REVIEW: Five Guys Named Moe at the Marble Arch Theatre
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| By
Emily Jenkins
Earlier this month a few friends and I headed down to the (brand new!) Marble Arch Theatre to see Five Guys Named Moe - we’d been looking forward to it for what seems like forever, so we were excited long before we stepped foot in the theatre.
Talking of the theatre, let’s touch on that for a second - the Marble Arch Theatre is a brand new space, purpose built for this production, and it could not be more spot on. If you saw In The Heights at the Charing Cross Theatre, then picture that - it had a similar feel in that front of house felt like part of the show. This was made even better by there being a band ABOVE the bar, entertaining the audience as they came in - genius! Add to that the fact the programmes were free and you've got a great setup! I loved the cabaret seating within the rotating stage, too - absolutely ingenious set design from the award-winning ‘takis’.
Let's move onto casting. In my personal opinion, I think that each cast member was perfectly placed in their role - they all had absolutely gorgeous voices and dance moves to match (helped greatly by Andrew Wright's beautiful choreography - more on this later!) and they completely captured the fun nature of the show in everything they did. Special mentions, however, have to go to Idriss Kargbo (Little Moe) and Emile Ruddock (Eat Moe) who were absolutely hilarious to watch from start to finish.
Not only were the cast fantastic, but the band were too - they were positioned behind a curtain on the main section of the stage (on a platform that moved backwards and forwards!), and they were absolutely stunning - I’d love to have the stamina to play that well, with that much enthusiasm, for that long!
I’ve been a huge fan of Andrew Wright’s choreography for quite a while now (the fact he was choreographing Five Guys Named Moe was actually one of the main reasons I saw it!) and I have to say, he did not disappoint. The choreography is inspired by that of the original production, and it really stays true to the show, while still feeling fresh and fun - easily some Andrew Wright’s best choreography.
Overall I adored the show - it was feel-good, it was fun, and it made me want to get up and dance – which, believe me, is no mean feat! Absolute perfection.
Five Guys Named Moe is currently booking until November 2017.