It's Curtains! For London

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Theatrica Ltd presents 'Curtains!.

'Curtains!' A backstage musical comedy whodunit.
Landor Theatre, Clapham, London
25th July to 1st Sep 2012.

Book by Rupert Holmes
Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Music by John Kander
Additional lyrics by Kander and Holmes, based on the original book and concept by Peter Stone.

Directed by Robert McWhir
Choreography by Robbie O'Reilly.

It's the brassy, bright, and promising year of 1959. Boston's Colonial Theatre is host to the opening night performance of a new musical, Robbin' Hood of the Old West. When the leading lady, faded film star diva Jessica Cranshaw, mysteriously dies on stage the cast and crew all become suspects; enter Lieutenant Frank Cioffi of the Boston Police Department stage left, who just happens to be a musical theatre fan!

[rjm516]

Oh great! I did enjoy this show, with David Hyde Pierce. Hopefully they'll cast a great lead.

[mallardo]

David Hyde Pierce totally carried the show in New York. They'll need someone to do that here. It's not a strong piece.

[Theatrical Landladies]

Wasn't that mad on this show in NY but it did have a superb cast!

[bob8rich]

Loved the show in New York - genuinely witty with a wonderful score! David Hyde Pierce was very good but there were lots of terrific performances in what is very much an ensemble piece - Debra Monk, Jason Daniely, Jill Paice and (for me) Karen Ziemba stole the show.

(Also IMO Pierce did not deserve the Tony. I thought Raoul Esparza's Bobby in Company was an even stronger performance and Michael Cerveris's performance as Kurt Weill in Lovemusik was simply astonishing.)

Anyway, back to Curtains lol -having seen many of Robert Mcwhirr's truly amazing productions at the Landor, I am very excited about this. I think it will work well and I'm intrigued to learn about the casting.

[bob8rich]

Just announced - the role of Lt Cioffi will be played by JEREMY LEGAT (Wicked, Stiles & Drewe's Peter Pan).

[redmustang]

bob8rich - I also loved Karen Ziemba in Curtains. I thought Thataway! and He Did It were outstanding.

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Another West End performer is in the company, Leo andrew.

I really enjoyed this clever show when I saw it in previews, Debra Monk was superb along with a very tight company. It's a shame London never got a full blown production as West End audiences tend to like this kind of thing.

[yankeefan7]

Cute show but it was the performances of David Hyde Pierce and Karen Ziemba that made it truly enjoyable.

[FrontRowDress]

Saw this yesterday, it's a total blast, pure joy from start to finish and Jeremy Legat is a dream as Lieutenant Cioffi. There is a 19 strong cast and they do the most incredible ensemble routines in what is after all a room above a pub. We had a depleted band (no brass and a drummer arrived just in time for the second act) so I presume it's even better, but we loved it as it was. I've gushed endlessly on my blog, but if you need cheering up the Landor is the place to be.
Curtains

[FrontRowDress]

Not just me that liked this

The Stage "a dazzling end to a career that spanned 4 decades" http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/36905/curtains
The Public Reviews "London is famed for its theatre ... Curtains contributes to that reputation" 4 and a half stars http://www.thepublicreviews.com/curtains-landor-theatre-london/
Remote Goat "Once again the Landor triumph" 4 stars http://www.remotegoat.co.uk/review_view.php?uid=8814
My 5 star report is linked in the post above and I can wholeheartedly recommend this show to cheer up the blackest of days.

[FrontRowDress]

Two more 4 star reviews for this cracker of a show from Exeunt Magazine http://exeuntmagazine.com/reviews/curtains/ and Fourth Wall Magazine http://www.fourthwallmagazine.co.uk/2012/07/review-curtains-landor/

[Nickhutson]

I resent the fact they're labeling it as the European Premiere. I saw this done at Guildhall (on a much larger scale than the Landor could ever dream of) and it was marvellous!

Love the show; great score - and some of it is surprisingly moving when you know about the history of Fred Ebb's involvement with it.