Review: Meet Me In St. Louis at the Landor Theatre

Meet Me In St. Louis

Landor Theatre

Reviewed on Monday 16th December 2013

Based on the 1944 MGM motion picture which famously starred Judy Garland, this Christmas the Landor Theatre have staged the UK premiere of Meet Me In St. Louis which ran on Broadway for 252 performances between 1989 and 1990.

The show features a heavenly score but the storyline is weak. Meet Me In St. Louis follows the Smith family, with particular focus on the love lives of Esther (Georgia Permutt) and Rose (Emily Jeffreys). The family also go into meltdown when it is announced they are moving from St. Louis to New York as their father Alonso (Bryan Kennedy) has received a promotion, it isn't particularly gripping.

Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane's music is delightful but often fails to drive the piece forward. The songs are very 'lah dee dah' and rarely tell the audience much about the characters. The show is music heavy; I never became sick of the beautiful songs but sometimes it did feel like a little too much, plus Meet Me In St. Louis is very long for a show which has such a loose storyline.

Francisco Rodriguez-Weil's design sits nicely in the Landor, the set is smoothly changed by the cast. The choreography is lovely and performed well by the jolly ensemble.

Robert McWhir's direction is elegant and slick, never becoming clumsy - which is quite an achievement considering the size of the cast and theatre (the cast are huge and I don’t know how they all fit backstage as the Landor is an extremely intimate venue). The Landor was also particularly hot and stuffy which myself and many audience members were unprepared for (you can hardly blame us bearing in mind it was absolutely freezing outside) - layers are certainly the way forward.

Recent drama school graduate Georgia Permutt leads the cast well as Esther Smith and gives a superb performance, helping to drive the piece forward. She was note perfect, effortlessly switching between her chest and head voice. The rest of the cast are mostly strong, although I did hear one or two duff notes here and there. The vocals and energy levels were particularly impressive during the company numbers.

I have never seen the film but am told the stage adaptation is fairly similar and captures its magic. Meet Me In St. Louis certainly provides a delightful evening at the theatre - if you are looking for some light-hearted fluffy Christmassy fun.

Reviewed by Andrew Tomlins (Editor)
andrew@westendframe.com

Meet Me In St. Louis runs at the Landor Theatre 18th January 2014.
Please visit www.landortheatre.co.uk for further information and tickets.

Photo Credit: Darren Bell

Follow @West_End_Frame