Gigi | Neil Simon Theatre

While I was on holiday in New York recently I decided to go and see the new Broadway revival of Gigi, a musical written by Lerner and Lowe in 1973 based on the novel and play of the same name. I saw the show 2 nights before it officially opened, which for me was very exciting as I've never seen a show while it's still been in previews before. I knew very little about the musical itself, only that this production starred Vanessa Hudgens and Corey Cott (one of my male Broadway favourites), so I was able to go into it with quite an open mind.

Let's start by talking cast: I've only ever seen Vanessa Hudgens in High School Musical and I have to admit that I didn't love her or her voice in those films. She completely changed my mind though as her voice and acting have clearly matured since then and I felt she was perfect for the part of cute, fun-loving Gigi. Having listened to audios of Corey Cott in Newsies I already knew that I liked his voice and again, I think he really suited the part of Gaston. He had the dry humour that had the whole audience giggling yet he showed of his romantic side too. Together him and Vanessa had fantastic chemistry which made the whole thing very believable. Although I won't mention every cast member here, I really believe there wasn't a weak link at they all worked together very nicely.

I've absolutely fallen in love with the show itself. It's a very classic style, with the music being instantly recognisable to the era it was written in and along with the light-hearted story, it made for a really lovely show. It doesn't cause major heartache like some of my favourite shows (cough Les Mis cough) and I think that makes a nice change. I'm a sucker for gorgeous costumes, and being set in Paris at the turn of the century you'd expect nothing less. Ensemble dance sequences teamed with flowing dresses in beautiful rich colours created quite the spectacle and was a real treat to watch.

I hate seeing new shows close, especially something that's made as big an impact on me as Gigi has, so if you are able to go and see it I would highly recommend it- even my Dad who is not a big musical fan was audibly laughing and admitted he did enjoy it more than he expected to. And hey, if it does well on Broadway, maybe it'll make it to the West End. I can but dream!