REVIEWS Archives - Page 533 of 551

19Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Marry Me a Little – Barn Theatre

Hearing of a Stephen Sondheim revue, I don’t think you’d be alone in thinking that it's going to be a bunch of ballads. I’m happy to tell you that with Marry Me a Little, this is not the case. It’s much, much more. The Barn theatre have cleverly updated this celebration of Sondheim and have produced a fresh love story. A set of two apartments sharing the centre of the stage, splits the recently parted couple as they go about their newly single lives. The production is sung-through, but the plot is brought together by innovative use of the technical elements. With a genius addition of a phone-screen backdrop, and even a song brought on by tinder swiping, catapult the story into the modern day. Jukebox musicals have attempted to merge catalogues of songs and fluid storylines for years....

19Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Macbeth – The Shows Must Go On

Macbeth is a TV film version of the 2007 Chichester Festival Theatre production of William Shakespeare's tragedy directed by Rupert Goold and starring Sir Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood as Lord and Lady Macbeth. The film was shot entirely at Welbeck Abbey and makes full use of its larger halls and dingier corridors, and a much more limited use of its exteriors. These often almost empty but gigantic rooms (and peeling paint in the war scenes) and the almost total lack of exterior scenes in the first half evoke an almost apocalyptic underground world in which sunshine and fresh air may be (but seldom is) reached via the lift some characters disappear into. The costumes, props and stock footage evoke the Soviet Block in the Cold War, specifically Romania in the 1960s, thus establishing...

Frozen: A Musical Spectacular – Disney Cruise Lines

17Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Frozen: A Musical Spectacular – Disney Cruise Lines

This reviewer must be one of the few people to have never watched the film Frozen, although even then has been unable to entirely escape a certain level of knowledge! The film cast though were at least credited, whereas the cast of the stage show performed on the Disney Cruise Lines are forever doomed to anonymity thanks to the Disney policy of not crediting their live performers because they are the character. Frozen – A Musical Spectacular is an abridged version of the film, mostly the songs and some interlinking short scenes and feels like a cross between a spectacularly staged musical and a provincial pantomime. A small cast of principles and ensemble are tasked with creating a feel of a show that needs to be bigger. The cast, uncredited, vary in skill. The young woman playing An...

16Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

We Missed You – Voila Festival

‘We Missed You’ is two clowns' interpretation and message of lockdown and a fitting homage to the general feeling that currently pervades. They want to tell us that they missed us and create a warm fuzzy feeling inside audiences. It’s part of Voila Festival or Voila Europe that runs annually at the Cockpit Theatre in London’s Marylebone. But of course, the pandemic has brought it to our homes via the digital world. The enigmatic clowns are Julia Masli and Viggo Venn from Estonia and Norway respectively and are not the circus ring bright wigged & make up of nightmares but a more refreshing (and less scary) Harlequino and Pierrot who have a huge variety of fun costumes and tell us they are more Commedia Dell Arte. This draws on a European tradition where clowns travelled from ma...

West End Unplugged: Vol 1 – The Shows Must Go On

14Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

West End Unplugged: Vol 1 – The Shows Must Go On

As a die-hard musical theatre aficionado, by far and away the best part of lockdown for me has been a little thing called “The Shows Must Go On”. For many, these words mean nothing more than a whimsical credo, very much a theatrical take on the British saying “Keep Calm and Carry On”. However, “The Shows Must Go On” is also an aptly-named YouTube channel dedicated to “bringing you showtunes, backstage access and full performances from some of the best loved musicals in history!” – so for me, it’s been a lifeline, a much-needed (if socially-distanced) ticket back to the magical world of theatre. During the Coronavirus pandemic that has swept the world and kept most of us out of work, out of pubs and restaurants, and crucially out of the theatres, “The Shows Must Go On” has stoically c...

13Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

Title of Show – London Coliseum Online

This one-act musical, by Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen, is a musical about writing a musical. Yes, that’s right. Title of Show follows two writers in their quest to create “an original musical”. The complications, arguments and struggles are all aired out in this performance piece with a difference. It’s an ingenious concept. The action is constantly twisting and turning in this show within a show. It’s a complete musical with catchy numbers but also a work-in-progress where a song may be interrupted half-way through to be cut. Obviously with a lot more moments like this, it’s also a comedy. And it does offer a lot of laughs. “Four chairs and a keyboard does not a musical make” says one critic of the show… within the show. This performance proves that you can put on a musical with just ...

12Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

Continuity – Finborough Theatre Company

Firstly, a warning. If this were a film it would have an over 15s certificate. It seems that every sentence has a word starting with the letter “F”, admittedly much of it in context, although I would certainly be embarrassed if I had taken my mother along to see this play. Having said that, if you look beyond the strong language, you will discover a tale of a man torn between his personal life and his political commitments to “The Cause” of the Irish freedom fighters. Written by a new playwright, Gerry Moynihan, and set in the country of Northern Ireland in the year 2017, it tells the story of a dissident Irish Republican (hence the play’s title), Padraig Devlin and his relationships with other members of his terrorist cell, Joe the leader and Eammon his somewhat intellectually-c...

9Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

Educating Rita – Rose Theatre, Kingston

Willy Russell’s Educating Rita is a story about a girl from Liverpool who enrols in an open university course with a nihilistic and hedonistic tutor. Rita (Jessica Johnson) who came from a restrictive learning background wants to learn critical thinking and to change herself and her life through learning. She tries to find common ground and a genuine connection with her tutor as she emulates his identity of a Scholar and intellectual. She tries to find purpose, an appreciation for life and to change her culture, lifestyle and identity to something greater. Rita moves her apartment, changes her company to university students, changes her job and identity to lead a more enriching and authentic life. While encouraging her tutor (Stephen Tompkinson) to find a love for life through pursuing his...

Howerd’s End – The Golden Goose, Camberwell

9Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

London

Howerd’s End – The Golden Goose, Camberwell

Howerd’s End is a heartfelt story of love, acceptance and the use of humour as a way of masking the truth and revealing it. An emotional story of the story of a deceased popular comedian who comes back to visit his long time romantic and life partner, to go through an emotional journey through self love and self discovery and acceptance; in regards of sexuality, age, societal relevance and value. It encourages the audience to live life well, to let go of regrets and self doubt which are holding you back and explore the depth inside themselves. The show had regular laughs throughout and the comedic timing of both Simon Cartwright and Mark Farrelly was consistently great as well as their ability to hold tension in the room. This story also portrays how vulnerable comedians can be; neuroti...

From Here to Eternity – The Shows Must Go On

8Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

From Here to Eternity – The Shows Must Go On

Another offering from The Shows Must Go on Youtube channel for the remembrance weekend. From Here to Eternity is an original musical with lyrics by Tim Rice that ran for 7 months in the West End in 2013/2014. The musical is based on the 1951 novel of the same name, but with less censorship, it is grittier than the book and subsequent film. It tells the story of the members of G Company serving on the US island of Hawaii in the lead up to the attack on Pearl Harbour. New to the Company is Private Prewitt with a number of personal issues, keeping him focused on himself until he meets dancer Lorene. First Sergeant Warden is determined not to become a commissioned officer, but his mind is changed when he falls for his Captain’s wife. We follow their journey as their relationships and ...