Zorro!

For those of you reading my blog you will realise I am not uniformly kind to every show I see. I like to think I approach each play, musical or cabaret with an open mind. This week I found myself in the unusual position of reviewing a major West End musical 3 days after its official press night, so that I was free to cover the annual Spotlight Showcases at the Strand Palace Hotel. So by Thursday this week I had already had access to some reviews of Zorro, initially Michael Billington’s 4 star review for The Guardian but also The Metro’s mauling and in particular Mark Shenton’s turn of the screw on his Stage Website Blog. I felt I was not in for a great night. Upon my arrival I discovered that the opening was being delayed – badly delayed. 50 minutes later, with no real explanation, the show opened. I was not in the best of moods and had already sent texts to friends that I would have to cancel a date.

What took me by surprise was how good Zorro is. A real cracker of a show with a lively mix of camp humour, strong if a little sturdy dance routines, great musical numbers and an excellent story.

Mark Shenton continued his barrage of insults at the show and equally surprisingly began to harangue fellow critics for daring to like it too! I have an inordinate amount of respect for Mark’s place in the industry although I long ago realised our tastes differ to quite a degree. Quite where all this is coming from I am not sure but two of his commentators rally to his cause, in quite a ridiculous fashion, churning out the usual elitist rubbish Mark himself seemed to be hoping to avoid.