Gareth's Culture and Travel Blog

The second compilation show of the summer – this time a slicker, more professional look at Rogers & Hart. Rogers, of course, invented the serious musical in his partnership with Hammerstein (Oklahoma, South Pacific, The Sound of Music…..) but before this, with Hart, he created some lighter funnier escapist fare.

This show included lots of less well known songs as well as more obvious ones like Manhatten, Falling in Love with Love, Isn’t it Romantic, My Funny Valentine and The Lady is a Tramp so it was a bit of a revelation really.

I thought the narrations of Simon Green might be obtrusive, but they proved illuminating. The singing of Maria Friedman, Mary Carewe, Graham Bickley and impressive new Canadian import Tim Howar was consistently good and and the five-piece band under MD David Shrubsole were outstanding.

There were a anumber of highspots, but the highest of them all came as Maria Friedman fluffed the opening of Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered then recovered and brought the house down.