I'm not sure what they're teaching at LAMDA, but it certainly isn't vocal projection. We were forewarned about the technical difficulties - but if a trained stage singer can't reach the 6th row of a tiny theatre, that can't be blamed on the backstage team.
The show advertises itself as:
What happens when you take Sondheim’s most beloved music and turn it on its head? Ingénues become villains, villains deliver delicate ballads, and comic sidekicks step into tragedy.
But, bluntly, that's not what was delivered. The gender swapping and colour-blind casting was fine, but there was no sense that this was a twist on the songs. They were all delivered in a straightforward fashion.
In fairness, there were a couple of truly excellent singers - Adam Boggs McDonald was spectacular and Paulina Hill was an absolute showstopper. The twist on Agony by Angelia Castillo and Adelia Castillo worked well.
Sadly the rest was over promised and under delivered.
Another show seen purely in the basis that we had an hour free and the venue was close. That's generally a pretty sound strategy for seeing shows - but you have to accept the risk that you might not like what you get.
