REVIEWS Archives - Page 99 of 549

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical – Sunderland Empire

28Mar

By Adam CraddockNo Comments

North East

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical – Sunderland Empire

Power. Strength. Passion. Three words that could easily be used to describe the life and music of the legendary Tina Turner, and also three words that could just as easily be used to describe the Uk & Ireland tour of Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. Starring the incredible Elle Ma-Kinga N’Zuzi and David King-Yombo as Tina and Ike Turner respectively, Tina: The Musical takes us through the heartbreaking and personal journey of the late great Tina Turner, from her humble beginnings in Nutbush, Tennessee to her selling out over 180,000 tickets in a stadium in Brazil and every raw and emotional twist and turn between. Elle Ma-Kinga N’Zuzi excels as Tina, with one of the most impress voices I have heard in a good while, and the acting and movement chops to back it up. Her command of he...

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – Leeds Grand

28Mar

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – Leeds Grand

As a critic if you keep going long enough then yet another touring production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will come along. It would be easy to be snooty about Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s debut collaboration, but this family friendly musical is still a lot of fun - if a little dated - and critically has some great tunes. Unlike some of Lloyd Webber’s later bombastic scores this is more pop rock, that was of its time like other seventies hits Godspell or Hair, with the added spice of Rice’s always witty words. It's a short for a musical reworking of Joseph’s story in the Bible where he is sold into slavery by his 11 jealous brothers, before hooking up with the Egyptian Pharaoh to work out what the ruler's dreams meant thus saving his nation from disaster. ...

Ensemble Teams – Scottish Storytelling Centre

28Mar

By Marcelina KruczyńskaNo Comments

Scotland

Ensemble Teams – Scottish Storytelling Centre

Throughout you could feel both Ensemble Teams slowly guide you into the unpredictable and often unhinged nature of improvisation. Coached by Deborah Tarica and Alison Thea-Skot the two teams after one day of preparation took to the stage. Both teams were comprised of eight people. Interestingly despite all eight people standing on stage throughout the performance, once the scene started, they faded into the background and only became noticeable again once they entered centre stage or wherever the main action took place. Tarica’s and Thea-Skot's influence was clear since there were similar methods employed by both groups. For example, both employed the same method to enter or finish a scene. Multiple times actors communicated through a tap on the shoulder or someone yelling “scene” which en...

Kolliflower & Stupid & Favourite Cousin – Scottish Storytelling Centre

28Mar

By Marcelina KruczyńskaNo Comments

Scotland

Kolliflower & Stupid & Favourite Cousin – Scottish Storytelling Centre

Irresistibly funny, completely bonkers and chaotically out of pocket is the best way in which Kolliflower & Stupid & Favourite Cousin can be described. The three acts playing sequentially one after the other managed to keep the audience entertained with their improvised madness. Thanks to the tiered seating the view of the stage was impeccably clear meaning the audience could dedicate more of their attention to the acts themselves rather than on trying to avoid heads that may have been obscuring the view. Kolliflower kicked off the performance in their 80s styled fits. The usual duo consists of Kimi and Holly however on this occasion Jiavani stepped in to cover for Holly. The duo interacted with the audience asking for a word and the ever so eager crowd provided them with on...

27Mar

By Angela KellyNo Comments

North West

Hairspray – Buxton Opera House

Great news for Buxton - Hairspray the musical is touring again. Directed by Paul Kerryson alongside Brenda Edwards, who is making her directorial debut, this toe tapping stalwart of musical theatre is gracing the stage once more. Having taken Broadway by storm back in the day and winning 8 Tony awards, Hairspray then moved to the West End where 4 Olivier awards were also achieved. Its safe to say that an audience’s high expectations will often precede this particular musical. The story, set in the 60s is essentially about a group of teens who were fighting for equality at a time when segregation related to an individual’s colour was rife. Led by Tracy Turnblad and her family and friends, she managed to address this issue through her desire to dance on a popular TV show. The issue of an ...

