Paul Downham, Author at North West End UK

SHOUT! the Mod Musical Comes to London in 2021

9Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

SHOUT! the Mod Musical Comes to London in 2021

A glittering new ‘Covid-Secure’ production of SHOUT! the Mod Musical is being produced at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, Highgate Village, from 10th March until 18th April 2021. Journey back to the liberating days of 1960s’ London and explore the infectious anthems that made household names of stars such as Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield, Lulu and Shirley Bassey as we track the lives of five women as they come of age in this psychedelic, eye-popping, fun-filled musical comedy which will make you want to throw your head back and SHOUT! The show features over thirty hit songs from the 1960s including “You’re My World”, “Son of a Preacher Man”, “I Only Wanna be with You”, “Those Were the Days”, “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me”, “Downtown”, “Gold Finger”, “These Boots are Made for Wa...

9Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

Educating Rita – Rose Theatre, Kingston

Willy Russell’s Educating Rita is a story about a girl from Liverpool who enrols in an open university course with a nihilistic and hedonistic tutor. Rita (Jessica Johnson) who came from a restrictive learning background wants to learn critical thinking and to change herself and her life through learning. She tries to find common ground and a genuine connection with her tutor as she emulates his identity of a Scholar and intellectual. She tries to find purpose, an appreciation for life and to change her culture, lifestyle and identity to something greater. Rita moves her apartment, changes her company to university students, changes her job and identity to lead a more enriching and authentic life. While encouraging her tutor (Stephen Tompkinson) to find a love for life through pursuing his...

Howerd’s End – The Golden Goose, Camberwell

9Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

Howerd’s End – The Golden Goose, Camberwell

Howerd’s End is a heartfelt story of love, acceptance and the use of humour as a way of masking the truth and revealing it. An emotional story of the story of a deceased popular comedian who comes back to visit his long time romantic and life partner, to go through an emotional journey through self love and self discovery and acceptance; in regards of sexuality, age, societal relevance and value. It encourages the audience to live life well, to let go of regrets and self doubt which are holding you back and explore the depth inside themselves. The show had regular laughs throughout and the comedic timing of both Simon Cartwright and Mark Farrelly was consistently great as well as their ability to hold tension in the room. This story also portrays how vulnerable comedians can be; neuroti...

From Here to Eternity – The Shows Must Go On

8Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

From Here to Eternity – The Shows Must Go On

Another offering from The Shows Must Go on Youtube channel for the remembrance weekend. From Here to Eternity is an original musical with lyrics by Tim Rice that ran for 7 months in the West End in 2013/2014. The musical is based on the 1951 novel of the same name, but with less censorship, it is grittier than the book and subsequent film. It tells the story of the members of G Company serving on the US island of Hawaii in the lead up to the attack on Pearl Harbour. New to the Company is Private Prewitt with a number of personal issues, keeping him focused on himself until he meets dancer Lorene. First Sergeant Warden is determined not to become a commissioned officer, but his mind is changed when he falls for his Captain’s wife. We follow their journey as their relationships and ...

8Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

North West

The Bald Soprano – Magpie Theatre

The Bald Soprano is an absurdist play by Eugène Ionesco, first performed in French in 1950, consisting of meaningless banter and nonsensical truisms – probably drawn from an English primer – and holds the world record for the play that has been staged continuously in the same theatre for the longest time. The play opens to an English couple, Mr Smith (Alex Burke) and Mrs Smith (Solenna le Goff), sat in their living room engaging in small talk about what they ate for dinner. Their conversation quickly turns to an almost incomprehensible discussion about Bobby Watson, who it transpires was the name of several people all at once: a man; his wife; their children; and most other members of their extended families. Their maid, Mary (Tsen Day-Beaver), enters to announce their guests have arriv...

