42nd Street (Wolverhampton)

42nd Street taps its way to Wolverhampton this week as it nears the end of a successful UK tour.  

From the moment the curtain raises ever so slightly to the chorus of tapping feet, the audience are transported back to 1933 New York and thrust straight into the story of a company trying to produce the next smash hit musical.  For Peggy however, getting into the audition late means she may not meet her dream of being in a Broadway show but thanks to the help of the other chorus girls and the leading man, Billy, she finds herself in flung into the limelight.  

Peggy, played brilliantly by Jessica Punch, is an all singing, all dancing bundle of energy throughout and James O’Connell (Billy) plays the role of  a leading male frustrated with his leading lady convincingly while making his high octane tap routines seem so effortless.  Both Marti Webb and Dave Willis (playing Dorothy Brock and Julian Marsh respectively) perform a musical masterclass with their fantastic performances of a leading lady (that’s slightly past it) and the director of the show.  Of course the rest of the cast and ensemble cannot go without a mention, with each and every member of the cast performing with endless enthusiasm and precision in the highly complicated tap routines.

The show is full of musical numbers you’ll recognise such as ‘We’re in the Money’ and ‘Keep Young and Beautiful’ and keep the songs you didn’t know before stuck in your head long after the show.  There are some fantastic set pieces (one of which involving human shadow puppetry), with stunning choreography throughout the show.  However there are moments in which the set causes issues.  The backdrops have a tendency to ripple with the dance routines and during an emotional rendition of the title song the clanking of one of the set pieces drowns out the singing.  Apart from that, the show will keep you entertained throughout. 

When you hear the audience saying words like ‘marvellous’ and ‘fantastic’ on your way out, you know you’ve just seen a winner of a show.

– Jonathan Wright