REVIEWS Archives - Page 119 of 409

Jesus Christ Superstar – Liverpool Empire

24Oct

By Hannah EsnoufNo Comments

North West

Jesus Christ Superstar – Liverpool Empire

High expectation was felt amongst the sell-out crowd and this performance lived-up to and exceeded its title as a classic of British musical theatre. Tom Scutt (set and costume) and Drew Mconie (choreography) brought something new and exciting to this particular production. The industrial feel of the set, the paring back to bare metal really added to it and allowed those performing to shine and the multipurpose props were a savvy touch. Also, the movement elements of this piece were really impressive. Rugged, grounded and grungey would be the terms I would use, which brought a new take to the show to highlight the turmoil and obsessive themes of the story. All cast members gave their all in the physical demands of the routines which paid off, and their energy was felt right to the back ...

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

24Oct

By Alexandra SevernNo Comments

North West

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

Only a few weeks ago, and coincidental to being asked to review this show, I had a nostalgic watch of the 1968 film on which this show is based. While some reviews will give a full synopsis, most of us know the plot from hours of watching the film as both children and adults - I’m sure many of us still have nightmares thanks to the Child Catcher (played maleficently by Mike Shaw in the Garrick’s version). We were whisked away on this surprisingly mild October evening to Ian Fleming’s magical world, where frequently we would forget that cars can’t fly - the titular car received a round of applause on its first entrance. With music by the Sherman Brothers, script by Jeremy Sams and first performed in 2002, the show has become a steadfast fixture on the amateur circuit and the Garrick’s ca...

Close Up Concert – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

24Oct

By Kiefer WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Close Up Concert – Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

This delightful concert of short musical gems featured flautist Helen Wilson accompanied by pianist Benjamin Powell. All six pieces included in this performance spanned four centuries and three continents and both Wilson and Powell performed with great relish and precision. The concert featured the beautiful and haunting Flute Sonata in F,Op.1 No 2 composed by Anna Bon who was born in Italy in 1738. This particular sonata (in three movements) was originally composed around 1756 and shows an exquisite emotional depth. Wilson’s performance is utter perfection. Danza de la Mariposa by the American composer Valerie Coleman is a modern piece that is inspired by the various types of butterflies that live across South America. Musically it actually captures the translucent qualities of a bu...

24Oct

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Annie – Hull New Theatre

What a fabulous, uplifting start to the week - all thanks to a cute, little, red-haired orphan called Annie, whose story is told in a production of the same name. A jam-packed Hull New Theatre was the setting on Monday evening for this smash-hit show, which has come direct from London’s West End. At curtain up, the stage featured metal bedsteads and sparse bedding, in an orphanage run by the drunken, cruel Miss Hannigan (Craig Revel Horwood). With unkempt hair, make-up, sloppy negligee and a fridge-full of booze, the Strictly Come Dancing star is perfection in the role, bringing much hilarity to proceedings as well as a fine singing voice. Equally perfect in her role is young Zoe Akinyosade as Annie, who is on stage for over two hours - no mean feat for a nine-year-old. With a ...

Fran & Flora: Synagogue Nights – Manchester Jewish Museum

24Oct

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Fran & Flora: Synagogue Nights – Manchester Jewish Museum

Experimental folk duo, Fran & Flora, kickstart the latest season of Synagogue Nights at Manchester Jewish Museum with Contemporary Diaspora Sounds, drawing upon music from Unfurl, their 2019 debut album, and their upcoming second album due for release in 2024. Having freshly arrived from Romania that morning, this was cellist Francesca Ter-Berg and violinist Flora Curzon’s first performance in Manchester as well as their first at a Sephardic synagogue. Drawing inspiration from their travels in eastern Europe and beyond, their work pulls upon the melodies of Klezmer, influences from Transylvania, Romania, Greece, and Armenia and archival manuscript and recordings. Providing us with an array of musical pieces, we moved between traditional Klezmer and the Doina’s of Transylvania and...

