'State of Wonder' by Ann Patchett

26 January 2024

Having recently discovered the work of the American novelist Ann Patchett - her novel ‘Bel Canto’ (reviewed here in December 2023) was one of my Picks of the Year for 2023 - my expectations were high as I started reading her 2011 novel ‘State of Wonder’. I wasn’t disappointed: ‘State of Wonder’ is another clever, intriguing and surprising tale that moves in directions you don’t expect but always feels believable, particularly in the realistic portrayal of its key characters. Marina Singh is a scientist working for a pharmaceutical firm in Minnesota. When she hears of the death of one of her closest colleagues while he was visiting a research project in the Amazon rainforest she travels to Brazil to find out exactly what happened - taking her far out of her comfort zone. The descriptions of her first few days adjusting to life in Manaus reminded me of my own work trips to Brazil and Cuba. ‘State of Wonder’ is a gripping story which is thought-provoking, unexpected and intelligent. I’m both wishing I had discovered Ann Patchett sooner and relishing the prospect of having her extensive back catologue to work through.

Tom Robinson

19 January 2024

As we set out to see his concert at The Stables in Wavendon last Saturday, even as long-time fans of Tom Robinson it felt perhaps a little soon to be seeing him again only nine weeks since we were at his gig at Storey's Field Centre in Cambridge. But that had been a solo performance and Saturday’s performance with his full band was a very different experience, and proved to be one of the best Tom Robinson gigs we have been to for many years. The Stables was packed: as I looked around the auditorium it was clear that his audience is now almost entirely middle-aged or older but I did spot five young women sitting together near the side of the stage. Once the support act started it quickly became clear that those young women were not there to see Tom Robinson! As I’ve mentioned here before Tom always uses his shows to introduce young musicians he has been championing on his BBC 6 Music radio show and this time the support slot was reserved for Bollo Bollo - a 4 piece indie/alternative rock band based in Buckinghamshire. It must have been a strange experience for them to be playing to a sell-out Tom Robinson audience but they - and their fan club - seemed genuinely thrilled to have been given this opportunity. When Tom Robinson and his band came on stage, after their first number Tom’s bass guitar stopped working, and there was a nice moment where the young bass player from Bollo Bollo managed to look simultaneously thrilled and slightly nervous about lending his instrument to Tom Robinson. Tom was in good form and the band were really rocking - particularly in ‘2-4-6-8 Motorway’ and ‘Up Against the Wall’. It was also lovely to hear Lee Forysth Griffiths (now a regular member of Tom’s band) sing one of his own songs: we first saw Lee as the support act for Tom Robinson at The Stables in about 2001.

'The Housekeepers' by Alex Hay

12 January 2024

In his novel 'The Housekeepers' (which I have just finished reading as an unabridged audio book, narrated by Jasmine Blackborow) Alex Hay transports the classic heist movie plot to Edwardian London where an all female gang led by a recently dismissed housekeeper plan to strip the house of her former employer of all of its possessions. Planning to do this at the moment the house is full of people (for a society ball) appears ridiculously ambitious or deliberately foolhardy. But, much like the Spanish Netflix series 'Money Heist', this is a meticulously calculated enterprise, which turns out to be about more than simple revenge or monetary gain. Reviews of 'The Housekeepers' led me to expect a comic caper but, while the novel has some gentle humour, it's actually quite a dark story. Alex Hay creates a very likeable gang of well drawn, flawed but sympathetic characters. And this beautifully written, carefully researched period piece gives an insight into life above and below stairs in Edwardian London.

'Dead Lions' by Mick Herron

4 January 2024

I thoroughly enjoyed ‘Slow Horses’, the opening book of Mick Herron's spy novel series (reviewed here in November 2023) so I was looking forward to reading the sequel ‘Dead Lions’ and it didn't disappoint. ‘Dead Lions’ further establishes the team of disgraced former spies operating out of Slough House in London, under the unconventional leadership of Jackson Lamb - an anti-hero in the mould of Long John Silver, Fagin or Logan Roy. ‘Dead Lions’ is a cleverly plotted novel with multiple strands and a series of bluffs and counter-bluffs. You are never quite sure whether you've worked out the answer to the riddle, or just what the other side wants you to think the answer is in order to distract you from what they are really doing. It’s nicely written, with a nod to Dickens in the descriptions of Slough House that bookend the novel through the eyes of two imagined four-legged intruders. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series and I'm determined to read the novels before I start to watch the ‘Slow Horses’ TV series.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

