REVIEWS Archives - Page 107 of 409

The Full Monty – Winter Gardens, Blackpool

6Dec

By Paddy Darnell-WalshNo Comments

North West

The Full Monty – Winter Gardens, Blackpool

A classic from 1997, The Full Monty is ranked as one of the best British films of the 20th century by The British Film Institute. It tells the tale of six recently unemployed men from Sheffield, all with different stories to tell, desperate to make ends meet in a post-Thatcher Britain. For various reasons, the men have lost hope but unite in the most unlikely of ways to forge themselves a better future… by taking their kit off! I was very pleasantly surprised with Simon Beaufoy’s adaptation of his film script. Celebrating the film’s 25th Anniversary with this tour, the play remains faithful to the film, whilst making it appropriate for the stage. Despite being very funny, it deals with many of the original hard-hitting themes such as depression, body image, sexual equality, homosexualit...

Katie Gregson-Macleod – Summerhall, Edinburgh

5Dec

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Katie Gregson-Macleod – Summerhall, Edinburgh

Katie Gregson-MacLeod is probably a name you have never heard of but say it to Alexa and you might get a pleasant surprise as the Amazon music machine spits out five or six modern classics for your entertainment. This fresh meat is served up via TikTok, whose carnivorous audience launched Macleod’s career little over a year ago when her minute-long snippet of the breathlessly miserable piano-ballad Complex went viral, clocking up over 7M views in quick time. Appropriately enough, I’m at the Dissection Room at Summerhall, to analyse the small body of work that forms the touring MacLeod’s ouvre to date. It’s windowless, and airless, and unfortunately for this old man, chairless. I sit on a ledge next to the stage which I find out later is the sub-woofer. I’m still vibrating. Ominously or ...

The Bodyguard – The Alexandra, Birmingham

5Dec

By Annette NuttallNo Comments

West Midlands

The Bodyguard – The Alexandra, Birmingham

Based on the 1992 film of the same name, this award-winning production comes to Birmingham for a four-week run. Rachel Marron is a singing sensation, but is she also in danger from a stalker? Frank Farmer is called in to find out and protect her if she will let him. Will her entourage around her appreciate his interference, as she fights for an Oscar to add to her extensive trophy cabinet? Part concert, part thriller, part romance, this show grabs your attention from the very first moment and holds it. With effects, lighting and sound that wouldn’t look out of place in an arena, you are projected headlong into the action. While the story may be a little thin in places, the vocal performances more than make up for that. With songs showcasing the work of Whitney Houston, it would be...

4Dec

By Jennifer LaishleyNo Comments

London

Cinderella – Lyric Hammersmith

Lyric Hammersmith’s annual panto promises endless family fun in this modern retelling of Cinderella. In this story Cinderella is a thriving business woman who isn’t quite honest about how hard life is on Instagram. Filled with recognisable songs with a cheeky panto twist, this panto is not to be missed. The Lyric Theatre runs as a Charity and offers a number of complementary tickets to local schools during the panto season and also runs a number of initiatives to support the local community theatre scene. Despite the charitable status, the lyric is still able to mount a West End level show! Tilly La Belle Yengo used fantastic vocals as Cinderella. She led the cast effortlessly, pacing the play perfectly, enjoying some comical moments of interaction with the audience. Tilly’s Cinderel...

The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

4Dec

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

‘Tomm-eh… Tomm-eh!’ This was wild this year, sketches and skits performed at breakneck speed with scant regard for a wafer-thin plot, but did anyone care? Certainly not Tommy, one of the three kids hauled up to – hopefully – coin a spoonerism from a rendition of May McSmee’s (Allan Stewart) song about ‘smart fellas’. For despite the best efforts of the other two (Enda and Orla) he ended up garnering the biggest cheers for his devil-may-care attitude, quite an achievement in the face of full-throttle Allan Stewart. It summed things up; it wasn’t supposed to go like that, but it had everyone howling in their seats. This was full-tilt, punk pantomime. Amidst the shaky plot were several things that didn’t fit, particularly the Flawless dance troupe, but hang on, it’s… Flawless for heaven’s ...

4Dec

By Louise KershawNo Comments

North West

The Good Enough Mums Club – The Lowry

When the local Council threatens to close a local community centre, five women who have been thrown together in a Mums and Babies group discover that they are stronger as a group than as individuals. Their story is told in the form of a musical which addresses the common issues that women with newborns face and takes us from the moment the pregnancy test announces the impending new arrival to the collective success of five women coming together to fight for a resource they need and value. In the opening number, a gentle parody of Chicago’s Cell Block Tango, we were presented with five women clutching positive pregnancy tests and taken on a three trimester journey of sickness, cravings, fatigue, discomfort, bladder pressure, Braxton Hicks and finally labour and birth. Confidently and cle...

4Dec

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

A Sherlock Carol – Marylebone Theatre

Sherlock Holmes meets Scrooge in a spoof take on, a classic Dickens novel; A Christmas Carol. The staging was set and to some degree in keeping with Victorian London with Sherlock played by Ben Caplin (from Call the Midwife) whom did a Stirling job of characterising Holmes as we have grown to know him whilst emulating the essence of Ebenezer Scrooge. Misery of a character forced to see his life, past present and future through the eyes of the ghosts. However in this play Scrooge himself played by Kammy Darweish provides the reflections for Holmes as the ghost Scrooge through visitations. Showing Holmes the error of his ways and experiences of what will happen if he refuses to change, a role reversal, in the true sense. The play is intertwined with the meeting of many ghosts and Ho...

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...

3Dec

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Oliver! – Leeds Playhouse

Over the last few years Leeds Playhouse have offered all sorts of challenging festive spectaculars but this deliciously dark revival of Lionel Bart’s masterpiece Oliver! is the best yet. You need some nerve to take on such a beloved musical, and Oscar laden movie, so the Playhouse’s Artistic Director James Brining has cleverly placed his version in the round. Colin Richmond’s design leaves the cavernous Quarry space full of raised spaces and walkways, becoming the sort of dank and dark Victorian London that Charles Dickens painted teeming with all human life and plenty of menace. Brining is a great director of children, and when a well drilled junior ensemble sings and dances through a lively Food Glorious Food it’s clear a big and diverse cast have used their time in the rehearsal r...

Robin Hood: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto – Leeds City Varieties

3Dec

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Robin Hood: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto – Leeds City Varieties

After a long year of often serious shows, and the world in chaos, it’s just nice to sit back in a historic theatre to watch a show as comfortable as a pair of old slippers. The Rock ‘n’ Roll brand is pretty much bombproof from criticism combining a perfunctory attempt at a classic story - which is just an excuse for classic panto madness - while a gang of actor-musicians swap instruments knocking out hits for the young and old. Only in panto could you get covers of The Clash and Taylor Swift songs, that all have tenuous links to the ‘narrative’, and no-one bats an eyelid. This year poor old Robin Hood got the Peter Rowe treatment as this master of the most British of theatrical traditions weaves in sight gags, puppets, pratfalls, fart gags, corpsing, all the classic call and response...