Thursday, March 19

North West

Little Women – Liverpool Playhouse
6Nov By Anna SmithNo Comments
North West

Little Women – Liverpool Playhouse

Louisa May Alcott's classic heartwarming story is one of my favourites and centres around the coming of age of the March Sisters and is adapted by Anne-Marie Casey for the stage and directed by Loveday Ingram.  The American Civil War is the backdrop and follows the lives of the four March sisters Meg, Jo, Amy and Beth as they navigate their way through life dealing with love, loss, their different ambitions and the transformation they each go through.  Ruari Murchison's clever set is simple but so effective. The bare tree trunks on the stage work so well letting us imagine the outdoors and there is even a gentle falling of snow. The clever use of Matthew Buggs atmospheric music helps capture the mood and completely suits the period Li...
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Mozart Symphony No. 41, Jupiter – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
4Nov By Bethany EastonNo Comments
North West

Mozart Symphony No. 41, Jupiter – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

Upon simply stepping into the Philharmonic hall there is a sense of calm to be felt and the concerts in this grand venue are a welcome outing to be had. The afternoon’s concert was principal cellist Jonathan Aasgaard’s last with the orchestra and so the afternoon began with a celebration of his career and a speech from the man himself. Here he celebrated his colleagues and noted how lucky Liverpool is to house the orchestra in the city. Aasgaard also noted how the musicians make playing look easy, but that they all work incredibly hard. The audience shared their agreement and the concert began on a high after a wonderful community moment. Conducted by Domingo Hindoyan, the afternoon focused around Mozart’s last symphony No.41 Jupiter which is split into four movements. Surprisingly, ...
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Manchester Musical Youth’s 11th Anniversary Concert – Manchester College
2Nov By Katie LeicesterNo Comments
North West

Manchester Musical Youth’s 11th Anniversary Concert – Manchester College

Manchester Musical Youth (MMY) marked its 11th anniversary in spectacular fashion with a celebratory concert at Manchester College, showcasing the incredible breadth of talent that has become synonymous with this outstanding theatre group. With over 100 students taking part, from apprentices to main stage performers - this was more than just a concert; it was a heartfelt celebration of eleven years of nurturing young talent and transforming passion into performance. Headed by the dynamic husband-and-wife duo Kimberly Holden (Musical Director) and Dave Holden (Director), MMY once again proved why it is renowned for producing some of Manchester’s finest young performers, many of whom have gone on to excel on professional stages and screens. The evening featured 23 musical numbers s...
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The Producers – Zodiac Theatre Group
30Oct By Damian RiverolNo Comments
North West

The Producers – Zodiac Theatre Group

Opening Night, It’s Opening Night. Zodiac Theatre Group have brought the hilarious Mel Brooks musical, The Producers, to the Hammond in Chester this week. A new venue for the company but the space was used extremely well. Directed by Neil Silcock, there were nods from the 2005 film mixed with some fresh and hilarious moments, with lots of physical comedy made possible by the brilliant cast who threw themselves, sometimes literally, into the roles to bring this hilarious musical to life. Gareth Earl leads the company as doomed theatre producer Max Bialystock and lead he does. Earl delivers a fantastic Bialystock, with absolute top notch acting, plenty of physical comedy and some incredible vocals, especially during Betrayed where he recaps most of the story at top speed, including an ...
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Top Hat – Liverpool Empire
30Oct By Stephanie WiswallNo Comments
North West

Top Hat – Liverpool Empire

Glitz, glamour, sophistication and flair, Irving Berlin's Top Hat takes to the stage to reinvigorate and regenerate the musicals of times gone by. A magical reminder of the sheer talent and romance of the theatre. Adapted for stage by authors Matthew White and Howard Jacques and based on RKO's motion picture. Directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall. Get your toes tapping from the moment the curtain is raised and watch in awe of the perfectly timed and varied choreography (Richard Pitt, Carol Lee Meadows and Kathleen Marshall) as the dancers showcase some iconic footwork from the soft shoe shuffle to an exciting crescendo for the end of act 1 of precision dancing in a revolution of the stage as a company. The staging (Peter Mckintosh) was grand and took you straight back in ti...
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No Woman’s Land – Rose Theatre, Arts Centre, Edge Hill University
29Oct By Mark DavorenNo Comments
North West

