Who tells the story?

Since my first trip to London with my husband in 2015, I have been a fan of musical theater. While we were in London my husband decided to plan a day around musicals, meaning one matinee and one evening show. Every time he plans one of those, he decided on one show to rewatch and one new show. This time those we're Wicked and Hamilton. Even though I say "rewatch", I actually meant "watch it for the fourth time while my husband would have seen it for the fifth time." You could say we are big fans of the musical: we own the art book, we have some other memorabilia like socks, pins and magnets, and my husband has multiple cast recordings both physically and digitally. Our little heap of musical merch is apparently nothing compared to the mass of merch that will be releasing with the movie that'll be coming out soon. It also seems tons of collaborations are planned which seems like they'll be saturating the market very soon. Despite me being a big fan of The Wizard of Oz  and Wicked, I'm very sure these items will also be saturating the garbage piles within six months turning them green and pink (just like Barbie last year), lest they campaign just as hard for the movie's sequel. Yes, this is an unnecessary duology and I'm very curious to see how they're going to stretch this story out to make it work.

Elphaba's Act II dress (2024)

Map of The Land of Oz (2024)

Naturally the cast was amazing and I have nothing bad to say about the show. Lucy St. Louis made such a great Glinda too (amazing toss toss)! Naturally, I also enjoyed the costuming and noticed that they had made some more changes from the original. These changes worked perfectly to make them a bit more modern, just like they had done in 2015 because high-low skirts were very in vogue at the time. There was only one thing I had to get used to: the performers got to keep their British accent. However, during songs they dropped the accent since I think it might not work rhythmically sometimes. This got me thinking on whether this would also be the case during Hamilton, which was the second musical we picked to watch during our trip. We had heard so many good things about Lin-Manuel Miranda's multi-award winning musical and we remembered how popular it was during lockdown thanks to a recording being available on Disney+. We chose not to watch it there as we desperately wanted to see it live so we could experience it properly. We thought we were lucky to see the show still before it left, but apparently, after we booked our tickets, they announced that the musical will be showing until autumn of 2025.

Coord rundown:

• Head bow: Off-brand
• Earrings: Vivienne Westwood
• Necklace: Vivienne Westwood
• OP: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
• Watch: Marc by Marc Jacobs
• Bloomers: Off-brand
• OTKs: Atelier 17
• Shoes: Buffalo
• Bag: Kipling
• Bag: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright
• Umbrella: Baby, the Stars Shine Bright

Outfit rundown:

• Glasses: Matsuda
• Suit: Emporio Armani
• Shirt: 
• Belt: Dolce & Gabbana
• Shoes: John Fluevog

Hamilton starts out impressively with Right Hand Man being my favorite song from the entire show. Unfortunately the musical falls a bit flat in the second act, with my husband's favorite song The Room Where It Happens being the one exception. The character of Alexander Hamilton really wasn't my cup of tea and they really started focusing more on him in the second act. I just couldn't find myself rooting for him at any time. Even though he is a very flawed character, the show portrays him as someone you should be standing behind because of his rags to riches story. Yet, his paranoia, promiscuity and lack of respect for his peers take all the admiration you should have for him away. It did for me and my husband, at least. I did enjoy the show's costuming a lot as it displayed the transition from fop fashion to dandyism. For the rest of the cast's costumes I have to note that I really appreciate how they decided to dress the ensemble in neutral tones. This helped keep the focus on the main characters and it also ensured that women could also play more masculine parts in the show.

Victoria Palace Theatre (2024)

Victoria Palace Theatre (2024)

The decor which changed minimally (2024)

With this post I would like to express my gratitude towards my husband. He is the person who nourished my curiosity about musical theater, turning it into love. If it wasn't for him I don't think I would watch multiple shows every time I would visit London. I'm very happy this has now become a part of my life as well. It has definitely enriched my life: the music, the acting, the costuming, the sets... ! Just the amount of effort that goes into those shows every single time to put perfection on the stage is just extremely impressive. 

Thank you, and take care.