We saw two musicals yesterday, both wonderful experiences. The matinee was an am dram production of A CHORUS LINE at the Putney Arts Theatre. I saw the last professional production at the Palladium, and it seemed too much of its time, slick and fake. This was brilliant, most of the actors were almost good: some could sing, not all could dance, and then not at too high a level. But there was something about the yearning, the desire, the need to perform that was true and endearing, funny and moving. An hour before the show, the guy who played the director did ‘castings’, which people, including members of the audience could sign up for beforehand and which segue-wayed very smoothly into the start of the show. The ‘One Singular Expression’ number brought cheers, as it always does, even though the execution lacked the unity and precision of movement that is normally thought essential and by the end the audience was at its feet.

The other musical we saw was the adaptation of PRIDE (Matthew Warchus, 2014), at the National’s Dorfman theatre, which also brought the audience to its feet, this time with tears in their eyes, like the film did. The film starts with images from the culture of the period, protests, Thatcher, Madonna, the Miner’s strike, to a Jimmy Sommerville soundtrack. Is any musician ore associated with the queer politics of the time? The show, about the need for community, solidarity and collaboration in the force of oppression is funny, moving, still defiant. It really works. The second act opening curtain, a real corker of a number, fantastically camp and like the best camp with a real zinging critique at its heart. The problem, which funnily was not much of one, is the score, which didn’t seem good enough. But is it really not up to par or is it just unfamiliar to us? And how could the quality of the music not matter much in a musical? I’m not sure. I didn’t think much of the music but it was good enough to be effective, act as a vehicle for the melodrama and the humour of the piece: it’s a good enough conduit without being dazzling in itself. Whatever, the play worked, and I was one of those teary eyed and on my feet by the end, though I admit being particularly sensitive to the period – my youth – and the material. The production is such a hit it’s transferring to THE BRIDGE  this Autumn.

José Arroyo