Programme Review: Daddy Long Legs - St James Theatre

A series of reviews of theatre programmes

 

Daddy Long Legs by Paul Gordon and John Caird, St James Theatre

When purchased:

Foyer,  Friday16th November

Price:

£4

Pages:

38, of which 19 relate to the production

Notable adverts:

• Country Cousins - live-in carers
• Hurtwood House School
• Edward Goodyear Florists

Photos:

16 photos scattered through the programme (note hower there is only one set and two actors- so it's commendable they managed to get 16 different photos!)

Content:

• One page on how long it took to write the music and lyrics
• One page song list
• Two pages of  'did you know?' facts about the play
• Two page score and libretto from one of the songs
• Nine pages of cast and creative biographies
• Centre pages is essentially a playbill listing key creatives.

Comments

Overall

2.5 out of 5 - At £4 I'd like some more background information on the play, particularly on the book that it's based on- which we're told Theodore Roosevelt's visted Jean Webster (who wrote the novel) as a passionate admirer, but little else, which is a problem as I don't think the book is that well known in the UK. The score was a nice touch, but the programme just doesn't add value to the theatre going experience, I want a programme to bring out the themes of the play.