42nd Street review: new production has ‘energy and pizzazz’
This musical is all about the big numbers – and they really are fabulous

In 2021, the success of “Anything Goes” at the Barbican proved that there remains a strong appetite for “classic tune and toe shows”, said Fiona Mountford in The i Paper. And this new production of “42nd Street” – a musical that was first staged in 1980, but which is based on a 1933 Busby Berkeley choreographed film – is sure to delight. The archetypal showbiz story, it is about a chorus girl who becomes a star, and in this revival, it has a dream leading lady in Nicole-Lily Baisden, as well as “exquisitely expressive” tap routines from choreographer Bill Deamer – and all the “energy and pizzazz” you could hope for, from the show’s opening scene to its “shimmering finale”.
Set during the Depression, the message “42nd Street” is one of “bright positivity”, said Lyndsey Winship in The Guardian: “buck up, lace up your dancing shoes, get out there and put on a show. And also, be young, pretty and ever so nice, and good fortune will come your way.” Some recent musical revivals (“Oklahoma!”, “Carousel”) have been updated for modern audiences. For this co-production with the Leicester Curve (which will be going on a nationwide tour), director Jonathan Church has opted to retain the feel of the period, with mild sexism, “deco sparkle”, and black and white newsreel of the unemployed.
Some of the supporting cast are strangely lacklustre, said Nick Curtis in the Evening Standard. But the show is packed with classic songs – including “We’re in the Money” and “Lullaby of Broadway”. And Baisden turns in such a superb performance, it would “perfectly mirror the arc of her character” – had she not already wowed audiences in “Anything Goes”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The “gossamer thin” and wildly “outdated plot” is a problem, said Claire Allfree in The Daily Telegraph: with no “decent book to anchor them”, the song and dance routines “seem to float free in their own ether”. But in that sense “42nd Street” is all about the big numbers – and they really are fabulous. The tap dancing sequences are “so mesmeric and weightless, they induce a sort of trance”, while the songs “send the soul soaring. If you want to feel the beat of the dancing feet, this really is the only show in town.”
Sadler’s Wells, London EC1, until 2 July, then touring; 42ndstreettour.com. Rating ****
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The Week Unwrapped: Will Europe beat China and India to the North Pole?
Podcast Plus, is the man who designed the iPhone going to kill his own creation? And what's going on at the equalities watchdog?
-
Is it finally all change for train Wi-Fi?
In The Spotlight South Western Railway's 5G Wi-Fi service has changed the way passengers connect – but will the new system catch on?
-
The week's best photos
In Pictures A cheesy chase, a cinema on water, and more
-
Ancient India: living traditions – 'ethereal and sensual' exhibition
The Week Recommends Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism are explored in show that remains 'remarkably compact'
-
6 well-preserved homes built in the 1930s
Feature Featuring a restored 1934 colonial in Arizona and a cold-storage warehouse turned loft in New York City
-
Things in Nature Merely Grow: memoir of 'harsh beauty' after loss
The Week Recommends Chinese-American novelist Yiyun Li's 'devastating' memoir explores the deaths of her two sons
-
Sirens: entertaining satire on the lives of the ultra-wealthy stars Julianne Moore
The Week Recommends This 'blackly comic affair' unfurls at a 'breakneck speed'
-
Mrs Warren's Profession: 'tour-de-force' from Imelda Staunton and daughter Bessie Carter
The Week Recommends Mother-daughter duo bring new life to George Bernard Shaw's morality play
-
Critics' choice: Steak houses that break from tradition
Feature Eight hours of slow-roasting prime rib, a 41-ounce steak, and a former Catholic school chapel turned steakhouse
-
Tash Aw's 6 favorite books about forbidden love
Feature The Malaysian novelist recommends works by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and more
-
Film reviews: Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning, Lilo & Stitch, and Final Destination: Bloodlines
Feature Tom Cruise risks life and limb to entertain us, a young girl befriends a destructive alien, and death stalks a family that resets fate's toll.