★★ REVIEW: The Crown Jewels (West End) | starring Al Murray, Mel Gierdroyc, Carrie Hope Fletcher
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OHMYGOD HEY!
I recently went to see the new comedy play THE CROWN JEWELS at the Garrick Theatre in the West End.
The show, which is based on true events that occurred during the reign of King Charles II, stars Al Murray, Mel Gierdeoyc, Carrie Hope Fletcher, Neil Morissey, and more.
Check out today's new video review for my thoughts on this production...
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00:00 | introduction
04:07 | synopsis
07:37 | what did I think?
12:56 | performances
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#london #westend #theatre - Zábava
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Can you go to Retford majestic theatre it a lovely place
As much as I like and admire CHF I'm very glad that you pointed out that she's not a naturally comedic actress. Whenever she plays more comedic roles (Wednesday, ect) it just sounds like she's reading off the script instead of really delivering the jokes. She's a great dramatic actress so it feels like a waste of her talent. Shame she didn't get to showcase more of her gorgeous voice also!
Ooh, a 2-star review? I’m seated and deadly curious.
Oh jeeze, how bad does your show have to be to score a 2 star review from MickeyJo? That’s barely up from “the performers jumped into the audience and beat the shit out of me.”
That's cheered me up no end!
That last line is hilarious but so true, even when he doesn’t really like a show he often gives it a three, must be bad!
A few years ago, an audience member actually made that accusation against Blue Man Group in Chicago.
This story may have not worked in this production, but the idea of a jewel heist in the 1600s seems like prime material for Mischief Theater Company!
I have genuinely never considered walking out of a show during the interval until I saw this. Just a jumbled mess of a thing with the added discomfort of Al Murray sexually harassing audience members under the guise of being a king and some casual racism. I'm a real Carrie fan but she wasn't great in this tbh. Mel was the only good bit about it.
Genuine and innocent question - when did you see this? Was it recently or a few weeks ago Aka closer to when it opened? (You probably know why I’m asking this if you’re a CHF fan and follow her socials…) Also absolutely not making excuses what do ever as haven’t seen the show so can only judge on what others have said!
@@Jlonotfromtheblockcan I ask what happened with CHF?
@@JlonotfromtheblockI saw it mid August. And to be fair she was not actively bad or anything at all. It was just her placement in the show felt off. She's the only one that sings until the very end so the world didn't feel musical so the fact that she was singing felt weird and that made here whole character not really work. Idk if that makes sense 😅 but defo more of a script problem!
THANK YOU! I felt so uncomfortable during those audience interactions and was disappointed how low the bar for 'funny' was...
@@cascharles3838she’s recently announced she’s pregnant and has said she was in her first trimester and still being sick during the early performances. I’ve had a baby fairly recently so I have so much sympathy for how hard the fatigue and sickness is (especially in the heat) but obviously it’s not like an audience can or should account for that.
I saw this and my general view is that it was just absolutely ridiculous, clearly the cast are thoroughly enjoying themselves pissing about which I mean isn’t great theatre but doesn’t harm anyone
'Depends on the cost of the tickets!
I have to agree with all of this. In general the performances were good, with the exception of the theives who were almost actively bad - but the biggest crime of this whole show is the material is appaling. If it wasn't for Al and Mel's ad libs then I doubt I'd even give the show 1 star. 2 stars is fair just out of respect for a standout performance of Adonis Siddique and anything that was off script ... which tells you everything you need to know about the script!
"It feels a little bit like a UKIP conference" - that one's going on the tour poster
This is fascinating to me, as an American. Since, West End critics are much more lenient than their Broadway counterparts. If the Brits gave this play 2-stars, one can only imagine how Americans would trash it.
*Laughs in A Strange Loop*
@@mattd1393wait what? I thought everybody loved A Strange Loop?
I was about to argue but I am called the Simon Cowell of uk review's so your probably right.. not many people are harsh enough, I gave my favourite show a 4 stars..
@@yoyolovesmovies - “A Strange Loop” was not popular, in the USA. Even with winning Best Musical, which it only won on the basis of not being a jukebox, it could not secure funding for a national tour.
