Press night of the X Factor musical I CAN’T SING opened with a bang at the Palladium last night. Showbiz luminaries from Simon Cowell to Andrew Lloyd-Webber witnessed Harry Hill and Steve Brown’s new show, directed by Sean Foley, dazzle on its official debut. It received a standing ovation, and a host of good reviews, including 5 stars from The Express. They described it as ‘by far the best of the big West End musical openings of the last few months’.
The Telegraph’s Charles Spencer described it as ‘wildly eccentric and often wonderfully funny’ with ‘real heart and great theatrical panache’, predicting ‘a big popular hit…The whole delightfully bonkers show has a wit and warmth about it in Sean Foley’s constantly engaging production.’
The Independent awarded it 4 stars, applauding the ‘bonkers, surreal charm to the loopy lampooning.’
Libby Purves gave it 4 stars, as did Dominic Maxwell in The Times: it ‘gets a yes from me’.
The Radio Times were even more impressed, giving it 4.5 stars out of 5.
Sound design is provided by Ben & Max Ringham.