The Wind In The Willows: The New Musical (2018) -
I've always loved the ITV film and series of 'The Wind In The Willows' (1983 & 1984-8) so as I went in to this version of the classic tale turned musical, I was a bit unsure about the things developing before me. For instance the singing was a bit Americanised and in fact the whole production seemed to be trying to be like the U. S. stage musicals, but with that British interpretation that doesn't always work. I wasn't sure that I liked that juxtaposition of it to start with and despite the appropriate early 20th century setting and wardrobe it was still quite modern in its way, which took me a while to get used to.
I wasn't sure that the songs really added anything to the storyline except a level of fun to watch, but shortly after Rat and Moley's (Craig Mather) initial meeting and their next encounter with Mrs. Otter (Denise Welch) and then Toad (Rufus Hound), I quickly fell to enjoying the journey regardless.
I'd always had a thought that Rat and Mole were a bit more than just friends and the two of them, as shown here, definitely seemed to have a certain, almost marital connection. I may have felt that way because I did quite fancy Simon Lipkin as Ratty, even if he wasn't the traditional telling of the character, without the standard pomposity. Simon played the character in a way that had him a bit more "Working Class" and less like a retired Naval Officer, although he was still a bit of a know it all and sure of himself.
Moley was a tad more confident and argumentative too and I couldn't connect to his performance as easily because there was none of the bashful charm or shyness that I would have liked from what I knew of him previously.
However, I was glad that Rufus Hound didn't change what I knew of Toad too much. He was just the right balance of appealing and annoying. I couldn't help but like the character, even though I knew him to be a bugger and a selfish one at that. Like that funny guy from down the pub that you find hilarious, but you wouldn't want to live with and you have never envied his wife.
My one criticism of Rufus would be that he didn't "Poop, Poop!" loudly enough. But that may have been due to the sound quality, because I struggled to hear the Chief Weasel (Neil McDermott) clearly as well.
Sadly, as much as I usually love him, Gary Wilmot was not gruff enough to be my Badger. He just didn't command the respect or fear that he should have done.
In the position of one of the supporting artists I did find it nice to see the Washer Woman's Niece/Mrs. Hedgehog (Jenna Boyd) give a very talented performance as well. It's easy to overlook the smaller roles, but she definitely deserved a mention.
And I thought that it was clever to make Otter a female in order to bring in more feminine characters without upsetting the leads. The source material was heavily male lead, but this small adjustment made a difference without changing anything really.
I also appreciated the little touches dotted throughout, like having Swallows that were air crew and used to wipe between scenes. And it was good how they worked in a way to explain what type of animal each of the characters was in case it wasn't clear by their outfits. I actually thought that some of the costumes were brilliant.
I know the story well and Toad's mischievous journey from boat to caravan to car, before facing the consequences of his speed addiction (Not the narcotic substance obviously) played through nicely.
He returned from a stint in prison to find that his residence Toad Hall had been overrun by the Weasels and Stoats, but with the help of his friends he regained the property and ultimately learned nothing.
I did like the fact that they cleared up how he came to be pardoned for his crimes, which I don't recall ever being explained before.
I could easily see that this production would be fun to take kids to and I was sure that younger audiences would love the bright colours and the upbeat music, although it was definitely accessible to all.
By the end of it I was missing my own days in amateur musicals and I had a real craving to watch the old ITV series of this story that starred the voices of Michael Hordern, David Jason and Ian Carmichael and was so well animated, but I did enjoy this version too.
716.28/1000.
