FIRST DATE: THE MUSICAL (Brasserie Zedel)***

 

By Imogen

Link: https://www.brasseriezedel.com/events/first-date-the-musical/ £12.50

Available until: There are two more livestreams at 7.30 on Friday 23^rd and Saturday 24^th October.

I did actually enjoy this and there were some things about it that I really liked a lot but there were too many things that annoyed me for me to give it 4 stars. I could give 4 stars to be kind but I think it’s very important to give my honest opinion.

First Dates (as the livestream calls it) or First Date (as the Brasserie Zedel website calls it and I think that’s correct) is exactly what you’d expect it to be. A man and a woman (Aaron and Casey) meet on a blind date, I guess at the Brasserie Zedel (I’ve never been there, I don’t live in London and my parents won’t let me date sixth formers which is just stupid and the boys I’m allowed to date could never afford a place like that and I obviously wouldn’t be seen dead with my parents). Almost the entire musical is the couple sitting together, trying to make conversation. There is also an ensemble who take various other roles like Brasserie Zedel staff, Casey’s friend who keeps calling to rescue her from her date and also a few people who aren’t physically there but they’re like voices in the characters’ heads, saying what they’d say if they were there.

The idea of it works quite well but a big problem for me is that the book isn’t always very good. Austin Winsberg doesn’t always write interesting dialogue, Casey isn’t a very likeable character, there isn’t a lot of chemistry between her and Aaron and some of the jokes are pretty cringe. It was actually realistic because bad dates are usually a mixture of boring and cringe but it was a bit too realistic.

Most of the music (which is by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner) was good, nice to listen to and there is one real showstopper about google. (I know. I can’t believe it either.) It’s a really great tune, the lyrics are fun and it’s sung by Danielle Steers who is just insanely good so it ended up being a real highlight. There are also some quite nice ballroom-type numbers and Casey’s friend Reggie has a couple of good songs. Definitely one of the best new (to me) musicals I’ve seen in lockdown.

But one thing about the google song, it says the characters google each other and I think that might have worked better if they didn’t have names with so many different spellings. I’m assuming the girl is Casey Clarke, but it could be Kaci Klaak or anything in between. The guy is Aaron which also has a whole bunch of spellings. They really need names which are unusual enough for them to be easy to find on google but names which don’t have too many different spellings. I guess that as they’re in lockdown (there’s a token reference to social distancing and elbow bumps) it might have all been sorted out by text but would they realistically give or ask for the surnames in a text? I might ask in person but I never do in a text unless I’ve got a horrible feeling I’ve already dated him/refused to touch him with a bargepole.

Casey is played by Samantha Barks who would be a week away from playing Elsa in Frozen in the West End if there was any justice in the world. Samantha has an amazing voice. She has a really good sound, a good range, she can do a few different styles. But Casey is a total bitch. That might be the book’s fault or maybe director Dean Johnson wanted to make her edgy and went a bit far or maybe Samantha misjudged the best way to play her but I didn’t like Casey. Aaron can do better.

Simon Lipkin is really cute at Aaron but seriously he couldn’t be more of a drip if he’d just crawled out of a river. I mean I would consider a second date just for his looks but he’s way too hung up on his ex. It was like the wrong relationship at the wrong time. I thought Simon sang and acted the role really well though. Aaron is a nice guy.

The ensemble are amazing. Danielle Steers who should be playing Catherine Parr in Six is like one of the most talented and versatile singers in the West End. She has an epic vocal range, she was singing soprano a lot of the time in this concert but her low notes are off the scale, she could totally sing tenor. She seems able to sing in any pop or musical theatre style and I think she could probably go classical if she wanted. She might even be more versatile than me and that’s saying something.

Oscar Conlon-Morrey was great as the waiter and in his other roles, he has a good voice and his comic timing is totally on point. Nicholas McLean’s main role is as Reggie, Casey’s friend. He’s very cute, he’s a great singer and if we weren’t in partial lockdown I’d think he’d been in Aashiq’s wardrobe. (It’s like TK Maxx in there. I wish his feet weren’t so big or I could borrow his shoes.)

There are 2 more livestreams of First Date and I totally recommend you give them a watch. It’s not exactly Wicked but it’s not Mary Poppins either and when else are you going to see so many West End stars up close for £12.50?