No Woman’s Land – Rose Theatre, Arts Centre, Edge Hill University

No Woman’s Land is a powerful and engaging one-woman performance from Ciara O’Neill that blends verbatim theatre and storytelling to bring to life the voices of Belfast’s women activists. Developed through a series of interviews conducted in October 2024, the piece weaves together biographical accounts that illuminate the city’s vibrant feminist legacy. As a work in progress – although it was far more than that – this review contains observations for consideration as part of the ongoing development process. The simple black box staging was ideal for this multi-character performance with the musical opening of Simple Minds’ Belfast Child setting the scene. O’Neill’s own arrival brings her own unaccompanied rendition of Belfast, which was powerful and moving, and with its repeat at the...
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Northern Lights and German Resonance – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
28Oct By Paul DownhamNo Comments
North West

Northern Lights and German Resonance – Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

There was nothing Fawlty about the RLPO in last night’s performance—a real Touch of Class, you might say. In that BBC comedy classic, Sybil famously complained about her henpecked husband “listening to that racket”—prompting Basil’s comic rejoinder that it was Brahms’s Third racket. Perhaps she would have preferred his Fourth Symphony, one of the great Romantic masterpieces, brought vividly to life at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall by debutant Estonian conductor Kristiina Poska. The programme opened with little-known Swedish composer Ida Moberg’s evocation of dawn, traversed Sibelius’s elemental drama, and closed with Brahms at his most romantic and architecturally grandiose. All of it under the guidance of a left-handed baton—a rare sight, even in Liverpool, the city of famous left-hand...
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The Signalman – Floral Pavilion
27Oct By Jenn McKeanNo Comments
North West

The Signalman – Floral Pavilion

As someone who spends a lot of their life on trains, I’ve always wondered what happened in the old signal boxes along the routes… not so much anymore! The Signalman has been adapted for the stage from the short story by Charles Dickens, by Francis Evelyn. With the book only being 30 pages, Evelyn managed to create a 2-act play from it, while still keeping the Dickens essence in it. It tells the story of a signalman in the 1880s, who is rigorous in his routines, being visited by a traveller and them sharing their stories. The signalman is adamant that he is visited by a Spirit, that foretells of a dangerous event occurring – train crashes, women falling to their deaths from trains and so on… It is comprised of a small cast of actors and relies on clever tricks, to convey the presence of ...
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Charlie and The Chocolate Factory – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse
24Oct By Angela KellyNo Comments
North West

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

Arguably the most well-known of all Roald Dahls novels, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is being performed at Altrincham Garrick Playhouse this week. Directed by Joseph Meighan, it is also a story with very popular film versions and so is a brave undertaking for any theatre to perform.For those few who have never heard of the story it is essentially about young Charlie Bucket and a winning golden ticket that entitles the holder to a rare entry into Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Wonka, the eccentric and largely unseen owner of the factory, meets Charlie and the rest of the winners and the story ensues with much surrealism, a lot of sugar and some strange 'umpa lumpa' people along the way!Charlie Bucket is performed by Rui Yang Lau. He performs as Dahl described Charlie in his novels. W...
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Come From Away – Northwich Memorial Court
23Oct By Damian RiverolNo Comments
North West

Come From Away – Northwich Memorial Court

This evening The Musical Theatre Company transported us to Gander and treated us to the emotional true story of 7000 people who were diverted to Gander, Newfoundland on September 11th 2001, when the world stopped and lives were changed forever. TMTC are one of the first amateur companies to get the rights to Come From Away and they put everything into telling this story with as much truth and emotion as humanly possible. With Direction from Ben Ireson, Musical Direction from Michael J Scott and Choreography from Ceris Shadwell, you can feel that they’ve thrown all they have in to this story and along with the incredibly talented cast and the on stage band, you become lost in this world and go from laughing to crying within seconds. Come From Away is a complete ensemble piece with the...
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