42nd Street – New Victoria Theatre, Woking and Touring

Nicole-Lily Baisden and company in 42nd Street at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking and Touring. Picture: Johan Persson

42nd Street was reviewed at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking. The production continues touring until 4 May 2024.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble’s 1980 stage adaptation of 42nd Street may feel like a classic of yesteryear, being based on the iconic 1933 film musical (and the novel by Bradford Ropes) and featuring music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin drawn both from that film and several others from the same decade. This co-production from David Ian for Crossroads Live and Jonathan Church Theatre Productions, under the direction of Church, breathes new life into the Depression-era story of a would-be Broadway chorus girl catapulted into the limelight as a replacement for an indisposed leading lady, while preserving its original period quality.

The star-studded cast is spearheaded by Samantha Womack, Michael Praed, Faye Tozer and Les Dennis (the casting for the 2024 tour dates is to be announced). The latter is a particularly noteworthy inclusion, and while Dennis seems to be called on to do little other than stand around in silence for much of his stage time, he makes a good pairing with the endlessly versatile Tozer, as Bert Barry and Maggie Jones, the co-writers of the fictitious musical Pretty Lady at the heart of the story.

Womack is superb as Dorothy Brock, the faded star attempting to mount a comeback, whose unfortunate injury paves the way for our aspiring ingénue, Peggy Sawyer, to ascend to Pretty Lady’s principal role and save the show from premature closure. The reconciliatory Act II duet ‘About a Quarter to Nine’ between Womack’s Brock and Nicole-Lily Baisden’s Sawyer is one of the evening’s most delightful moments.

Praed as Julian Marsh (deferentially addressed by most of the cast as ‘Mr Marsh’), the onstage director of Pretty Lady, delivers an especially charismatic performance of the famous ‘Lullaby of Broadway’, one of several of Warren and Dubin’s songs not from the original film but subsequently interpolated into the stage version. Sam Lips’ commanding tenor is put to striking use as Billy Lawlor, the Pretty Lady cast member who takes an initial shine to the newly arrived Sawyer.

But the real star of the show is Baisden as Sawyer, whose phenomenal dance skills, amply showcased in this production, are simply breathtaking: from a remarkable tap battle executed early in the performance to taking an impressive lead in several stunning numbers, not least the finale, the title song itself.

Of the production’s many slick and elegant dance sequences, it is the showstopping tap dance routines that really define it (one wonders how many pro dance tips Strictly Come Dancing contestant Dennis has been receiving from the sprightly cast). Bill Deamer’s choreography is so convincing and cleverly orchestrated that even the deliberate collisions between dancers so crucial to the plot are made to look natural. Perhaps inevitably, the outstanding sequence for the celebrated song ‘We’re in the Money’ is a particular highlight.

The pit band may not quite stretch to the 25 players referenced in the script, but it is nonetheless commendable that the production incorporates live performance from a sizeable ensemble under Grant Walsh’s musical direction. Robert Jones’ costumes are suitably bright and ostentatious, providing additional visual impact.

Cementing its reputation as the ‘original showbiz musical’, this must-see production of 42nd Street perfectly captures the glitz and glamour of 1930s America. Its nature as a backstage musical ideally lends itself to the dazzling succession of song and dance montages that bear the hallmarks of its cinematic origins and yield a genuine spectacular from start to finish.

Christopher Wiley