Yorkshire & Humber Archives - Page 15 of 43

19Sep

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Here You Come Again – Sheffield Lyceum

Dolly gives Sheffield a sprinkling of fabulousness as she comes to town! With 15 for Dolly Parton’s well-known songs used to offer hope and joy even if her genre of music is about tragedy! This musical is a far cry from the expected sprawling life story of the Tennesse Icon but instead is a simple heart-warming story of belief of one’s self and the magic of a ‘cup of ambition’! Written during the 2020 global pandemic and lockdown, writers Bruce Vilanch, Gabriel Barre and Tricia Padluccio (the cast’s very own Dolly Parton) mused what it would be like hunkered up at that time with Dolly Parton and thus the idea was born. Directed by Barre and primarily a two-handed piece of theatre, Kevin is a 40 something whose life is a mess, he is on an enforced ‘break’ from his partner Jeremy and subs...

18Sep

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Birdsong – Leeds Playhouse

There’s been plenty of novels about the First World War, but Sebastian Faulks’s Birdsong was one of the best, blending a love story and the cost of that conflict’s carnage, so it was a natural for a stage adaptation. It’s now over a decade since Rachel Wagstaff’s first adaptation of Birdsong, and all the Tommies who fought in the so called war to end all wars are now dead. Ironically the world still seems intent on blowing itself up, so Wagstaff’s reworked revival with a stark new set by Richard Kent was a timely reminder that war is a terrible business that solves nothing. This three act - and rare two interval - version opened with callow Englishman Stephen Wraysford visiting France to view a struggling factory whereupon he fell helplessly in love with the owner’s wife Isabelle. De...

Now that’s What I Call a Musical – Sheffield Lyceum

12Sep

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Now that’s What I Call a Musical – Sheffield Lyceum

Now that’s what I call a…. trip down memory lane for an 80’s kid! I was smiling until my jaw ached as the now 40 year old ‘Now That’s What I Call’ music CD phenomenon blasted out the songs of my youth. The music is prominent in Now, That’s What I Call a Musical as the name implies…The production is unapologetically nostalgic and a little lacking in depth at times, but the soundtrack of a generation takes centre stage as the story underscores the songs for once. And it works a treat! Penned by comedian Pippa Evans and inspired from the screenplay ‘The Video Help Service’ by Ian W Brown, Lotte Mullan and Natalie Malla, the story starts in 2009 and thrusts us back into 1989. Cleverly directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood, we are greeted by two simultaneous time eras as we se...

16Aug

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Aladdin – Bradford Alhambra

This classic tale of a poor Arabian boy given three wishes by a Genie in a bottle so he could woo a princess was perfect for an Oscar winning Disney animation, and let’s be honest an obvious choice for a stage production. It’s not surprising this high energy show had been seen by 15 million people worldwide as it cunningly melded 1950s musical tropes with a knowing and often funny book by Chad Beguelin, where the Princess was a feminist, and the old order came under threat. But if you didn’t want any subtle subtexts, then you could just wallow in a warm heated show full of extravagant sets, and some big numbers. The tone was set from One Jump Ahead as Kerry Spark’s streetwise Aladdin jumped around a street market as a big ensemble danced around him. After a slightly shaky start...

1Aug

By Phoebe Olivia Sian HobsonNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Grease – Alhambra, Bradford

Grease is most definitely the word on everyone’s lips after attending last nights show at the Alhambra, as it’s fair to say the withdrawals from the thrill and excitement have well and truly kicked in. There are always high expectations for beloved productions such as Grease, and the performance by the cast and crew exceeded all of them, inviting in younger audiences by bringing fresh new ideas but also reminding those maturer fans of their favourite scenes and songs. The show was impressively enticing, horny and funny with the entertaining representations of the burger bar boys and the pink ladies, the cast hit the nail on the head while capturing these characters, whether it was on their best or worst behaviour the teen groups had the audience in stitches. The show invites you in l...

