Wednesday, July 18, 2007

To Show Off No More

Hmm, I appear to be Not At The Theatre again. A state I fear will continue until some time next week as, after the blip of Bath, work has returned to its usual state of workiness and also I have relatives visiting from abroad so am using my evenings for a bit of familial catch up.

But none of that is very interesting. So, um *twiddles with jewellery, cleans bit of fluff from keyboard* ooh, I see that The Drowsy Chaperone is to close on August 4, after a run of only a few months. I am rather surprised by this. I did not love this by any measure, but I certainly did not hate it anywhere near as much as some. I thought it was a sweet, frothy piece of theatre – a one joke show for sure, but a joke that kept me reasonably entertained for its running time, which is more than I can say for other things I’ve seen this year. And in Bob Martin’s performance there was a genuine nugget of pathos and humanity at its centre. True, I didn’t think it was destined to last long in London but I find the swiftness with which it is disappearing really unexpected.

2 comments:

Steve On Broadway (SOB) said...

Could it be that the adverts would have you believe that this was the Elaine Paige show when in fact it was not? Or perhaps that Bob Martin is making an early exit so he can triumphantly return to Toronto before the North American tour hits the road?

Interval Drinks said...

Yes, both good points.

It's not the easiest thing to sell, is it? And I don't think they did a good enough job over here to pull in audiences who hadn't already heard of it.