War of the Worlds

The chance, possibly the last, to see Jeff Wayne conduct his iconic musical version of H G Wells' The War of the Worlds was too good to miss. Of course, it has been touring in a previous version for a while but this re-done production is in London for a limited time.

I have to say that I miss Richard Burton's voice, but Liam Neeson does a grand job (in projection), and it's lovely to see and hear David Essex on stage. The cast are generally strong and there was a beautiful performance from Daniel Bedingfield.With the exception of the rather comic martian puppet, the whole evenng was just great; but then I could happily have spent the enttire evening with my eyes shut just enjoying the music - live and punchy.

This is an evening for those already loving the music, it would be a strange evening for someone who didn't know the piece to attend and consequently most of the audience was "of an age" - an age that grew up to Jeff Wayne's fabulous music.