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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...

Racing with the clock: Around The World In 80 Days @TheUnionTheatre

Around the World in Eighty Days at the Union Theatre is a youthful and energetic interpretation of Jules Verne’s novel. It’s silly and fun. And suitable for younger audiences over the holidays too. If you’re prepared to explain the scenes in an opium den and a rousing number about the virtues of polygamy. 

Travel can be exhausting. In this piece adapted by Phil Willmott and Annemarie Lewis Thomas, there’s little time to dwell on the adventure. And each stop seems livelier than the next.

No sooner as they stop in a particular city there’s a big song and dance extravaganza, expertly sung and executed. And then they’re off again.

But you get the gist of the story anyway. Even if you shouldn’t think too much about it. Phileas Fogg (Sam Peggs) wagers a bet with his fellow members of his club that he could travel the world in eighty days. With his French valet Jean Passerpartout (Connor Hughes).

Along the way they rescue a princess (Jasmin Minjoot) and get help from an English missionary Miss Fotherington (Ceris Hine). It’s a likeable and funny cast for the most part. 

There’s added peril with a pantomime villain in the form of Captain Fix (Robert Oliver). His attempts to thwart the race sit awkwadly with the rest of this adaptation. Maybe if the audience were given cues to boo and hiss (or throw tomatoes) it would make sense. And it’s a shame the strong vocals have to sing along to an underpowered keyboard accompaniment and weak backing track. 

Directed by Brendan Matthew with choreography by Mitchell Harper. Musical direction is by Henry Brennan. Around the World in Eighty Days is at the Union Theatre until 1 September.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

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