Our Recent London Trip - The Shows We Saw
 

I am going to post this in sections - I just typed in a long post and apparently Fodor's ate it for dinner or something.<BR><BR>We just returned from 13 days in London, our umpteenth visit and took in 5 shows this time. All tickets bought from TicketmasterUK ahead of time and all seats were in the Stalls (Orchestra) none further then the 6th row back. We saw: Mamma Mia (for the 3rd time - I adore this show) This is a real feel good show, see it if you have a chance. The Full Monty - cute show, 85% of the audience was women (surpise surprise). Kiss Me Kate - very good, cast was excellent, we really enjoyed it. My Fair Lady - excellent, Joanna Riding is a marvelous Eliza. This version of MFL is a very good one and we've seen several over the years. Lady Windemere's Fan - starring Vanessa Redgrave and her daughter Joely Richardson. We had front row seats (stalls) for this one and had to look up at the stage - I really don't recommend front row seats, a couple rows back is usually better. Vanessa Redgrave was very good, the show was light entertainment, we enjoyed it. The Royal Haymarket Theater, by the way, is beautiful. This show is a limited engagement however.

Thanks so much for the review. There are many planning trips now and it is kind that you posted!

I saw The Full Monty in Los Angeles last week and also thought it was "cute," but not wonderful. The audience seemed to love it and my friends thought it was great. The score was peppy, but nothing memorable in my opinion. Has anyone else seen this version?

Lori<BR>Interesting to read about your opinion of Lady W's Fan. I saw it in February and I was disappointed--it had no "energy" the night I saw it, except when Vanessa was on stage. Not sorry I went, just disappointed based on my expectations. Glad you enjoyed it.

Elaine, I think they have "improved" LWF a little since you saw it. I had read that Joely was stiff, etc. but she was quite good -- not up to Mom's acting tho :-) <BR><BR>Diane, I agree The Fully Monty score was totally unmemorable .. I really doubt if this show will be a long runner. Frankly, while it was cute, I thought the movie version was much better.

Do you think the Full Monty is OK for an 11 yr old girl? Anyone have an answer for this? We hope to see My Fair Lady as well, that I know she will like.<BR>Any other suggestions?

Jami, Personally I think My Fair Lady is a better choice, I am sure she will enjoy that. We did not see many kids at Full Monty, there was a boy about 9 in the row ahead of us and he looked bored out of his skull most of the time and I think slept throught he second act. The show is not appropriate for smaller kids, but since I don't have children it is hard to say what age it would be OK for. Frankly there were a lot of 4 letter words and of course suggestive poses, etc. It was far from being the greatest show I've ever seen (cute maybe, but not great) and I think they simply get a lot of mileage out of the "full monty" idea. Anyone else out there that can help Jami on this?

My nephews saw the Full M. in New York.<BR>The younger one (11) loved it, the other (14) was bored, and we adults fell into those two camps as well.<BR>The kids are avid theatre-goers, so they had other experiences to compare this to. The opinion is just as much a matter of personal preference as it is of just age. However, I'd bet that MFL, or The Lion King or even Kiss Me Kate would have better odds of being liked by most 11 year old girls.