'On Your Toes' reviews Cooper in reviews Wildor in reviews Mukhamedov in reviews Evans in reviews recent Adam Cooper and reviews more Anneliese Handley reviews

The piece itself? Well, not all of the songs were brilliant, but maybe that's just because it's not very well known, rather than vice versa. The big production numbers were VERY catchy, which could be a tribute to the orchestration I suppose. My favourite number was On Your Toes. This was well choreographed and well performed - a good old-fashioned show-stopper. The weak part I thought was Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, which just wasn't choreographically very interesting. Even the Adam/Sarah pdd was rather dull. Amusing concept, but not very interesting to watch after the first minute. Compared with that piece that Irek and Altynai danced a couple of years back, it was nothing at all.

The performances? There were a couple of numbers where I wasn't impressed with a couple of the dancers, but on the whole the ensemble were good - good singers, good dancers. I wish I could name the best tap dancer, but I can't - I couldn't identify her from the programme pictures (if she was one of those with her photo in the programme). For anyone who is going, she wore red trousers and a striped top in the second half. She really caught the eye - had that extra "zing". I've already singled out Kathryn Evans, who was the most polished performer - but Anna-Jane Casey as Frankie Frayn turned in an excellent ingenue performance, and her singing was very good. I haven't often heard that precision in London musicals. Her dancing was nice too. It's always difficult to dazzle in this kind of role, but she performed very well. Sorry, can't rush for the programme to check all the names atm, but Sergei wasn't bad either - his accent went when he sang, though. Of the three ballet dancers, Irek was the most convincing in his role (of course!) - I was expecting a totally OTT performance, but he turned in something far more dramatically restrained and witty. He still clearly has his clique, as he got quite a round of applause just for walking onto the stage... and he can still burn up the stage when he wants to (but maybe not for 3 whole acts?) Sarah Wildor turned in a good performance as Natalia Markarova, with nods to Sylvie Guillem ("they come to see MEEEE") - nicely danced too. Not spectacular, but nice. Adam's tap dancing was beautiful. I could really see Fred in this role - Adam's easy grace made me think of Fred Astaire. Adam's style was far removed from the American tap idols of the era of the musical, but was lovely to watch, and those feet were certainly tapping damn fast! I don't believe that many ballet dancers could make this transition convincingly, but he did. His singing voice is nothing special, but that didn't stop Astaire - with more practice he could develop his own style. THe accent went at moments of emotion, but wasn't at all bad. I'm not sure how great his acting range could be, but this was the part for him and he sparkled in it. Lovely dancing, and his unrehearsed slave in Princess Zenobia was a hoot. I think his photo will be displacing Richard Gere's inside my sister's kitchen cupboard, too (although she's a fan of his brother as well).

Oh, and if the Kirov need a new tiger they should ask to borrow this one!

Hmm, re-reading this I seem to have been a bit tightlipped about the three ballet stars. They shone in those roles, no doubt - but I don't think that they're widely deployable in the musical comedy field. Unless Adam wants to try for Billy Flynn...

I stand by my first sentence - this is a GREAT night out and deserves to tour the country!