REVIEWS Archives - Page 466 of 548

1Dec

By Gemma PrinceNo Comments

London

The Drifters Girl – Garrick Theatre

Jonathan’s Church’s brand-new musical The Drifters Girl focuses on Faye Treadwell, the female manager of The Drifters, one of the biggest R&B groups of all time. Through some of their greatest hits, the jukebox musical follows Treadwell’s journey from a Southern-born teacher to the world’s first African American female music manager as she recounts her story to her daughter. Singing sensation and Queen of British Soul Beverley Knight, stars as Faye Treadwell alongside four extremely talented singers – Adam J Bernard (Dreamgirls), Tarinn Callender (Hamilton), Matt Henry (Kinky Boots) and Tosh Wanogho-Maud (Showboat). Packing in plenty of high-energy and fun, the cast performed classics such as ‘Kissin’ in the Back Row of the Movies’, ‘Rat Race’ and ‘You're More than a Number In my...

The Railway Children – Hull Truck Theatre

1Dec

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Railway Children – Hull Truck Theatre

Once in a while, a theatre event comes along that, in the words of Mary Poppins, is “truly scrumptious”. Those two words perfectly sum up the festive concoction served up by the Hull Truck Theatre, with its production of The Railway Children. This magical experience tells the story of three quite posh children from London, who find themselves living in poverty in Yorkshire. The children - Roberta, aka Bobby (Gina Jamieson), Phyllis (Robyn McIntyre) and Peter (David Fallon) - included us in the audience from the off, as they were the storytellers describing their own young lives. This inclusive concept was a stroke of genius. I usually hate audience participation but, in this case, these crafty little monkeys reeled us in so cleverly, I found myself quite happily waving at an im...

30Nov

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Old Bridge – Bush Theatre

British-Bosnian writer Igor Memic's debut play 'Old Bridge' seeks to shine a light on the on the armed conflict that took place in present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Winner of the 2020 Papatango New Writing Prize, Memic situates the narrative around the Stari Most (also known as Mostar Bridge and Old Bridge), a 16th-century bridge in the city of Mostar that was destroyed during the conflict. The play is an intimately layered exploration of love, religion and identity during war and follows a group of friends whose lives get relentlessly entangled in the fallout. This production at the Bush Theatre is directed by Selma Dimitrijevic and designed by Oli Townsend, with Amela Beha as cultural advisor and George Turvey as dramaturg. The play opens at the site of the 'Ol...

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie – Hull New Theatre

30Nov

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie – Hull New Theatre

It’s not surprising everybody is talking about Jamie. I’ll be talking about him for a long time, to anyone who’ll listen. Well, not Jamie exactly, but the show Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, which came to the Hull New Theatre on Monday night. Based on a true story, it recounts the trials and tribulations of 16-year-old Sheffield schoolboy, Jamie New (Layton Williams), who has always liked to dress up in women’s clothes and who decides to wear a dress to his school’s prom. Disowned by his dad, who once caught him in his mum’s dress at the age of eight and ridiculing and bullying by some of his school pals, doesn’t deter the young teen from fulfilling his dream of becoming a drag queen when he leaves school. Luckily for Jamie, his mum, Margaret (Amy Ellen Richardson), embraces ...

Jazz Meets Flamenco – Sadler’s Wells Theatre

30Nov

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Jazz Meets Flamenco – Sadler’s Wells Theatre

Professional dancer and singer Karen Ruimy took to the Lilian Baylis Studio at Sadler’s Wells Theatre to bring together two of her passions – Flamenco and jazz music. In this show, she brings together exciting, foot-tapping numbers from her album ‘Black Coffee’ with a live musical ensemble, including Flamenco dancers and musicians, from Spain and the United Kingdom. Released earlier this year, her EP 'Black Coffee' features a selection of covers in English, French and Spanish, blending Jazz ballads with a distinctive Latin flavour. Collaborating with the late producer Phil Ramone, Ruimy accesses musical influences from different cultures and fuses them together in what proved to be a thoroughly enchanting production. The show opens with first three songs of the evening, namely 'Black Co...

The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) – Hope Street Theatre

29Nov

By Blathine MaguireNo Comments

North West

The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) – Hope Street Theatre

It is no shock that ‘The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!)’ is in fact, a musical by Joanne Bogart and Eric Rockwell. The show premiered off-Broadway in 2003 and went on to tour around London, Australia, Canada and America. It is a brilliant to see that a show like this has now made its way to our very own Hope Street Theatre in Liverpool. From the get-go, it is apparent that Jordan Alexander (musical director) is a musical genius on the piano as he begins playing the opening score with vigor and charm. This complex musical score barely stops for the full duration of the production and his talents lays excellent foundations for this musical creation. The thinking behind this show is unusual in that it promotes the idea that there is ‘nothing new here’. There is a loose plot which in...

28Nov

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

The Wiz – Hope Mill Theatre

There are a few big secrets in musical theatre. One of the biggest is that aside from one overwrought and over-covered number there’s not a lot of great music in The Wizard of Oz. It’s not the only retelling of L. Frank Baum’s original story, so why is it considered a classic when The Wiz remains unknown to many? Unknown despite having more songs, better music and a lot more heart? Why have there only ever been three professional UK productions of The Wiz on stage? Why has it never made it to the West End, whilst a lordly revival of the Judy Garland movie was deemed worthy of a primetime TV show? Important questions. I will leave the answers to others except to say there was something incredibly powerful about taking a seat in the Hope Mill Theatre in front of a sparse stage and a...

28Nov

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Aladdin – Lyric Hammersmith

Panto's resurgence in recent years has brought new attention to a format which often is a child's introduction to live theatre. Vikki Stone's re-imagining of the traditional Aladdin keeps the plot (well, not that there is much plot and what there is makes little sense) and brings in modern elements of beatboxing, references to TikTok, current politics and celebrity gossip. The leads wear tracksuits, the princess is feisty and unwilling to be married off to just anyone or at all but the villain is still evil and the good guys win in the end. The show starts with a song about how they all know they are just pretending because they are in panto. The audience does already know that, obviously, but it's a very on-the-nose statement to start by challenging the high level of suspen...

28Nov

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Flinch – Pleasance Theatre

Emma Hemingford’s two-hander ‘Flinch’ returns for a new UK tour after its 2019 premiere at the Old Red Lion Theatre in London. Tracing the gradual breakdown of a young couple's relationship, Flinch offers a complex perspective on modern dating. Directed by Gemma Aked-Priestley and produced by Liam McLaughlin Productions, the show emphasizes the unrelenting negotiation between words and action in defining personal boundaries and shared intimacy. We meet Jess (Emma Hemingford), a 25-year old working actor who has just finished drama school and is on the lookout for her first break into the industry. She's expressive, extroverted and a little self-conscious. For the last three years, she has been dating Mark (Benjamin Aluwihare), a 25-year old working professional who works as a foreign ex...

A Show With No Name – Woodford War Memorial Community Centre

26Nov

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

North West

A Show With No Name – Woodford War Memorial Community Centre

A musical theatre show is always a must in the calendar of a theatre lover, and after a warm welcome at the door, the audience were in for a treat. The Company put together a very well thought out programme of musical favourites, but also included some less well known but equally deserving songs. The staging was kept simple which kept the showing flowing, and cast changes were sleek and went without a hitch. The show began with ‘A Million Dreams’ sang by David Lambert and Gilly Thompson with wonderful support from the ensemble, this was an easily recognizable winner to begin with. The trio of songs from Les Misérables were well performed with a passionate delivery of one of my personal favourite songs, ‘On My Own’ by Abi Frost. Steve Sheppard treated us to a remarka...