Orphée et Eurydice, at the Royal Opera HouseEvery so often it seems as though a space ship – of the kind which you used to see in B-movies – is about to land and flatten everyone on stage. It’s probably not quite what Gluck had in mind for his 1774 opera ‘Orphée et Eurydice’, but it’s a hoot.Conor Murphy (sets) and Lee Curran (lighting) create a terrific visual journey through Gluck’s tale of a man searching the underworld for his deceased lover. Fierce spotlights create expressionistic cones of light in scenes of grief. Later, pools of brightness shimmer through a perforated panel for the ‘Dance of the Blessed Spirits’. The musicians of the English Baroque Soloists rise and descend on a huge platform in the middle of the stage. One moment they’re up with the gods, the next they’re in Hades, and it’s all rather witty.It sounds gorgeous too. Conductor John Eliot Gardiner drives the score with crisp firmness, and Lucy Crowe (Eurydice) and Amanda Forsythe (Amour) possess exactly the right light, limpid voices for their roles. Star tenor Juan Diego Flórez, despite the occasional unidiomatic swoop, sails through the cruelly high role of Orphée with sensuous panache.It’s a shame then that the other elements of the show don’t take fire. Director John Fulljames doesn’t draw any detailed characterisation from his principals, and they rely on generic emoting. Hofesh Schechter’s choreography (in this ballet-heavy piece) also lacks narrative clarity. When the writhing Furies appear, they’re supposed to prevent Orphée entering the underworld; here they dance behind him without blocking his way, and the tension dribbles away. A great-looking, fabulous-sounding, somewhat flabby show.www.roh.org.uk Kinky Boots, at the Adelphi TheatreLife lessons are learned. Sexual difference is embraced. The hero saves the day and gets the girl. It should be hard to come away from the lively musical ‘Kinky Boots’ with anything other than a spring in your instep. But you still just might.The latest Broadway musical import, based on a British film, tells the story of a black drag queen (Matt Henry) who helps a clapped-out Northampton shoe factory to create glamorous transvestite footwear, and thus avert bankruptcy.To get the cons out of the way first: Cyndi Lauper’s jolly-pop score has no obvious hit tunes. A charm-lite Killian Donnelly (Charlie) swerves from an English accent in the dialogue to a fake American twang for the songs. And the mawkish conflicts between drag queen Lola and factory-owner Charlie feel hollow and manufactured. (You might call them sole-less, ho ho.)Now for the pros. Jerry Mitchell’s production rattles along on its preposterous way with a lot of fun, energy and colour; Lola’s troupe of drag queens sizzle whenever they appear; and Matt Henry has a ball as the extravagant, capricious Lola. If not quite a feelgood triumph, it’s certainly feel-good-enough.www.kinkybootsthemusical.co.uk MORE CAPITAL CORKERSPHOTOGRAPH 51 at the Noel Coward TheatreNicole Kidman gives a powerhouse performance as Rosalind Franklin, the scientist who first cracked DNA.www.delfontmackintosh.co.uk MR FOOTE’S OTHER LEG at the Hampstead TheatreSimon Russell Beale in a romping backstage comedy set in the eighteenth century.www.hampsteadtheatre.com THE ORESTEIA at the Trafalgar StudiosExhilarating and tense staging of Greek tragedy at its most tragic.www.oresteiatheplay.co.uk
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