I wanted to love this! I loved the improv bits from Mel and Al but the plotters scenes were just not funny. I wanted to laugh but I was sort of forced to because of the awkwardness within the theatre
I feel bad for the show. Charles II is one of my Historical boos, I've read so much about him, and the women around him, and I wanted this show to be good, because there's so much potential on his life and in the lives of those around court. Like Nell Gwynn, she'd be such a good subject for a proper semi-comedic musical, she's like the OG Funny Girl.
Funnily enough there was a comedic musical made about Nell Gwynn around 2016 in the west end. Saw it twice and am still super sad that there is no cast recording 😭
Nell Gwynn by Jessica Swale (which is currently being adapted to film) is the play for you
Oh noooo! Was not expecting such a low star rating with this cast! Intrigued to hear your thoughts.
I genuinely laughed more during this review than I did in 2hrs of the play.
To be fair I'm always happy to be at the theatre, even for shows that aren't great and the audience around me found it hilarious so at least no awkward silences.
We saw this when we had a 2 show day in London. We made a huge mistake by seeing Book of Mormon for the matinee and then seeing this for the evening show. Book of Mormon is a very funny show which then just made this seem even less funny. We liked the bit where Al and Mel interacted with the audience and that was pretty much it. The rest of the show just completely fell flat. We didn’t have a clue what was going on half the time. We felt it was trying to be a bit Blackadderish and failing miserably. Hugely disappointing sadly.
I honestly thought this was the worst piece of theatre I have ever had the displeasure of sitting through (well half of it - I find it personally disrespectful to leave a show in the interval, but oh my god if I had stayed any longer I would have lost all my will to live). I had such high expectations, the writer has such brilliant credits and of course that cast! But oh my god I was so disappointed.
I find it impressive how plastered across their marketing is the quote ‘hysterical’ from the spectator - the actual quote from the review was describing a character’s personality as an insult to the way that she had been written.
At least the cast seem to be having fun, although sadly even they cannot save this 2 hours of the stupidest penis metaphors - I found a bit where Mel holds up a baguette and basically says “it looks like a penis ha ha” an insult to her talent.
Went today and was so looking forward to a good belly laugh but alas it never happened 😪 if it wasn't for the audience participation it would have not been so funny. That's just my opinion didn't feel on a high like most shows iv seen
I think the thing that disappointed me the most was the audience. Here’s what happened:
The hand dryers where so loud we could hear them in the auditorium
This couple infront of us kept TALKING VERY LOUDLY
Everyone was rustling their food which was very disturbing.
Soooo many people were on their phones
I found that way more upsetting. It’s a common trend now in theatre when the audiences behaviour is so disgraceful you feel embarrassed. Especially after the pandemic people have forgotten how to behave in theatre. You have a whole lot of people working their hands bloody to put on an incredible show and if you sit their ignoring, distracting and disrupting the show, I'm sorry but please just leave. I have been to many many show’s many and many audiences have behaved well and some others not as such. Even after the bodyguard incident, people still don’t really care about the fact that these are real people.
Sorry for the essay but it’s important
also, for anyone who doesn’t know about the bodyguard incident, it was a show in the west end and there was a drunk lot of people one night that kept singing along very loudly and it was up to the point that they stopped the show 10 minutes early and called to police
I am very happy that you are not allowed to eat in most theatres in Germany.
That makes sense! If only we had that in the Uk
I went to see this today. The audience participation bits and seeing the actors having a great time and trying not to laugh at each other were the best things about it. However, it did get uncomfortable with the repeated casual racism and the audience participation/stand up bits did feel a bit like a massive time filler in the script 😬
There were moments where I genuinely laughed throughout the play, but agree that the heist planning scenes just weren’t very interesting and I found my attention drifting. I enjoyed the songs, I thought they picked things up a bit. But maybe it’s just because I’m a Carrie fan and usually go to see musicals in the West End so I felt in more familiar territory 😂
All in all, it wasn’t a totally wasted theatre trip. I still had a generally good experience but I don’t think I’d go see The Crown Jewels again
Saw this last night in Canterbury and I thought it was hilarious. It also helped the Al Murray mocking the impossible parking situation in central Canterbury 😂
I've seen this through Theatre roulette and I absolutely agree. It was a panto until Al Murray came and did stand up and interacted with the audience which was fantastic
How was Carrie’s accent? I saw a video of her singing praise him and it was awfully done cockney then weirdly went to generic southern half way through it was in rehearsal so hopefully it got better.
