Babies: a new(born) musical - Lyric / The Other Palace

[ladidah]

Going to give this a go tonight, is it usually done by 10?

[theatre22]

Jun 14, 2024 13:08:47 GMT ladidah said:

Going to give this a go tonight, is it usually done by 10?

You should be. The run time is approx 2 hours.

[ladidah]

Thank you, I saw this last year as a preview. Not been to this venue, so interested in seeing it.

[mmmbop]

Saw it the other day having seen the concert last year, I enjoyed it again but think I preferred it as a one act - maybe I didn’t notice but I didn’t feel like there was much new material, if anything less material? So it seemed strange to have extended the runtime - while I thought it was fun the way they alluded to the interval in the act one finale song, I feel like the interval interrupted the momentum and the events during the party had less impact

[greatauntedna]

Really good tonight! Morgan Phillips is so much more expressive than Bradley Riches.

I think it’s just that the book feels underwritten in the first act. I didn’t really believe Leah until her last couple of songs. Jacob and Toby comes from nowhere.

It comes so close to being a classic, the cast are brilliant!

[darreno]

Really enjoyed this today. Exactly what you'd expect it to be. Catchy songs, superb cast, slick and polished show all round and, most of all, fun!

The strongest point here is the cast. Genuinely likeable bunch, strong of voice, strong in the choreo where needed and perfectly suited to their characters. Bravo to the casting people!

Jaina Brock Patel gives mega energy camp in everything, she's a superb performer. Viola Maisey stood out for me. An excellent supporting performance in which she shines despite not being a focus in the story. Will be another name added to my list of actors to watch out for any time I'm choosing a show.

If you're considering it, I would say definitely catch it. Fun, upbeat, talent, FUN. Also, it's quite fun.

[properjob]

I really enjoyed this on Saturday and hope it gets an extension and/or a further life. Although if it does have a further life I do feel there is scope for a tiny polish on Leah's story.

I don't have the musical vocabulary to describe it but you can hear that it is from the same person who did 42 balloons which I also loved.

If you are going to see it ( and you should ) I would recommend no closer than row D due to the use of the very bottom of the aisles as acting space.

[Arcana]

I saw it today. Loved it.
Great acting from the whole cast.

Songs were very catchy and choreography spot on.

Considering how minimal stage set was, I thought it was utilised well.

While not hilarious as such, I thought it was pretty funny overall.

Story wise, there isn't much more to it than '15 year old kids have to take care of dolls for a week', but that's fine by me.
4.5* from me. 

[ladidah]

I ended up having to leave early on Friday, as I didn't feel well.

I was so happy to see Bradley Richens as cover!

[Steve]

Saw this tonight and its absolutely delightful.

Some spoilers follow. . .

The upbeat propulsive pop-rock is a positive foot-tapping pleasure throughout, and although most of the 8 stories are underdeveloped (only Jasmine's story feels like its got a compelling dramatic engine, room to breathe and a beginning, middle and end), its an infectious and joyous slice of teen life from start to finish.

While all the performances are delightful, its the magnetic Toby stand-in, Morgan Phillips, who makes mountains of mirth out of molehills of underwritten moments ("uh oh"), who is the most compelling stage presence. His future in elevating underwritten TV roles into sensitive and funny award-winning characterisations feels assured lol.

That said, as mini-Rebekah-Vardy, gleefully social-mediaing her whole life at everyone else's expense, Jaina Brock-Patel's Becky is a maniacal purse-lipped hoot, Lucy Carter's Lulu channels all the wide-eyed, soulful, comedically explosive innocence of Aimee Lou Wood at her best and Lauren Conroy's Jekyll-and-Hyde, two-faced, two-voiced, turn as furiously competitive wolfish Regina George in hard-working Hermione Granger clothing is pitch perfectly done.

Dramatically, the weakness is in the lack of stakes for too many of the characters, but the biggest weakness of the show is the title, which makes it sound like a tediously worthy glorification of the merits of parenting, whereas in fact, it's nothing of the sort, the parenting of dolls being a mere catalyst for engaging with all the typical teenage dramas regarding fitting in with everyone around you and having a purpose. How on earth is the target audience supposed to know how entertaining this is when the title sounds so worthy, middle-aged and boring?

Tonight, for whatever reason, the show was under-attended, and everyone at the back was upgraded to seats further forward.

For me, Jack Godfrey is clearly one of our greatest new musical theatre talents, and the effervescent performances here merit an easy joyous 4 stars from me.

