The West End Life

A week ago, my 17th trip to London since 2012 was finally happening – 10 months after booking three tickets to three different, new shows on the West End. And it may have easily been one of the best trips I ever made down there, with each show outdoing the one before, and to me, personally, maybe the three best Casts that are currently working in theatre on the West End.

But let’s take things one at a time.

1. “Come From Away” – Phoenix Theatre 11.12.2019

Thankfully for me, I didn’t read anything about the storyline beforehand – the shock/surprise was bigger that way, which I love about theatre. Originally, I was under the impression that this show was about refugees stuck on an island after escaping some terror or something; but after about 15mins in, I realized it was actually a story about the day when 38 planes on their way into U.S. territory were diverted to the town of Gander, Newfoundland, on 11th of September 2001 – the day two terrorists flew two planes into the World Trade Center.
It’s hard to find words to describe this show – despite the obvious difficult subject, Christopher Ashley has managed to turn it into something equally heartwarming, touching and entertaining. The Cast is amazing, considering each of them has to play at least 2 or 3 different characters during the one and a half hours on stage (without any interval), the songs are chosen perfectly for all scenes (especially “Screech In” got me smiling from ear to ear and bobbing my foot up and down), and which was the most wonderful thing to me is that you can see throughout the entire show that every member of the Ensemble deeply enjoys this show, that they’re in it with all their heart, and that they have nothing but fun bringing this great piece of theatre and music to the audience. The Standing Ovations going on for several minutes, even as only the band was on stage after the actors left it are practically speaking for itself. So do its 4 Olivier Award wins, by the way.

2. “& Juliet” – Shaftesbury Theatre 12.12.2019

Now this show I was something I had been going completely blind into – if you ignore the fact I knew all the songs beforehand, as it’s a Jukebox Musical where existing songs are brought to the stage in new ways, enwrought into the storyline. I anticipated seeing the best (for me, personally) male voice on the West End again, Oliver Tompsett (William Shakespeare), after knowing there were Backstreet Boys songs in it, where also dancing was required. Sadly, a cold bug had taken hold of him and also the female lead, Miriam Teak-Lee (Juliet), so I got to see Ivan de Freitas and Grace Mouat instead – WHAT A TREAT!
How to describe this show…well, basically, if you’re looking for the best and most entertaining night out on the West End – THIS IS DEFINITELY IT. The story is simple – what if Juliet never killed herself together with Romeo, but instead, decided to live and take her life and future into her own hands? And all this with the unmistakable soundtrack of the 90’s and 00’s  and also some recent radio tracks added to the mix (Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Katy Perry & Demi Lovato, to only name some of them).
What comes out of that is a show that has the audience in fits of laughter, in bouts of tears, and mostly, dancing in their seats (and on their feet at the last track, “Can’t Stop The Feeling”!). The stage set is also one of the best and most beautiful I personally have seen anywhere recently, with a lot of love for detail, and the message – or rather, messageS – of the story are powerful and some of the best any theatre show could have come up with, picking up current issues in our society. And the Cast, you ask? They’re phenomenal in every regard – singing, acting AND dancing. Seeing them on stage, simply doing their everyday job, you can’t help smiling when they smile, feel sad when their situation seems hopeless, and feel relieved when everything is sorted out for everybody in the end.
This show DEFINITELY deserves to stay on the West End for a long, long time.

3. “Dear Evan Hansen – Noel Coward Theatre 13.12.2019

This show…it was the one thing I had been looking forward to for about one and a half years, ever since I first listened to its Broadway Cast Recording and read the news that it would actually come to the West End. Along with “Hamilton”, that show is the one on the Broadway that it is near impossible to get tickets to – at least not the affordable kind of tickets. The anticipation for me therefor was HUGE in every regard…and boy, did that one not disappoint.
Where to begin…the story, maybe. It’s about a teenager with social anxiety who, with the help of a family friend, makes up a story of being friends with a schoolmate who commits suicide and in doing that, helps the grieving parents coping with their loss and changes things at his school and out in the Social Media world for the better, even if only for a short time.
There are not many words one could use to describe how PHENOMENAL every aspect of the show is, starting with the simple stage set, the small Cast (only 8 actors/roles) or the powerful message behind it. So I’m just going to talk about one single Cast member here, representative of maybe the BEST Cast the West End has to offer these days.

Sam Tutty.

This young man playing Evan Hansen is pure GOLD. The role of the anxiety-ridden teenager is so challenging, as it just has to be convincing even in the very last rows of the theatre, but Sam just does it as easily as he may eat his muesli in the morning. Never in my life have I witnessed something more convincing on a stage; you watch him do his thing, and you just can’t help BELIEVING it. Believing that off stage, Sam suffers the exact same anxieties that Evan does, even though that isn’t the case, of course. Every mimic and gesture, however small or big, is on point with him, and especially the movements of his hands is just out of this world. And his voice? Indescribably perfect. And funny enough, he sounds almost exactly like Ben Platt, who originated the role of Evan on Broadway.
The music that I’ve constantly listened to for over a year, was also giving me all the emotions that I had hoped and prayed for. I laughed, I cried, I had goosebumps, I was singing along silently to every line. What the band (that is positioned in the top left corner of the stage, so you can see them all throughout the show) did with their instruments and the tunes given to them is such a wonderful piece of music that it’s no surprise they got a ton of applause at the end, too. This entire show and its phenomenal Cast are just breathtaking, and like I said – maybe the BEST Cast that’s currently employed on the West End.

Three days, three shows – and every single one of them surpassed my expectations and proved once again why the West End and musical theatre in general have become such a huge part of my life in the past 7 years, and I am beyond grateful I had the opportunity to witness such a perfection and beautiful entertainment on 3 stages last week.

Until next time, London!