Philip Edwards, Author at North West End UK

Here & Now The Steps Musical – Opera House

6Sep

By Philip EdwardsNo Comments

North West

Here & Now The Steps Musical – Opera House

Here’s the thing, some people like Marmite, and some don’t. I always add it to my gravy and most people don’t mind. The music of Steps can be equally divisive some people like it, some don’t, but when you add it to a piece of musical theatre, well most people, on the evidence of the Opera House audience love it! But let’s dig a little deeper than the whooping, cheering and joining in that I witnessed on press night. First of all, you hire a critically acclaimed writer such as Shaun Kitchener to pen a story into which you can fit the songs of a 1990’s pop group. That’s not so easy. Many “catalogue” musicals fit the story round the songs. On the evidence of “Here and Now – the Steps musical”, the songs fit around the story and that is one of the strengths of this show. The songs adv...

30Jul

By Philip EdwardsNo Comments

North West

The Last Laugh – Manchester Opera House

It is a well-known fact that most comedians have an insecurity caused by and driven by the need to get the next laugh. Tony Hancock for example paid the ultimate price in his strive to stay funny. It is fuelled by the need to build on the success they have already built. It is an anxiety shared by the three comic greats we see presented on stage in Paul Hendy’s touching script though how they deal with it is very different. All three come from the first generation of comedians to transition from the age of music hall to the age of television. In music hall, comics often toured the same material for years, but once seen on television, that material becomes yesterday’s chip paper and the need to create new, funnier comedy drives the insecurity to get the next laugh. There can ...

Me, You and The Fit Bloke Next Door – King’s Arms, Salford

24Jun

By Philip EdwardsNo Comments

North West

Me, You and The Fit Bloke Next Door – King’s Arms, Salford

It’s not very often I leave a theatre and think “so what”, but I did on Sunday night as I left the Kings Arms Theatre. I suspect what caused me the problem was the play being written for a “fringe” performance. Pip Carew has written a piece which lasted 60 minutes but would perhaps benefit from lasting a bit longer and the time then used to develop the three characters who inhabit this play. We are presented with a married couple of whom I know very little. That back story would tell us what lead to this point in their relationship. As it is, we quickly discover they both fancy the bloke, Alex, from the next flat (of whom we are told a bit more). They proceed to seduce him but make clumsy efforts to engage his interest on their own. The element of of “will they, wo...

20Feb

By Philip EdwardsNo Comments

North West

Beautiful Thing – Harpers Theatre Cafe

It is hard to believe that Jonathan Harvey’s play is 30 years old. Despite the progress made in some areas of LGBTQ life, there are many elements that are just as difficult and for that reason, if nothing else Beautiful Thing is still worth performing in 2025. A company like The Drama Department is to be applauded for staging a piece of theatre that is both heart breaking and humorous, often at the same time. To achieve both of those elements is a bit of a juggling act, and one that was sometimes missed in Michael McCaw’s production. When some of the humour comes from an angry situation, as it does in this play, it needs balance in pitch and tone to bring the elements through and here there was a bit too much shouting to convey anger, and that masked the humour within. A bit of quiet...

10Oct

By Philip EdwardsNo Comments

North West

Grease – Palace Theatre

Sometimes when a reviewer goes to see a show, no matter what the content, the audience will so completely overwhelm the performance that there is very little one can say in review. Such is the case with “Grease” which continues a national tour at The Palace. The audience are so loyal to the show, they will it along every moment of the performance. I have to say that I would have preferred to hear the paid cast singing some of the songs rather than the “Levenshulme Ladies Choir” across the aisle from me, but hey, we know the tunes anyway. Despite a book as thin as a cigarette paper, Director Nikolai Foster drives the show along like greased lightening and genuinely lights up the stage with the musical numbers. To add to the “A” list production team the choreography by Arlene Phill...

20Mar

By Philip EdwardsNo Comments

North West

My Beautiful Launderette – The Lowry

For those of us who lived through the 1980’s much of the story told in My Beautiful Launderette is familiar. The need to achieve at all costs gripped much of society and some people gave up principles for the chance to get rich quick. There was a growing middle class, not least in people who settled here from different countries. It was also a time of advancing rights in the gay community despite the long shadow of HIV/AIDS. Put that lot together as Hanif Kureishi did in 1985 and you have a very successful movie on your hands which went a long way to explore Britain becoming a multi-cultural society, those who embrace it and those who resent it. The story has now been brought to the stage and once again we meet Omar as he seeks to make a success of his uncle’s rundown launde...

Priscilla Queen of the Desert – Stockport Plaza

13Mar

By Philip EdwardsNo Comments

North West

Priscilla Queen of the Desert – Stockport Plaza

Sometimes, reviewing theatre productions can be a bit like pulling hens teeth. You sit there, you get acted at, you clap then you leave. All very nice, but you can’t say very much about what you’ve seen. Then there are the nights when you get blown away by a production. A production so good, you can’t stop saying things about it. I saw one of those tonight. By any criteria you can name, this production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert was a joy from start to finish. I guess you will know the plot by now. Three drag queens schlep across Australia in an old bus, (the titular Priscilla). They encounter the sort of people who don’t take naturally to people who are different. They are despised, assaulted in the vilest way. One finds romance, one a family but they all have adventures they wo...

4Dec

By Philip EdwardsNo Comments

North West

Little Red – HOME Mcr

It is well documented that pantomime is usually the first experience of the theatre most children will have, but it is a fact that some children will not like that larger than life spectacle. Enter stage left the play created with children in mind. At worst children’s theatre will patronize and at best will stimulate their interest and from looking at the young people in the audience of “Little Red”, this production does the latter in spades. Created by the company of four actors, we are presented with the well known and loved story of Little Red Riding Hood with added songs and music and a small amount of audience participation. The songs and music composed by Patrick Dineen entirely suit the work and move the story along beautifully. A simple but clever set and effective and atm...

11Jul

By Philip EdwardsNo Comments

North West

Bosie – The Fitzgerald, Manchester

Because of his historical significance we know much about Oscar Wilde, playwright, wit, man about town and sodomite. We know he was infatuated by his muse Lord Alfred Douglas, or “Bosie” to his friends, but perhaps we know a lot less about Bosie himself. Rik Barnett corrects that with this play. Not only writer, but Rik Barnett also has an outing as the subject of this short, but sharp piece of theatre being staged as part of the Manchester festival. First a mention of the venue. The Fitzgerald advertises itself as a “speakeasy” bar and with an entrance of Little Lever Street in the city northern quarter, the heavy dark doors set the scene well. The performance space on the first-floor suits this play very well but might be a bit limiting to other ventures. I look forward to seeing h...

19May

By Philip EdwardsNo Comments

North West

A Chorus Line – Pendleton College

Many choreographers have failed in their attempt to put dance into the feet of this reviewer. It makes it all the more interesting to see how it all works and admire the speed with which proper dancers understand the language and translate it into movement. A skill I will never have, but this is the main premise of this 1975 musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban. Of course, it is about much more than that and the show unfolds by telling the life stories of the auditionees. But first, life must imitate art and the students of Pendleton College will also have auditioned like the characters they now portray. Director Ian Bennett has put together a largely talented cast. He has also changed some of the narrative and characters to suit his cast and the ch...