Into The Hoods: An Urban Fairy Tale at the Novello Theatre

A great fun night if you are into dance! A interpretation/ rip off the musical Into the Woods by Sondheim this ghetto fab show is the first show of its kind to hit the West End. This show was put together by Hip Hop dance troupe ZooNation. The show consists entirely of dance, done to pop music. There is no actual dialogue, other than what is projected onto a large screen on the back of the stage which then the dancers mime and is narrated via voice-over by ‘the Landlord’. The show starts with a live rap about the nature of the rap business and the false hope it offers, and a request for audience participation. Then these words are projected and the booming voice of the Landlord says

“Once upon a time in a land far, far away, two children ran away in search of freedom but found themselves lost,……. In the hood.”

Here is the synopsis of the show as written in the program.

“Welcome to the Ruff Endz Estate, the home of the vinyl spinning, DJ Spinderella, who is dating the uber-confident lady magnet Prince, who, being a true ‘playa’, is two-timing her with the vivacious rapper MC Rap-On-Zel. She lives on the tenth floor of the tower block, letting down her long hair extension from her window so that Prince can pay her secret visits. Then there is Lil Red, a singer who has just signed a deal with Wolf, the manager of Big Teef Records. She secretly has feelings for music producer Jaxx (who lives in the Basement) who is struggling with debt, is late on the rent and facing eviction. A desperate Jaxx enters into some dodgy dealings with Giant, the resident drug-dealing pimp, who lives in the tower’s penthouse.
The Children meet the Landlord, who sends them out to work for him with the task of finding gifts for his daughter’s birthday and in return he promises to see them out of the hood and safely home. They only have four days to find:
‘and ipod as white as milk,
a hoodie as red as blood,
weave as yellow as corn, and
trainers as pure as gold.’ “

To be honest, the plot is simplistic at best, and is not the reason to watch the show. However, the dancing is very impressive and really really neat. Although, the plot takes up too much time in the show (wow never thought I’d say that) it is still a really fun show, but how fun really depends on the level of energy the audience gives. I felt I came on an off night, and I was conscious of clapping and yelling and throwing my support at the stage to spur the dancers on and trying to get other to join in. My family and I had a great time, and felt that the rest would have had a better time if they weren’t so typically suppressed white middle class and had let loose a little.

The dancing was brilliant to watch, especially Lil Red, whose moves were funky and fun with great energy. She also had a huge mop of hair that swung to the beat in the cutest way. Another dancer of note was Spinderlla, who at one point had a ballet and hip hop hybrid dance that was truly beautiful to watch. However in another scene she comes in another scene and you realize she is ripped to the max! I have never scene a woman with such abs! Another dancer that left a lasting impression was the man that played the ugly stepsister. Yes that’s right. Not so much for his actual dance movement but for his amazing ability to jump around in what I’m sure were 5 inch heels (the man himself was already well over 6 foot so amazing to watch in a hot pink mini dress) and his astounding flexibility.

An amazing night out, definitely try and get crazy at this performance. It is simply a good time.