Paul Wilcox, Author at North West End UK

<strong>BETTY! – A sort of Musical – Royal Exchange Theatre</strong>

9Dec

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

BETTY! – A sort of Musical – Royal Exchange Theatre

As we left the Royal Exchange this evening following the World Premiere of 'BETTY! - A sort of Musical', I understood the necessity of the subtitle in attempting to describe this show. 'Betty' is part musical, part sketch comedy and all heart, a Winter warmer that is both funny and completely bonkers but lacks the consistency to make it a real Christmas cracker. Director Sarah Frankcom and Maxine Peake have further developed their long standing working relationship with both each other and this Mancunian theatrical institution, 'BETTY' is their eighth project working together. This time round they have enlisted composer and songwriter Seiriol Davies to tell the story of Baroness Betty Boothroyd, the redoubtable first woman Speaker of the House of Commons and her extraordinary rise to po...

<strong>West End to Broadway: A Christmas Cabaret – The Pendleton School of Theatre</strong>

8Dec

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

West End to Broadway: A Christmas Cabaret – The Pendleton School of Theatre

Ahh December, a time for proud parents to crowd into overheated school halls and gymnasiums to watch the tradition that is the school Christmas show, usually an event where hymns and Christmas songs are gently murdered by offspring with varying degrees of talent. Fortunately, I am at The Pendleton School of Theatre this evening where no such horrors await, and I'm wafted gently into the festive season on a tide of theatrical artistry that ensures the continuation of the excellent reputation of this school. Nostalgia blankets the programme this evening like the frost outside on this freezing Salford night, with both Musical Director Neil G Bennett and Director Becky Marshall raiding their memory box of Christmas, bringing us a programme that in addition to the traditional, allows a coupl...

<strong>The Mousetrap – Opera House, Manchester</strong>

29Nov

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

The Mousetrap – Opera House, Manchester

At the conclusion of every performance of Agatha Christie's 'The Mousetrap, the murderer steps forward and asks the audience to 'keep the secret of whodunnit locked in your heart', an appeal that has proved remarkably resilient given that this tour marks its 70th anniversary and it remains the longest continuously running show of any kind in the world. With nearly 29,000 performances since its premiere in 1952 you could forgive audiences if they tired of it, but a packed opening night in the vast Manchester Opera House, is testament to its enduring popularity. Confession time, as a critic who has been attending theatre for well over 40 years, I have never seen 'The Mousetrap', the rodent has eluded me all these years and whilst it will never be on my theatrical bucket list, the completi...

<strong>Oppenheimer – Manchester School of Theatre</strong>

25Nov

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Oppenheimer – Manchester School of Theatre

The genesis of the 'Manhattan' project, to develop a nuclear bomb ahead of Nazi Germany at the end of World War II, is an irresistible subject for dramatists with film Director Christopher Nolan bringing his version of the story to the cinema screen next year. Writers have always found its chief architect, J. Robert Oppenheimer, a fascinating study and in 2015 Tom Morton-Smith succeeded where many of his illustrious predecessors (Arthur Miller amongst them) have failed, bringing him to life on stage. Manchester School of Theatre has further burnished its reputation with this excellent production, which manages to weave together the scientific, personal and political threads of the story into a wholly convincing tapestry that is Shakespearean in its breadth and illustration of both personal...

<strong>Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella – Hope Mill Theatre</strong>

18Nov

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella – Hope Mill Theatre

Eight years before Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein famously collaborated on screen with Dame Julie Andrews in 'The Sound of Music', she starred in a 1957 musical version of 'Cinderella' written by the iconic duo specifically for US television. It was a smash hit, during the broadcast the streets of New York were reportedly deserted as around 107 million people tuned in to watch, garnering both critical and public acclaim. Fast forward 65 years and we find another pair of estimable creatives, William Whelton and Joseph Houston the driving forces behind Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester, have sprinkled their special brand of fairy dust over the piece, giving us a pre-Christmas treat to brighten a bleak November night. The time honoured story of Cinderella has many variations and can r...

