REVIEW: ON THE TOWN (Regents Park Open Air Theatre) ★★★
On The Town is a classic musical based on a concept by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolf Green. Three sailors with 24 hours shore leave hit New York determined to each meet a girl and have a good time. Straight away on the subway, […]
REVIEW: DEATH OF THE KING – An Immersive Punk Murder Mystery (COLAB Factory) ★★★★
Immersive Theatre company ImmerCity‘s latest show is an immersive punk murder mystery, Death of the King, being held at an abandoned rug factory (CoLab Factory) near London Bridge. As the only survivor of an 80’s punk rock band, Jack takes the Investigative Journalists (that would be us, the audience) back to that fateful night; the last […]
REVIEW: WAR PAINT (Original Broadway Cast Recording) ★★★★
Earlier this year I was honoured to see one of the most love actresses of our time, Patti LuPone, live on the Broadway stage. She is currently performing alongside Christine Ebersole in War Paint – a new musical, which opened to rave reviews a few months ago. The Original Broadway Cast Recording has just been […]
REVIEW: THE WEDDING SINGER (Liverpool Empire) ★★★
It’s time to party like it’s 1985 at the Liverpool Empire, as The Wedding Singer dances into town. For those who may not have seen the movie starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, The Wedding Singer is essentially Romeo and Juliet with leg warmers and a perm. Good girl Julia (Juliet) is all set to […]
REVIEW: JAM (Finborough Theatre) ★★★★
Jam is the World Premiere of a fascinating play. A woman, sits comfortably, with shoes off, writing in a note book until the play begins. Her name is Bella and she suddenly becomes aware of another person, in the dark room, watching her. It is Kane, a former pupil from a previous school, with whom she had […]
REVIEW: TOM MOLINEAUX (Jack Studio Theatre) ★★★★★
Tom Molineaux is a new play by Tom Green, which takes place in London in 1810 around a crude boxing ring. The two characters are of very different backgrounds, and spend much of the play verbally sparing with each other. The first of the two characters was the well known sportswriter, and writer on popular Victorian […]
REVIEW: ANNIE GET YOU GUN (Union Theatre) ★★★★
After their success with Oklahoma! Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II decided to start producing musicals and book writer Dorothy Fields approached the pair with an idea for a fictionalised musical based on the life of Annie Oakley, a sharpshooter who starred in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Written in 1945 as a star-vehicle for […]
REVIEW: THE COLOR PURPLE (Cadogan Hall) ★★★★★
There’s been a rise in the popularity of the concert staging of musicals over recent years. It’s a great way to showcase the music from a show and to gage whether there is an appetite for a full-scale production. Last night The British Theatre Academy presented The Color Purple, which after an acclaimed run at […]
REVIEW: ADAM KAY: FINGERING A MINOR ON THE PIANO (Soho Theatre) ★★★★★
The was a huge buzz around Adam Kay last year at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. When you have hundreds of shows competing for an audience, your show’s title has to stand out for you to be noticed. ‘Fingering A Minor On The Piano‘ certainly stood out to me but unfortunately I wasn’t the only […]
REVIEW: LOVE IN IDLENESS (Apollo Theatre) ★★★
After the Olivier Award winning success of Travesties, the Menier Chocolate Factory has extended its residence at the Apollo Theatre with their production of Terrence Rattigan’s Love in Idleness, originally titled Less Than Kind. Some may choose to comment this as a period play, but its clashing political attitudes between characters adds a modernity and […]