "I don't want people to know me as I really am, but as I'm pretending to be." These pictures bear the same relationship to their reality as…
Full Details »

Titian: Love Desire Death, The National Gallery - ★★★★★ - Until June 14, 2020

Image
Know as the poesie, Titian's epic series of paintings has not been together since the sixteenth century. This ground-breaking exhibition brings them together and adds a seventh, The Death of Actaeon, which was conceived as part of the series but executed later and never delivered to Titian's patron, King Philip II of Spain. The works all treat stories from Ovid's Metamorphoses but the emphasis is on the female nude in a series of beguiling poses. They are testaments to Titian's skills as a painter and as a storyteller. Behind their obvious erotic component, however, there is often a darker point. The Renaissance was a period that celebrated rationality but Titian's works here focus on the irrational nature of desire and the often cruel and capricious reality the humans are faced with. Zeus, the king of the gods, follows his desires where they lead him regardless of consequences, whether that is the rape of Europa or the assault on Danaë. They have no say in their f…
Full Details »

Andy Warhol, Tate Modern - ★★★★★ - Until September 6, 2020

Image
Andy Warhol's fame has certainly extended long past the proverbial fifteen minutes. He probably is one of the most recognised artists on the planet, but there is more to his work than the Campbell soup cans and pictures of Marilyn Monroe. This show focuses on three main aspects of Warhol's identity and sources for his work. His parents' immigrant experience, his own sense of being a sexual outsider and the influence of religion and death are all explored. The exhibition largely develops these themes in a chronological overview of Warhol's life, highlighting the Pop Art period, moving through the Factory, then his 'retirement' from painting, the shooting, his return to work and finally his concern with mortality. We are given a look behind the persona that Warhol so carefully cultivated (wig and all) and see how his obsession with Americana and celebrity culture come from a place that is far more complex than simply satirical humour. His fixation with the Statue…
Full Details »

The City Life Magazine. Reviews and Ratings.