13 December 2023

The Northampton Symphony Orchestra's Christmas Cracker concert always attracts an enthusiastic family audience, but this was the first year I can remember us selling out the Spinney Theatre at Northampton School for Girls. It was very exciting to take to the stage on Sunday afternoon to see more than 500 faces looking back at us. This was a triumph for the NSO Committee and orchestra members who delivered a very effective marketing campaign - and for our conductor John Gibbons who planned and delivered an extremely family-friendly programme. We played a mixture of traditional seasonal tunes (including Morton Gould's innovative arrangement of 'Jingle Bells' and Leroy Anderson's 'Sleigh Ride'), Christmas carols, film music (from 'Frozen' and 'Mary Poppins') and two narrated pieces featuring our compere David Birch. 'Sugar Plum on the Run' by Lior Rosner tells the story of what happened to the Sugar Plum Fairy after the events of 'The Nutcracker' - and provides an excuse for a miscellany of variations on Tchaikovsky's 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy'. We sandwiched Rosner's piece between movements from the actual 'Nutcracker Suite'. But our younger audience members seemed most excited by our performance of 'The Gruffalo' - Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's tale set to music by Philip McKenzie. Like Prokofiev's 'Peter and the Wolf' this narrated piece features specific instruments of the orchestra as each of the main characters, with the piccolo (Graham Tear) as the mouse, E flat clarinet (Naomi Muller) as the fox, cor anglais (Harriet Brown) as the snake, French horn (Ian Jones) as the owl and the contra bassoon (Frank Jordan) as the Gruffalo. Each year the orchestra's transformation during the interval into a sea of santa hats, reindeer antlers and fancy dress gets sillier and sillier - and I think we looked particularly splendid on Sunday. But silliness does not come without risk: I had wrapped a long piece of tinsel around my French horn and just as we were approaching the climax of 'Frozen' I removed my third valve slide to empty it out in order to be ready for the big tune and managed to get a tiny strand of tinsel stuck in the exposed pipe, which prevented me from replacing the slide. As panic began to set in, I managed to play my next entry without using the third valve and then rapidly removed all tinsel and got the slide to fit back in without missing a note. Fortunately I  don't think anyone noticed my near disaster - but I will be steering clear of all tinsel in next year's Christmas Cracker concert!

'Bel Canto' by Ann Patchett

8 December 2023

I am a newcomer to the work of the American novelist Ann Patchett but, having just finished reading her brilliant 2001 novel ‘Bel Canto’ I am looking forward to exploring her other books. ‘Bel Canto’ tells the story of a mass hostage siege in a presidential mansion in an unnamed Latin American country. Among the array of international dignitaries held hostage at gunpoint is a famous American opera diva who had been giving a recital in the house. While this sounds like the plot of a thriller, Ann Patchett manages to make this seriously frightening situation into a gentle and quirky ensemble piece exploring relationships, language, music and quality of life. The slightly surreal, dreamlike quality of her prose reminded me of Kazuo Ishiguro (particularly his novel ‘The Unconsoled’ about a famous pianist who arrives in an unnamed central European city to perform a concert). The eccentric but charming multinational cast of characters imprisoned in the house (and those imprisoning them) reminded me of the novels of Louis de Bernières. And the gentle tone and compelling characters, all confined within the walls of the house, had lots of similarities to one of my favourite novels of recent years, ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’ by Amor Towles (reviewed here in September 2021). Ann Patchett brilliantly juxtaposes a beautiful, life-affirming story about the development of an effective and loving closed community with a brutal real-world framing. It’s an amazing novel.

