Review: Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty, Birmingham Hippodrome

Bold, dynamic, creative and packed with razzle-dazzle routines, the Sadler's Wells production has arrived in Birmingham for a run that will continue until Saturday.

Bourne has created a modern-day masterpiece that appeals to a youthful generation. Exceptional costumes, phantasmagoric sets and dizzying routines: it is a real crowd pleasure.

Curiously, however, this reviewer left the production feeling somewhat underwhelmed. There has been such hype around Bourne's new production that I'd expected the finest show I'd ever seen. And it wasn't.

Like a kid who gets toys from his B-List on Christmas Day, I was happy but not ecstatic; impressed but not overwhelmed by the reinterpretation.

Bourne has been described by The Daily Telegraph as being the great showman of British dance; an impresario with an instinctive understanding of what audiences want.

He proved himself that with a glittering production that cut swiftly and smartly from the late 19^th century to the early 20^th century. Cabaret-esque routines set 'Last Night' were showstopping crowd-pleasers, Tchaikovsky's dramatic score merely heighted the tension.

But the West Midlands is used to such finery. In David Bintley, artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, it has a creative talent who is second to none. While watching Bourne's Nutcracker, I found myself hankering for the grace and sophistication that Bintley brings to the stage: rather than the all-singing, all-dancing, mildly-aggressive routines of Bourne.

It was like watching X Factor Live, when wishing for a BBC 4 special on dance. Bourne's production appeals to a youthful audience: but it's more contemporary dance than ballet, more broad brush strokes than fine detail.

Gimmicks – an extraordinary puppeteer seemed to bring a baby doll to life – were impressive enough. But for this reviewer, it was too much sizzle and not enough steak.

By Andy Richardson