Last saw it in London in September, 2010 and the ending had me fighting back whimpers/tears. Incredibly moving as played out by the cast that night. The theatre was half empty the night I went, so I moved from my original row H seat to 2rd row for the second act.
While I love the show as a whole, I was surprised I wasn't able to stomach most of the first act when they're all children because I don't recall it being that grating the 2 times I saw the U.S. national tour starring the Cassidy brothers and Petula Clark. It was a mistake to include too much stereotypical childish slapstick. It was like, 5 minutes of watching them play gags on each other, 2 minutes of fake farting, 4 minutes of slobbering, 3 minutes of a grown actor miming riding a tricycle. It becomes more about the actors showing off, proving their wiiiiiiiiiiiiide range as actors/artists, then, we're suddenly thrust back into the story and it's already act 2. So much of the kid dialogue is useless and doesn't forward the story an inch. It's filler.
But, yeah, I recommend it and certainly hope it gets revived someday.
I don't recall "80's lighting effects" in the show. The London production definitely looks comfortably "lived in" and could use a refurb, but other than that, it's holding up well.
Recreation of original John Cameron orchestration to "On My Own" by yours truly. Click player below to hear.
