The 10th Anniversary Concert of Howard Goodall’s gorgeous musical Love Story sees a beautiful reunion for its stars Michael D Xavier and Emma Williams at Cadogan Hall
“They will dance in the puddles
And teach them these tunes”
Delayed from last year by, what else, the pandemic, this 10th Anniversary Concert of Love Story was such a gorgeous way to spend a Sunday evening. I loved Howard Goodall’s musical from the first time I heard it in the West End (and the second) and have followed it ever since, from fringe revivals in London and even to Bolton.
Director Kirk Jameson’s production elevated the show from its billed “concert” staging to something much more involved, if not necessarily the full monty. And with all the emotion and commitment shown by the musical’s original star pairing – Emma Williams and Michael D Xavier – so much of that initial magic was recaptured.
Michael Matus, Simon Green and the glorious Rebecca Caine were all great value for money as their parental figures, with Jenna Boyd and Simbi Akande standing out in their smaller roles, musical director Andrew Linnie doing great work throughout. And it was lovely to hear from Howard Goodall too at the end, paying tribute to late book writer Stephen Clark.
It seems that the rights have now been removed from performing it as either fully-staged or in concert which feels like a big mistake but there was hope in the room that this won’t be the last time we hear this most beautiful of scores. And if it is, well this is an ideal way to remember it.
