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New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Jack Massarik's rating
Reader rating
Phone: 020 7287 2875
Website: http://www.underpressuretheplay.com
Email: info@jermynstreettheatre.co.uk
Let's hear it for Texan impresario (I kid you not) A. Keith Turnipseed, architect of The American Songbook in London, a five-week season of Broadway classics performed, as singer-presenter Jeff Harnar underlined, by genu-wine Americans.
Julie Wilson, a very tough act to follow for showbiz eminence and durability, opened the batting. Her West End debut, Harnar said, came with Kiss Me Kate back in 1951, followed by South Pacific in 1956.
We were still doing the math as Julie stepped up in a long halter-neck gown, with lace gloves on her hands and a white gardenia in her swept-back hair. She looked frail but when Christopher Denny struck up at the piano, her face came alive and her dark eyes blazed.
Interpreting Gershwin, Porter, Mercer, Rodgers & Hart and Kurt Weill, Julie radiated wistfulness on Blue Moon, languor on Laziest Gal in Town, warm affection on Just My Bill, cold fury on Surabaya Johnny and real menace on Mack the Knife.
Though more speaking than singing and forgetting the odd line, her dramatisation was so vivid nobody minded. Her self-deprecating humour - "Mama said: 'Don't you ever get tired of showing off?' and I said 'Nope'" - and her ability to inhabit a song completely was something every London wannabe diva should study.
• Until Sunday. Further artists until 15 March. Information: 020 7287 2875.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
