Soho Cinders
Charing Cross Theatre, London
Reviewed by Katie Middlebrook
Seen October 29th, 2019
★★★★★
You Shall Go To The Ball!
Soho Cinders is a musical, loosely based on the story of Cinderella. It has music by George Stiles and lyrics by Anthony Drewe with Elliot Davis as co-author. The action is based in the heart of London in Soho. The musical first showcased in 2008, followed by a gala concert in 2011. The soundtrack was also then released in 2011.
Soho Cinders is a modern musical which mixes politics and true love in a story about a boy called Robbie. Robbie is in the midst of running his late mother’s laundrette, paying for rent to his two ugly-step sisters and becoming romantically involved with the engaged mayoral candidate, James Prince. James and Robbie’s worlds collide, forcing them to fight for their true love and happy ending in this hilarious twist on the classic Cinderella story. The Charing Cross theatre is currently holding the most recent rendition of Soho Cinders.
The show opens with the fun upbeat number ‘Old Compton Street’. This song is full of dance breaks, harmonies throughout and a chance to see all of the characters and get an introduction to the storyline. This is also where we first meet our Cinderella character who is played by Luke Bayer.
Luke plays Robbie who is our leading man in the show. Luke has played a leading role before as the alternate Jamie in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and he definitely does not disappoint in this new role. The emotion and energy Luke puts into every song he sings is breathe-taking. The score of this show is quite poppy and definitely fits Luke’s voice very well. His acting and comedy value comes across so easily, you are rooting for him to have the happy ending he deserves by the end of the show.
The second song in the show is a song called ‘Wishing For The Normal’, which is sung by Robbie and best friend Velcro who is played by Millie O’Connell. This song shows the beautiful friendship Robbie and Velcro have. Luke and Millie bounce off each other when they are on stage together, the chemistry has you constantly smiling and laughing at the banter Robbie and Velcro have with each other.
The score of the show is very catchy, I came out singing the songs over and over again. Two songs definitely stood out as my favourites. The first being ‘They Don’t Make Glass Slippers’ which comes at a very poignant moment in the show. It is sung by Luke and really show cases his beautiful vocal rang and the emotion he shows when performing. The second song is ‘You Shall Go To The Ball’ which is the last song in Act one. It is a fun dance number where you see multiple of the different storylines moulding into one.
Act one ends with ‘You Shall Go To The Ball’ and leaves everyone singing the catchy song in the interval. The first act ends with a big cliff hanger which leaves you wanting to find out what happens next.
A highlight of the show for me was definitely the two stepsisters. There comedy throughout the show is absolutely hilarious it left the audience in stitches. They have two duets together, but my favourite definitely has to be ‘I’m So Over Men’. The stepsisters are played by Michaela Stern and Natalie Harman. Michaela is also co-producing the show along with Will Keith and Kyle Tovey.
The show ends with a very catchy curtain call which has you foot tapping or even up on your feet dancing along with the cast as they have a ball on stage.
Soho Cinders is on at The Charing Cross Theatre until December 21st. Do not miss out on this spectacular show! It is not one you want to miss.
Ginger in the Theatre 