[darvsplanet]

Was also there tonight, having seen the concert version at the lyric I had pretty high expectations of a full production and this definitely met them.
Really pleased to see many of the cast retuning from said concert (including Morgan Phillips on for Toby who I was so pleased to see again).
I was pleasantly surprised with how well they used the space and the set that I was worried would end up too bare was really well utilised, I want to specifically mention the lighting which really impressed me, especially in Leah’s act 2 number.
I was sat in row D centre and thought it was about the right balance of being close enough but not swivelling my head around for 2 hours like some have mentioned (it is focused on the sides much more often than I expected).
As far as the material goes, there are a few changes from the concert. Lots of the jokes and some dialogue has been rewritten and feel more natural and definitely landed better. I will say I didn’t feel like Alex’s character in particular felt as believable in this version, I didn’t feel as much chemistry between them and Grace. I’m also conflicted on the increase in explanation of Leah’s situation early on in the show (delivered in conversations between her and her baby), on one hand I do understand that it felt a bit out of nowhere before but I also liked that we were kept a bit in the dark (similar to the other kids
The interval also felt like it was placed too late, as evident by the song list in the programme it’s heavily skewed towards act 1.
Overall I still really enjoyed it and really hope that ticket sales pick up because its audience is definitely there waiting but whether or not the show can get the word out with a difficult to market show will be a challenge, fingers crossed they can go down well at West End Live this weekend.
Four and a half stars

[FrontroverPaul]

Make me the third tonight. I was the almost bald white haired over 65 sitting dead centre front row (always have same seat at the Other Palace) among all the under 25s.

High School Musical at Blackheath Halls tomorrow for a further dose of youth culture !

[producerfacts]

Seen this and it’s decent you know

[westendwhistledown]

Great West End Live performance. Fabulous energy!

[stevej678]

Jun 21, 2024 22:58:49 GMT producerfacts said:

Seen this and it’s decent you know

That's the quote for the poster sorted.

[darvsplanet]

Jun 22, 2024 20:01:26 GMT westendwhistledown said:

Great West End Live performance. Fabulous energy!

I’m glad they didn’t do Hot Dad again, it’s a great song but Without Saying Goodbye did a great job of showing a different side to the show to where the marketing has focused.

[lizabella]

Going tonight with my two teenage nieces…we have all seen the show before and wanted to come back for some more! Definitely a new favourite. I like the originality of it, so many shows in the West End are revivals or from across the pond. Support British theatre! Jack Godfrey is an amazing talent, writer of 42 Balloons which I’m hoping will come to London soon (I’ve played the soundtrack to death!) Take a chance on something new, rather than repeating the biggies. It’s only on for a few week more.

[anita]

Going tonight.

[teentheatremumma]

Went to see this show last night for the second time with my teen daughter, we loved it first time round and was hoping for a similar experience. We were not disappointed!! This show delivers on so many levels. It’s fun, so fun, the music is fantastic and the cast superb!
We saw two covers last night, the lead girl Leah was played by Grace Towning who was unbelievably good, I cried at her solos, so moving and so real. She incidentally played another great character last time we saw the show, lucky us. The other cover played Lulu, who is great comedy value and did a great job.
The other cast members were also so good, high energy, fun and clearly have great chemistry.
The applause at the end was quite deafening. Surely this can’t be it for Babies, an extended run is needed.

[tjh]

Saw this tonight. I have to say that I do not understand the hype in any way. The songs are appallingly written with dull predictable and uninspired rhymes. Characters are all clichéd tropes. No nuance in the writing. Dull.

[mattnyc]

This was a big miss for me, today. Completely forgettable music and a story that could have been a lot of fun, had it been more focused. I don't think the show even has any idea who it's audience is. It seemed to want to be a satire for adults about the subject matter but just never wanted to commit to that idea so instead it just went to "teen comedy" but couldn't even commit to that. Every so often there was a line or two that made me chuckle but overall I couldn't wait for it to end.

[jr]

I have to disagree with the previous comments. I didn't know much about it and I went with an open mind. I agree that the plot is not much and at the beginning most songs are about the same topic: the babies, how hard it is, etc. But as the show progresses you start seeing the different personalities and how the characters relate to each other and make up a close cluster of friends.

The cast is fantastic, they give it all and there is great chemistry between them. Definitely worth a watch and I'm sure we'll see some of these performers in bigger things in the future.

[mattnyc]

The cast was fine. It’s the material that wasn’t.

[ladidah]

I liked it more when it leaned into the humour, I found Leah's teenage angst a bit too corny and Hollyoaks.

[westendwhistledown]

3rd time tonight. We were surrounded by all backgrounds of people - tourists, first time musical goers, a casting director. Everyone absolutely loved it. Show is in really good shape and feels very fresh. Try and grab a ticket before it closes on Sunday! Don’t think there are many tickets left!