Lonesome Tonight – Workshop Theatre, Leeds

27Jul

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Lonesome Tonight – Workshop Theatre, Leeds

When Len (Josh Phillips) turns up at the door of his mate Chris (Barnaby St. Giles) dressed in full ‘Elvis in Las Vegas circa 1974’ mode and demanding £35 (£40 if you want the voice), we know this isn’t going to be a quiet night in. Chris is in the throes of a split from his girlfriend Anya (Edith Gray) and doesn’t really need Len’s brand of hearty, macho ‘told you so’ friendship, preferring to wallow in a fantasy world justifying the reasons why he and Anya split to himself in increasingly lurid fashion. Writer and Director Dillon Dawson has devised a three handler that seeks to explore the culture of both male friendship and answer the perennial question ‘What is a Real Man?’ Ostensibly Len is a boorish lout, forcing Chris to drink whisky and play daft drinking games, only as t...

Fringe: The Musical – Workshop Theatre, Leeds

27Jul

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Fringe: The Musical – Workshop Theatre, Leeds

When I was offered the opportunity to preview the ‘Fringe: The Musical’, the latest offering from Chevron Theatre, prior to its forthcoming run at Edinburgh Festival Fringe next month, I jumped at the chance. This Leeds based theatre company have produced some funny and thought provoking new musical theatre for the Fringe over the last few years and I’m pleased to say that ‘Fringe: The Musical’ carries on this excellent tradition. ‘Fringe’ is set in an Essex hairdressing salon, Darren (Zak Muggleton) is struggling to make the business survive, whilst simultaneously bringing up his young daughter Sam (Izzy Peter), following the recent death of his wife. The staff are all supportive of Darren; gossipy Claire and Emma (Alice Gedye & Erin Foster), introverted Gemma (Ava King) and frustr...

Lord of The Dance: A Lifetime of Standing Ovations – Hull New Theatre

24Jul

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Lord of The Dance: A Lifetime of Standing Ovations – Hull New Theatre

From its official debut on July 2nd, 1996, in Dublin, Ireland, Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance has enchanted more than 60 million people worldwide. And on Tuesday evening a packed Hull New Theatre added to that figure when Lord of the Dance: A Lifetime of Standing Ovations came to town. It was a thrill for me to review the 25th anniversary of Lord of the Dance, back in 2022 - a production I was “astounded” and “mesmerised” by. Would Flatley’s revival have the same effect on me in 2024? The answer is yes, with the prefix “more” added. As in 2022, the show opens and closes with on-screen performances from Flatley, who is still definitely the Lord of the Dance. The huge video screen played a very important role throughout, with fantastic scenes of forest fires, flower-fi...

16Jul

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Paranormal Activity – Leeds Playhouse

All of us have a personal deep, dark fear – mine is enclosed spaces – we’d run a million miles from, but it says something about human nature that most of us volunteer to be scared half to death watching horror movies. When the Courtyard theatre went totally dark there was a deep sense of both excitement and unease as we waited for this theatrical adaptation of the classic horror movie Paranormal Activity. There are two types of horror – splatter or psychological – and life long fan of the macabre Levi Holloway’s adaptation was most definitely on the creepy side, messing with our minds rather than splashing us with blood. Fans of the wildly successful Paranormal Activity franchise will enjoy this, but there’s plenty for people who never saw them at the flicks to enjoy as Holloway had...

12Jul

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Chariots of Fire – Crucible Theatre

Chariots of Fire is the stage adaptation by Mike Bartlett of the 1981 Oscar winning motion picture. This Sheffield Theatre production is cleverly directed by resident award winning Artistic Director Robert Hastie and unfortunately, his last Sheffield production in the role. Hastie with Associate Director Lilac Yosphon and Assistant Director Chantell Walker re-imagine what was first performed at the Hampstead Theatre in London in 2012. In the Olympic year of 2024, this production marks 100 years since the Paris Olympics of 1924 when this extraordinary real life story takes place and is subsequently dedicated to Sheffield Olympians past and present. It would seem the circular stage (theatre in the round) of the Sheffield Crucible is the perfect location to house a production that requires...