Greg Holstead, Author at North West End UK

9Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Edges – Assembly Rooms, Music Hall

This was – Some very fine singing, but ultimately indecipherable and unrelatable! A production from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Edges, the blurb reads: a Musical from the creators of The Greatest Showman, La La Land and Dear Evan Hansen, Edges is a contemporary song-cycle which explores universal issues such as love, commitment, identity, and meaning. Well, great! As a big fan of all of those production, this sounds perfect, I was looking forward to this one. What a let down! This is maybe sounding and looking great and making perfect sense if you are a 20-something angst-ridden American female living in New York City. And I am probably sounding very old and very male now. A bright young thing launches into, Am I fulfilled. Do I care? A production that, on paper...

Cecile McLorin Salvant – Usher Hall, Edinburgh

9Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Cecile McLorin Salvant – Usher Hall, Edinburgh

That was – Emotional! What a voice. The power and attack of Salvant’s vocal is what strikes you the most. Controlled and yet, something else, hard to explain, at first soaring, vast balloon-like and then at other times like a bird; small, fragile, vulnerable. Miami-born, Salvant at the age of 33 is right at the top of her game, full of the confidence that a library of prestigious awards and accolades brings, and jazz flair that has made her a sell-out draw around the world. Her current album Melusine draws on her Haitian and French heritage, and sung partly in French, whilst her previous highly acclaimed 2022 album Ghost Song features interpretations of tracks by Kate Bush and Sting. In a recent interview with The List, she promised that this concert would be, ‘crazy and sponta...

8Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Ed Byrne – Assembly Rooms Music Hall

That was – An unexpected rollercoaster of emotions, with joyous high points. An absolute master of observational comedy who is not scared to get down in the mud with his audience and let them in on the tough stuff as well as the funny stuff. Oh!…. Very funny indeed! Despite stiff competition from 2020 and 2021, 2022 was a total evil b*stard for Byrne. Pause, Pause, Stop! But 2023 is shaping up now, tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, and you can be sure that Ed is always going to come out swinging, this guy ain’t going down without a fight! Men want information, women want emotion. Men want information, women want emotion. Remember that Ed. The mirror that is severely cracked but still intact and still reflecting. You can be sure that Byrne micro-managed that right down to ...

Ania Magliano: I Can’t Believe You’ve Done This – Pleasance Courtyard

8Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Ania Magliano: I Can’t Believe You’ve Done This – Pleasance Courtyard

This was – Very Funny, and very relatable! I have to be honest; I don’t know quite how she does it. She instantly puts the audience at ease with her laid-back delivery and razor sharp mind. The anecdotes and one-liners are faultless, there is no pause. And she is always funny. Even ad-libbing when a phone rings or when a hair clip gets caught in her shoe – which becomes a trophy to win for the best audience member – unfortunately it wasn’t me, not laughing hard enough! There is almost no point in writing this review and sending it to my editor, after all - she is completely sold out. What’s the point? But put it in your diary for next year. Make a fridge magnet, write a post-it note, write it into your iPhone Calendar, become a Fringe Reviewer for fecks sakes!…. get creative. Just do...

Alan Turing Guilty Of Love – Hill Street Theatre, Edinburgh

8Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Alan Turing Guilty Of Love – Hill Street Theatre, Edinburgh

A decent sized crowd half-fill this nice little raked traditional theatre venue for a brand new musical, Produced and Directed by David Kettle. Seeking at its core to expose the disgraceful torment and shame piled on the code-breaking genius by the British establishment due to his homosexuality. Jamie Sheasby is simply electrifying in the demanding lead role, rarely off stage with a sheath of lines and multiple songs and a massive arc to accomplish, from nervous schoolboy to war code-breaker at Bletchley Park to persecuted adult, he is completely committed and utterly believable. I enjoyed the Enigma machine scene, the script, the acting, the choreography, and the song, ‘man is a machine’, which ran through it. Sheasby is again very good in delivering this scene and song. Unfortunate...

