REVIEW: SUNSET BOULEVARD (Curve Leicester) ★★★★★
Sunset Boulevard is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s tragic story of the once brilliant Norma Desmond (Ria Jones), a faded star of the silent screen, and Joe Gillis (Danny Mac), a struggling young screenwriter trying desperately to make it in tinsel town. Directed by Curve’s Artistic Director Nikolai Foster, this show is an epic triumph. Andrew Lloyd […]
REVIEW: THE ADDAMS FAMILY (Woking Theatre) ★★★
TV’s spookiest family gets their stage debut as The Addams Family at Woking Theatre. For a musical largely aimed at taking fans on a nostalgia trip through the “Adams Family” Films and TV Series, it certainly delivers. For those of us not such die-hard fans, maybe not quite the same experience was to be had. […]
REVIEW: The Band (Manchester Opera House) ★★★★★
When it was announced that Gary Barlow would launch a TV talent search to find five young men to play a fictional boy band in a new musical using the music of Take That, the first question on many lips was “Do we need another Take That Musical?”. The answer is yes. As jukebox musicals […]
REVIEW: You Forgot The Mince (Courtyard Theatre) ★★★★
Imagine If’s latest production You forgot The Mince tells the story of a modern day abusive relationship. It’s a bleak reality for all too many, but the show is shot through with a warmth that belies the subject matter. The hour long drama begins at a house in Leeds, where nineteen year old Rosa lives […]
REVIEW: HAIRSPRAY (Sunderland Empire) ★★★★
Hairspray arrives in Sunderland as part of its national tour. Set in Baltimore in 1962 where, against the odds, overweight teenager Tracy Turnblad, a girl with a lot of heart and great big hair is set to turn everything on its head. She lands a role dancing on her favourite TV programme The Corny Collins […]
REVIEW: WOMAN: West End Live Lounge 2017 (The Other Palace) ★★★★★
The Other Palace was packed full to the brim for WOMAN – a one-night-only cabaret evening celebrating the work of some of the most influential and iconic women in the world of music. All proceeds from the evening were donated to Women’s Aid – a charity focussing on helping women and children who have been […]
REVIEW: Romantic Revolution (London Palladium) ★★★
Romantic Revolution at the London Palladium was a showcase for The London Russian Ballet school alongside four extraordinarily gifted Bolshoi principal dancers. A series of highlights from some ballet classics as well as a couple of modern pieces were presented to an audience which we were told contained over 900 children from “diverse underprivileged backgrounds”. The […]
REVIEW: LE GRAND MORT (Trafalgar Studios) ★★★★★
Last night, the world premiere of Stephen Clark‘s new play Le Grand Mort opened at London’s Trafalgar Studios 2 starring James Nelson-Joyce and Julian Clary, for whom Le Grand Mort was specially written before Stephen Clark died last year. The show opens with a monologue by Julian Clary (Michael), who is preparing dinner for a boy he met […]
REVIEW: THE WHITE BIKE (The Space) ★★★★
The White Bike by Tamara von Werthern has its first run at The Space on the Isle of Dogs. The action is firmly set in East London and the location seems fitting. The play is inspired by the death of Eilidh Cairns, a young female cyclist killed by a lorry in 2009 and the first […]
REVIEW: Tom Lucy: Needs to Stop Showing Off in Front of His Friends (Pleasance Courtyard) ★★★★★
Edinburgh is not lacking in comedians. Often I find myself avoiding seeing comedians at the fringe purely because there is too much choice. However, the buzz that precedes Tom Lucy meant I knew he wasn’t one to miss. Having toured with Jack Whitehall among other big names, Lucy’s comic style is definitely one for the […]