Review: Sleepless

Hey readers!
It's time for my review of Sleepless.
When eight-year-old Jonah phones a Seattle radio show and gets his dad, Sam, to talk live on air about the heart-breaking loss of his mother, Sam instantly touches hearts across America. Nearly 3,000 miles away, journalist Annie starts to ask herself whether Sam could be more than just a great news story. It looks like love is in the airwaves, but how do you know if he’s the one for you if you’ve never even met? Perhaps only a last-minute dash to the top of the Empire State Building can prove that somewhere there’s someone for everyone...

Development on a musical adaptation of the movie 'Sleepless in Seattle' first began in 2009, and continued all the way up until 2020. The show went through several creative overhauls and postponements, before finally announcing a run at London's Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre in early March of this year. Unfortunately, the show faced a further set-back with the COVID-19 pandemic, creating further obstacles. However, upon the recent announcement that live performances could re-start, the producers decided to push ahead and at last open Sleepless. This was a very bold move, and one that should be commended. Sleepless is the first large scale in-door show to open in Stage 4 of the government's roadmap to reopening, requiring social distanced seating. In spite of the financial impact this may have, the producers were still eager to open their show as planned in order to give the industry some hope and provide financial stability for those employed in theatre. One can only hope that this will pave the way for other theatrical productions to open in the near future, and hopefully this marks a new beginning.

Kimberley Walsh, formerly a part of girl group Girls Aloud, stars in the leading role of Annie Reed and completely steals the show. It goes without saying that Walsh is a talented singer, but her acting skills are equally as faultless. She conveys the character very well, clearly demonstrating Annie's overly idealistic and romantic nature. Harriet Thorpe, as Annie's mother Eleanor, was also outstanding, and proved to be one of the show's many highlights. Thorpe was very well-suited to the role, and had a real kindliness to her characterisation. Her rendition of 'The Way He Said My Name' was enchanting, and simply a delight to watch. Cory English is also worthy of a special mention, having performed the role of Rob. English has a huge stage presence, and stole the spotlight upon every entrance. He provided much needed comedic relief to the show as a whole, and really brought the fun-factor to it.

The musical score of Sleepless is entirely original, with music by Robert Scott and lyrics by Brendan Cull. The score is enjoyable, and has some pleasant tunes throughout. My one and only critique of the score is that it is not necessarily the most memorable. That is not to say that the music is disagreeable, but I imagine the show would likely benefit from adding one or two big production numbers that really stay with the audience long after departing the show. The orchestrations however, by Larry Blank, were flawless. The entire orchestra are very much worthy of praise, and they were truly excellent.

Now for my final verdict on Sleepless. I give Sleepless...

Sleepless features a handful of very talented performers, as well as pleasing music and outstanding orchestrations. It's great to see live theatre re-starting, and hopefully there will be more of this to come!

Think it should have got a higher rating? Agree with my rating? Think it should have got a lower rating? If so comment below.

Thanks for reading!

-The Basic Theatre Reviewer