2Nov

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Disney’s The Lion King – Palace Theatre

There was a palpable sense of excitement in Manchester last night as the crowds made their way down Oxford Road to watch 'The Lion King' start its mammoth run at the venerable old Palace Theatre. Some in the audience have been waiting over two years, the original booking falling victim to the pandemic back in 2020, indeed such was the demand for tickets (over 200,000 sold for the initial weeks of performance), that the run has been further extended to the middle of March next year. I saw this production on its last visit to Manchester in 2012 and will admit to being slightly underwhelmed on that occasion, so I was interested to see if this time round it would live up to the hype. Should you be spending your hard earned money in the company of Simba and Pumba in the Pride Lands, rather t...

1Nov

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

The Shawshank Redemption – The Lowry

The 1994 screen version of 'The Shawshank Redemption' consistently tops the IMDB rankings as their most popular movie of all time, but this tale of Andy Dufresne, a banker wrongly convicted of killing his wife was a slow burner on its initial release, only achieving the preeminence it now enjoys in cinematic history over the ensuing thirty years. A similar glacial timeframe forms the backdrop to the story, being set over a two decades in the hellish surroundings of Shawshank prison in Maine and following Dufresne through his suffering and eventual vindication; a story of hope and a triumph of positivity under the most trying of circumstances. The film, based on the 1982 novella by Stephen King has become so pervasive in modern culture, that there will have been few attending the caverno...

MUSICALS: A new Musical Theatre magazine hits the streets this month

21Oct

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

NEWS

MUSICALS: A new Musical Theatre magazine hits the streets this month

MUSICALS: A new Musical Theatre mag hits the streets this month, but will it fly, or will it flop? Paul Wilcox from North West End gets a preview and gives us his verdict. A reassuringly heavy thud on my doormat announces the arrival of 'Musicals', a brand new bi-monthly magazine promising coverage of 'The World of Musical Theatre from the West End to Broadway and beyond.' I am fascinated to explore whether there is still a gap in the market for a specialist publication in a world of clickbait journalism and instant online content, mostly available free of charge. Ripping open the envelope and settling down on the sofa with a cuppa, I am presented with a product of undoubtedly high quality. Nearly 100 glossy pages broadly divided into news, reviews, features and interviews, with cont...

Titus Andronicus – The Kings Arms, Salford

18Oct

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Titus Andronicus – The Kings Arms, Salford

When you arrive at a venue and are offered a plastic poncho and earplugs as you make your way into the theatre, you have an inkling that this production may be a little different. A bare arena stage surrounded by white curtains greets you, allowing the audience to be sat virtually on stage and witness at close quarters a ninety-minute onslaught of murder, rape, mutilation and cannibalism that is definitely not for the faint hearted. Titus Andronicus is one of Shakespeare's more problematic texts, indeed literary scholars have debated if he even wrote it at all. It fell out of favour during the 19th Century, its gory depiction of strong sexual themes making it unsuitable for the more gentrified theatre audiences of Victorian Britain. However, Cream Faced Loons are a company that love a c...

Blue Stockings – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

4Oct

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Blue Stockings – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

Every year, during the first week of October, thousands of fresh-faced young people flock to our major cities marking the start of the university year. That this annual migration forms a rite of passage for both men AND women, is largely due to the efforts of 'Blue Stockings', pioneers in the rights for women's education and equality of opportunity during the nineteenth century. In this 2013 play, writer Jessica Swale focuses on the 1896 fight by women at Girton College, Cambridge to gain the right to graduate alongside their male peers in the face of hostile opposition from faculty, fellow students and society at large. We see the prejudice and misogyny that women in education faced through the eyes of four new 'Girton Girls', Tess (Pippa Lane), Celia (Bronte James), Carolyn (Madeleine...