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The greatest show and other bromances: Adam Riches and John Kearns ARE Ball and Boe @sohotheatre

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Alfie Boe and Michael Ball seem to be a bit of a joke act anyway. Their endless interpretations of popular songs (also known as covers) and their double-act bromance make them quintessential crossover artists where popular music meets opera and Broadway. And a perilous choice for the discerning listener. It’s not that they aren’t talented musicians and performers in their own right. Still, their musical choices are always safe, predictable and less than their potential. But every country deserves to have a pair of self-described national treasures that can tour the local arenas and give people a good time for the bargain price of £175 a seat.  And so the concept of Adam Riches and John Kearns - two world-famous from the Edinburgh Fringe comedians taking on this bromance seems like a curious choice for a Christmas musical fare. One can only hope that over the fourteen nights, it is playing at the Soho Theatre that the show evolves into something more substantial than a series of po...

Opera and horseplay: Falstaff

The Royal Opera's updated production of Verdi's Falstaff received mixed reviews from the audience on Tuesday night. Most people loved the performances, but when it was time for the production team to head onstage, there were some very audible boos (not to be confused with Audioboos). The gentleman next to me booed. He had had been tut tutting throughout most of the opera (particularly as the curtain went up revealing a dazzlingly bright 1950s kitchen in the second act), so it probably was not a surprise, but he did it with such gusto the sound reverberated around.

It is great that so many people are so passionate about Falstaff. It's a wonderful opera about a man who gets his comeuppance. While the production does update the setting from Elizabethan England to 1950s England, for the most part this change does not get in the way of the proceedings. The final scene in the second act in that kitchen was a little clunky and mistimed so much that it was obvious to most of the audience Falstaff wasn't thrown out with the laundry. And when it comes to the magical nymphs and fairies in the third act, things seem slightly stuck in a time warp.

But the closing scenes are lovely and the singing, particularly by the ladies is sweet and there is some fine music making here under the baton of Danielle Gatti. And there is the star turn in the final act by Rupert the horse, who managed to elicit laughs just by staring at Ambrogio Maestri. If there was a love story onstage, this was it...

It runs until 30 May. The closing night will also be televised on BP Summer Big Screens across the country. Check out the dates online.

Director Robert Carsen's case for updating productions follows... Should have explained this to the man to my right Tuesday... Although I suspect he would not have been interested in the rationale...
 


Photo credit Catherine Ashmore featuring scenes of adult themes and formica kitchens with Amanda Forsythe as Nannetta, Ana María Martínez as Alice Ford, Kai Rüütel as Meg Page in Robert Carsen's production of Falstaff. 

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