The Baker's Wife - Menier Chocolate Factory

I went knowing almost nothing about the musical (not even Meadowlark) and I liked it. I agree that the plot is not much but the charm makes up for the lack of it.

The set was a surprise, they made good use of the space and the columns didn't even bother much! It does give the feeling of a village.

I liked the music and direction though the choreography and movement was a bit plain.

The acting was quite good. I was surprised by Clive Rowe. I have seen him a few times in the Hackney pantos (where he does basically everything) and I didn't know he was such a fine actor and singer. I didn't know Lucie Jones and despite some criticism here I think she was quite good. For me the weak link of the trio was Joaquin Pedro Valdes, he seemed quite self-absorbed and didn't interact much with the other actors. It seemed to me he was more interested in himself that in the play.

There was a moment when I thought the town was going to bully her to come back to the village but luckily that's resolved in a nicer way.

Oh, and I loved Josefina Gabrielle. What a great actor and singer. I didn't realise I had seen her before but definitely will remember her from now on. It is only me or does she have a Julie Andrews touch?

Have you ever heard Jill Martin's "Chanson"? Never been bettered.

I really enjoyed this production. The show is a bit like A Fiddler on the Roof in the sense that a small countryside village is the main character in the play. The individual characters, although fleshed out, work as interacting cogs that give life to the whole little town. The creative team worked very hard to capture in great detail life in the French village: the gossip, the bickering, the generosity and pettiness, and, most importantly in France, the passion for bread. It is, after all, the country where the lack of it triggered the most famous and wildest revolution in human history. Being a lover of bread myself, I could well understand the feeling. I thought the actors were all quite good and loved the cosy immersive environment. It's a warm and quite unique show that gave me the feeling of having spent a day in a small French village.

Finally caught this show this week and I echo many posters - this is fine, but I can see why the show is never done. For the first twenty minutes or so I thought I was going to love it. The world building, the set, the quaint setting with quirky characters felt warm and inviting. The introduction of the baker and his wife is great, with Rowe and Jones shining and sharing real chemistry. Then… nothing happens. The little plot there is left me cold because the characters just make bad and predictable choices and are then redeemed easily and without any peril. Meanwhile some of the villagers also go on simplistic journeys we hardly care about.

Some nice tunes, but overall it’s just… fine.

This is also my first time entering the theatre through the back entrance/Stage Door. It’s a slightly better welcome than walking through an abandoned restaurant, but the venue is sadly still severely lacking the atmosphere of its heyday.

Saw it last night.

Nice performances (with one exception). Nice set. Nice costumes. This version of the show keeps the running time down, and the musical numbers they've cut are not missed.

The show itself - even with the cuts, it's still an issue that the source film tells a story about *a village*, but Schwartz's score only comes alive in the material for Geneviève, Aimable, and Denise. The villagers are all more fun when they're speaking than when they're singing, which is a problem in a musical.

And it doesn't help, either, that the actor playing Dominique is giving such an utterly charmless performance. It's easy enough to believe that a woman would run away FROM him - but unfortunately the plot turns on a woman choosing to run away WITH him, which stretches credulity beyond breaking point given that the woman in question is, you know, sentient.

And yet. Dominique aside, it wasn't a painful evening. The best things in the score are lovely - and I think Chanson and If I Have To Live Alone are two of the best songs Schwartz has ever written - and I have a certain amount of nostalgia for the source film. And I saw the first London production, and this one is a lot better - but it's not a show I think I'll ever need to revisit apart from via the original recording of songs from the pre-Broadway production that closed on the road.

Saw this last night, and I have to say that coming in the new temporary entrance by the stage door, which lands you right into the bar, is a much nicer introduction to the place than the old empty restaurant.

As for the show itself, I quite enjoyed it - Meadowlark is a real standard, and I realised I had a huge smile on my face throughout Lucie Jones's performance of it. Unlike several here, I really liked Joaquin Pedro Valdes's performance too. His flirting with Genevieve was incredibly sexy, I found it very believable she'd be tempted by that smile and that plunging neckline.

The rest of the show is a mixed bag. The cast were uniformly great, Clive Rowe especially so, but the rest of the songs are mostly quite so-so. Glad I saw it, an enjoyable night out, but it's understandable why it's one of Schwartz's less-performed works.

I went to see this yesterday with the lowest expectations. I had given the soundtrack a cursory listen and couldn't imagine managing 2 hours. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The style of the theatre made it almost an immersive experience! On top of that, I feel like what I witnessed with Lucie Jones singing Meadowlark was genuinely one of the most spectacular moments of theatre I had seen in ages. I don't know if it was because it was the last day of the show but Lucie seemed so locked into the performance. It was a privilege to watch. I was getting goosebumps up my arms. Then, the balcony started moving forward and she belted it out some more. I will forever be grateful I got to see that! She seemed emotional toward the end of the show so maybe the added emotion helped take her performance to the next level but it was really a memorable experience!

Your describing how I witnessed it some weeks ago..Thats what you get with the wonderful Lucy...