The Palace Theatre on the night of the world premiere

When I realized I was actually going to be in London on the night of the very first performance of a brand new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, I .... well, actually, I don't remember what I did. I was too excited to think straight. :-) But I do know that I did get on the phone and got myself a ticket to that performance, and in the middle of the front row, no less!

One of my goals for the evening was to catch a glimpse of the composer, since I'd missed seeing him at the closing night of The Beautiful Game. This time, I was a bit luckier, since I did see him at the back of the theatre at intermission, but I didn't really think it was an appropriate time to try to speak to him. So maybe next time!

Anyway, the show itself. The most striking thing about this show for me were the sets. There were no traditional backdrops, but rather a series of white, round walls that could be rotated around the stage. The background for each scene was then projected on to these walls. I thought it was quite clever, and enjoyed seeing how they created each location.

I had made the decision not to read the book before I went, and I'm glad I didn't know the story before, since I was genuinely surprised by some of the plot twists. The music was naturally my main focus, and there were some parts that were very "Lloyd Webber-like" (I had 'I Believe My Heart' stuck in my head as soon as it was finished), and also some parts that were quite unlike anything I've heard from him.

The cast during curtain call

I thought most of the music fit the story quite nicely. Michael Crawford's big number, 'You Can Get Away with Anything' was quite different from the rest, but it's always nice to have a little comedic break now and then. I felt at the time that the first act went on a bit too long, and needed to be trimmed down a bit. Since I haven't seen the show again since, I'm not sure if that was done before the opening or not!

The cast was also really wonderful. Maria Friedman was fantastic as the lead Marian, I identified strongly with her throughout the show. Michael Crawford was absolutely unrecognizable in his part! They had him in a fat suit, and the makeup on his face was incredible. If it weren't for the voice, I wouldn't have believed it was him. He was great! Martin Crewes and Jill Paice did well in their parts, as did the rest of the supporting cast.

All in all, it was a very entertaining evening, and though I wouldn't rank it near the top of my favourite Lloyd Webber shows (truth be told, I liked the short-lived Beautiful Game better), it still has lots of good points that make it worth the visit, and I wouldn't mind at all seeing it again sometime!