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‘Dazzling’ An American in Paris to light up London stage

March 2017

With its dazzling dancing and a roster of classic Gershwin songs, the new musical An American in Paris has already wowed critics and audiences in Paris and New York. And now, London audiences will get to see a show that Charles Isherwood in The New York Times describes as “a dazzling, transporting musical that turns Paris into a kaleidoscope of romance”.

Isherwood is far from alone in his enthusiasm. Alex Beggs of Vanity Fair calls it a “stylish, seductive spectacle.” Its “exuberant, sweeping innovation, dark historical understanding and a big, smart heart,” impressed Newsday.

“Once you’ve seen it,” warns Terry Teachout, writing in the Wall Street Journal, “you’ll find it hard to struggle for anything less again. This is what musical-comedy dance can look like when it’s made by a someone who knows how to do more than just stage a song.”

Staged by some of the most celebrated theatre-makers in the world (including director and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and designer Bob Crowley), this breathtakingly beautiful musical, which is co-produced by Bruno Wang Productions, features its original, award-winning Broadway stars, and an exceptional company of 50 actors, dancers and musicians to tell the story of a young American soldier striving to make it as a painter in the aftermath of war. Following a chance encounter with a beautiful young dancer, the ‘City of Light’ becomes the backdrop to a sensuous, modern romance of art, friendship and love.

The show won four Tonys including Best Choreography, and Judith Mackrell of The Guardian says: “Wheeldon’s musical puts him up on a level with Jerome Robbins. Dance is the life force of this production, and what’s most exciting and beguiling about it is not just the way it features in the love duets or razzmatazz routines, but the degree to which it brings a shimmer, a buoyancy, a fleet-footed articulation to every detail of the staging. The opening scene alone is a physical tour de force.”