Rachel Bloom, Pete Gardner, Scott M Foster, Kat Burns at Palladium Theatre, London, 02/06/19 (iPhone photos: L.F.)
The London’s audience is certainly a fan of the American at the origin of the (cult in my opinion) series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Now that the series is over, Rachel Bloom gives it an original sequel with a concert tour. Back on her first gig at the Palladium.
After all the series is made for a concert version and it is different from the typical prequel/sequel and other attempts to make the brand live. The songs of this show are iconic, filled with humour, feelings, and personality. In short, it’s sublime and seeing it live, even better.
As I said above, London’s audience agrees and makes it known by screaming at full lung as soon as Bloom moves, breathes or that a note is acknowledged (in about 0.002 seconds).
It’s a hundred times worse when Pete Gardner and Scott Michael Foster make a surprise appearance just at the end of the ‘first act’ on The Math of Love Triangle. The fans are hysterical and Bloom immediately plays with it. The comebacks are powerful, pungent and exactly like the tone she gave to her songs.
During this first ‘act’, because yes, at the Palladium they do intermissions during gigs, be aware, we have fun to see Bloom switch from Sexy French Depression to I’m a Good Person, one of our favorite, always playing with her audience who, a priori, doesn’t always let her finish her sentences or notes.
Kat Bruns is also quite present on stage. Choreographer of the series, she assists two lucky girls from the audience to sing and dance to Friendtopia with Bloom. After a mini-course of energised dance moves, the two amateurs give every they have to a public full of kindness and admiration. Magical moment for an unforgettable song.
Rachel Bloom, Pete Gardner, Scott M Foster, Kat Burns at Palladium Theatre, London, 02/06/19 (iPhone photos: L.F.)
For the second ‘act’ Gardner and Foster are a little more present with some solos. I Love My Daughter (But Not in a Creepy Way) and the indispensable Getting ‘ Bi for the former, and I Go to the Zoo for the latter. Together they take up also the duo Sports Analogies.
But back to Bloom. In addition to the titles of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, she offers us some of her old compositions with the hilarious Jazz Fever and the almost punk Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury. In the same theme, they’re picking up Stacy’s Mom from Fountains of Wayne. Why? Because Adam Schlesinger, who writes a lot with Bloom, has been on the piano since the beginning… and he wrote that song.
In another register, Bloom opens up to her audience quite personally by telling a few anecdotes but also with two fairly serious songs: The Darkness, about depression, and You Stupid Bitch, on self-esteem. It ends the concert and is followed by a rain of applause and a widely deserved standing ovation. If she comes back, we go back, that’s for sure because she’s definitely a good person.