Also how do you go for all the low hanging fruit when it’s a play with a monarch in it take the piss out of them.
Carrie is *terrible* at accents. I really wish she'd stop being cast in things that required an accent.
It's such a good story that they had to work with like I would've preferred if they didn't try and make it a comedy. There were 2 people behind me who seemed to be really enjoying the first half, laughing at every attempt of a joke, but they left at the interval. Finally, the Garrick's stage is so deep, and it felt like they only ever used the front 5 metres which I thought was a shame
Carrie hope fletcher needs a better agent
I am American and never seen her live, but that was my first thought.
She's had a very good run so far. Any agent would be crazy to not let her do a show with big stars in it though.
Yeah deefo like Veronica amzing Wednesday amazing fontine amazing this bad plus she need a job too cause ahes pregnant so she needs to buy a bunch of baby stuff which is expensive
The reviewer nails it. This play was utter bilge. I wish I had left at the interval. For people who like childish nob jokes and uncomfortable casual racism.
Going to see this on tour next month - definitely can’t wait now haha!
Thanks for honest review. Is was probably what I had half expected ….feared. Last month had the good fortune of a day trip to Groundhog Day (last day) and A Strange Loop (10 stars in 10 hours !). Sadly don’t think I’ll try to see this. Crazy for You definitely on the radar
Crazy for You is a must see! Charlie Stemp is outstanding!
I very much agree with your review. The way I described it was that it felt like the show was conceived as a drunken idea in the pub and someone saying “You know what we should do, get as many comedy actors as we can find and throw them together. How could it possibly fail”.
I saw it initially during previews and came away not knowing how I felt .I didn't hate it, but also didn't love it. I've been back a few times since and did enjoy it better, but agree that its the scenes with crown participation that are the standout.
I’ve been waiting for this one! Went to see it and totally agree. I really wanted to like it. Mel was great but couldn’t save it. It just wasn’t funny and a bit awkward in parts. Not sure what it was trying to be. Carrie was off and this wasn’t mentioned at all. Only realised mid way through that she wasn’t in it.
I’ve heard such terrible things from people who have seen it. A mish mash, genuinely unfunny, at times mean spirited - the ‘a bit like a ukip conference’ made perfect sense - a friend that it was the kind of play a racist great aunt might love. Low hanging fruit all round
I'm gonna be honest, this has made me want to go and see it. Same thing happened with the Cats movie, and I loved that, so I fear I'll love this too
I loved it, it was such a mess, but such a lovable mess, great actors, great singers, great comedians, playinga high school play with high school budget. ❤❤❤
I went to see this in Cardiff today. All I can say is- Joe Thomas' Irish accent 😢 it was awful, if they didn't say he was Irish I'd have had no clue
Saw this in Cardiff last night - quite enjoyed the first half but god the second half was dull. Clearly some parts were meant to be funny but weren’t. Al, Mel and Carrie carried the show (Pun not intended) because the 3 plotters were not funny on their own. Best part was Al as Charles II ad-libbing with the audience. Second half builds rather boringly up to Blood meeting Charles and then their conversation is so dull. Final song is terribly misjudged and borderline offensive and doesn’t fit with the show at all. But as a historian I never expected to get a Fifth Monarchists reference in a play with a HS2 reference so hey ho
Really enjoyed your review! Did you ever see Nell Gwynn? It was wonderful and hilariously funny. There is humour to be wrung out of this era! This just wasn't a great execution of it.
It was dire. Tragically unfunny. All that talent on stage and it was only a bit of improv from Al and Mel that made it worth coming back after intermission.
Saw it on Friday and I had a great time! Not the best play I have ever seen, but it was certainly entertaining. I am surprised you said nobody laughed, because when I was there people were cackling.
Poor Carriebosse can't catch a break.
When you say "incredulous", do you mean "unbelievable"? Because they're not synonyms.
I loved this show! Seen it multiple times and I’m not done yet! I really enjoy it and laugh more each time - actually my favourite show at the moment😅
I’ve heard nothing but terrible things about this piece, apart from Mel and Al being the best things in it and actually quite funny.
I don’t understand why it’s touring given the lacklustre reception it’s had so far but perhaps it’ll pick up a following out and about?
