REVIEW: EXECUTIONER NUMBER ONE (Soho Theatre) ★★★
Ian has found his calling long ago in the role as professional hangman. His sole purpose is to become Britain’s Executioner Number One. Following the death of his boss, the dream finally seems up for grabs. Given his lifelong never-faulting passion, years of experience and comradeship with his former superior, Ian is the obvious choice […]
REVIEW: THE GOAT, OR WHO IS SYLVIA? (Theatre Royal Haymarket) ★★★★
Edward Albee has taken over London’s Haymarket, with two of his productions around the corner from one another, both of which are violent, distressing and difficult for both the actor and the audience member. Winner of the Tony Award for Best New Play and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, The Goat, or […]
REVIEW: HEADS UP (Battersea Arts Centre) ★★★★
We’re dangerous when we’re dying. Just like beetles. So says Kieran Hurley, in his new show Heads Up. He holds his audience in thrall; he is eerie and wild with red-rimmed eyes and an air of delirium. Within seconds, we’re hanging on his every word. Is he a puppet master, or just a storyteller with […]
REVIEW: 42ND STREET (Theatre Royal Drury Lane) ★★★★★
Come and meet those dancing feet, Forty-Second Street 42nd Street opened in the West End last night at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane with a huge cast of over fifty actors, singers and tap dancers. Heading up the cast is Grammy Award winner Sheena Easton as Dorothy Brock. The 1980 Broadway Musical hasn’t been seen […]
REVIEW: KERRY ELLIS & BRIAN MAY rock out on new album GOLDEN DAYS ★★★★★
I was hesitant when I heard that West End and Broadway leading lady Kerry Ellis would be releasing her latest album without really any musical theatre cover songs on it. Instead, this time around, an album of five self penned songs by herself and long time collaborator and Queen guitarist Brian May and a collection […]
REVIEW: GOLDSTONE LIVE (Hippodrome Casino) ★★★★
Goldstone are three super-glamorous female singers. They dress in beautiful sparkling clingy dresses, every inch the stars. They are lovely. This was Goldstone‘s first ever public performance, having previously restricted them selves to international corporate events with other artists, such as Lee Mead and various Osmond brothers. The Hippodrome is a nightclub of the old […]
REVIEW: GREASE (Liverpool Empire) ★★★
The pulling power of Grease has never been more prevalent than opening night at the vast auditorium of the Liverpool Empire Theatre, when a two-thousand-strong sold out audience sang along with “Hopelessly Devoted to You”. Producer David Ian struck gold back in the day when he took the most popular movie musical of all time […]
REVIEW: HONK! (Union Theatre) ★★★
The classic tale of an ugly, little ducking, originally told by Hans Christian Andersen in 1843 is a semi-autobiographical piece. Andersen has been described as “a tall, ugly boy with a big nose and big feet and when he grew up with a passion for the theatre, he was cruelly teased and mocked by other […]
REVIEW: How To Be A Girl (Theatre Utopia) ★★★★
How To Be A Girl starts with nine young girls, power dressed in black trousers suits. All appear to be in the fifteen to seventeen year old age group, though I am no expert. Together they form a kind of oral representation of a typical girls’ fashion/gossip magazine. Except for the new Editor, the girls act […]
REVIEW: FAME (Bridewell Theatre) ★★★★
As well as the 1980 multi award-winning motion picture, Fame, has been performed in many theatres worldwide and has been made into a popular television series. This production of Fame: The Musical, is up there with the best. A group of young people, from vastly different backgrounds, have just been accepted for a five year […]