Just before Christmas, I discovered a show that is perfect for theatre nerds everywhere. Perfect for the people who dream of being on a stage but instead just find themselves in the audiences. Perfect for the people who adore everything about theatre and admire the people who make it happen. Perfect for the people who use theatre as an escape from otherwise boring day to day lives. That show is ‘Curtains’.
Now this is not a new show – that I am aware of – the show had its world premiere in 2006…however, I only discovered the show very recently when it embarked on a new UK tour. In fact, I will be completely honest, this isn’t a show I would have initially rushed to book. Not to say I had no interest, but as it is a show I had never heard of, I knew nothing about, and I had no idea how you could turn a murder mystery into a musical and make it work. The primary reason I booked for this show is because I previously saw a member of the wonderful ensemble cast in ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’ at the London palladium countless times over the summer, and after finding them incredible to watch on stage, I then decided I would see them in whatever show they did next – which is what led me to seeing Curtains.
As I already said, prior to seeing the show, I knew nothing. I was told to go in blind – no listening to the cast recording, no reading up online – just go into the show with an open mind and just see what would happen on stage. By the end of the first show I was obsessed and knew this wouldn’t be my only visit. Fast forward to now – the show has finished the 5 week run in the west end where I was lucky enough to see the show more than once, and the show is now headed off back on tour, and I have another two venues planned to see the show again. This is a show you just can’t help but fall in love with and want to see again and again. Curtains has a more traditional theatrical feel to it – over the top, big dance breaks, jokes that had me and my friend wheezing at one point, and music so beautiful and catchy, you’re still left singing days later.
Without giving too much away (the less you know about the plot going in, the better) – the show is a murder mystery – there is a show within a show, and on the opening night, the show’s leading lady, Jessica Cranshaw, drops down dead. The inspector – Inspector Frank Cioffee – who comes in to solve the murder is a huge musical theatre fan and has dreams of being on the stage and performers are heroes to him. The show carries out with two story lines running – trying to solve the murders, and trying to improve the show which is currently flopping on Boston before it makes it to Broadway.
I can honestly say that there is nothing I don’t love about this show. There is beautiful music and lyrics, from the ballads such as ‘Thinking of Him’ and ‘I Miss The Music’ to the big ensemble dance numbers such as ‘Show People’ (literally a summary of theatre nerds everywhere), and ‘A Tough Act to Follow’. There are stunning costumes and choreography that looks like so much fun and I only wish I could do. The cast are phenomenal in this show – the energy is high and palpable from start to finish, something which must be hard when nearly everyone is on stage for nearly the whole show, leaving the stage for what must be no longer than 5 minutes at a time, and there is not one stand out star as everyone on that stage is incredible and with all their combined talents, a remarkable and truly special show is produced right before your very eyes…(I still stand by my first ever blog post – theatre is one of the most magical and beautiful things ever created).
With the ongoing storyline of the show within a show, ‘Curtains’ is not afraid to make fun of itself. It makes fun of murder mysteries as a genre, makes fun of musical theatre, and is a show that shouldn’t be taken too seriously but gone into for a fun evening out. The show is back on tour now until April, and you can find out more and buy tickets here. If you missed the west end run, worry not as Wimbledon is the current venue where they open tonight! In the meantime, until I see the show again I am off to listen to the cast recording on repeat and count down until my next trip.
One Show at a Time 