Milton Keynes Sinfonia concert

30 November 2023

The last time I played with Milton Keynes Sinfonia was the concert in March 2020 just before we went into lockdown (reviewed here in March 2020). That evening had a strange atmosphere of nervousness about the rapidly worsening Coronavirus situation. My return to the Chrysalis Theatre in Milton Keynes last theatre to join the orchestra for an evening of ballet music was a much happier occasion. The programme included music from three ballets which all feature dolls, toys or puppets coming to life. The concert started with the ‘Introduction and Mazurka’ from ‘Coppélia’ by Delibes, followed by the ‘Nutcracker Suite’ by Tchaikovsky. But the main event was a performance of ‘Petrushka: A Burlesque in Four Scenes (1947 version)’ by Stravinsky. ‘Petrushka’ is a fiendishly difficult piece, incredibly dramatic and requiring supreme concentration from the orchestra to negotiate Stravinsky’s unpredictable shifts of rhythm and tempo. It also features a series of challenging solos. With apologies to everyone I have forgotten to mention, I was particularly impressed by the woodwind principals Lizzie Molloy (flute), Karen Mason (oboe), Tim Mackley (clarinet) and Ian Every (bassoon) and by my fellow horn player Tom Molloy, William Thallon on piano, Anwen Mai Thomas and a splendid trumpet solo by Nick Bunker. Though I think we were all quite nervous approaching the concert, conductor David Knight drew out an impressive and exciting performance from the orchestra and it was great fun to be part of it.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

21 November 2023

In 2019 Northampton Symphony Orchestra performed at Clifton Cathedral in Bristol (reviewed here in November 2019) - our first trip away from Northamptonshire since I joined the orchestra in 2000. This had been intended as the first in a series of annual weekends away for the orchestra but our plans were curtailed by the pandemic. Last weekend NSO was finally on tour again, spending two days in Grantham where we performed a concert at the Church of Saint John the Evangelist in Spitalgate. The concert was part of a programme of fundraising to support more community activities at the recently reopened church, which has just secured National Lottery funding to launch a Community Fridge - a space that brings people together to share food, meet up, learn new skills and prevent fresh food from going to waste. Our host was the church's Director of Music, the soprano Helen Winter, who helped to organise the concert, brought her choir, the St John's Winter Singers (plus guests from other local choirs) to perform with us, and sang two amazing solos with the orchestra herself. We travelled to Grantham on Saturday morning, rehearsed in the church in the afternoon and had a meal together on Saturday evening, ahead of the concert on Sunday afternoon. With some people unable to join us for the weekend, it was a smaller orchestra than normal and our Music Director, John Gibbons, did a great job of arranging many of the pieces for the available forces. The concert included music by Delius, Vaughan Williams, Wagner, Fauré, Mozart and Mascagni. Orchestra member Hilary Glanville gave a stunning performance of the 'Pastoral Fantasia for Viola and String Orchestra' by Northampton's William Alwyn - a beautiful, haunting piece with echoes of Delius and Vaughan Williams. But the highlight of the concert (for me at least!) was the 'Konzertstück for four Horns' by Heinrich Hübler which featured the NSO horn section - Callie Rich, Callie Scully, Ian Jones and me. Hübler was a horn player who performed in the premiere of Schumann's 'Konzertstück for four horns and orchestra' and was inspired to compose a similar piece. Hübler's Konzertstück is slightly easier to play than the Schumann and more evenly shares the melodic lines amongst all four solo horns. We were very pleased with our first concerto performance together and it seemed to go down well with the enthusiastic audience at St John's. We are looking forward to playing the Hübler concerto again at the NSO Friends concert in July 2024. Our Grantham concert was a lovely occasion, featuring a wide variety of musical styles and some beautiful, delicate playing by the orchestra, including wonderful woodwind solos by Graham Tear, Sarah Mourant and Christine Kelk. Although we were a little under-rehearsed I think this just made us concentrate more carefully in the concert which was one of our best performances for a long time. We had a really enjoyable weekend in Grantham: it was nice to spend time together as an orchestra, with plenty of great conversation over food. Many thanks to Helen Winter, John Gibbons and Callie Rich for organising everything.

Tom Robinson

16 November 2023

Last Friday we made a first visit to Storey's Field Centre - the impressive new community centre in the new district of Eddington on the outskirts of Cambridge - to see Tom Robinson in concert. Regular readers will know I am a big fan of Tom Robinson who we have seen perform many times across the country (see: https://culturaldessert.blogspot.com/search?q=tom+robinson). As usual Tom used the show to introduce a young musician he has been championing on his BBC 6 Music radio show. This time singer-songwriter Sam Eagle used the concert to launch his debut album ‘Are You Listening?’ Sam is a brilliant guitarist with a delicate, precise voice who writes beautiful, wistful songs. Tom Robinson often updates the lyrics to his songs - this time including references to Downing Street parties and other recent events - but, at 73 years old, he explained he can’t always remember the new words so he had printed them out, meaning he had to keep putting his glasses on mid-song to be able to read them: ah, the perils of getting older! His longevity has also caused him to update his 1994 song ‘What if we live to be fifty’ to ‘What if I make it to eighty’. It was great to see him again and to revisit 'Glad to be Gay', 'War Baby', '2-4-6-8 Motorway' and many other old favourites.

