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Brief awakenings: White Rose The Musical @MaryleboneTHLDN

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A fascinating and daring act of defiance in Nazi Germany by a group of university students in Munich is given a slightly perplexing rock musical treatment in White Rose, the musical. Something seems amiss in this earnest and occasionally tuneful show. It lags more than it inspires, which is surprising given the tragic and compelling history of the real-life characters the show depicts. Given that young people are increasingly likely to vote for far-right parties across Europe, it’s an opportunity to look at a time when they had a different perspective on the future. Perhaps something has been lost in the translation or the larger space of the Marylebone Theatre where it plays.  The White Rose were a group of university students in Munich who sought to undermine the Third Reich through publication of a series of pamphlets urging passive resistance to the Nazi regime. Over a brief period between June 1942 and February 1943, they distributed their pamphlets across campus using ...

Revisiting in jokes and theatrical barbs: Forbidden Broadway on the West End

It has another month to run, but Forbidden Broadway is a bit of a guilty pleasure. Full of in-jokes and send ups of shows on the West End (and Broadway) it is a lot of fun, but also a chance to see four actors wow us with their singing and comic abilities.

The silliness becomes infectious to the point that the spoof of Once becomes so hysterically funny even the cast have trouble keeping it together.

Christinia Bianco is off this week, but Laura Tebbutt is an equally funny impersonator - particularly of Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel. Let it blow (a parody of the enduring song Let it Go) is a particularly evening highlight.

Damian Humbley is hilarious as he sends up Cameron Mackintosh and the revival of Miss Saigon, or playing Jean Valjean in Les Miserables.

Anna-Jane Casey is naturally funny but particularly hilarious in spoofs on Sondheim, Wicked and the Cheaper Evita that's currently touring the UK.

Ben Lewis manages to be hilarious, particularly in the send up of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels that is playing down the road as a star vehicle for an actor with questionable vocal abilities.

It runs for another month. Check out the show's Youtube clips as well. The Elaine Paige impersonations are hilarious. Katherine Kingsley (below) seems to nail it...

First impressions after the show (including a mild disruption as @Johnnyfoxlondon gets so excited talking about the show he drops his glasses and a homeless man picks them up for him) follow:



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