No Magic Roundabout....

Before Christmas, my Dearest husband had a triumphant smile on his face.
"I've sorted your present," he said, barely able to keep it to himself.
"Jolly good," I said, not drawing him further.  He was busting a boiler to tell me. He was that pleased.
What this meant was that on Christmas day, when I opened the envelope with tickets for Carousel at the London Coliseum in April, I was primed to muster a public, Wow! Inwardly, I went WHY?! Between you and me, I was seriously underwhelmed.
Carousel? What a dreary, dismal musical? I couldn't imagine what had inspired him. But I could hardly ask, without appearing immensely ungrateful. It wasn't until some months later, I saw an advert for it and saw that Katherine Jenkins and Alfie Boe were taking the leads. All became plain. Dearest is a big fan of Katherine Jenkins. It didn't take Miss Marple to work this one out.

The reviews were favourable and said how well Katherine Jenkins had taken to the musical theatre. Alfie Boe came in for some flack, for being wooden. I have to agree with both views. Mind you, it would take some actor to imbue the  utterly charmless character of Billy Biggelow with appeal.
The evening, despite a wonderful orchestra and lovely ensemble singing, did not change my mind about the musical. A skimpy tale clad in a couple of glad-rag belters such as "June is busting out all over" (my unofficial theme tune) and "You'll Never Walk alone" a song that I thought had been neutered by the Liverpool football fans. I really was wrong about that.

For me, there were two numbers that made me nostalgic for a BBC Scotland production that I did in the late seventies, with Peter Reeves and Libby Morris. One was My Boy Bill and the other was "When the Children are asleep.."
It made me close my eyes, and sit and dream...  I checked to make sure Dearest wasn't doing the same.

What first drew you to Katherine Jenkins, darling?