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Somewhere that's green: Potty the Plant at Wiltons Music Hall

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"I'm Potty the Plant," sings a potted plant in this odd little fringe concept of a show. It's hard not to get the tune out of your head, even if the show is brief. It's an earworm for a show that features a worm-like plant as a puppet. And given the show's brevity, running at only an hour, it's hard to get too annoyed by a lack of a coherent story, even if it still seems like the show could use a bit more development (which is underway). It has made its London debut at Wilton's Music Hall. The premise is that Potty, the plant, lives in the hospital office of Dr Acula (geddit?) and dreams of a life with the cleaning lady Miss Lacey (Lucy Appleton). But Dr Acula might be responsible for why all these children are disappearing while trying to romance Miss Lacey for her family's money that she doesn't have. Three nurses are on the case, trying to solve the mystery.  If the show settled on a convincing plot, location and set of characters, it could ...

Revisiting in jokes and theatrical barbs: Forbidden Broadway on the West End

It has another month to run, but Forbidden Broadway is a bit of a guilty pleasure. Full of in-jokes and send ups of shows on the West End (and Broadway) it is a lot of fun, but also a chance to see four actors wow us with their singing and comic abilities.

The silliness becomes infectious to the point that the spoof of Once becomes so hysterically funny even the cast have trouble keeping it together.

Christinia Bianco is off this week, but Laura Tebbutt is an equally funny impersonator - particularly of Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel. Let it blow (a parody of the enduring song Let it Go) is a particularly evening highlight.

Damian Humbley is hilarious as he sends up Cameron Mackintosh and the revival of Miss Saigon, or playing Jean Valjean in Les Miserables.

Anna-Jane Casey is naturally funny but particularly hilarious in spoofs on Sondheim, Wicked and the Cheaper Evita that's currently touring the UK.

Ben Lewis manages to be hilarious, particularly in the send up of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels that is playing down the road as a star vehicle for an actor with questionable vocal abilities.

It runs for another month. Check out the show's Youtube clips as well. The Elaine Paige impersonations are hilarious. Katherine Kingsley (below) seems to nail it...

First impressions after the show (including a mild disruption as @Johnnyfoxlondon gets so excited talking about the show he drops his glasses and a homeless man picks them up for him) follow:



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