North West Archives - Page 19 of 115

La Bamba: A Musical – Grand Theatre, Blackpool

22Nov

By Gill LewisNo Comments

North West

La Bamba: A Musical – Grand Theatre, Blackpool

Danceathon with an infusion of Latin America and traditional rock n roll, is entertaining enough to excuse its style over substance in this bilingual jukebox musical. La Bamba introduces us to Sofia (Ines Fernandez), a young Latino woman with an upbringing immersed in Latin American heritage enriched with colourful cultural traditions. Sofia narrates us through her younger years as she pursues her dreams of becoming the next big Latino music star which is abruptly hindered by industry execs who insist that she changes her name, and water down her cultural identity to make her more acceptable to American audiences. The musical is inspired by Richard Steven Valenzuela, better known as Ritchie Valens, whose quick rise to 50s fame with the Mexican folk inspired ‘La Bamba’, made h...

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie – Winter Gardens, Blackpool

22Nov

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie – Winter Gardens, Blackpool

Blackpool Winter Gardens welcomes West End hit musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie as part if it’s UK tour. Based on the true story of 16-year-old Jamie Campbell, the boy who wanted to go to prom in a dress, Tom Macrae and Dan Gillespie Sells have created a beautiful story with real heart, and songs that make you smile from ear to ear, to ones that have you crying from emotion. Lead by Ivano Turco as Jamie New, we are treated to a spectacular show, with stunning choreography (Kate Prince), an incredible and multifunctional set and beautiful costumes (Anna Fleischle), and fantastic direction (Matt Ryan and resident director Georgina Hagen). The story revolves around a group of teens ready to face their GCSEs and the more important after exams event, school prom. This is where ...

A Christmas Carol – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

21Nov

By Hannah WildeNo Comments

North West

A Christmas Carol – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

The Christmas season is well and truly on now, with Altrincham Garrick’s performance of A Christmas Carol kicking off the festive roster. This production had flashes of theatrical excellence, but sadly there were a number of areas that just didn’t capture the audience in the way director Barry J C Purves would perhaps have wanted. The lead antagonist, Jonathan Black as Ebenezer Scrooge, gave a fantastically nuanced and well-delivered performance - the audience really bought into him in the first act as the well-known miser who struck fear into the heart of the people of Victorian London, yet in the second act you could really believe his redemption after seeing the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future. Given the supernatural nature of the story, it was a difficult narrat...

20Nov

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Opera North: La rondine – The Lowry

The curtains opens to 1920’s Paris in director James Hurley’s take on Puccini’s take of the La Traviata tale and with the backdrop of Leslie Travers rich and glamorous set, suitably illuminated by Paule Constable and Ben Pickersgill, we meet Magda (Galina Averina), the mistress of a wealthy banker, Rambaldo (Philip Smith), but when the poet Prunier (Elgan Llŷr Thomas) reads her palm and predicts that like la rondine – the swallow – she will travel south in her pursuit of happiness, the die is cast for what is to come. When she meets the young Ruggero (Sebastien Guèze), glamour soon turns to decadence as she follows him to the nightclub Bulliers where they fall in love and decide to run away to the south of France, and with Prunier equally smitten with Magda’s maid, Lisette (Claire Lees), ...

Dirty Old Town & Out Of The Woodwork – Hope Street Theatre

17Nov

By Bev ClarkNo Comments

North West

Dirty Old Town & Out Of The Woodwork – Hope Street Theatre

Dirty Old Town Hope Street Theatre tonight offered up a double bill of theatrical flavours: Marigold Lately in Dirty Old Town: a one woman show as a bitter-sweet starter. Followed by Lee Clotworthy’s new farce Out Of The Woodwork- a tasty meat-feast of laughter. Mikyla Jane Durkan and Lee Clotworthy both Liverpool theatre-makers, collaborated on this shared evening. For me, there was a certain amount of disconnect in styles but if you are looking for variety then you certainly won’t be disappointed. The first half gives us a stand-up routine perhaps more at home in cabaret or a comedy club. There is no doubt Durkan is an experienced performer but sometimes the lines blurred between what was Marigold’s truth and Durkan’s own… or was that the point? There were plenty of...

