Love Birds sees my first guest reviewer- Emily. Whilst I was gutted to be unable to attend Love Birds I’m thrilled that Emily could make the outing for Musicaltheatremusings. She runs her own blog at ‘thatemily’ so please do drop her own blog a visit or check her out on Twitter at @cpfcrox for more of her reviews.

This is what she thought of the show –

I was lucky enough to attend a preview performance of Robert (Robbie) Sherman’s new musical, Love Birds at The Lost Theatre, London.  The show opens with two performances in London prior to its transition to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the 2015 season.

Ruth Betteridge, Jonny Purchase, George Knapper, Rafe Watts, Ryan Willis

Love Birds is a vaudeville all avian revue, starring temperamental diva macaw, Baalthazar (Greg Castiglioni) and the Macaw Sisters, Valentine, Veronica and Vera (Ruth Betteridge, Joanna Sawyer and Anna Stolli). Led by their dinosaur MC, Armitage (John Guerrasio), this group of birds entertains their audiences every night until Baalthazar storms off in a flurry of feathers. A group of eager penguins (not dissimilar to those we meet in the musical tale of a certain nanny) step in to save the day. Love and scandal follow as Armitage fights to save his beloved family friendly show.

Anna Stolli, Ruth Betteridge, Joanna Sawyer

As it is a Fringe show, Love Birds has a simple and clean-cut set. The spectacle of Love Birds comes from the incredible costumes, which reflect the various species on show with a vibrancy and accuracy I’ve not seen since The Lion King.  Without becoming comical, or losing the emotion and movement, the costumes and design (Gabriella Slade) are an integral part of this show. They are further displayed through the subtly stylized movement of the characters, who have certain specific birdlike characteristics.

Being a relation of the famed Sherman Brothers (Mary Poppins, The Aristocats) means musical expectations are high from Robert Sherman! With a distinct Vaudeville style throughout the show, Sherman has created a show’s worth of delightful musical theatre tunes, which I guarantee you’ll be whistling along to by the final curtain.

A joy to watch, Love Birds is sure to be a family friendly hit at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe (5^th – 31^st August at The Pleasance Theatre).

Thanks again to Emily for the review!!