change london, Arturo Brachetti a review

[Dale Shrimpton]

Arturo Brachetti Change.
Garrick theatre London


This show, has to be without doubt one of the most magical evenings I have ever spent in the theatre.

It starts in darkness; the lights come up, to reveal a huge wooden cube.
The cube revolves, and when it comes to a halt, a door opens, and a masked man carrying an umbrella enters.
He places the umbrella in the ground, and proceeds to remove his masks. one after another, in a seemingly endless line.

The last is removed, and we see the star, Brachetti.
However, he is old. And it is here, that the play begins.
The story of the life, and influences of Arturo.

The next section, is a whirlwind of changes dedicated to London, starting with a flash transformation into a guardsman, complete with bearskin, a kinky business man, the queen, and a punk rocker, unable to spit at the audience, because of the huge amount of paper in it.

The cube now revolves and splits, and we see inside the house of Brachetti, covered in his memories, and memorabilia.

There are many, many changes packed into this half, and as I type, im finding it hard to recall them all.
It is during this half that we are introduced to the second Brachetti. That being the younger version of himself. He is first introduced via a film to life effect. But its unlike any version seen before. Here he treats us to The Chapeau act, as performed by Leopold Frigoli, and his jack in the box act.

The first act finishes with his wonderful 4 seasons routine, including a fantastic performance of the classic dekolta cone of flowers.

Act 2 contains some darker elements. For the character Brachetti is nearing his final transformation. The words engraved on Frigolis grave stone
How ever, thanks to another of his influences Hollywood, We get to see characters from

Star wars, Casablanca, E.T, Jaws, Shrek, singing in the rain, titanic, nosferatu, the lords of the ring, wizard of oz, caberet,Gone with the wind, king Kong, and many, many more.
We now enter the world of Brachettis other influence. Federico Fellini.

With some amazing visuals, including a scene where Fellini steps out of his own body, we arrive at the final transformation.
This is the most stunningly beautiful levitation and vanish Ive seen in a very long time. moreI wont say.

He then takes his bow, and one final change from full black tail suit, into white.In the blink of an eye, in the middle of the stage.

Now,I should say that I have missed out a huge amount of information. It would spoil the surprise if I told you more.
This show, contains some of the most sophisticated lighting and projection effects ever. Every second of the show has something to take your breath away.
I had always thought that this was a once in a lifetime experience, and it isbut I now need to see it again, because I didnt believe what I saw.

Go! Beg borrow, or sell your soul to get a ticket. You will not regret it.

[JKeppel]

I saw him in Philadelphia a few years ago and it is one of the greatest live shows of ANY kind that I have ever seen in my life

[Marco Pusterla]

Seen him today: it's a fantastic show! While some of the sequences are "classic" Brachetti, the whole product is well built, well performed and the audience truly enjoyed. Although I attended a matine, the theatre was 99% full.

If you are in England or come around (perhaps for the MacMillan's convention), try to secure tickets to the show: it's really worth seeing!

[Magic Newswire]

The Times Online just posted a nice piece on Arturo and the show entitled "Quick Change for the Better".

Read More HERE or HERE

I've added a video clip from the show to the first link.