Yorkshire & Humber Archives - Page 14 of 33

20Sep

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Sister Act – Hull New Theatre

I was affected by my own Sister Act on Monday evening, when the musical of the same name came to the Hull New Theatre stage. My long-time theatre buddy, my sister Chrissy, deserted me to have fun in the sun abroad, leaving her sisterly gap to be filled by my good pal, Barbs. The story starts in 1977 Philadelphia, US, where wannabe singer Deloris Van Cartier (Landi Oshinowo), witnesses her married lover, the thuggish Curtis Jackson (Ian Gareth-Jones), commit murder. Deloris, realising she has been seen by Curtis, heads for the police station and into the protective custody of my fave character on the night, “Steady” Eddie Souther (Alfie Parker). Later on, Eddie becomes the hero of the hour, bless him. Meanwhile, Deloris is packed off to a nunnery to keep her safe from Curtis’...

Matthew Bourne’s Romeo & Juliet – Bradford Alhambra

13Sep

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Matthew Bourne’s Romeo & Juliet – Bradford Alhambra

This story of two star crossed lovers has been performed in every medium imaginable, so it was inevitable that our greatest choreographer Matthew Bourne would at some stage be lured by Sergei Prokofiev’s iconic ballet score. Be warned this is far from a straight scene by scene version of the Bard’s masterpiece, and Bourne’s interpretation sets this ageless tragedy in the near future. Romeo and Juliet are inmates in the Verona Institute, which might be a closed psychiatric unit for troubled teenagers, or a young offenders institute. That’s up to you, but it has echoes of The Handmaid’s Tale, although the battle between the inmates and the establishment that acts as a surrogate for Shakespeare’s familial conflict is more reminiscent of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. Into this antisep...

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Musical – Hull New Theatre

8Sep

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Musical – Hull New Theatre

Hull city centre was illuminated with the regal colour purple on Thursday evening, in honour of the king of chocolatiers, Mr Willie Wonka, who, along with an amazing cast, crew and orchestra, brought Roald Dahl’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory: The Musical, to life on the Hull New Theatre stage. We theatregoers also got the royal treatment by walking on a plush purple carpet into the venue, itself decorated with purple and gold balloons. What a magnificent start to the autumn season. The story centres around a young lad called Charlie Bucket, who lives with his two sets of bedridden grandparents and his mother in a shack. Charlie (Haydn Court - definitely a future stage star) spends his spare time sifting through the local rubbish site looking for trinkets he can give to his...

30Aug

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Mousetrap – Leeds Grand Theatre

North West End UK has a strict no spoilers policy. That’s handy as giving away the twist at the end of this theatrical warhorse would break a solemn pledge made by generations of Agatha Christie fans over the last seven decades. The Mousetrap has been pulling in tourists to its West End production since 1952 just after our late Queen was finding her feet as a monarch, and now it’s out on a national tour celebrating its 70th anniversary. Its record-breaking longevity is even more remarkable as it doesn’t feature Christie’s supersleuths Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot, but it is the classic Christie set up where a group of strangers assemble on a boat or a train and - shock horror - one of them is a murderer. In The Mousetrap our cast of strangers assemble in a rambling country house ...

14Aug

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Taxi – Old Woollen Mill

Everyone has sat in the back of a cab staring blankly at the driver’s head, and aside from the usual ‘busy day’ chit chat we pay our fare knowing nothing about their lives. So, when John Rwothomack as cab driver Taxi stands at the end of the stage in this converted mill offering us the back of his head, he is asking us to take a journey inside his often troubled mind on a busy night shift. Along the way Andrea Heaton’s words offer us a chance to meet different Leeds folk who jump in behind him, based on co-director Douglas Thorpe’s own experiences as a cabbie. It is an often hallucinatory trip round the city that kicks off with homeless man Mal - who may or may not be the ferryman to the underworld – jumping up on the bar to rant about his life before leading the audience into the pe...

Matthew Bourne’s Romeo & Juliet – Hull New Theatre

26Jul

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Matthew Bourne’s Romeo & Juliet – Hull New Theatre

Whenever a ballet comes to town, Hull’s theatregoers go to town, ensuring full venues without fail. And Tuesday evening at the Hull New Theatre was no exception when Matthew Bourne’s Romeo + Juliet performed to a decent-sized crowd. I must have watched dozens of ballets during my reviewing career, yet I still can’t put a name to any of the dance steps. It’s the sheer spectacle of the genre that appeals to me - the costumes, music, make-up, stage settings and, of course, the dancers, all combine to create the perfect form … of entertainment. Luckily for me - and sparing my reviewing blushes - this very different production had none of the steps usually performed in a ballet. Also, away from the ballet norm, there wasn’t a whisper of a tutu or pink satin ballet pump. And, apart f...

19Jul

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Titanic the Musical – Sheffield Lyceum

Sheffield Lyceum hosted Titanic the Musical this week and it proved to be a rousingly decadent piece of ensemble theatre. The star of the show, as should be, is the ship itself with its hull of steel that claimed to be unsinkable. The production covers its fateful maiden journey in April 1912 and its promise to make history as the fastest liner to cover the transatlantic voyage. History was indeed made on the tragic voyage, but not as intended, over 1500 souls were lost at sea as an iceberg tore a gash in its hull below the water level. This production with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and the book by Peter Stone is directed by Thom Southerland. The set by David Woodhead depicts the interior of the ship with its walls of steel towering over the cast and is a constant reminder ...

Heathers The Musical – Bradford Alhambra

19Jul

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Heathers The Musical – Bradford Alhambra

Many musicals flirt with darkness before another tune about empowerment and the power of love comes along to take the edge off, but not so Heathers The Musical which offers a relentless diet of serial killing, bullying, eating disorders, homophobia and date rape. It’s based on the deliciously dark eighties movie Heathers which was a welcome antidote to the saccharine John Hughes films who mistook teens for young adults. Here the teens are feral locked in the cliquey hell that is a typically hieratical US high school as the cool gangs, jocks and nerds try to survive into college. Our (anti) hero at Westerburg High School is geeky Veronica Sawyer who accidentally falls in with the bitchy cool gang trio all named Heather, who delight in making everyone’s life a misery to mask their own ...

19Jul

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Blood Brothers – Hull New Theatre

When, in a packed theatre, every member of the audience rises to their feet, as one, the nano-second a production ends, then you know you have witnessed something very special. That was the scene on Tuesday evening, when the legendary Blood Brothers came to Hull New Theatre. Set in Liverpool, it tells of twins, separated at birth - one staying with his impoverished birth mother and the other going to a well-off family, desperate for a child. The twins’ mum, Mrs Johnstone (Niki Colwell Evans), works as a cleaner for Mrs Lyons (Sarah Jane Buckley), who, with her husband, Mr Lyons (Tim Churchill) is desperate for a child. Hearing that Mrs Johnstone is expecting twins, Mrs Lyons pays Mrs J £50, getting her to swear on the Bible that one of the babies will be handed over at birth. ...

14Jul

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Miss Saigon – Crucible Theatre

Billed as Sheffield Theatre’s new production of Boublil and Schonberg’s Miss Saigon, this production marks my 40th visit to see this show. My first being back at Drury Lane in late 1989, and I have also been lucky enough to direct the show back in 2018, therefore, I would consider myself to be a bit of a connoisseur. Yes, I am aware of the political issues that surround it, I am aware that creating a new production was met with anger from some, but I am also aware that highlighting issues allows the audience to formulate their own responses … our history is relevant to our future. I have given myself a length of time to digest what I saw last night before reviewing this production. It is new, it is different, it is edgier, starker, less self-indulgent in its direction and more invested ...