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast to be re-imagined and re-designed in a completely new production

6Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast to be re-imagined and re-designed in a completely new production

Disney’s beloved Olivier Award-winning stage musical Beauty and the Beast is to be re-imagined and re-designed in a completely new production staged by the original award-winning creative team and will open a UK & Ireland Tour in May 2021. Performances will begin at Curve, Leicester on Tuesday 25th May 2021, with other engagements also announced today in Dublin, Bristol, Liverpool and Edinburgh. The general on-sale will follow from Thursday 26th November 2020. Customers can sign up to be amongst the first to access tickets and can find all tour dates and information at www.beautyandthebeastmusical.co.uk Spectacularly reimagined in startling new designs which will use the latest theatrical innovations, this timeless romantic tale will be brought to life on stage like never befo...

World Premiere of The Osmonds: A New Musical in 2021

6Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

World Premiere of The Osmonds: A New Musical in 2021

THE OSMONDS: A New Musical will receive its world premiere at London’s New Wimbledon Theatre on 26th August 2021, as part of a UK & Ireland Tour, which will run through to 30th April 2022. THE OSMONDS: A New Musical with story by Jay Osmond tells the true story of the five brothers from Utah who were pushed into the spotlight as children and went on to create smash hits, decade after decade. From their star residency on The Andy Williams Show from 1962 to 1969, to pop stars and ‘Osmondmania’ from 1971 to 1975, to the arrival of The Donny & Marie Show, a popular variety TV show, from 1976 to 1979, The Osmonds lived a remarkable life recording chart-topping albums, selling out vast arena concerts and making record-breaking TV shows - until one bad decision cost them everythi...

Love Letters set to Open at Theatre Royal, Haymarket

6Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Love Letters set to Open at Theatre Royal, Haymarket

Just eighteen hours after the end of the UK’s current lockdown, Bill Kenwright presents MARTIN SHAW and JENNY SEAGROVE in A.R. GURNEY’s Love Letters, directed by ROY MARSDEN, at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. The play will open on 3rd December 2020, the first day after the Prime Minister has decreed that lockdown ends. This production of Love Letters was previewed at Theatre Royal, Windsor as part of its five-week, five-day, five-play season. THE PLAY Love Letters first opened in New York in 1989 and was a finalist in the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Gaining huge popularity, it has since played in theatres across the globe, attracting both real-life and on-screen couples to star as the protagonists. The last Broadway production in 2014 featured Mia Farrow and Brian Dennehy. ...

English Touring Theatre Announces Phoenix by Mike Bartlett

6Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

English Touring Theatre Announces Phoenix by Mike Bartlett

New Mike Bartlett audio-drama read by Bertie Carvel in rapid response to the present moment, marking the beginning of a new lockdown. ETT (English Touring Theatre) announces Phoenix, an audio drama written by Mike Bartlett and read by Bertie Carvel, Olivier Award winners, who previously collaborated on the BBC’s Doctor Foster. The production is part of Signal Fires, a project conceived by ETT and Headlong to bring together over forty of the UK’s leading touring companies to tour an idea at a time when traditional touring isn’t possible. Phoenix was released on Thursday 5th November on ETT’s website and social media channels ahead of a release on iTunes and Spotify. Phoenix is a story about fire, destruction, and rebirth; about the impact an individual’s choice can have on the nationa...

6Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

Wales

Missing Julie – Theatr Clywd

August Strindberg’s naturalistic play, Miss Julie, written in 1888, tackles a number of themes sparked by the author’s interest in psychology, including female degeneracy, class and gender conflict, idealisation and degradation, and hypnotism. Whilst considered a classic of modern theatre, the author’s own misogyny which pervades the work often presents a challenge to a successful production in these more enlightened times so it was with some interest that I turned to Theatr Clywd’s live-streamed reading of Kaite O’Reilly’s new version, introduced by Artistic Director Tamara Harvey, which has been freely adapted from Strindberg’s original to give it a twentieth century twist. Miss Julie (Sophie Melville), the heiress of a Welsh stately home, finds herself in a world radically changed...