The Hunchback Of Notre Dame – The Edinburgh Academy, Magnuson Theatre

7Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Hunchback Of Notre Dame – The Edinburgh Academy, Magnuson Theatre

This was – An absolute Gem – a stone cold hit. Captivate have done it again! Despite, or perhaps, in spite of, the relocation from their normal haunt of Rose Theatre. Edinburgh Academy, Magnuson Theatre is transformed into Norte Dame, and the sound system which so exemplified their previous shows is just as crisp and clear, maybe even better than ever. It’s amazing! They are amazing! And how could I ever have doubted that it would not be so. From the moment that the huge chorus launch into their opening number, with smiles, brightly coloured costumes and jaunt, you know that it is business as usual! After all, Captivate do not do things half baked! It makes a lot of the servings at the Fringe look like thin gruel in comparison! I feel like I have used up my quota of exclamation...

Shamilton – Assembly George Square Studios

7Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Shamilton – Assembly George Square Studios

This was – Over the Line! Discriminatory, controversial, anti-Semitic. As a man (can I say that?), who lives with a Jewish lady, who’s business partner is Jewish and has many Jewish friends, you cannot say what you said today. You know the line! You know the line; the line that draws a gasp, a shriek, a howl. The line that after a while as a performer you become addicted to. The line that asks, can I go bigger, can I get closer, can I go over the line? Because crossing the line is what this show does, and what the crowd are baying to see and hear, nay demanding. But for how much longer? The blurb says, Baby Wants Candy's hip-hop Hamilton homage returns! Following sold-out runs in Chicago, NYC and LA. Expect to be wowed by an epic improvised musical based on historical fi...

Revenge For The Count Of Monte Cristo – Hill Street Theatre

7Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Revenge For The Count Of Monte Cristo – Hill Street Theatre

Hill Street Theatre has long been a regular haunt of Fringe goers, with the battle-hardened / extremely charismatic / miserable b* (delete as appropriate) producer/director Derek Douglas at the helm once again. Mixing a combination of brand new shows with re-run favourites, aiming to balance the books when the curtain eventually comes down. (hopefully!) Revenge, as they say, is a dish best served cold. This brand new musical written by Pete Sneddon and directed by Mark Geary-Fairbairn, set in post-Nepoleonic France, is at times stone cold and difficult to follow. However, it is saved to some extent, by some excellent singing by a talented cast. Lewis Carlton excels as Edmond, the titular Count and opens the show with the rousing number ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’. So far so good....

Lord Of The Flies – The Space, Edinburgh

7Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Lord Of The Flies – The Space, Edinburgh

American High School Theatre Festival (AHSTF) by WorldStrides presents St Francis High School Theatre’s adaptation of this classic William Golding tale about a group of English boys who are being evacuated to a safe country in the pacific to escape worldwide war fallout, until their plane crashes on a deserted island. This certainly has the feel of a devised and improvised piece, where the boys have been left (metaphorically) on a desert island, without adult supervision. At times it could certainly have benefitted from much more precise direction, both in terms of lines and movement. Having said that, I did like the visceral energy. It starts with promise as we are introduced to Ralph and ‘Piggy’, two teenage schoolboys struggling to come to terms with their new situation on the...

Edinburgh International Festival Opening Concert: Buddha Passion – Usher Hall, Edinburgh

7Aug

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Edinburgh International Festival Opening Concert: Buddha Passion – Usher Hall, Edinburgh

This was – A brilliant, joyful opening of the 2023 International Festival One of the most versatile musicians in the world, Academy-award winning (score to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Tan Dun conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Edinburgh Festival Chorus in the Scottish premiere of his own extraordinary Buddha Passion (2018). And what an amazing and joyful spectacle this was, which had the massed ranks of junior and adult choristers laughing and clapping, clinking pebbles together, tinkling Chinese bells and singing alternatively between ancient Sanskrit and Chinese. And before them the spectacle of the National Orchestra in full flow. A very effective subtitling allowed the packed house to appreciate the piece fully. This is a treatise on the joy ...