On 10 and 12 November 2019,42nd Streetwill be screened to more than 650 cinemas across the UK and Ireland. Critics were sent into a frenzy over this largest-ever staging of the Tony® Award-winning Broadway musical classic during its run at the West End’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane. We’ve rounded up review highlights. Cinema tickets are on sale now at 42ndStreetCinema.com.
42nd Street, with music and lyrics by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, centres on the efforts of famed Broadway director Julian Marsh to mount a successful stage production of a musical extravaganza at the height of the Great Depression and Peggy Sawyer, a talented newcomer with stars in her eyes who gets her big break after leading lady Dorothy Brock is injured.
Bonnie Langford, who played Peggy Sawyer in the original London production, now stars as Dorothy Brock alongside Tom Lister (as Julian Marsh), Clare Halse (Peggy Sawyer) and Philip Bertioli (Billy Lawlor). The 60-strong cast also features Jasna Ivir, Christopher Howell, Matthew Goodgame, Graeme Henderson, Bruce Montague, Mark McKerracher, Emma Caffrey, Ella Martine, Clare Rickard and Paul Knight.
The stage production was presented by Michael Linnit and Michael Grade. It was filmed live for the cinema screen at the 2000-seat Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in November 2018 by BroadwayHD, the US-based streaming service for live theatre. Ross MacGibbon directed the filmed version in collaboration with the late Mark Bramble, filming in 4K with eight cameras at three separate performances to capture the spectacular scale of the stage show.
Dominic Cavendish: ‘”Hear the beat of dancing feet” runs a seductive line in the title-number of 42nd Street… Director Mark Bramble has recruited an unprecedented number of ensemble members to occupy London’s biggest stage… It’s an extraordinary, spine-tingling sound… The mother of all show-biz musicals… An achingly beautiful revival of an American classic.”
Ann Treneman: “An utterly moreish extravaganza of glitz… This is an old-fashioned glamour musical that keeps on giving when others would have called it quits… It is dizzyingly good… One of the greatest musicals of all time.”
Stefan Kyriazis: “Come and meet those dancing feet, you won’t regret it… Even in the splendour of the theatre Royal, Drury Lane, it is rare to see such a large cast anymore and, boy, do they fill the stage and raise the roof… Glorious!”
Quentin Letts: “From the opening moments of 42nd Street you know you are in for a good night… Mesmerising…The chorus line is enormous – the producers must have invested a fortune. Such ambition is too rare on the West End these days.”
Alice Savile: “To start with, the red curtain rises just a foot off the stage. And it artfully reveals the star attraction of this mind-blowingly lavish revival of a classic: 40-odd pairs of tap-dancing feet, hammering the boards in perfect unison… A spectacular revival.”
“A feast of musical theatre. This revival of the 1980s show, itself inspired by the 1930s recession busting movie of the same name, is nothing less than a homage to Busby Berkeley’s lavish Hollywood tap routines, framed around a fairytale of Broadway… The most spectacular show in town!”
Emma Clarendon: “This revival of the classic Broadway musical is a show stopping spectacle, filled with glamour and tap dancing sequences that won’t fail to thrill… One of the largest casts I have ever seen on stage.”
Marianka Swain: “The curtain rises just high enough to reveal a long line of tapping feet: a thoroughly appropriate intro, as those feet are the real stars of the show… This loving backstage fairy tale is really a paean to the chorus.”
Terry Eastham: “Imagine the most splendid show you’ve ever seen. On every level, 42nd Street will beat it… No expense has been spared, and every penny has been spent ensuring that the audience has a fantastic evening… Awesome!”
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MyTheatreMates works with a select number of high-quality London and regional productions on Featured Content campaigns. If you'd like your show content featured on our website and social media channels, contact us.
