I thought a few non-fan, unbiased quotes from reviews might be of interest before the Press Reviews proper come out:

"I'd do Anything’s runner-up Nancy, Jessie Buckley, didn’t lose out after all. She seems perfectly cast as Anne Egerman, sings wonderfully and has a charm and confidence which belies her lack of experience. This is her professional theatre debut but it would be hard to tell."

"Jessie Buckley (fresh from her search for a Nancy TV show) who shines as Anne Egerman"

"even the 'more actress than singer' members of the cast give excellent musical performances, notably Jessie Buckley (apparently a runner-up Nancy in the TV search for a star programme) as Fredrick's young wife Anne who assails Sondheim's dressy tessitura with bravado."

The full reviews are on the fan Blog.

Hi everyone!

There are some official photos from ALNM now on the Blog!! They look great

http://jessiebuckleyfanblog.blogspot.com

The first critical review by The Independent has rated ALNM as 5***** stars!!!!!

Check out the blog to read that review, plus others and more photographs!!

There's a very nice review in the Financial Times today.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5a95a924-c...nclick_check=1

I saw ALNM last night and thought the whole production was simply superb.

Five minutes in (and without programme) I said to my partner "Is that the Irish girl from "I Could Be A Nancy?" " - you know, the Irish girl who got on my nerves...? Well, it didn't take much longer for me to realise IT WAS!

Well.....


I AM A CONVERT! She was stunning. It fooled me to begin with because she delivers all of her lines without a hint of her Kerry accent, in superb clipped young tones and sings divinely throughout. We were in the back row, and for those that have seen the show will know some of it takes place in the audience. I'm glad and happy that I have had my foot trodden on by Jessie Buckley. She's going to be HUGE!

Hi McSpanky

Glad you enjoyed the show. I was also there last night (again) and agree with you that the whole production and cast is suburb.

I'm also pleased that you are now a convert to a certain young lady.

Jessie Buckley shone out like a pure silver moonbeam on a foggy night in London. As you say, she's going to be huge.

As for her treading on you - don't ever wash that foot again! Everyone that Jessie touches - in your case literally - has something special brought into their lives!

^^ Very pleased by your conversion McSpanky!! You now see what we saw through the smoke and mirrors of the TV show. She is amazingly talented. She is also an extremely nice person!! That is rare and precious in showbiz.

I went to see A Little Night Music yesterday afternoon & what a treat it was. Jessie was awesome!!! I expected her singing to be superb and it was but what really stunned me was the quality of her portrail of Anne. Her acting has come on amazingly no wonder Cameron & Andrew wanted her to be Nancy. Jessie & this superb cast fully deserve a transfer to the West End when this sell out run at the Menier concludes. I for one would love to see it again.

Thanks for posting on the Blog too, sallyh! Glad to hear you enjoyed Night Music the other night. I agree with you in that I'd gladly go see it in the West End.

It's such an intimate show. Sondheim's magic so easily gets lost in a big theatre, and this production especially needs somewhere the audience feels part of the wonderful world it creates.

Maybe it could go to the Trafalgar Studios once Entertaining Mr Sloane ends at the begininning of April?

I went to see this on Saturday night. I've been a massive fan of Jessie's ever since the early days of I'd Do Anything, but even I was blown away by how good she and the rest of the cast were. We had front row seats and Jessie was sitting about a metre in front of us in parts! Her accent was spot on and her singing was superb. I'm just gutted that there are no tickets left - I'd love to go and see it again!

Tickets for the Garrick ALNM next week. Retaining the cast it says, though Jessie is not named here.
http://uktickets.co.uk/news/222

She's is confirmed now

http://www.nightmusiclondon.com/

And she even gets to head the cast list as her name starts with a B..........

Took myself off to ALNM yesterday. Jessie is stunning. She's sounding like the Queen c 1950, not a wrong gesture in sight, great timing and she's acting it beautifully immersed in the role in the bits between her lines. More than holding her own in great company with the singing too. Her dancing looks over qualified for SCD now. Interesting how much more of an acting than a singing role it is. Also notable that she has a lot of the comedy and a lot of that depends on her pulling the right expressions as she often has no lines to get the laugh. That worked really well . She also pulls off playing sexy Anne very well - aided by a lack of buttons in her tops. Its a great cast around her too which I imagine adds to a great learning experience for her.

The transfer to the Garrick will be interesting. As Mel888 said in this production the cast are a couple of feet from the front row, seem to be singing unassisted and Jessie walked right by me as I had an aisle seat. Worth another visit to the Garrick just to see how it changes and what it looks like from a comfier seat than the Menier's benches.

I went to see this the other night. It was booked by my friend, so I had no idea she was in it, having not followed these threads much in the last year. I recognised Jessie about halfway through the first half. She did very well, though once I knew who she was I found myself listening for her accent, which spoilt it a little. I really enjoyed the play overall, though I wondered what it was about when it first started. The music sounds slightly weird, partly because its all in 3/4 time, and its got sad undertones. Go to see it for Jessie by all means, but I was weeping during "Send in the clowns", which Jessie doesn't sing.

Same with Jodie, who I also saw the other night (not the same one!!). My main criticism is that although Rowan Atkinson is both good, and amusing, Trevor Nunn must have directed him to use some of his previous characters in playing Fagin. The bits where he played Fagin straight were much better imho.

According to some unconfirmed posts on the whatsonstage musicals board ALNM is closing early on 25 th July.That was the original end date before it was extended into September. If you havn't seen it or want to see it again time may be running out.

Further research needed.....

Tempted to try for the last week...........only seen it twice so far ..........thats not extravagant is it........

http://www.whatsonstage.com/index.ph...C+25+Jul&ref=D

Looks to be confirmed.