REVIEW: Don Quixote (Garrick Theatre) ★★★
This Royal Shakespeare Company production is based on the novel by Miguel de Cervantes, published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, telling the story of Don Quixote de la Mancha, a noble man who decides to bring the age of chivalry back to Spain. He embarks on a quest to become a knight errant […]
REVIEW: EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE (Apollo Theatre) ★★★
Based on the BBC Three documentary ‘Jamie: Drag Queen at 16’, ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ is a musical version of his story, which celebrated it’s one year birthday at the Apollo theatre this week. Culminating in Jamie’s school prom, which he attends in a dress, the show charts Jamie’s struggle towards self acceptance and the reactions […]
REVIEW: BURGERZ (Hackney Showroom) ★★★★
Travis Alabanza comes across as an introverted activist – the term being paradoxical and so very illustrative of the call for altruism their show represents. In a world blistered with prejudice, BURGERZ arrests the audience from the hellish fever dream of daily violence and discrimination we all live in; the world which has caused our […]
REVIEW: Miss Saigon (Sunderland Empire) ★★★★
The heat is on as Miss Saigon lands at the Sunderland Empire for just under a month. Produced by Cameron Mackintosh, directed by Laurence Connor and with music and lyrics by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, Miss Saigon – a reworking of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly – started life at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in […]
REVIEW: Pickle Jar (Soho Theatre) ★★★★
Pickle Jar is the debut play written and performed by Maddie Rice. It has come to Soho Theatre following a well received run at Edinburgh Fringe. This one-woman show follows a young teacher trying to shape the minds of her class of teenage girls while struggling with adult life herself. The story talks of stranger […]
REVIEW: With One Look (Union Theatre) ★★★★
Making our way from the cosy, cave-like bar at the Union Theatre and into the auditorium, we step through the threshold and find ourselves the welcome guests of an exclusive soirée hosted by the illustrious Vivienne de Vil, self-proclaimed confidante to the musical theatre elite. A chaise longue, bare brick walls, a white piano and […]
REVIEW: West End Brunch ★★★
The folks at West End late night venue Studio 88 now cater to those for whom the party never stops in the form of their new West End Brunch. Offering Eggs Benedict, Bottomless Bloody Marys and a bevvy of West End talent to help wash it all down. Hosted by the engaging Topsie Redfern (who […]
REVIEW: Side Show (The Bromley Players) ★★
It’s always a challenge to stage a show, which has not been commercially successful. But to take on the task of an infamous Broadway flop is a real gamble in a non-professional setting. And despite the fact that Side Show features some of the most acclaimed musical theatre female duets of all time, it’s never […]
REVIEW: EVITA (Wycombe Swan Theatre) ★★
As a reviewer, I cover regional theatre as well as shows in the West End and Off-West End. It raises the question, should the same standards be applied to all shows, irrespective of location, size and budget? I can fully appreciate the challenges of regional theatre where a production is moving to a new venue […]
REVIEW: THE BAND (New Wimbledon Theatre) ★★★
Following on from the incredible Calendar Girls musical, Tim Firth and Gary Barlow’s Take That musical The Band is a touring production I have been dying to see since the television show Let It Shine selected five winners to form the boyband that would go on to star in the musical. Playing in Wimbledon this […]