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Life upon the wicked stage: Already Perfect at Kings Head Theatre

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Performing two shows a day on a Broadway run sounds exhausting enough. But when you’ve just had a not-so-great matinee and are having a crisis of confidence, I would assume the last thing you’d want is to confront your past. Yet that’s the situation in Already Perfect, writer-performer Levi Kreis’s slightly autobiographical journey of confronting the past and his younger self. With a series of toe-tapping and emotional songs in a sleek production, you’re invited to experience someone else’s therapy session. And with a show title called Already Perfect, you know what kind of session this is going to be. It makes for a show where nothing is left unsaid, even if it is unnecessary,  unbelievable or best left on a greeting card. It’s currently playing at the King’s Head Theatre .  The story begins in his dressing room after a matinee, with Kreis alone. The show didn’t go so well. Struggling after being dumped by a lover, pressure mounting on the evening show being filmed for poster...

The best of all possible worlds: Candide in Concert with @LMTOrch @CadoganHall


It is possible to see the best of all possible worlds after experiencing the passion and sublime music making from London Musical Theatre Orchestra's concert version of Candide.

Playing for one night only at Cadogan Hall, you left the theatre sharing the joy and passion the musicians felt for Bernstein's work.

Based on a story by Voltaire, it's about a young man determined to cling to optimism despite the frequent tragedies he encounters. Along the way he's expelled from home, dragged into the Bulgarian army, brought before the Spanish Inquisition... But the plot is not so important...

As a concert version, Bernstein's operetta lets you overlook the sillier parts of the story and focus on the music and performances.


In the title role, Rob Houchen defines the optimism of the character with an a delicate tenor voice.

Anna O'Byrne as Cunegonde was a delight to watch. Particularly as she made singing high e-flats look  easy in the showstopping number "Glitter and Be Gay".

James Dreyfus held the proceedings together as the narrator and comic relief.

The orchestra is the first in London dedicated to Musical Theatre. Founded in 2015 by Music Director Freddie Tapner it was intended to give London musicians experience in playing big orchestral musical theatre scores.  Bernstein would have approved for sure.

Earlier in the year they performed Honeymoon In Vegas with Jason Robert Brown conducting which was also sensational.

During the interval, two strangers asked me "Is this just for one night?" Alas it was. But it's exciting to see something extraordinary even if it is for one night.

They'll be back at Hackney Empire on September 23 for a concert version of Jerry Herman's Mack and Mabel. In December they'll be in the West End for A Christmas Carol. Sign up on their website for updates.

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎



Photos by Nick Rutter

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