Wild West End

Wow. What a start to Nottingham New Theatre’s new season.

Entering the foyer to a throng of energised musical buffs, I was instantly welcomed into the excitement and anticipation for a show that has been hyped and raved about by anyone who saw it at the Edinburgh Fringe last year.

I, along with the rest of the audience, were laughing from the very first line and even now I continue to do so as I reminisce of the hilarious one-liners and clever lyrical adaptions.

The combination of up-to-date references and widely known musical songs from the most famous musicals ensures that this show can be for anyone, regardless of previous musical experience.

All four performers are to be praised for their talent as actors, singers and comedians. On umpteen occasions they provided  the sought after ‘shivers’ that a knockout performance can create. While it might be the case that  ‘you don’t need talent for this game,’ these four students had handfuls of it (and glitter).

Greg Link’s portrayal of Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber was memorable to say the least and his voice in particular stood out. The juxtaposition of raunchy outrageous sexual jokes,  masterfully interspersed with the naivety of Sophie Tebbutt’s Dorothy left the audience in fits of hysterics on multiple occasions.

Wild West End is what can only be described as a stereotypical masterpiece that epitomises the uplifting, sing-along, feel good factor that all good musicals share. There’s also a lion onesie. 

Nick Stevenson’s piano accompaniment was brilliant and the dramatic pause leading to his operating of a smoke machine was one of the best comic moments in the entire musical.

I would highly recommend this to everyone so if any of you are feeling cheesed off at the IT department and the now infamous Portal disaster (or for those lucky few who have received their marks) then go and watch this either to cheer yourself up or to further lift your spirits.