Rebecca Casey, Author at North West End UK

Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch – Blackpool Grand

22May

By Rebecca CaseyNo Comments

North West

Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch – Blackpool Grand

As the title may suggest this is a modern take on the Disney classic ‘The Little Mermaid’ from the point of view of Ursula. But don’t be fooled, this is certainly not a family outing, from the offset the performance is very adult, in language and theme. It’s very crude in parts, my friend who came along actually said that it went too far on occasion. I really didn’t know what to expect this evening, as I had only watched a short trailer, but being a huge fan of Disney and the Little Mermaid I was really looking forward to it. I’m very torn about my opinion on this show, parts of it were strong and entertaining, whilst other parts were unnecessary, and I had lost interest. Throughout the evening, the balance of the sound wasn’t great, when the ensemble were performing with a leadin...

24Apr

By Rebecca CaseyNo Comments

North West

2:22 A Ghost Story – Blackpool Grand

I don’t usually sign up to review performances that aren’t musicals, but something about this one drew me in. Coincidentally an article written by ‘The Stage’ popped up today, talking about the West End transfer of this production, so already I was expecting good things, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. I was so pleased to see such a full venue this evening at The Grand Blackpool. Written by Danny Robins, 2:22 has a very small cast featuring only four principles and two supporting cast members. All of the action takes place on the same set, a living room/ dining room open plan downstairs of a house, the events take place over the period of one evening. I don’t want to give too much away, because I really don’t want to spoil anything; But I can say that the cast members were e...

7Mar

By Rebecca CaseyNo Comments

North West

Legally Blonde – Opera House, Blackpool

A wonderful, vibrant, colourful evening of song and dance this evening at The Winter Gardens, Blackpool. Encore Productions brought us an array of local talent taking us on a journey of the classic story that we all know from the movie of the same name. The show follows the character Elle Woods on a journey from a Barbieesque sorority girl, to attending Harvard law school, in the hopes of winning back her ex-boyfriend. With choreography and musical direction from industry professionals the cast were in good hands, Natalie Pollard provided creative routines and ‘Whipped the dancers into shape’ Ed Rugman ‘used the talented singers to provide a well rounded, strong ensemble with nice clean harmonies. The cast were full of energy and some outstanding performances this evening that would ...

Calendar Girls – Winter Gardens, Blackpool

24Jan

By Rebecca CaseyNo Comments

North West

Calendar Girls – Winter Gardens, Blackpool

Based on the 2003 film by the same name Bill Kenwright Ltd brings us Calendar Girls - The Musical, Written by Gary Barlow and Tim Firth. An evening of nostalgic British humour with a true story centred around a real group of Yorkshire ladies creating a controversial calendar with their WI group to raise money for cancer research. Director Jonathan O’Boyle brings us a star-studded cast and a witty interpretation of the tale, cleverly scripted and warm, natural believable characters. Even if like me you have already seen the show before, this is not the same musical score or script, it has gone under some changes for this tour and in parts is unrecognisable. The set remains the same for the entire show, with a few additions to change it from the Women’s institute hall to the hospita...

7Nov

By Rebecca CaseyNo Comments

North West

The Bodyguard – Opera House, Blackpool

What a fantastic night at Winter Gardens, Blackpool, at the opening performance of The Bodyguard Musical, Based on the 1992 Oscar nominated movie of the same name, starring the household names Kevin Costner and the late great Whitney Houston in the leading roles. The West End production was nominated for 4 Olivier awards and was followed by a sell-out 18-month UK and Ireland tour. The show has played to over 3.6 million people in 15 countries and 45 US cities. Producers, Michael Harrison and David Ian alongside director Thea Sharrock brought us a dazzling line up of talent and a show that sells itself with a score full of Houston’s greatest hits. The story tells of a vocal superstar Rachel Marron, who is dealing with an unknown stalker. Frank Farmer, former Secret Service agent is...

