This year I have been lucky enough to have seen over 35 West End shows; many I’d never seen before and some I would never think to choose but really surprised me. Although challenging, I have narrowed down my five favourite shows this year.
Anything Goes – Barbican Theatre
The 1934 Cole Porter musical returned to the Barbican Theatre for a second summer in a row this year, and after being gutted about missing out its first time round, I’m so glad I got to see it this time as it deserves all the hype! Anything Goes is such a classy yet hilarious musical with incredible tap routines – my exact sort of show and I absolutely adored it.
Oklahoma! – Young Vic Theatre
The re-invented production of classic Oklahoma! that sent shockwaves across Broadway transferred to the Young Vic theatre earlier this year and it certainly wowed! Although I haven’t seen the original version so can’t really say if this one is ‘darker’ as it claims, it felt very fresh and worked so well in the intimate space of the Young Vic’s auditorium. It’s transferring to the West End’s Wyndham’s Theatre next month – I’m very intrigued as to how it’s going to fit in such a traditional theatre space, so stay tuned for my thoughts!
2:22: A Ghost Story – Criterion Theatre
2:22: A Ghost Story has so far found a home in three different theatres with four different casts – I was finally persuaded to go and see it by the line-up of Matt Willis and Laura Whitmore. Not a fan of horror, I strongly believed ‘a ghost story’ wouldn’t be my sort of thing, but it ended up being my favourite play I have ever seen – see, sometimes it’s great to go in with low expectations! I would argue that it’s more a comedy than a horror because of its incredibly witty and well-written dialogue. The four central characters naturally bounce off each other with their clashing personalities and backgrounds, and I was totally gripped throughout.
Jersey Boys – Trafalgar Theatre
I had never seen Jersey Boys until March this year, when I had a free Saturday afternoon and got a cheap on-the-day ticket and finally realised what I’d been missing all this time. I loved it so much I even jumped at the opportunity to go and see it again only a few months later. The storytelling is very clever – each member of the group is given a different ‘season’ of the year to tell their version of the story, and the songs are of course brilliant.
Best Of Enemies – Noel Coward Theatre
One of the final shows I saw this year was a historical play making its West End debut after a successful run at the Young Vic the year before. Written by James Graham, the play depicts a series of live television political debates about the upcoming 1968 US Election, which were the first of their kind. I was blown away by the acting skills of the two leads – David Harewood, playing conservative William Buckley and Zachary Quinto portraying liberal Gore Vidal. The space of the Noel Coward stage was adapted impressively through the play’s set design – stairs leading to a separate elevated section carried the drama on (literally) many levels.
There were a few shows I was so close to choosing – the immersive production value of Cabaret at The Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre was mesmerising, I absolutely loved Rafe Spall’s leading role as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, and I discovered a new musical favourite in Kinky Boots, at its concert version at Theatre Royal Drury Lane (if the full production ever makes a West End return, it would undoubtedly make my top 5!).
I’m pleased that two of my top 5 are plays, as although I’m a huge fan of musicals I have really tried to vary my theatregoing habits and see some plays as well, which I hope to continue to do next year as there are some really intriguing plays coming to the West End very soon (The Unfriend and Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons being two I’m excited about).
I also went to see all four of my favourite musicals at least once again this year – Les Miserables, Come From Away, Mary Poppins and Wicked – but I limited my top 5 to shows that I had never seen until this year, otherwise those four would dominate my top 5 every year! I’m seeing the latter two again in January, including the last ever performance of this production of Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward Theatre which will be a very emotional show!
What were your favourite performances of the year?
