Piaf

Having had my plans changed at the last minute on Wednesday night, I rushed down to the Vaudeville to see if I could get my hands on a ticket for Piaf. I missed it at the Donmar and hadn't had chance to catch it in the West End and thought I was just going to have to resign myself to missing it, so was very happy indeed when the lovely man at the box office gave me a top price seat (central stalls) for £20. Lovely.

I have mixed feelings on it... the opening staging is fabulous - I wish it had lasted longer! Elena Roger is really as amazing as everyone says but I still felt a little disappointed overall and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's just because the Donmar have set the bar so high for themselves that my expectations are always much higher than pretty much anywhere else. I think it was the piece though... I know it seems a strange complaint to moan about the story constantly moving but it all just seemed a bit too quick. The pace was very fast throughout, without any real let up and I just wish it had paused, or slowed down a little bit even a couple of times to have some contrast.

We had a couple of understudies - Mensah Bediako for the Doctor etc and Nari Blair-Mangat for Louis. The latter was a bit of a weak link for me, which was a shame.

I did enjoy it, am very glad to have seen it and think the world has gone utterly crazy if she doesn't win an Olivier but yet somehow still feel just a little bit let down.