Review Roundup: AN AMERICAN IN PARIS London Premiere

The critically acclaimed and multi award-winning new musical An American in Paris had its official London premiere last night, Tuesday 21 March, at the beautifully restored Dominion Theatre. Christopher Wheeldon's stunning reinvention of the Oscar-winning film (that starred Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron) features the sublime music and lyrics of George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin and a new book by Craig Lucas.

The West End cast is headed by the original Broadway stars Robert Fairchild (as Jerry Mulligan) and Leanne Cope (as Lise Dassin), together with Haydn Oakley as Henri Baurel, Zoë Rainey as Milo Davenport, David Seadon-Young as Adam Hochberg and Jane Asher as Madame Baurel.

Let's see what the critics had to say:

Marianka Swain, BroadwayWorld: Wheeldon's decision to cast two dancers in the leads is inspired. Robert Fairchild, a principal with New York City Ballet, is a revelatory showman, sharing Gene Kelly's combination of muscular power and soaring grace (and facility with an umbrella). His Jerry is a brash, eager suitor, occasionally overbearing, but winningly open-hearted. Add in matinee idol good looks and crooning vocals, and Fairchild is the consummate leading man.

Sarah Crompton, WhatsOnStage: But it is the design and the direction that give An American in Paris its unique texture and tone. Bob Crowley's designs, a fleet and gorgeous mixture of stage flats and projections (courtesy of 59 Productions Ltd) do more than set the scene, they create a mood. From the moment the show opens with a billowing French flag replacing the Nazi swastika, and the streets of Paris hove into view in black and white, scribbled drawings, that in turn build to a glorious new dawn, the design expresses meaning as well as place.

Michael Billington, The Guardian: A magical transformation has taken place. Aside from its sensational climactic ballet, the 1951 Hollywood movie on which this show is basedoffers a ludicrously stagey vision of Paris filled with cheery gendarmes and chirping kids. But Christopher Wheeldon, as director and choreographer, and Bob Crowley, whose sets and costumes have a touch of genius, have created a show that not only offers an eclectic range of Gershwin songs but is also a riot of colour and movement.

Ann Treneman, The Times: It's got starlight, it's got sweet dreams and, yes, it's got rhythm too. You almost feel you couldn't ask for anything more but this Gershwin musical also has that indefinable something called grace, a lightness that would out-soufflé even Julia Child, and a joie de vivre that lifts it, and us, all night long. The show, first seen in Paris in 2014 and on Broadway in 2015, was inspired by the 1951 film with Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron but has its own embellishments and balletic choreography that at times takes your breath away.

Henry Hitchings, Evening Standard: But the big numbers are visually ravishing, and Bob Crowley's sumptuous, often witty designs are crucial, incorporating projections that evoke the spirit of Paris and the boldness of modern art.... The leads are both ballet stars, and vocally they're assured rather than thrilling. Yet Leanne Cope's Lise has a lovely intuitive lightness. As Jerry, Robert Fairchild is muscular and exciting, and there's a charming ease in his movement, a gravity-defying sprezzatura. When dance predominates, especially in the pair's most eloquently intimate scenes, this is a glorious experience.

Dominic Cavendish, The Telegraph: What the show does to perfection (besides airing music that's steeped to its marrow with a jazz-age joie de vivre) is capture the hard-to-take-in beauty of Paris and reverie of youth. Bob Crowley's set design is a marvel a minute: fast-moving projected-on screens conjure twinkling boulevards and the flowing Seine as if they're Jerry's swooning handiwork writ large. This technical wizardry culminates in a Mondrian-inspired back-drop for the climactic ballet-sequence that's ravishingly hallucinogenic.