27Mar

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

West Midlands

Dragons – Birmingham Hippodrome

Set amidst an effusive of silver piping which wouldn’t look out of place in an industrial park, “Dragons” is a bright, engaging and slightly potty amalgam of dance, movement and physicality which, despite lacking plot, character and much we can get a grip on, proves itself a shining and engaging piece of theatre. South Korean choreographer, Eun-Me Aha, who’s company’s first appearance in the UK this is, presents herself as a book-ended sage opening and closing the show between which six buoyant young dancers carry the bulk of the performance - Gaon Han, Deokyeong Kim, Hyekyoung Kim, Seven Kim, Doohee Lee, Hyeonseo Lee and Yongsik Moon. The energy is palpable and the joy tangible as we are presented with a fluctuating series of vignettes rooted in ancient dance culture but living very much ...

Murder, She Didn’t Write – Duchess Theatre

27Mar

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Murder, She Didn’t Write – Duchess Theatre

The Degrees of Error theatre company, having thrilled audiences at the Edinburgh Fringe, are now on tour around the UK and making their West End debut with their improv comedy of an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery. The audience throws in suggestions about the direction of the case, the murder weapon, the location of the crime, the suspects. There's audience participation, a flying deerstalker and much randomness. Will the audience find the murderer before the culprit is revealed? All characters have the standard means, motive and opportunity to have committed the murder but why and how, what does a giant cucumber have to do with it and why are the characters suddenly speaking in Latin? It's all totally bonkers and great fun. It's 1932 and Detective Agatha Crusty (Lizzy Sk...

Flashdance the Musical – The Forum Theatre

27Mar

By David S ClarkeNo Comments

North West

Flashdance the Musical – The Forum Theatre

This production of Flashdance the musical is directed and choreographed by Hannah Thomas of NK Theatre Arts and a wonderful job she has done of it too, ably assisted by Jade Wilbraham. The show is set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the USA and is based on a book by Tom Hedley and Robert Cary, music by Robbie Roth and lyrics by Roth and Cary. It has a distinctive 80’s feel about it and includes a number of well-known songs including “Maniac”, “Gloria” and “What a feeling”. it tells the story of young Alex, whose job is a welder by day and 'flash-dancer' by night, and her dreams of becoming a member of a dance academy and fulfilling her ambition to become a professional dancer. It was good to see many familiar faces in the cast members who took to the stage doing improvised dancing be...

Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical – Palace Theatre

26Mar

By Hannah WildeNo Comments

North West

Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical – Palace Theatre

Having not seen the source material for this production - the 1999 hit teen film Cruel Intentions - I had limited understanding of what was in store for me with the theatrical production of Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical. The stage adaptation had been met with a lukewarm critical response since its debut in 2015, and understandably so. It’s clear to see what the intention of this production was, but the execution left a lot to be desired. Let’s start with the storyline: the story follows vindictive stepsiblings Kathryn and Sebastian, who have somewhat of a Freudian infatuation with each other. This dangerous duo makes a cruel pact that Sebastian must seduce fellow classmate - the virginal Annette - which triggers a series of dark and dangerous events that foreshadows the rest of the ...

26Mar

By Kathryn GortonNo Comments

North West

Evita – Stockport Plaza

Following on from last year’s excellent production of Priscilla comes Romiley Operatic Societies presentation of the popular and multi award winning Lloyd-Webber classic, Evita! This society perform here each year and completely utilises this beautiful, Art Deco theatre with its huge, and I mean huge, proscenium and luxurious auditorium with fabulous sight lines and acoustics. And did they use it well? Oh yes and some. I counted 50 performers on stage in some of the numbers which takes some enormous artistic direction and choreography and logistics to make that work but boy they did and with aplomb. I counted a mind blowing 64 cast members in the programme and that in itself is a remarkable cast size for any production. Evita tells the meteoric rise to fame and popularity as t...