'Three Things About Elsie' by Joanna Cannon

8 November 2023

Joanna Cannon’s novel ‘The Trouble with Goats and Sheep’ (reviewed here in January 2022) charmingly used a naive first person narrator to turn a fairly normal domestic situation into a thrilling mystery. As we saw events primarily through the eyes of 10-year old Grace we were never entirely sure whether she had spotted sinister activities that the grown-ups hadn't noticed or whether she was mistakenly misinterpreting things she didn't understand. I've just finished reading Joanna Cannon's 2018 novel 'Three Things About Elsie' which uses a similar device but with the protagonist at the opposite end of her life journey. Here the first person narrator is Florence, a woman in her 80s living in a retirement home. As she starts to encounter signs that an intruder has been in her room, and the reappearance of a shadowy character from her past, we begin to wonder how much of what she tells us is true and how much is the result of her failing memory. Like 'The Trouble with Goats and Sheep' the story becomes a detective mystery as Florence and her friends try to uncover long hidden secrets. It's an entertaining and engaging novel, easy to read but full of beautifully turned phrases and much cleverer than it first appears. As with 'The Trouble with Goats and Sheep' I felt the brilliantly unsettling device of the ambiguity of the narrator was watered down by inserting chapters from the points of view of some of the other main characters. But Joanna Cannon creates a great cast of likeable characters who initially appear to be cartoonish but gradually reveal their sympathetic human depth.

'Slow Horses' by Mick Herron

1 November 2023

I really enjoyed reading Mick Herron's spy thriller 'Slow Horses' - a novel that dives deep into the underbelly of intelligence work, far from the glamour often associated with the genre. Set against the backdrop of London's shadowy streets, 'Slow Horses' introduces readers to Slough House—MI5's dumping ground for disgraced operatives. The book blends the mundanity of bureaucratic exile with the high stakes of national security, creating a narrative that is both thrilling and absurdly comedic. Each chapter ends on a mini-cliffhanger that propels you eagerly to the next. As the slow horses grapple with a chance to redeem themselves by tackling an unexpected incident, Herron ramps up the pace. The plot, while often preposterous, is tightly woven and bursting with intrigue. 'Slow Horses' is the first in a series of novels and I'm looking forward to working my way through them.

Cruise to France and Spain

26 October 2023

We had a lovely cruise from Southampton to France and Spain last week on the MSC ship Virtuosa. We stopped at the beautiful old town of La Rochelle in France which has half-timbered medieval houses and Renaissance architecture, including passageways covered by 17th-century arches. It was wonderful to return to Frank Gehry's amazing Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, which we originally visited in 2016. Our planned stop at La Coruna in Spain was cancelled as bad weather made it impossible to dock but instead we visited Le Havre in France. Largely destroyed during the Second World War, the city was rebuilt by the architect Auguste Perret, giving it a very distinct, and uniform, modernist appearance. We really enjoyed the Museum of Modern Art André Malraux (MuMa) which has one of France’s most extensive collections of impressionist paintings. Finally we stopped at Cherbourg in France, from where we caught the train to the delightful medieval city of Bayeux to see the Bayeux Tapestry. The excellent Musee de la Tapisserie de Bayeux allows you to walk alongside the 75m embroidery with an audio guide which talks you through the story of the events that led to the Battle of Hastings and the battle itself - and the accompanying exhibition and film explore the making of the tapestry and the history it depicts.

Northampton Symphony Orchestra concert

26 October 2023

The last time the Northampton Symphony Orchestra played Sibelius' 'Symphony No. 1', in 2008, I was impressed by the assured opening clarinet solo by Naomi Muller (reviewed here in April 2008). Performing the symphony again, in the recent NSO concert at St Matthews Church in Northampton on 14 October, Naomi’s reprise of her unaccompanied solo was even more stunning. And rediscovering the intricacies of the symphony after 15 years reminded me how much I like the music of Sibelius. The first symphony marked his move away from programmatic music that tells a particular story and brilliantly demonstrates the captivating power of ‘absolute’ or abstract music - creating a beautiful, powerful and emotional sound world that is uniquely Sibelius. Our NSO concert opened with the ‘Polonaise from Eugene Onegin’ by Tchaikovsky and featured the original version of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Variations on a Rococo Theme’ with the wonderful ‘cello soloist Florian Arnicans. We also played two works by Malcolm Arnold - his orchestral arrangement of the ‘Tango in D’ by Isaac Albeniz and his ballet music for the one-act dance-drama ‘Rinaldo and Armida’. I particularly enjoyed getting to know this rarely performed dramatic and tuneful work.

