Growing up, the theatre did not interest me in the slightest. Even though I grew up dancing, I wasn’t interested in musicals, I was interested in the ballet. The Nutcracker, The Rockettes, these were what I remember wanting to see. Fast forward to now and oddly enough I like theatre. It combines dancing and singing which I thought would be quite cheesy but I was wrong.
I have now seen three shows (all in London) and I can not wait to go back and see more! The first show I saw was “An American in Paris” in 2017. Then this past June (2019) I saw “Wicked” and “Aladdin”. This is my amateur “I know nothing about theatre but I’m going to try” review. Honestly, I loved almost all of them and I think everyone should see one show at least once!
Wicked – Apollo Theatre
This is by FAR my favorite show, which I know is not saying but since I have only seen 3 but it was just amazing! I have been wanting to see this show for ages because who doesn’t love the Wizard of Oz. My ticket was about 65 pounds maybe and I was (I think) row E center. The set, even walking in, was amazing. It had amazing metal stairs, a huge dragon overhead, and a map of Oz. Once the show started, I had goosebumps most of it. I was up close and could see the actors when they rolled their eyes, made small movements, which is why I think I enjoyed it so much because of these small details.
The storyline was so much more than I imagined. I knew the basics of it, but that was about it. The leads for this show were by far the best out of the three shows. I, of course, had heard some of the original songs done by the original cast, but I would say these singers were just as good! They were strong, the dancing was great, the acting was great, the set was great, everything was great. I went to this my first night and even though I was super exhausted, I thoroughly enjoyed this. I was ready to crash after, but I would love to see it again!
Aladdin – Prince Edwards Theatre
Honestly, I was a let down from this show. I had such high hopes for it and I can’t help but wish there was just a bit more to it. Aladdin was one of my favorite Disney movies growing up, plus with the live-action movie being released a week or so before this, I was imagining this would be top-notch. Sadly, it was not and it was the most expensive ticket I bought. For what I paid and everything else, I was just let down and underwhelmed. I was on the second level, far left and my tickets were about 75 pounds. I had debated between seeing this and The Lion King and I now wish I would’ve chosen The Lion King. That will be my next show at least.
The songs and the dances are what makes Aladdin so amazing. What I did not like about this show was how much they changed from the original storyline. I understand you can’t have a talking monkey in real life, but changing some of the original songs just felt wrong! There was more changed then I expected (and I expected some to have to be changed) but the amount that was changed was not cool. They added songs while taking out parts of others, changed the storyline, and to be honest the acting and singing was not that good. It was good, but for being such a huge (and expensive show) I was expecting to be blown away like I was for Wicked. This is a classic and it didn’t feel like one. I don’t know if this was because I saw Wicked before which was so strong, but this just seemed meh. There wasn’t as much happening on stage, the sets weren’t as big, the songs weren’t as strong, again just felt so underwhelmed during it. There were parts you could hear the vocals shaking and there were big mistakes in the dancing that I saw real quick. Dancers were off count and one girl almost slipped, it was a hot mess at times. I am not sure if I had understudies performing but yeah I was not feeling it. Again it just sucked because I was super excited to see it and I paid so much for it. I was even talking to the lady next to me and she said she did not enjoy it as much either. She said she had seen the show in New York so she knew what to expect but said the performance was not up to par and was not nearly as good. She seemed to know what she was talking about, so it was not just me!
An American in Paris – Dominion Theatre
This was my first show and I loved it! I was actually trying to see a ballet performance but as this was a last-minute trip, the only tickets left at that time were out of my budget. I ended up deciding to see a musical instead and I was nervous. As I had never seen one before, I was not sure what to expect. I ended up getting I think like front row tickets for about 30 pounds! It was a newer show (I believe) which I am assuming is why they were so cheap. The theatre was beautiful and I had a great time! The storyline was cute and the singing and dancing were amazing. For my first show, I was pretty impressed. I can’t remember too much about it specifically, but I do know I was interested in seeing more shows. I would also say out of the three shows I saw, this had the most dancing in it. It was a lot of dancing and singing, versus other shows with not as much dancing but more of a story. This still had a strong storyline, but I liked that this as much first show since I did originally want to see the ballet.
I hope you enjoyed my (amateur) review of London’s West End shows. London is still one of my favorite places to relax in and I can’t wait to go back and see more. The Lion King is the next show I want to see, plus a ballet of course. Let me know what you think of this post, if you’ve seen any of these shows or other ones, and what you thought about them! I love hearing more as I am quite interested to hear what shows are good so I may add them to my list. Tschuss!
AJ goes abroad 