Following a successful UK tour, the new musical based on the popular film arrives in London for a limited run. Love London Love Culture rounds up the reviews.
Culture Whisper: ★★★★ “But the overwhelming feeling is one of romance. Not so much nostalgia as ever-present melancholy, taking hold of the city and giving it visceral feeling – of one small person wanting to feel and make a change in the world around her.”
London Theatre1: ★★★ “Amélie is both whimsical and charming and if that is what you want from a 160 minute show then this could be for you! BUT, I would recommend that you read the detailed plot on Wikipedia before you go…”
London Theatre.co.uk: ★★★★ “Audrey Brisson is a charming delight in the title role amidst a hard-working ensemble of actor-musicians in a show that I sense I could become addicted to. I am already planning a return visit.”
The Telegraph: ★★★★ “It boasts the ideal actress to play the titular whimsy pixie, who perhaps surprisingly manages almost never to grate. French-Canadian Audrey Brisson is an unending – and tuneful – delight as Amélie Poulain”
Time Out: ★★★ “Amélie’s emotional journey feels somehow less central, even though, in many ways, Brisson’s performance here is perfect: she grew up touring with Cirque du Soleil, an apprenticeship she completes by hanging off a lampshade to float up to her barrel-shaped tiny home at the top of the stage.”
British Theatre.com: ★★★★ “From the moment the melancholy strains of an accordion break the silence, Amelie The Musical wraps you in its warm-hearted embrace.”
Exeunt Magazine: “The musical delivers the unreal cuteness of the film’s Paris, unparalleled in picturesque nostalgia – it’s romantic, of course. It’s disappointing that the racial homogeneity Amélie drew criticism for in back in 2001 has been reproduced faithfully too; this overwhelmingly white Paris doesn’t exist now, didn’t then, and indeed never did.”
Londonist: ★★★★ “Utterly brilliant, and a perfect antidote to a cold, election-dominated December, Amélie will leave you on a high, Parisian-style.”
Evening Standard: ★★★★ “The show shines when it leans into the film’s weirdness; after being told by her parents to dispose of her suicidal goldfish, said fish comes to life and mournfully sings ‘Amélie – pourquoi? Au revoir’. It also does genius things with the film’s famous garden gnome and Amélie’s Princess Di obsession (shout out to Caolan McCarthy for stealing the show in the latter scene).
Broadway World: ★★★★★ “This show is the perfect tonic for a world perpetually full of doom and gloom; it’s as happy-making as cracking crème brûlée with a spoon. An absolute must-see – and one of the best shows of the year by far.”
Musical Theatre Review: ★★★★ “Enchantingly bizarre, charming throughout and sumptuously produced, Amélie The Musical, is the perfect ‘alternative’ festive offering this year at The Other Palace, a venue that since its relatively recent inception has always at least tried to nudge musical boundaries.”
West End Wilma: ★★★★ “Overall this is a really enjoyable musical that will leave you bouncing out of the theatre full of joie de vivre!”
The Upcoming: ★★★★ “Brisson, in the lead role, is a delight: retaining Audrey Tautou’s charm without copying her characterisation, the actress makes Amélie a character all her own: a no-nonsense, often stony-faced presence who betrays her rich inner life all the more persuasively for her outward stoicism.”
Amelie the Musical continues to play at The Other Palace until 1 February 2020.