(On a separate note, have I been mispronouncing Mel G’s name all these years? I thought it was ged-roych but am now doubting myself!)
That's how I've always pronounced her name too.
I'm pretty sure that's how she says it.
I bought cheap tickets yesterday to see for myself if it was bad or not. I’ve only ever left a show in the interval once before this but I genuinely couldn’t stay for the second half. I think I would’ve fallen asleep. It was that dull. Considering it was a relatively short play it felt like a lifetime. Al Murray and Joe Thomas weren’t performing that day so I can’t comment on their performances but everyone else’s were ok but it felt like a very bad pantomime with cheap jokes. I didn’t laugh once. I really wanted to but I genuinely didn’t even chuckle.
Such a shame it’s not great. I’m a descendant of Colonel Thomas who still carries the Blood surname and I would have loved to recommend this to family.
Ik this is random but im so happy that carrie hope flecher is pregnant
Its pronounced Ged-roy-ch by the way
While I still reasonably enjoyed the show, I totally agree with your review. The bits of stand up/improv were hilarious and Addonis was great. But the co-conspirators were awkward (often a bit cringe) and just not funny. The story does have the potential to be made into a kind of farce but this just lacked lustre and comedy.
Please review more shows playing at The National Theatre!
'Sounds a bit like the old 1960s/1970s BBC TV show 'The Good Old Days', except that was set in Edwardian times (the Seventh, BTW). 'Never liked that either, 'though the elderly audience seemed to lap it up. (It probably reminded the period-dressed stalls occupants of their childhoods!!) My, how we laughed. (Take a look - it's bound to be on YT - and you'll see what I mean.) My call-out for The Crown Jewels, "Comedy's tough, as this shows!' P.S. My apologies for this diatribe - I'm in the throes of covid-19 and just felt like lashing out!
I loved the show sooooo much I saw it twice and it was so funny and enjoyable to me!
Oh gosh, Im seeing this next week! 🙈
Me too!!
I was just about to book tickets to this today for a solo theatre date but I’m glad I didn’t now 😂
We've just seen this in Salford. It was very funny, but not professional. It was fun but definitely not high brow 😂
I was considering going to see the tour one, but yeah doesn’t sound great! - I hope you’ll be seeing the touring cast of HEATHERS - Jenna Innes as Veronica is a dream x
Your review tallies with what I'd read so far about this play - seems the material just needed more work!
I actually thought the show was really funny - sadly was a night where Carrie wasn’t in it as I am a big fan but I really enjoyed the audience participation and the general atmosphere felt very wholesome and silly in a good way
I once watched some comedians discuss big sows in comedy, apparently, egos are a huge thing and the star of the show will actually demand less funny jokes go to other actors. The fact there were large sections with no laughs in a show where they were able to create them says everything. Murray has been known to be arrogant in the past, starting to look like he was the issue here. Such a shame. Would love to see more historical comedies.
I'm only part way through, but I'm wondering what the point is with the 4th wall break. I think it's something that needs to have purpose.
I am hooked and ready when I was the rating lol
Frankly the publicity was enough to tell me not to go and see this!
I heard Carrie singing "Praise Him" on CZcams and thought i would give the show a go, and got a front row ticket for when i went down to London for my Birthday and I was not impressed, first of all Carrie wasn't on, it was her understudy (which isn't a problem) but she just didn't do the song justice like Carrie did, then there were a few bits that i found funny but it was mostly groans from me. It was so bad that i left during the interval. Al Murray was good but Mel Gildroic was the real saving grace for this show, but i still couldn't sit through the rest of the show
I was about to get a ticket, due to the cast......maybe I wont bother😆
You are so articulate. Thanks for the reviews.
I read the title and let out the BIGGEST gay gasp... oh god
Totally agree, it was not a good watch, and could have walked out at the interval, but stayed as i though the second half could not be as bad as the first half.
I’ve seen it! Writing my review as I’m listening to yours. I did not like it. It was simply not funny. It was cheap shots, low level jokes… like? The only time I giggled a bit was when Al got to improvise. The set was cool? But other than that it was a waste of money in my opinion.