Opera North: Masque of Might – The Lowry

17Nov

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Opera North: Masque of Might – The Lowry

Sir David Pountney’s exuberant production is billed as ‘eco-entertainment’ and it certainly takes re-purposing to a whole new level with its glorified collage of Purcell’s semi-operatic musical form of the 17th Century masque lyrically enhanced to explore a range of contemporary themes including the rise of strongman leaders and the devastation of climate change, and how these may be rightly overcome. By its very nature and whilst sung, the piece is narrative in form and whilst merging various disparate musical moods, by and large it holds together quite well with the assistance of side panel surtitles in English of an English libretto. Although its success can be very much attributed to the genius fusion of the original composer and the adapted libretto by its director, it is also unf...

16Nov

By Bev ClarkNo Comments

North West

Billy Liar – Gladstone Theatre

BDS’s latest production of Billy Liar is a great night out. Director Adam Comer presents a super cast, who bring Waterhouse and Hall’s hit play and film from the 1960’s to life. It still has humour and appeal as a northern working-class classic of its time, even if perhaps a few references are a little dated, which could have easily been cut for contemporary audiences, without losing any flavour of the period. Billy Fisher tells lies which get him into hot water. His wild imagination and storytelling mean his exasperated family don’t believe a word he says and the three young ladies in his life are all being led a merry dance. In the title role, Danny Myers, making his DBS debut, shines as Billy. His natural exuberance and energy was there from the first moment. His cheeki...

Scouse Dick Whittington – Liverpool’s Royal Court

16Nov

By Luke StephensonNo Comments

North West

Scouse Dick Whittington – Liverpool’s Royal Court

Let’s get ready to rumble, it’s the start of the festive season at The Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool with this year’s pantomime Scouse Dick Whittington. Written by Kevin Fearon and Directed by Mark Chatterton. In the City of Liverpool, it has all gone array, there are no cats within the city as King Rat (Andrew Schofield) has had them killed. Mayor Bradley Fitzwarren (Liam Tobin) is forced to step down as mayor and his daughter Alice (Hayley Sheen) are wondering who can replace him other than King Rat as Mayor. Meanwhile Holly Head (Lindzi Germain) and her son D*ck Head (Adam McCoy), have just returned from a lovely little holiday. When they see a dead cat in the road all of a sudden with a flash bang a fairy (Paige Fenlon) appears. She brings back Cat (Jamie Clarke) from the dead, but...

16Nov

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Opera North: Falstaff – The Lowry

The rainbow-striped curtain rises on Opera North’s sustainable take on Verdi’s final masterpiece, a comic opera drawn from Shakespeare in director Olivia Fuchs’ re-imagined riotous and rampant romp that serves up satire, slapstick, and stags along the way. Roguish knight Falstaff (Henry Waddington) is down on his luck, residing in the car park of the Garter Inn and reliant upon its Host (Gordon D. Shaw) to keep him in good spirits of any kind! When he informs Bardolph (Colin Judson) and Pistol (Dean Robinson) that he intends to seduce Alice Ford (Kate Royal) and Meg Page (Helen Évora) they refuse to deliver his letters, so he throws them out, turning to his assistant Robin (Robert Gardiner) instead. When the letters are eventually received, Mistress Quigley (Louise Winter), Meg, Alice,...

I Should Be So Lucky – Opera House, Manchester

15Nov

By Brian MaddenNo Comments

North West

I Should Be So Lucky – Opera House, Manchester

I Should Be So Lucky, penned by Debbie Isitt, is a jukebox musical that takes its audience on a nostalgic journey through the hits of Stock Aitken Waterman. Starring Lucie-Mae Sumner as Ella and Billy Roberts as Nathan, the musical places its primary focus on the music rather than the plot, creating a vibrant but sometimes superficial experience. The story, centred around the rocky relationship between Ella and Nathan, unfolds with Nathan leaving Ella at the altar. However, it quickly becomes apparent that the musical's main draw is its soundtrack, not its narrative. Ella's rapid forgiveness of Nathan in Act 2 seems more a product of the musical's rush to showcase another hit song rather than a thoughtful character decision. The cast, including Kayla Carter as Bonnie, Jessica Daley ...