Theatre review: Midnight Cowboy

Technically not a screen-to-stage adaptation as it's officially based directly on the novel by James Leo Herlihy, Midnight Cowboy is regardless a musical that's fated to be compared to the beloved 1969 movie; which I actually haven't seen, as it turns out, but Ian's a fan and informs me that Max Bowden's performance as Rico 'Ratso' Rizzo is... shall we say not entirely uninfluenced by Dustin Hoffman's performance in the film. Bryony Lavery (book) and Francis 'Eg' White's (music and lyrics) adaptation follows Joe Buck (Paul Jacob French) from Texas (or possibly Arkansas) to New York, where he intends to make his fortune selling sex for cash. Given his homophobic comments early on it's clear that one of the many ways he's deluded himself is in thinking this will involve vaginal sex, but he's soon disabused of this notion.

Theatre review: Your Lie In April

PREVIEW DISCLAIMER: As all seats for Your Lie In April's preview period are being sold at the same price, I wasn't going to miss the chance to see a show in a West End theatre from a seat where the stage was actually visible, so I went before the official press night.

For the latest in the West End's unofficial East Asian season the Harold Pinter Theatre is decked out in the familiar cherry blossom so we know we're back in Japan: Your Lie In April is based on Naoshi Arakawa's popular teen romance manga, which makes it an interesting contrast to last week's Marie Curie, a Korean take on a European story that very much followed a Western musical template: Here a largely Western creative team takes on a Japanese storytelling tradition, and while Frank Wildhorn (music,) Carly Robyn Green and Tracy Miller (lyrics,) Riko Sakaguchi and Rinne B Groff (book) offer up another slice of Broadway-friendly music, Nick Winston and Jordan Murphy's production maintains a cartoonish feel that reminds us of its comic book origins with a distinctively Japanese flavour of cheese.

Theatre review: Bonnie & Clyde

It's a human peculiarity to take dead-eyed career criminals and turn them into heroes, celebrated by the very people whose money they've taken. But I'm not here to talk about the Jubilee parade, instead I bypassed the crowds and went to the Arts Theatre for Bonnie & Clyde, a musical I had to postpone when I got Covid in April. Frank Wildhorn (music,) Don Black (lyrics) and Ivan Menchell's (book) show flopped on Broadway but has developed a cult following since, and a concert version last year has now been developed into Nick Winston's production, its first full staging in London. During the Great Depression, West Dallas is a dead end its residents just want to get away from; Bonnie Parker (Frances Mayli McCann) dreams of becoming a famous film star, but a different kind of celebrity comes along when Clyde Barrow (understudy Barney Wilkinson) escapes from prison.