An American in Paris | Theatre Review

Hello! For my birthday my Mummy took me to see An American in Paris, I have been holding this off for a little while as I wanted to save it for a special occasion, its safe to say I was quite bloody excited.

Set in Paris post World War 2 and Nazi occupation, Gerry and ex-serviceman and painter, chooses to stay rather than return home. He's struggling to get on his feet until he meets Lise a ballerina. However not to his knowledge he is in competition with his two best friends in the city.

There was part of me that loved it, and also a part of me that questioned its relevance to audiences in 2017. (To see why, scroll on down)

I think we should start with the positives! The ballets within the show were gorgeous and mesmerising, intricate and clever. Especially the final on 'An American in Paris' with colours of the costume, and the intense duet between Lise and her imagined Jerry - that was stunning.

And of course the gorgeous Gershwin score, I absolutely love the sound and quality of musical theatre/film written in the 1930's and 40's , quite frankly it makes me swoon. It had the classics I've Got Rhythm,  Shall We Dance and They Can't Take That Away From Me.

However to some extent I found the music jarring in context (hear me out). Due to the nature of the time An American in Paris was written, songs were re-used from other works, for me personally meaning the links between the plot and song were not seamless. To some extent this is what you get from a piece from this period.

My second issue was that I didn't feel Gerry was likeable or charming, in fact I think he was a nob. The way he pursued Lise, I doubt would be allowed in if it was a new piece of work, considering overall An American in Paris is a light fluffy show. In 2017 Lise could have filed for sexual harassment or stalking. Which *spoiler* did not make me best pleased when it was Gerry who got the girl in the end.

I think with a few modern touches, this could be a show that runs and runs. Setting itself apart from other productions such as Top Hat and Singin' in the Rain, rather than just hopping on a money making bandwagon.

Please don't get me wrong, I loved this show. I'm just a little disappointed as its extremely close to being something really special.

Thanks for popping by,

xxx