'So Far We Have Come' by Tamsin Elliott and Tarek Elazhary

13 October 2023

I have been enjoying 'So Far We Have Come' - the debut album by Tamsin Elliott and Tarek Elazhary. The multi-instrumentalist Tamsin Elliot is a British folk musician and a co-founder of the folk-jazz fusion group Solana, while the Egyptian oud player Tarek Elazhary brings a background in traditional Arabic music. The combination of their musical styles results in an intriguing and gentle collection of tracks. The album features 16th-century English dance tunes and classical Arabic melodies, backwoods jigs and Cairo folk. The title track, ‘So Far We Have Come’ brings together accordion and oud in a slow, contemplative dance. I also liked the interplay between oud and harp on several tracks.  'So Far We Have Come' is an unusual and lovely album.

'Politics On the Edge' by Rory Stewart

6 October 2023

I'm a regular listener to 'The Rest is Politics' - the political podcast presented by Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart - and I'm enjoying reading Rory Stewart's new book 'Politics On the Edge'. This memoir looks back at Stewart's political career as the Conservative MP for Penrith and the Border and in a series of ministerial roles in the governments of David Cameron and Theresa May. As a junior minister he served under three Secretaries of State - Liz Truss, Priti Patel and Boris Johnson. He unsuccessfully stood for election as the London Mayor and for the leadership of the Conservative Party, before being expelled from the party by Johnson.  His account of this period is a tale of despair with our political system and serious concern for its future. Rory Stewart launches himself into each new ministerial post with a seriousness and dedication that is quickly frustrated by superiors who appear to be more interested in their popularity and image than actually tackling the problems. He is a self-deprecating narrator, highlighting his own political naivety and his embarrassment about the occasions when he was persuaded to toe a party line he disagreed with in order to seek advancement within the system. His description of his first days as an MP at the House of Commons is fascinating and his exasperation at being given insufficient time in each ministerial role before being moved to posts that he appeared to be increasingly unqualified for feels brutally honest. 'Politics on the Edge' is a revealing account of our recent political history that is very readable, entertaining and worrying.

'Pygmalion' by George Bernard Shaw

28 September 2023

On Saturday we were at the Old Vic in London to see Richard Jones' new production of 'Pygmalion' by George Bernard Shaw. Like many people I'm very familiar with the musical 'My Fair Lady' but I don't think I had ever seen the original play that inspired it. The first half of the play feels so close to the musical you keep expecting the characters to burst into those familiar songs. But after the interval the play becomes more interesting, darker and a more philosophical moral discussion. In this production Bertie Carvel plays a fairly unlikeable Henry Higgins with the remarkable Patsy Ferran as Eliza Doolittle and John Marquez almost stealing the show as Alfred Doolittle. We first saw Patsy Ferran in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of 'The Merchant of Venice' (reviewed here in August 2015). She's a wonderful physical actor: her movement across the stage is fascinating and she embodied Eliza's transition from flower girl to duchess beautifully and believably. The Old Vic production drew on the text of both the original 1913 play and Shaw's own Oscar-winning screenplay for the 1938 film version, using excerpts from the music written for the film by Arthur Honegger (reviewed here in December 2005). Although it is presented as a fairly light comedy, Pygmalion's gender politics is more modern than I had expected. But this production is worth seeing for Patsy Ferran's performance alone.

