*****

( all photos Pamela Raith photography)

In a remarkable coup for the Garrick  this is the Uk professional premiere of the off Broadway hit musical Disenchanted.

–

The 2022 Disenchanted film  was an American  Walt Disney live-action/animated musical fantasy comedy film  and the  sequel to the 2007 film Enchanted set in a fairytale castle.

–

An imagined sequel, this is a musical fairy tale that bites back. There are no simpering helpless hopeless damsels in distress here- and the princes are nowhere to be seen

–

Imagine the Spice girls meet the cast of “Six” with Girl Power to the fore, the  excellent three piece on- stage band are women too.  All of the lazy princess tropes are forgotten. Cinderella has burst out of the kitchen and sleeping beauty is wide awake. As for Rapunzel, well you wouldn’t want to cross her.

–

Each character tells their own story with a powerful original musical score including the Little Mermaid, Pocahontas ,the Princess Who Kissed the Frog  and a comic  Teutonic Rapunzel who steals the show.

–

The show combines, panto, pop concert, cabaret, with stand up comedy  but crucially has heart and inspiringly declares that it’s never  too late to re-write our own endings.

–

 It boasts two secret weapons. In a brand new show, inevitably the audience is adjusting to the format. Just before the interval any adjustment time is sidelined by the arrival of Jewelle Hutchinson as the princess who kissed a frog.

–

With a voice so powerful the rest of Lichfield must have suffered an electricity shortage she blasted the show into the interval with great vocals and personal presence, the lift she provided to the show and audience was palpable. In the second half Eliza Bowden seizes the limelight as Rapunzel with Germanic zeal and efficiency. Make sure you have done your bit in the audience for the call and response  sections – as she doesn’t tolerate any slackers.

–

Dennis Giacino and Fiely  Matias are responsible for the Book, Music and Lyrics which skip along briskly for a show that does not outstay its welcome at just under two hours including interval and is very funny. The copyright gags are amusing and droll. . The set design is utilitarian, the costuming lavish, no princess is going to tolerate skimping on the dress budget.

–

The audience was predominantly a traditional mature one. However I sneaked in a nine and ten year old ( the advisory is fourteen) and they loved it. The brief profanity was nothing they had not heard in the playground that day. The empowerment message resonated strongly with them and it may be that the producers might want to find a way to reach out to that audience in the future.

–

Disenchanted runs until Saturday 2^nd May before heading for the Edinburgh festival. Director Daniel Buckroyd has done a superb job with the show which I suspect will be critically acclaimed north of the border.