22Oct

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Woman Walking – Traverse Theatre

This two women play by Sylvia Dow ends its three week tour of twelve Scotland venues at the hot and stuffily subterranean Traverse 2. Ironic perhaps, given that the setting is (supposedly) a breezy mist covered mountain top. As solo hill walker Cath, played by Pauline Lockhart, in hiking boots and sporting an infeasible large rucksack stops for a chocolate break, she finds she is not alone. And yet there is no surprise, no shock as she chats with the tweed-clad and grey-streaked Nan Shepherd, played by Fletcher Mathers. At the heart of the problems with this production is the lack of drama, of shock, of revelation. The narrative is linear and pedestrian and with a minimal set you might just as well be overhearing two post menopausal woman moaning about life in a Tesco car park. &n...

The Book of Will – Shakespeare North Playhouse

22Oct

By Jan MellorNo Comments

North West

The Book of Will – Shakespeare North Playhouse

For those amongst you who are fans of Shakespeare’s amazing plays – it is unbelievable to think that if his Kings men friends John Heminge and Henry Condell had not had the courage and devotion in 1619 (3 years after the playwright’s death) to gather his works in the first folio , that a lot of his works of art (up to 18) would be lost to history forever. The likes of King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, the Tempest, Measure for Measure, Julius Ceasar, Macbeth and A Midsummer nights’ dream, may never have been in our lives at all. Following the bard’s death in 1616, his works were strewn across the city of London. During the times that the plays were shown at the Globe in London, the actors were only given their own lines, as to not have the plays stolen or lost. During these times and af...

21Oct

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Ailey 2 – Hull New Theatre

Storm Babet was no deterrent to the hardy souls who ventured out on Friday evening to watch Ailey 2 at the Hull New Theatre. This energetic troupe of modern dancers - I counted 12 in all - come to the city as part of a UK tour. Ailey 2 has been described by the New York Times as being the “younger version of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater” - a company founded in 1958 by choreographer, dancer and visionary, Alvin Ailey to bring African-American dance to the world stage from its base in the Big Apple. From what I witnessed on Friday evening, Ailey’s quest has been a huge success. At curtain up, the stage - left, right and centre - was enveloped in black, as were the dancers who emerged in the gloom to a hypnotic, and very loud, drum beat. They moved individually, sometimes...

Scottish Ballet: Twice-Born – Edinburgh Festival Theatre

21Oct

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Scottish Ballet: Twice-Born – Edinburgh Festival Theatre

I defy anyone not to love Schachmatt by Spanish choreographer, Cayetano Soto. It translates as Checkmate and playfully works its way through a range of eras, drawing an ongoing smile from this reviewer. Acting as a warm-up to Scottish Ballet's latest work, Twice-Born (developed by new boy on the block, Dickson Mbi) it is a fabulously entertaining and quirky piece. At the get-go your curiosity is piqued as a moody stage is slowly revealed. What follows is witty, unique and brilliantly executed by a top-notch team performing with precision and speed. Christopher Hampson, Scottish Ballet’s CEO, watched Schachmatt two nights in a row: “I remember feeling instant joy because I was watching craft at its highest level,” he said. He knew immediately he wanted to bring it to the Scottish B...

21Oct

By Alice RoseNo Comments

London

Hamnet – Garrick Theatre

Based on the outstanding sell-out book by Maggie O’Farrell, Lolita Chakrabarti adapts the story for the stage under the RSC, which just recently transferred to West End at the Garrick Theatre. This being such a widely known story it is likely to match the book in being a sell-out, however we lose so much of the quality and depth of the characters to perhaps fit the time frame. We are introduced to Agnes (Madeleine Mantock) a young woman in Warwickshire inspired by plants, herbs and natural resources- she meets her new Latin tutor, William (Tom Varey). From there, they fall in love and Agnes falls pregnant out of wedlock. Quickly married and now twins on the way William goes to London to pursue his writing. Although we have moments with William as his career takes off, we stay with the wome...