Review: Carrie Hope Fletcher: An Open Book

I have been very fortunate to see Carrie perform in an array of shows over time but this is the first time I’ve seen her as herself. I loved the concept of this show that we had to help her finish the script so we were inside her head.

Prior to the show there was a link on Carrie’s social media and a QR code at the venue to help choose what stories she told us. Certain stories I think she tells in every show but then the rest are decided by us the audience. I’m not going to spoil anything about the stories or the songs but I loved hearing her sing songs from shows she has performed in and songs that suit the stories, some I knew and some I didn’t. Carrie has such a knack for storytelling and they were heartbreaking and heartwarming. I love how relatable Carrie is as a person and these stories just amplify that with how her thoughts and feelings in certain situations she has gone through in life.

I love the intimacy of the staging as well, set up like a room at home and the orchestra just behind her made up of a few people. The room had all her favourite things with a sofa, a desk with a laptop with the list of stories she had to tell. Each story had a book and it was put on the bookcase when finished which I loved.

Before Carrie performed we had the Irish trio of Trinity who were incredible. Their harmonies gave me chills. They sang 3 Irish songs and then 3 musical theatre/ films songs. I loved that they finished with Go The Distance from Hercules. The banter they had between them on stage was funny as well. They were a great opening for Carrie.

I like Symphony Hall in Birmingham as a venue, it was my third time watching a concert here. The view from our seat was incredible. We were stalls, row N, seats 15 and 16 and we were central to the stage. The merchandise was decent even though there was a very long queue for it which soon went down. I bought a programme (£10) and a pin (£5) but there were hoodies, bags, tops etc. Also wanted to say that during act 2 of the show it was stopped for a medical emergency, the person is fine but I thought the staff at Symphony Hall handled it incredibly.

All in all an amazing show from Carrie and I really hope she does something like this again in the future.

Until next time

Stacey x

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