Craig Hepworth, Author at North West End UK

The Ultimate Theatre Etiquette Behaviour Guide – Part 1

27Mar

By Craig HepworthNo Comments

Blogs

The Ultimate Theatre Etiquette Behaviour Guide – Part 1

OK, so we spent 2 years in our favourite slouchy clothes eating far too much ice cream whilst binge watching everything that every streaming platform had to offer. The Pandemic changed the way we all existed daily, from the moment we got up to the moment we fell asleep, everything changed. Whilst the pandemic is not over, life has started to return to normal, with one of the final industries to get back to a somewhat pre pandemic existence being theatre. However, this return hasn't gone as smoothly for some people, those people just excited to be back out in entertainment venues living their best lives, as they should. The problem is though, it seems like some audience members have completely forgotten about theatre etiquette if the message boards are anything to go by. For the past few...

MJ: The Musical, a Thriller or just Dangerous?

4Feb

By Craig HepworthNo Comments

Blogs

MJ: The Musical, a Thriller or just Dangerous?

So, this week we are going to talk about the age-old question of separating the art from the artist, especially when that artist is Michael Jackson and especially now when a big budget glossy stage musical about his life has just opened on Broadway. In brief, MJ: The Musical tells the story of Jackson preparing for his 1992 Dangerous World tour, it was a big moment for the artist, his Thriller album was ground-breaking, and he was feeling the pressure to live up to his past success, so all effort was going in to make the Dangerous Tour one for the history books. The show splits between the rehearsal room and flashbacks to his past, it shows his relationship with his father Joe, his rise through The Jackson 5, battles with the media, pain pills, perfectionism and more. So far so ordinary...

In defence of the weird and wonderful world of the theatre chat message boards

20Jan

By Craig HepworthNo Comments

Blogs

In defence of the weird and wonderful world of the theatre chat message boards

The simple thought of the theatre chat boards like BroadwayWorld or TheatreBoard is enough to send writers, directors, performers and producers running screaming into the night. Before the curtain drops on your first night performance, the message boards have already lit up with reviews, comments and thoughts on the latest show, and unlike paid critics, they don't hold back if they do not like something. If producers had magic powers, they would make these boards vanish, but why, why do they have such a bad rap? I have been a member of the Broadway World chat board for well over a decade, I have seen everything you can see from smartly written reviews, bitching and fighting, gossiping and paid shills (more on that later). Over the years my mind has flipped back and forth on the idea of ...

11Jan

By Craig HepworthNo Comments

Blogs

In The Spotlight

Hello North West End Welcome to my new weekly column here on the site, where I will talk all things theatre from local to touring, West End to Broadway and more. My name is Craig, and I am a playwright and director here in wonderful Manchester and also the co-owner of the long running theatre production company Vertigo. I am thrilled to be able to spend a little time with you each week with this column and share what's going on in the theatre world. So, with that said, I thought it might be best to bring you up to date with all that's going on around the world in theatre when it comes to everybody's least favourite party guest... Covid. It's been a dreadful two years for the theatre industry, and today we are still fighting to figure out a way to move forward in this new normal...