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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 ...

The best of all possible worlds: Candide in Concert with @LMTOrch @CadoganHall


It is possible to see the best of all possible worlds after experiencing the passion and sublime music making from London Musical Theatre Orchestra's concert version of Candide.

Playing for one night only at Cadogan Hall, you left the theatre sharing the joy and passion the musicians felt for Bernstein's work.

Based on a story by Voltaire, it's about a young man determined to cling to optimism despite the frequent tragedies he encounters. Along the way he's expelled from home, dragged into the Bulgarian army, brought before the Spanish Inquisition... But the plot is not so important...

As a concert version, Bernstein's operetta lets you overlook the sillier parts of the story and focus on the music and performances.


In the title role, Rob Houchen defines the optimism of the character with an a delicate tenor voice.

Anna O'Byrne as Cunegonde was a delight to watch. Particularly as she made singing high e-flats look  easy in the showstopping number "Glitter and Be Gay".

James Dreyfus held the proceedings together as the narrator and comic relief.

The orchestra is the first in London dedicated to Musical Theatre. Founded in 2015 by Music Director Freddie Tapner it was intended to give London musicians experience in playing big orchestral musical theatre scores.  Bernstein would have approved for sure.

Earlier in the year they performed Honeymoon In Vegas with Jason Robert Brown conducting which was also sensational.

During the interval, two strangers asked me "Is this just for one night?" Alas it was. But it's exciting to see something extraordinary even if it is for one night.

They'll be back at Hackney Empire on September 23 for a concert version of Jerry Herman's Mack and Mabel. In December they'll be in the West End for A Christmas Carol. Sign up on their website for updates.

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎



Photos by Nick Rutter

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