REVIEW: WEST END PROMS (Greenwich Music Time Festival) ★★★
You could’nt beat the spectacular setting and atmosphere for the inaugural WEST END PROMS event, as a part of the annual Greenwich Music Time festival. Playing host to music industry greats over the years, from Tom Jones to the Jacksons and Alexander O’Neal – this year’s lineup included Cliff Richard and Paul Weller. With the […]
REVIEW: FIVER (Southwark Playhouse) ★★★★
FIVER is a new musical is c0-written by Alex James Ellison, who takes the role of busking narrator and Tom Lees who is the musical director. The show opens with Ellison taking to the stage with his guitar. He asks an audience member for £5 in exchange for his business card. The story then unfolds […]
REVIEW: Godspell In Concert (Cadogan Hall) ★★★
Thirty-something years before he gave the Wicked Witch Of The West her anthemic reason to take to the skies in ‘Wicked’, Stephen Schwartz created the musical ‘Godspell’, which tells the story of Jesus through a series of parables based on the Gospel of Matthew, brought together in a book by John-Michael Tebelak. The tales cover […]
REVIEW: THE COLOR PURPLE (Curve Leicester) ★★★★★
The Color Purple officially opened at Curve this week. Co-produced by Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome and directed by Tinuke Craig, this production is essential viewing. Based on the novel by Alice Walker, The Color Purple is a story about the power of women and how their relationships with one another can cast light in even […]
REVIEW: NOISES OFF (Lyric Hammersmith) ★★★★
It came as a surprise to me that ‘Noises Off’, currently playing at the Lyric Hammersmith, premiered at that self-same venue some 37 years ago. The play, set in three acts, charts the incident-laden production of a fictitious Farce, ‘Nothing On’; at the Technical Rehearsal, backstage at the Wednesday Matinee performance one month later and […]
REVIEW: ANNIE (Milton Keynes Theatre) ★★★★
“Why any kid would wanna be an orphan is beyond me…” and yet, a part of you does because Annie always manages to raise your spirits. The film and the character are full of energy, optimism and heart-warming pluck. Based on Little Orphan Annie, the stage adaptation of Annie is no less energetic, but it […]
REVIEW: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ – The Musical (Ambassadors Theatre) ★★★★★
Sue Townsend’s The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ was originally published by Methuen in 1982. Selling over 20 million copies worldwide, it is now published by Penguin Books, has been translated into 30 languages and spawned seven sequel Adrian Mole novels. The novels have been adapted for the stage, radio and television and […]
REVIEW: BARE A POP OPERA (The Vaults) ★★★
BARE A POP OPERA tells the story of a gay teenage boy, Peter, and his life at a Catholic boarding school. The show follows the struggle he feels about wanting to come out to his mother and friends, while his roommate, who he is involved with, wants to keep their relationship a secret. The story itself […]
REVIEW: EUROPE (Donmar Warehouse) ★★★★
David Greig’s play, Europe, gets its 25th anniversary revival at the Donmar Warehouse, directed by its new Artistic Director, Michael Longhurst. The play was written when Yugoslavia was at war and freedom of movement in Europe was not yet in place. The play is set in an anonymous border town in the train station where […]
REVIEW: Fiddler On The Roof (Playhouse Theatre) ★★★★★
Musical theatre masterpiece Fiddler On The Roof first premiered on Broadway in 1964 and was the first musical theatre production in history to reach 3,000 performances. The original production was highly acclaimed and won nine Tony Awards including Best Musical, Score, Book, Direction and Choreography and is currently the seventeenth longest-running show in Broadway history. […]