REVIEWS Archives - Page 36 of 624

Sinatra The Musical – The Aldwych Theatre

25Jun

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

Sinatra The Musical – The Aldwych Theatre

Sinatra The Musical comes to the West End bringing the big band sound and gritty romantic storylines. Based on the life and career of the legendary icon” Francis Albert Sinatra. Known to some as “Ol Blue Eyes”, and a man who became one of the worlds influential singers. His life a conundrum of complexity is acted out by the key players who support his rise to fame whilst spotlighting others who stood by and watched is timely demise. Portrayed as a loving family man Frank certainly was close to his children. His daughter Nancy Sinatra has supported and contributed to this production of her fathers staged biopic. The story starts from when Sinatra and Nancy young and in love are finding their feet in showbiz and in their personal relationships. Life takes on a whole new meaning when Sinat...

25Jun

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Monarchs Anonymous – The Other Palace

"We live in our own timeline and are judged by the next" What happens when a group of royals, transported from various periods of history, join a therapy session and talk about their feelings? The massive egos of Henry VIII, Marie Antoinette, Charles II, Sophia Duleep Singh and Mansa Musa inevitably clash, resulting in jousting matches and fist fights. They reluctantly do the therapist's exercises, all trying to outdo one another. When the existence of the Monarchs' Anonymous sessions are leaked to the press, the group find themselves having to put their egos to one side to work together, revealing some deep truths and traumas of their lives in the process. On its surface, Monarchs' Anonymous, written by Nadia Devereux, Joshua Poole and Lyon Devereux, is a jolly surreal r...

25Jun

By Savitha VenugopalNo Comments

London

The Truth – Apollo Theatre

Camouflaged behind rip-roaring humour is a tale of deceit and infidelity. Though the lies look straightforward to begin with, in a while you find yourself out of depth. Who is lying, and who is telling the truth? Is there even a single version of the truth? Written by Florian Zeller and directed by Lindsay Posner, this is the story of two cheating couples. Michel is having an affair with Alice, his best friend Paul’s wife. As seen in several other similar setups, the woman is emotionally attached and wants to spend more time together, while the man is in it only for the physical connection and cannot see anything lacking in the arrangement as it is – hotel room rendezvous between meetings. Things begin to go awry when Alice is struck by a case of guilty conscience. She is haunted by ...

25Jun

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Brassed Off – Leeds Playhouse

Britain has had two civil wars, and the second was the titanic battle that ran between 1985 and 1985 as our nation’s miners who were the shock troops of the industrial working class took on Thatcher’s Tory government. This stage revival of the hit movie Brassed Off takes place a decade after that bitter dispute in the fictional pit village of Grimley where the miners are agonising whether to vote to take a big redundancy package and let their mine die. Meanwhile, troubled young miner Andy is finding love with his school flame Gloria who has come back home, but is she who she appears to be? Paul Allen’s witty and often bleak adaptation also uses the colliery’s brass band - led by obsessive conductor Danny who believes music is the answer to everything - to explore the idea of wh...

The Choir of Man – Sheffield Lyceum Theatre

25Jun

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Choir of Man – Sheffield Lyceum Theatre

Wow! What an exhibition of triple /quad threat talent was took over the entire building at Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield last night. I am still stunned by what I saw. The Choir of Man created by Nic Doodson and Andrew Kay and under Doodson’s direction is one of the most enduring pieces of cultural enhancing theatre I have witnessed. With Musical Supervision, vocal arrangement and orchestration by Jack Blume, monologues written by Ben Norris and Freddie Huddleston in directive charge of movement and choreography, this production only gives you time to have a quick gulp of your beer in between diverse spectacle after spectacle. Energy in every form possible. Oli Townsend’s scenic design takes us to ‘The Jungle’, the local British pub, much in decline and much needed. Where men can...

25Jun

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

North West

Something Rotten – Opera House

Manchester does it again! A city that gives birth to so many musicals that go on to conquer the world, Something Rotten is the latest UK premiere to grace the Opera House stage and this one is something special! Something Rotten! is a high-energy comedy set in 1595, where struggling brothers Nick Bottom and Nigel Bottom compete with rock-star playwright William Shakespeare. Desperate for success, Nick consults a soothsayer who predicts the future of theatre—and invents the musical, complete with singing, dancing, and jazz hands. What follows is a rapid-fire blend of wordplay, tap numbers, and affectionate parody of Shakespeare, musical theatre clichés, and creative jealousy. With show-stopping ensemble pieces, heartfelt sibling rivalry, and relentlessly silly humour, the show celebrates...

The Karate Kid: The Musical – Festival Theatre

24Jun

By Roger JacobsNo Comments

Scotland

The Karate Kid: The Musical – Festival Theatre

Yet another musical version of a successful film from back in the day and though they rarely miss, not all hit. The production values are usually high and this is no exception. A superb set consisting chiefly of brightly coloured Japanese screens propelled around by cast members creates the different sets; the arcade where Daniel meets Freddie Fernadez and first encounters Ali, the Larusso household, Mr Miyagi’s den, the Cobra Kai gym and so on. It’s visually thrilling with some sharp light changes, the choreography, skilfully incorporating elements of the Okinawan martial discipline, exciting and well-executed. Gino Ochello is perfectly competent as Daniel, as is Abigail Amin as Ali but it’s with quiet authority that Adrian Pang steers the ship in an unexpectedly gentle comic manner as Mr...

Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man – The Lowry

24Jun

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man – The Lowry

On the hottest day of the year in the UK, the return of The Car Man to The Lowry feels almost too perfectly timed. As the temperature in Manchester soars, the heat radiating from the stage proves every bit as intense, transporting us to the sultry, sweat-soaked corner of small-town America where passions burn dangerously out of control. Inspired by Bizet’s Carmen, with an extended version of Rodin Shchedrin’s orchestration, The Car Man remains one of Bourne’s most intoxicating creations. Moving the action to a 1960s Midwestern diner and garage in the fictional town of Harmony, the production pulses with desire, jealousy and betrayal, all underscored by Terry Davies’ thrilling arrangement of the famous music. At the centre of the drama, the chemistry between the lead performers ...

Barnum: The Circus Musical – Richmond Theatre

24Jun

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

Barnum: The Circus Musical – Richmond Theatre

There are revivals that simply revisit a beloved classic, and then there are productions that completely reinvent it for a contemporary audience while preserving everything that made it special in the first place. This latest revival of ‘Barnum’ achieves exactly that. This vibrant touring production has arrived at Richmond Theatre bursting with colour, spectacle and seemingly boundless circus energy, and creating a celebration of theatrical imagination. From the moment the curtain rises, the production embraces the organised chaos that surrounded the life and legend of P.T. Barnum. The stage becomes a playground of constant movement, with astonishing circus artistry seamlessly woven into absolutely every scene. Rather than feeling like separate variety acts inserted between songs, the b...

My Fair Lady – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

23Jun

By Dan GrimesNo Comments

North West

My Fair Lady – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

Surprisingly, the story of My Fair Lady, that most quintessentially British of musicals, has its origins in ancient Greece. The character of Henry Higgins is a reinterpretation of Pygmalion, the gifted sculptor from the myth recorded in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. In that story, Pygmalion is disillusioned by what he sees as the flaws of women and decides to remain unmarried, choosing instead to carve an ivory statue of a woman so exquisitely beautiful that he falls in love with his own creation. George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 revision of the myth is a sharply satirical retelling in an updated social context. His Pygmalion is transplanted from the island of Cyprus to Edwardian London, and he reframes the story to explore class structures, gender roles, and questions of social mobility within a rig...