REVIEWS Archives - Page 492 of 548

1Sep

By Max EdenNo Comments

North West

Dirty Dancing – Buxton Opera House

It’s been 21 months since I last had the pleasure of experiencing live theatre at the beautiful ‘theatre of the Peaks’ - Buxton Opera House. It’s charm and beauty hasn’t faltered one bit in that lockdown time and a trip to Buxton’s famous opera house is just as special as before, if not more so now! It helped no doubt by returning and seeing the ultimate feel-good Musical currently on tour, Dirty Dancing. I think most of us will have seen the movie, (if not, what have you been doing in this lockdown) and if you like the movie; you’ll love this show. The energy, the music, the romance - it’s a theatrical whirlwind which makes for the perfect live show experience! Any Movie purists can rejoice too as this stage adaptation stays very close to the film in terms of dialogue and scen...

31Aug

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Magic Goes Wrong – Leeds Grand Theatre

Go on….admit it. One reason we still love magic shows is while we are intrigued by how the illusionists fool us, we also secretly hope it will all go horribly wrong. So, it is really smart of Mischief to create another one of their ‘goes wrong’ series around a camp, OTT group of hopeless performers, and it works much better than their mega successful am dram version as that world is just too a bit too serious to really parody. The premise is that the inaccurately named Sophisticato - played just on the right edge of hysteria by Sam Hill - has put together a tacky fundraiser for magicians killed or injured in the line of conjuring duties, including his father crushed by his stage props. But as with all Mischief productions anything that can go wrong does as the body count steadi...

Ay Up, It’s Stand-Up: Paddy Young and Adam Flood – Laughing Horse @ The Free Sisters

31Aug

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

Ay Up, It’s Stand-Up: Paddy Young and Adam Flood – Laughing Horse @ The Free Sisters

When your Fringe comedy show partner in crime goes AWOL in extenuating circumstances, there’s only one thing for it, keep that show on the road come hell or high water. Poor Paddy Young delivers that blow with comic flourish and the audience isn’t to upset when he promises not one but two stand-in stand-ups. Keeping to the theme of Northern comics, Tom Little is the perfect tonic. With only about 15 minutes to keep us entertained, he dives straight into some cracking observational humour, remarking ‘there’s no time to connect it’ as he dives from his fear of a watermelon-based diet to the absolute audacity of dolphins. The humour is clever and strikes an amusing surrealist approach thanks to the time constrictions. Little is brilliantly witty, and it’s a shame that the audience me...

31Aug

By Alison BainesNo Comments

North West

Hairspray – Empire Theatre

Bank holiday weekend, and the last week before kids are back to school and what better than a treat to see musical phenomenon Hairspray as it hits the stage in Liverpool! We arrived at the theatre in plenty of time but were greeted by a massive queue snaking around all the way to the entrance of the Lime Street Station. The queue, presumably due to the checking of covid status in addition to bag searches and tickets, was rather frustrating and after waiting 20 to 30 minutes to enter, we reached the front of the queue for 7.30pm by which time the show was already starting late (as half the audience was still outside), meaning a mad dash to find your seat and prepare. Not a great start I must say, but fingers crossed this can be much better organised for the next show in the run... Aft...

Alcina: Grimeborn Opera Festival – Arcola Outside

26Aug

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Alcina: Grimeborn Opera Festival – Arcola Outside

Now in its 14th year, the Grimeborn Opera Festival returns at the Arcola Theatre’s new outdoor space, Arcola Outside. Almost a year and a half after the act of singing was largely prohibited due to the pandemic, Arcola Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen felt thrilled to host the Grimeborn programme in their new and safe outdoor theatre. In its fourth outing at the festival, London-based Ensemble OrQuesta returns with a contemporary treatment of Handel’s compelling opera of desire, power and rage. Written in the 18th century by the German-British Baroque composer, the opera seria's story was originally taken from Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando furioso. The original story is set in enchantress Alcina’s island where she rules a magnificent palace full of former lovers and muses that she’s lured un...

