Yorkshire & Humber Archives - North West End UK

Calendar Girls The Musical – Pontefract Town Hall

19Jun

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Calendar Girls The Musical – Pontefract Town Hall

An emotional and memorable evening was had at Pontefract Town Hall last night as Encore Theatre Company performed their version of Gary Barlow and Tim Firth’s Calendar Girls – The Musical. For those who aren’t familiar with the stage show, it is based on the true story of a group of ordinary Yorkshire women who attend a branch of the Women’s Institute (WI). Through tragedy, the loss of one of their own, Annie’s husband to blood cancer, led by Chris they find a novel and extraordinary way of raising money to buy a memorial settee for the visitor’s room at Skipton General Hospital. Let’s create a ‘nude’ calendar! Resulting in a global phenomenon and enough money (Millions!) to have a ward in the hospital named the John Clarke Memorial Wing. The musical explores the challenging, movi...

Remember, Remember! – Hull Truck Theatre

19Jun

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Remember, Remember! – Hull Truck Theatre

Hull Truck’s John Godber studio was all abuzz on Thursday evening, full of theatregoers eager to hear what really happened when Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up Parliament in 1605. And who better to tell the story than WIT? Theatre Company members Kluane Saunders, Ross Tomlinson, Lucy Buncombe and Tom O’Kelly. And as the lights dimmed, aka curtain up, I listened to “their truth” with baited breath while lots of mental “surely nots” “OMGs” and “come off its” ran through my head. I exaggerate, of course, I didn’t believe a word the four uttered, sang, shouted or sexily whispered, but I thoroughly enjoyed their lies. The Gunpowder Plot was led by Robert “Robbie” Catesby (Saunders), in a vain attempt to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament to end Protest...

Company – A Musical Comedy – University of Sheffield Drama Studio

19Jun

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Company – A Musical Comedy – University of Sheffield Drama Studio

Handsworth and Hallam Theatre Co raise the bar and the roof with their highly enjoyable and professional production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company – A Musical Comedy. What a refreshing change to review something a little different from the norm and witness a local theatre company dealing with a notoriously difficult dark comedic production with such flair and ease – the time flew by and I was highly impressed! Directed with admirable confidence by Matthew Walker, with directorial assistance from Jane Jefferson-Blythe, the eleven vignettes are merged seamlessly and with purpose. Hayley Wilbourne and Beth Cooke’s choreography gives much to the production and the rehearsal is evident with the complexity of the use of stage and proxemics. A production team at the top of their game. Origin...

9Jun

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Amateur Killer – Bilton Theatre

Not many murder mysteries kick off with what appears to be the murderer about to kill their victim - which would have taken the mystery out of events somewhat. But that’s exactly what happened at curtain up, on Thursday evening, when the actors of Bilton Amateur Dramatic Society (BADS) took to the stage of their intimate little theatre in Bilton, near Hull. Just as the evil perpetrator was about to pull the gun’s trigger, a loud voice off-stage boomed out to halt proceedings. Phew! The murderous action was all part of rehearsals for an am-dram performance called Adieu and the booming voice belonged to the am-dram group’s director, Daniel Healy (Matthew Broderick). By the looks on their faces the couple on stage, Lucas Thompson (Jordan Lill) and Natalie Prescott (Cora Gerrard) d...

4Jun

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Barnum – Hull New Theatre

Never was a standing ovation so well deserved as that given to the cast of Barnum, The Circus Musical after they thrilled a full-ish Hull New Theatre on Tuesday evening. For over two hours we were entertained with sensational singing, dancing, acrobatics, magic tricks, music from multi-talented musicians - and Jumbo, the elephant circus owner Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810-1891) once advertised as “the largest in the world” in order to draw in the crowds. It was later discovered he had enhanced Jumbo’s skeleton after the animal had died, by packing it with blocks of wood and positioning its tusks to make it look extra massive. However, the huge elephant puppet on stage on the night was one of the best I have seen in any show, so hats off to its designers, Mervyn Millar and Tracy Wall...

2Jun

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

2:22 A Ghost Story – Sheffield Lyceum

A ghostly entertaining, slick mind game of a production! With a sense of apprehension - due to a very active imagination - I convinced myself to review 2:22 A ghost Story on its opening night at the Sheffield Lyceum Theatre, and I survived the evening stunned but unscathed! Written by Danny Robins, the seven seasoned West End phenomenon which premiered in 2021 and went on to tour the UK and Ireland, has been seen in over thirty worldwide productions. I have to immediately note, that it is the writing by Robins that highly impressed me. The theatrical thriller is the near perfect exploration of doubt, belief and theories surrounding the controversial topic of Ghosts. It allows you to question your beliefs, your scepticism and learn some new theories to explain away the spirit world. All ...

26May

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Mean Girls – Hull New Theatre

On what is being called “the hottest May Day ever”, it was a relief to enter the relative coolness of the Hull New Theatre, on Monday night. The Mean Girls were in town and I was curious to know if this stage version would live up to both the original 2004 movie, starring Lindsey Lohan, and the 2024 remake. Notes in the glossy programme inform us the Mean Girls transition from movie screen to stage was not a decision taken lightly; among the successful transitions mentioned are Dirty Dancing and The Bodyguard, that both “pulled in people who might not otherwise be willing to try the theatre”. Well, on Monday the venue was pretty full of theatregoers of all ages - no mean feat (pun intended) for a Bank Holiday night when folk usually have other activities on their agendas. The s...

13May

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Fawlty Towers – Hull New Theatre

It was standing room only in every bar and eaterie at the Hull New Theatre on Tuesday night; theatregoers were even sitting on the stairs pre-curtain up. We were all there to watch Fawlty Towers the Play - a brand-new stage production adapted by John Cleese. Who, along with his then wife, actress Connie Booth, wrote and acted in the 1975 TV comedy, Fawlty Towers, a hotel at 16 Elwood Avenue, Torquay, boasting “traditional English hospitality”. Fast forward over 50 years and Cleese has chosen three of his favourite episodes out of the original 12, to delight audiences once again. Directed by Caroline Jay Ranger, those three - The Hotel Inspectors, The Germans and Communication Problems - are so cleverly and seamlessly merged into one story, we couldn’t see the join. The stage se...

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold – Sheffield Lyceum

12May

By Natalia PrucnalNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold – Sheffield Lyceum

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold brings John Le Carré’s 1963 Cold War novel to the stage, alongside plenty of carefully woven drama, deception and espionage. The Ink Factory and Second Half Productions take us on a tumultuous journey to East Germany alongside British intelligence officer Alec Leamus at the Sheffield Lyceum Theatre. The play is well adapted by David Eldridge, with a relatively digestible storyline and many witty British references sprinkled throughout the script. It felt as though there was a lot of “telling”, with little “showing”, particularly in the first act. There were several times where characters, particularly Leamas, referred to the show’s title and broke the fourth wall, clichés that surely caused a few eyerolls in the audience. Yet, the scenes featuring Leamu...

3May

By Nathan DunnNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Footloose – Sheffield Drama Studio

SUPAS Drama have taken on the musical adaptation of the 1980’s classic ‘Footloose’, a tale of young romance, extremely restrictive Christian-conservatism in small town America and dancing. The young company gave a great effort, resulting in an entertaining night of theatre that had only a slight few blemishes that could perhaps be fairly considered as opening night teething issues. Rory Violet’s direction was particularly strong. She helped foster strong relationship dynamics between the actors on stage, and their understanding of emotional narratives was there to see. Transitionally it was also impressive at times with a slick fluidity, although on occasion there were periods of dead space on stage when there weren’t any actors or music to help usher in a new scene. Charley Moffat...