West End plays showcase exceptional stars

THOMPSON. Rare foray into theater.

LONDON—Last week, we had a great time watching Eva Noblezada and Tanya Manalang’s instructively contrasting portrayals of tragic heroine, Kim, one after the other in “Miss Saigon” at the Prince Edward Theatre. For her part, Rachelle Ann Go knocked guileless bargirl Gigi’s haunting show tune, “Movie In My Mind,” out of the ballpark. (Unfortunately, some of the production’s covers aren’t as vocally impressive—but, that’s another article.)

However, theirs are in no way the only exciting thespic turns on the West End stage this season—in fact, unlike our theater-hopping visit here last year (where a third of the 20 shows we watched were insignificant), none of the 14 shows we’ve seen so far has left us underwhelmed.

True, some of them aren’t fully satisfying, like the visually sumptuous but tonally disjointed musical-theater iteration of Pedro Almodovar’s “Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown”—but, you’ll be entertained by their mixed bag of treats, twists and gimmicks.

We’re no strangers to theatrical “stargazing.” In the past, we watched Glenn Close (“A Streetcar Named Desire,” Daniel Craig (“A Number”), Judi Dench and Maggie Smith (“Breath of Life”), Woody Harrelson and Kyle MacLachlan (“On An Average Day”) and Ralph Fiennes (“God of Carnage”) sprinkle some pixie dust into the plays they starred in—but, the current lineup is just as irresistibly stellar:

This time, there’s Emma Thompson as a scenery-chewing Mrs. Lovett in Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd,” Mark Strong as a tortured father figure in Arthur Miller’s “A View From The Bridge,” Imelda Staunton as incorrigible stage mother Momma Rose in “Gypsy,” Gemma Arterton as “Made in Dagenham’s” trailblazing feminist, the transfixing James McAvoy as a guy with a messianic complex in Peter Barnes’ “The Ruling Class,” and Fiennes as an anarchist who resists the urge to love in George Bernard Shaw’s satirical comedy, “Man and Superman.”

Astonishing feat

This week, let’s focus on Fiennes, Thompson and McAvoy. They accomplish the astonishing feat of winning over their audiences despite portraying less than likable characters!

Fiennes is known for his impeccable dramatic flair (“The English Patient” and “Schindler’s List” in the movies, and “Ivanov” onstage), but his comedic skill is just as potent (“The Grand Budapest Hotel”)—and he demonstrates this again in Shaw’s quick-witted, cerebral play (on the National Theatre’s Lyttelton stage) about a political firebrand who calls marriage an “ignominious capitulation.”

MCAVOY. Force of nature.

His character, John Tanner, refuses to renounce his bachelorhood and succumb to romance. There’s a lot of illuminating talk and metaphysical musings about politics, morality and social propriety, but the play is compromised by its punishingly bum-numbing length—it runs for three hours and 40 minutes!

We rushed to catch Emma Thompson’s rare foray into theater via the English National Opera’s semistaged production of “Sweeney Todd” at the imposing London Coliseum, where she more than holds her own against opera superstar Bryn Terfel. The tickets are hard to come by because of the production’s 14-performance limited run.

Can the actress sing? Yes, but not as lyrically easy on the ear as, say, Imelda Staunton—but, more than most actresses her age, Thompson knows how to “sell” her songs and scenes, and acts circles around her classically trained coactors. Keep in mind that Sondheim’s circuitous melodies and tricky lyrics aren’t the easiest to perform in theaterland.

Thompson’s adorably feisty but never over the top. She’s always greeted with rapturous applause even when she’s just exiting a scene. So, nobody is surprised when it is the Conniving Piemaker of Fleet Street, not Terfel, who takes the final bow!

Strikingly mesmerizing

Even more strikingly mesmerizing is James McAvoy, who’s a force of nature in “The Ruling Class” (at the cozy Trafalgar Studios), where his character vacillates between lucidity and insanity—and back again—with ease.

McAvoy breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to the audience. He sings, dances, drives a unicycle wearing nothing but his boxers, and gets up on a cross. He acts up a storm, but manages to do away with arrogant, watch-and-learn bravado—and that’s no easy feat!

The play follows the story of an English Lord diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, who believes he’s the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. He knows he’s the Savior—because, as he explains, “When I pray to God, I always end up talking to myself!”

Is McAvoy as “nice” as people say he is? You bet. When his cane flew out of his hand during a fight scene and hit a member of the audience, the actor couldn’t resist dropping out of character, tipped his head to acknowledge what had just transpired and, later, asked the “victim” to take a bow with him at curtain call!