25Aug

By Donna M DayNo Comments

Scotland

Carmilla – Edinburgh Fringe

Carmilla, adapted and directed by Laura J Harris from Le Fanu’s original Gothic novella, is a tale of love, decorum, passion and vampires. The adaptation focuses on and enhances the LGBTQIA+ elements of the story, to create a piece of theatre which is haunting, tragic and wonderfully terrifying. The play opens with a dark and creepy stage with the background of a very Gothic castle. We see Dr Hesselius creeping across the stage with a lantern, towards a table holding an old book, glass of red wine and a delicate porcelain teacup. The good doctor is nearing the end of his life, and leafing through his casebook as he reflects on whether his future may lie in hell, or if the souls he saved were enough to gain passage to heaven. As he ruminates on what is to come, Laura rises from the be...

25Aug

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

All Above Board – Gladstone Theatre

The World Premiere tour of Nigel Planer's All Above Board came to life at the Gladstone Theatre in Port Sunlight this week before heading off around the North and Midlands. It was wonderful to be back at the Gladstone theatre after such a long time of it being closed due to Covid and it was as homely and welcoming as ever. Nothing is too much in this theatre and that is why people continue to return time and time again All Above Board is a hilarious farce where a good deed ends up going as horribly wrong as it possibly could but with much wit and laughter along the way. Set in the living room of a flat, it had a feeling of Not Going Out with a hint of Fawlty Towers and a huge nod to The Young Ones, the show that writer, Planer, is so well known for. Robert Stuart-Hudson in the ...

25Aug

By Paul AckroydNo Comments

London

When Darkness Falls – Park Theatre

If you have a liking for ghost stories, then make your way to the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park. James Milton and Paul Morrissey have written and directed a modern take on the genre, which is intriguing, well-acted and excellently presented. The staging is the disorganised office of John Blondel, a teacher and historian, on the island of Guernsey. For his weekly Vlog on the subject of paranormal events on the Channel Islands he has invited a young man to recount some of the extraordinary tales of the supernatural, for which the islands are apparently renowned. Although an avowed sceptic, as the stories unfold, he becomes increasingly involved in a series of stories which become more than fiction. Apparently based upon true events, the five stories which were told by the visitor, know...

25Aug

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

The Rocky Horror Show – Opera House

If ever a show epitomised how happy people are to be back in theatres, it’s this one. You can’t move for corsets, sequins and high heels. And that’s just the men. For those unfamiliar with the nature of the show, perhaps having no more than a vague recollection of the 1975 film, it’s like being taken on a joyride on a high-powered motorbike and has an atmosphere more akin to a rock gig than a theatre show. The cheering and enthusiastic audience participation is in full throttle from the moment the strains of ‘Science Fiction Double Feature’ start and the curtain twitches open. It’s a fantastic atmosphere for our cast to bounce off, which they do with gusto. Philip Franks, in a role a billion miles away from his stuffy Darling Bud of May character, is outstanding as the Narrator, g...

What’s Love Got To Do With It? A Tribute to Tina Turner – Regent Theatre

25Aug

By Angela KellyNo Comments

West Midlands

What’s Love Got To Do With It? A Tribute to Tina Turner – Regent Theatre

If you are a star that is known instantly by your first name ‘Tina' and have a musical career that spans more than 50 years, then you really don’t need much of an introduction. However, one lady who should be applauded is the one and only Elesha Paul Moses, performing songs by Tina Turner. Brought to the stage by the producers who brought us the fabulous ‘Whitney, Queen of the Night’, this show was a celebration of Tina Turner’s career. ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It?’, is certainly the perfect return to the theatre for most audiences post lockdown. Jam packed with Tina’s hits it provided the audience with an uplifting, extremely energetic, feel-good show that is undoubtedly a wonderful tribute to the great Tina Turner. There are often strong opinions one way or another about tribute...