Entering the Arts Theatre auditorium (the last time I did so, it was to see Six and Bonnie and Clyde), I was amazed to see an actual on-stage bar serving pints to the audience members in the Stalls. Yes, real pints! Managed by stage managers – who kept the number so the stage isn’t overfilled – this was a really nice personal touch to set the scene of tonight’s theatre at The Choir of Man: The Jungle.
With a huge opening number ‘Welcome to the Jungle’, which provided an energetic start to a high octane 90-minute set that will leave even the most stone-hearted person wanting to get up and boogie. Whilst the storyline and premise are at-times flimsy, the cast in this show are what make it such a roof-raising production. There’s some rather strange choices in the book re: jokes at the expense of marginalised folks, it was also disappointing to see the lack of women in pubs which as we know aren’t barred only by society’s prejudices.
However, those slight barbs aside, that did not entirely detract from what were wonderful performances. In particular, the piano-playing and stunningly sounding Michele Maria Benvenuto as the Maestro. Everything we saw of Michele, spilled into the audience: the smile and the way that the talents from the piano-playing skills, The camaraderie between the on-stage cast exuded confidence, was enough to make anyone (including me) jump up for a half pint of the non-alcoholic stuff.
If you want to take someone who’s not really into Musical Theatre (or even jukebox musical) this may be the gate-way musical to tantalise those vocal chords and help to cheer you upon after a long week.
Until June 2024: https://www.choirofmanwestend.com/
N.b. Advertisement feature - Ad - This review is the sole thoughts of the reviewer, and was a gifted (PR) complimentary experience in exchange for an honest review of the material showcased on stage. If you would like to support my independent theatre, please consider subscribing to my Ko-fi:
>> https://ko-fi.com/hamzajahanzeb <<