Nothing to do with the musical but the irony I’m revising for my OCR Georgian unit which talks about Charles II 😂
It’s a shame you didn’t enjoy this as much as you thought you would! I haven’t been able to see it but I was very much intrigued by it but I fully respect your viewpoint so even though I’m a big CHF fan, I may give it a miss
This might run (with some rewriting) better in the USA.
Treason against the British Crown is something we can root for. It's actuality something we (allegedly) did.
Oh my gosh, just as I started watching this video I got a notification from Facebook that my parents were at The Garrick Theatre and guess what they went to see...
I quite enjoyed but I also didnt pay for my ticket... and I really liked the cast... and I'm very easily impressed and immature. Guess this was my kind of show then 😂
5:28 IDK why but using the euphemism “lying with” made me absolutely cackle
Back at the beginning of June I went to see Bleak Expectations at the Criterion Theatre. I went with - ahum - high expectations as I'd heard good reviews and Julian Clary was the guest narrator that week and I like a bit of Clary on a Friday night.
The first warning bells sounded as I took my seat in Row C of the stalls. The theatre was three quarters empty. The first four or five rows were full, there was a scattering of people elsewhere and upstairs but I have never seen a West End Theatre so empty.
Then the play started and I realised why. To call this Amateur Hour would be an insult to amateur theatre. The first few minutes were amusing as Julian had clearly written parts of it himself and it was funny. (I wonder what he thought as he looked out on the sea of empty seats? Did he fire his agent?) But once the play got going, quite honestly, I didn't laugh the whole time. There were a couple of spirited performances that raised a smile but it was just terrible. It even sidelined the guest star and there's Julian Clary relegated to sitting at the back. Didn't even get a last word. Honestly, I had a fight with myself over leaving at the interval. And I never leave.
At the end the guy who was ostensibly the star of the thing stepped forward and urged us to spread the word if we'd enjoyed it, to get some 'bums on seats'. What a depressing thing that must have been for him.
Why am I saying all this about a different play? Well, I saw The Crown Jewels three weeks later and I was dreading it after my experience with Bleak Expectations. Now I'm not claiming it was a good piece of art, but it had Al Murray to hold it together and he did so. Some of his ad libs with the audience were genius and when everyone else starting calling back to his ad libs, that was really clever. I don't really know why Neil Morrisey was there, and Joe Thomas looked like a rabbit in the headlights. But Neil McCardle as Colonel Blood was really quite a charismatic performer and stood up to Al Murray's star quality. As you say, Mel Giedroyc was great.
The audience filled the theatre and laughed a fair bit, and clearly loved Al Murray. I had a pretty good time.
Next up is Pygmalion. Are you going? I saw A Streetcar Named Desire and must admit I couldn't hear a word Patsy Ferran said, so I have a seat near the front of the Old Vic, just in case.
Re bleak expectations I did leave during the interval! It was dire. ‘This is my cane - Michael cane’ eeeeek. Jack Dee was guest narrator & I can’t stand him so that didn’t help. Not sure I’ll get to see Crown Jewels
Ged-roich
Who's mel "geared ridge.". Oh dear boy, oh no, oh NO.
I found the first act confusing, but realised I’d nodded off a couple of times…
Mel Geer-d-rich?! It’s Giedroyc pronounced “Ged-roitch”. 🤣
...Hip Hip Horatio?
It’s sad I bought a ticket and then couldn’t go because this show sounds right up my street, sounds fun, if not intellectually stimulating.
Oh dear
Ouch! Don’t be shy
Oh really?? I loved it, an absolute riot
Afraid I disagree, the show we went to see we were all laughing and even the actors were struggling to keep a straight face, thought it was great 😅
I really enjoyed it, it was a laugh, even if the innuendos got tiresome. There were definitely lulls throughout it and the songs seemed out of place but overall I had a good time
I saw it during previews and as a historian I did enjoy it - is it Shakespeare level of course not but I took it as a tongue in cheek comedy and enjoyed it as that.
I personally really enjoyed this production. I had so much fun
I saw this play twice, and both times it was amazing! Carrie is always amazing and so is the rest of the cast! So do not agree with this review at all!
Mickey, that's not how you say her surname
...if you're doing that to delibretly rile her up
...not nice says I.
I simply got it wrong - a phenomenal stretch on your part to assume malice.
Mark, that's not how you spell deliberately.
Not nice, says I.
@@OperaGhost97 I deserve that.