'Constant Companions' by Alan Ayckbourn

21 September 2023

On Monday we made our first visit to the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough to see Alan Ayckbourn’s new play ‘Constant Companions’. Stephen Joseph pioneered theatre-in-the-round and the theatre that bears his name - and where Alan Ayckbourn has premiered almost all of his plays - is a lovely, intimate auditorium, with a steep rake on all four sides, which gives everyone a great view and makes you feel like you are sitting on the stage. ‘Constant Companions’ is Ayckbourn’s 89th play and sticks to his principle of using a simple, single set that would be easy for an amateur theatre company to reproduce. Set in the near future, the play explores the potential evolution of our relationship with sentient machines, as humans grow increasingly attached to the androids they have built as their servants. As always, Ayckbourn’s light comedy disguises darker underlying messages, which here echo the current debates about artificial intelligence. ‘Constant Companions’ is told through three separate but linked alternating stories which each develop through completely different timeframes. Ayckbourn likes to play with concepts of time, but manages to do so in a way that is both quite complex (if you were to try to explain it) but completely clear and understandable (as you watch it). The ensemble cast all capture the fine balance between sit-com caricature and genuine poignancy - with Leigh Symonds as Winston and Naomi Petersen as ED, the ‘faulty’ android he has been sent to repair, providing the emotional centre to the play. This is the ninth Alan Ayckbourn play I have reviewed here but it was wonderful to see a premiere production, directed by Ayckbourn himself, at the Stephen Joseph Theatre for the first time.

'Wiener Philharmoniker Fanfare' by Richard Strauss

15 September 2023

Like many amateur arts groups, the Northampton Symphony Orchestra has now restarted its weekly rehearsals and we are preparing for our next concert, which is on 14 October. During the period between our Friends Concert each July and the orchestra starting again at the beginning of September I like to keep playing my French horn. This year I set myself the challenge of recording Richard Strauss’s ‘Fanfare for the Vienna Philharmonic’. This joyous fanfare was written for 8 horns, 6 trumpets and 6 trombones. I played all 20 parts on the horn to create a multi-track recording. This project took me most of August. The piece lasts just over two minutes but it was surprisingly difficult to play any of the parts perfectly in just one take. I re-recorded many sections, creating an enormous number of partial tracks. But I decided I wouldn’t cheat by adjusting the pitch or speed of my recordings. About halfway through I did begin to wish I hadn’t embarked on this challenge! But I persevered, and although there are plenty of mistakes in the finished recording it was still very satisfying to complete it. You can hear the results of my vanity project at: https://youtu.be/C-J_m2a6L3w (please be kind about it!)

'The Husband's Secret' by Liane Moriarty

8 September 2023

Having enjoyed Liane Moriarty's novel 'Apples Never Fall' (reviewed here in September 2022) I have now finished reading her 2013 book 'The Husband's Secret'. I was a little sceptical by one of the cover quotes which described the novel as "literally unputdownable" but I have to say that's not far from the truth. Liane Moriarty is very much the Australian Anne Tyler - writing about suburban domestic family life in which the comfortable equilibrium is threatened by an expected turn of events or someone's sudden desire for a change. 'The Husband's Secret' weaves the stories of three women in short chapters that alternate between their three viewpoints, with their narratives gradually starting to overlap. It is this structure that makes it so compelling, with many chapters ending on a mini-cliffhanger that is often not resolved until the point of view shifts back three chapters later. The novel revolves around an incredibly difficult ethical choice and, while it is too gentle and thoughtful to be classed as a thriller, there are three devastating end of chapter surprises that I genuinely didn't see coming. 

'42nd Street' by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble with songs by Harry Warren and Al Dubin

8 September 2023

Having recently seen one of my two favourite musicals, ‘Guys and Dolls’, at the Bridge Theatre in London (reviewed here in May 2023), it was a real treat to see my other favourite musical ‘42nd Street’ at Milton Keynes Theatre last Friday. ‘42nd Street’ is a classic tap dance musical with songs by Harry Warren and Al Dubin. It is based on a 1933 film but didn’t become a stage musical until 1980. Jonathan Church’s production for Leicester Curve is great fun, with some amazing performances. There’s nowhere to hide with tap, as the audience can hear if any of the steps are misplaced, but the precision in Bill Deamer’s choreography on Friday evening was very impressive. And Nicole-Lily Baisden was wonderful as Peggy Sawyer - the chorus girl getting her big break (“Sawyer, you're going out a youngster, but you've got to come back a star!”). ‘42nd Street’ is a celebration of song and dance - the quintessential show about putting on a show, with the bare minimum of plot. I hadn’t spotted it before but one of the songs (‘Dames’) includes the line “but who cares if there’s a plot or not”. This version of the show didn’t quite match the once-in-a-lifetime experience of seeing Mark Bramble’s stunning production of ‘42nd Street’ at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 2017 (reviewed here in August 2017) with its massive cast of 55 people on stage (compared to 26 in the Leicester Curve production). But the combination of Warren & Dubin’s melodies and the ensemble tap-dance routines are always guaranteed to put a smile on your face.