An American In Paris theatre review: The multiple Tony award-winning Broadway show transfers to London’s West End.
An American In Paris theatre review, Barbara Jones at the Dominion Theatre, London.
The story begins in 1945, just as the Nazis are defeated in Paris, and the briefest hint of this is made so memorable by the daring and clever replacing of an enormous Nazi flag by an equally enormous French flag, which virtually enshrouds both stage and audience – and so this superb new show begins!
An American In Paris is, without doubt, a beautiful, funny, all-singing, all-dancing musical, but it is gives so much more.
As a first ballet experience it is exciting and entrancing, but for a ballet connoisseur, the brilliant choreography and sophisticated dancing technique are faultless and admirable. Words are unnecessary – every emotion from pathos to overwhelming joy, is expressed by the moving portrayal of Lise by Leanne Cole and Robert Fairchild as Jerry. That they have come to London from Broadway is a truly a coup for the British theatre goer.
The undoubted dancing talent and skill of the ensemble is matched only by the skills of the scenery, lighting and projection teams, using mainly lighting and mobile screens. The audience were seamlessly transported from the dingy tawdriness of the back streets of Paris to the opulence of magnificent mansions to the glorious impact of a Stairway to Paradise. The contrast in atmosphere from one scene to the next is startling.
So, welcome home Christopher Wheeldon. We, in the UK need to see and enjoy more of your outstanding talent as a director. Using your brilliant dance background you have translated this turbulent, comical love story into an exciting, passionate and whimsical ballet, embracing the vibrancy and pathos of the legendary Gershwin brothers‘ music and songs and created a fresh and dynamic musical for the audiences of the 21st century.
A remarkable achievement and an undeniable success!! See it.
An American In Paris theatre review by Barbara Jones, London, March 2017.
An America In Paris is now playing at the Dominion Theatre, London.
