Cast, Piccadilly Theatre, London
Sam Wheat - Mark Evans
Molly Jensen - Siobhan Dillon
Oda Mae Brown - Sharon D Clarke
Carl Bruner - Andrew Langtree
Willie Lopez - Ivan De Freitas
Subway Ghost - Scott Maurice
Hospital Ghost - Ashley Knight
Clara - Lisa Davina Phillip
Louise - Jennifer Saayeng
Ensemble
Paul Ayres
Samuel Edwards
Francesca Hoffman
Callum Francis
Spencer O'Brien
Olivia Phillip
Rebecca Trehearn
Jez Unwin
Amy Webb
Sally Whitehead
Cast, Leeds Grand Theatre
Sam Wheat - Stewart Clarke
Molly Jensen - Rebecca Trehearn
Oda Mae Brown - Wendy Mae Brown
Carl Bruner - David Roberts
Willie Lopez - Ivan De Freitas
Subway Ghost - Michael Cortez
Clara - Karlene Wray
Louise - Keisha Atwell
Ensemble
Mrs Santiago - Maeve Byrne
Kimmy Edwards
Gabriela Garcia
Lewis Griffiths
Bradley Jaden
Gregor Stewart
Michael Stewart
Amy Webb
Amy West
Luke Wilson
Okay so a couple of first observations....Rebecca Trehearn ensemble in London, Molly on tour a year later! Ivan De Freitas is the guy I saw as Willie Lopez twice. I didn't even realise. Paul Ayres, well, there is that name again....see my 'Rent In Concert' review...
Songs. This is the first part where I say I'm not happy. (I'll take this moment to remind you all that this is mainly a comparison review...) The soundtrack, upon release when the musical first opened in March 2011 (June 2011 in London) was incredible, and I really really mean that. It had amazing harmonies and the overture was absolute perfection. But wait, the overture has gone?! That's right, the amazingly heartbreaking overture has disappeared. Instead we got this rather upbeat and jazzy piece of music as a projection flew us through New York at night. I'm not cool with that. Also, with not too much complaint from myself, one of the other songs changed fairly soon after. This made the role of Hospital Ghost (played by Ashley Knight in London) redundant as they got rid of his song. Now, don't get me wrong, Ball Of Wax was never my favourite and was pretty dull but I did enjoy the ghost doing a tap dance. Instead it was replaced by a song called You Gotta Let Go sung by three ghosts. But hey, whatever, it was a better song anyway. Anyone remember I Can't Breathe? Where Sam had this nervous breakdown and sang a little song with projections of his screaming face all around? Well, it's gone. I mean, okay, again it wasn't the best song. But it did make sense. On tour we got Sam screaming some Unchained Melody lyrics with a screaming face and that was it. Weird. Bring back I Can't Breathe. Now for my biggest issue with the songs. WHAT HAPPENED TO LIFE TURNS ON A DIME?! That song was perfect using lines from the film in the lyrics it really worked! Well the song was still called that. However what he sang was more a Here Right Now reprise and it was very strange. I didn't like that at all. May have just been me but I'm sure the arrangement of More was changed too but at least it was still there.
Projections. At the Piccadilly Theatre I loved these. I was a little unsure to start with as I thought maybe they might be trying too hard but once Here Right Now was over I was already in love. The ones at Leeds Grand I was not as keen on. For some bits I still completely agreed but I felt almost as if they were trying too hard with them and there was maybe too many projections? Especially the sex one being repeated over and over. I don't remember that happening in London. Also the moment of Sam walking through the door was not handled as well. This time it was obvious how he did it where in London I was completely baffled. On this small note of set, let me just mention how much I missed the conveyor belts. I understand you can't keep installing them in theatres but they just added something extra before. Especially to the dance routines.
Another small note about script changes. Now these were very little things that I just didn't understand...first was the transition into Here Right Now had changed. I know that in London I did find it funny as Molly did a kind of "Wait.....here right now, here right now..." which was kind of strange but this time she just started singing whilst they were talking. Plus the mic levels weren't quite right to start with so you could still hear Sam and Carl talking over her quite loudly! The other is the address of Willie Lopez. Again this is a very small thing. In the London version (and on the soundtrack) his address is at Prospect Place but on the current tour it is Lennox Avenue. Why? We'll never know.
A good weep and a shock. In London I received both these things. Perhaps it was simply because it was the first time I had seen it (apart from the film) but I feel effects wise it was done better in London. First issue is Carl's death. In London, Oda Mae lay over the body for a little while so when Carl's ghost gets up and runs you think Oda Mae has died yet on tour she fell straight off the body so it wasn't much of a shock. The 'weep' moment (won't go into too much detail for those who haven't seen it yet) of Sam dancing with Molly caused a gasp at the theatre in London as it was so unexpected yet on tour it was easy to see it coming (this wasn't just from my perspective, I took my mum and she worked it out was going to happen).
Casting. Ooooh, my favourite bit of all. The first thing for me to admit is that in Here Right Now on tour I was a little unimpressed by the three leads. For me, I think this is just because I was lucky enough to see Mark Evans, Siobhan Dillon and Andrew Langtree who were absolutely phenomenal. Once I got over this, I really enjoyed them! Especially David Roberts who was playing Carl. I found he was very connected with the character and the moments Carl was battling with himself were really readable and believable. Both Wendy Mae Brown and Sharon D Clarke were exceptional as Oda Mae and I couldn't have wished for better cast members there! Playing a role originally portrayed by Whoopi Goldberg is never going to be an easy task for anyone but they were great. I also really enjoyed Karlene Wray and Keisha Atwell as the assistants much more than the two in London. I felt these two put a lot more effort in.
I tried not to make this too long! Now don't see this all as criticism as the majority of the audience came out crying and my mum, having also seen it for the first time, was really impressed. Overall it is an incredible show and it is well worth seeing especially over and over again!
Ditto x
WOULD YOU WATCH THIS AGAIN: YES
WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO A FRIEND: YES
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