<strong>Snow White – The Atkinson</strong>

14Jan

By Rebecca CaseyNo Comments

North West

Snow White – The Atkinson

Once upon a time in a lovely little fishing village called Southport, Snow White and the seven…..elves took to the stage at The Atkinson, in an all singing, all dancing spectacular pantomime. All Souls Dramatic Club have once again taken a classic tale and added their own modern spin, bringing together a wealth of local talent and an eclectic musical score. Writer and director Cliff Gillies, alongside choreographer Katie Palfrey and Musical Director Chris Rimmer, together are a dream team. If anything, it was a little long, particularly the first half, this wouldn’t matter so much on a matinee, but it was a school night and I had brought along my nephew. The show opened at 7.30 and the interval didn’t happen until 8.50pm, I saw from the programme song list that a song had actually...

Dreamboats & Petticoats: Bringing On Back The Good Times – Blackpool Grand

3Aug

By Rebecca CaseyNo Comments

North West

Dreamboats & Petticoats: Bringing On Back The Good Times – Blackpool Grand

Dreamboats & Petticoats: Bringing On Back The Good Times is a follow on from the original feel good juke box musical. I had no idea what to expect this evening, but I assumed that the production would be very similar to previous DreamBoats & Petticoats productions, it was also a juke box musical and it did feature the same central characters and songs from the golden era of Rock’ n’ Roll, such as ‘To Sir With Love’ ‘Palisades Park’ and ‘Is This The Way To Amarillo’ The story tells of Laura (Elizabeth Carter) a successful singer and her partner on their number one hit record Dreamboats and Petticoats’ Bobby (Jacob Fowler) who has decided to re-join his former group Norman and The Conquests at St Mungo’s Youth Club. This is where the majority of the production is set, the other ha...

<strong>Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – Winter Gardens, Blackpool</strong>

27Jul

By Rebecca CaseyNo Comments

North West

Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – Winter Gardens, Blackpool

A magical evening at The Winter Gardens Blackpool. Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is in town this week. I have seen the show previously but even if this is the case for you, this performance was a whole new experience. This is the perfect show to bring the children to, it’s short energetic, engaging and full of fun. The performance started at 7.30pm and was over by 9.30pm with a short interval. With a mesmerising score form Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice this musical never fails to fill the theatre. It was so nice to see The Winter Gardens so busy. The cast and creatives have done a superb job putting this tour together and keeping the piece fresh. Choreography by Joann M Hunter, Direction from Laurence Connor and Musical Director John Rigby, a winning team. ...

27Apr

By Rebecca CaseyNo Comments

North West

Gypsy – Lowther Pavilion

What a lovely evening at the Lowther pavilion, Lytham, my first time at the theatre and a great welcome from The Christie Musical Theatre Company, with Gypsy the Musical. Gypsy is based on a real-life story of world-famous stripper Gypsy Rose Lee and has been made into a movie a couple of times, one of them starring Bette Midler. The story tells of Gypsy or Louise’s life growing up in the shadow of her talented younger sister June and the overbearing pushy stage mother Rose. I am very familiar with the script, musical score and storyline having appeared in this show twice myself, but even with that in mind I was in for a few surprises this evening, this certainly was not a standard by the book performance and the team have a few surprises up their sleeve to take us away from the exp...

14Apr

By Rebecca CaseyNo Comments

North West

Footloose – Winter Gardens, Blackpool

This week sees the return of 1980’s screen sensation ‘Footloose.’ The Blackpool leg of the tour was due to begin on Monday 11th April, but the cast and crew have struggled to put on some performances due to Covid, they had five casting covers this evening, so that considered they did a good job putting the show on. The theatre was sadly quite empty, which has been the case on my last few visits to The Winter Gardens. A multitalented cast featuring several leads and ensemble also playing live instruments. For me the music stole the show. It’s so nice to see live musicians onstage and the timeless classics Let’s Hear it For The Boy, Holding Out For a Hero’ and of course the title track itself were highlights of the evening. Some lovely moments of comedy provided by the large e...