Yorkshire & Humber Archives - Page 32 of 43

14Sep

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Bat Out of Hell – Hull New Theatre

Hull New Theatre’s autumn season got off to a flying start on Tuesday night, when Bat Out Of Hell the Musical roared into town. As a reviewer, I try to be critical, but when something of this calibre hits the stage, it is practically impossible to find fault. The rip-roaring production, featuring the music of Meatloaf, centres around two couples - 18-year-olds, gang leader, Strat (Glenn Adamson) and his love interest Raven (Rebecca Lafferty); and Raven’s over-protective parents, Falco (Rob Fowler) and Sloane (Sharon Sexton). Strat’s gang, The Lost, live underground, while Raven and her parents live above-ground, in luxury. Here I must mention set designer, Jon Bausor, whose concept of having just one item of the set, a sofa, having to be “scene-shifted” throughout the productio...

The Importance of Being Earnest – Leeds Playhouse

13Sep

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Importance of Being Earnest – Leeds Playhouse

With this lively revival Sir Peter Hall Director Award winner Denzel Westley-Sanderson wanted to bust the myth that Black history started with migrants coming down the Windrush’s gangplank, and instead employs wealthy Black Victorians to reinvent this eternally witty study of manners and the corrosive nature of rigid societal conventions. It works because it actually reinforces the reality that conforming to pointless social niceties only reinforces baseless prejudices, no matter your ethnicity, as love rivals the dissolute Algernon and his social climbing friend John seek the hands of two women who are blissfully unaware they aren’t who they say they are. Throw in a snobbish matriarch, a deceitful governess, a randy vicar, plus knowing servants, and you have all the elements of a class...

Bugsy Malone: The Musical – Leeds Grand Theatre

31Aug

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Bugsy Malone: The Musical – Leeds Grand Theatre

It’s hard to believe Hollywood legend Jodie Foster’s movie career was launched in Alan Parker’s innovative gangster spoof where all the roles were played by a cast with an average of 12. For this stage production of the battle between gang bosses Fat Sam and Dandy Dan for control of the soda pop racket in 1920s New York, as hustler Bugsy Malone vies for the affections of nightclub singer Blousey, the producers have decided to cast some very young performers as the leads. This left some of the diction a little indistinct up in the gods and some of the big numbers a touch underpowered. Many of these committed young performers will no doubt go onto successful professional careers as more experienced performers have often struggled to fill this big space. Some of those issues are amplifi...

West Side Story – Theatre Royal Wakefield

27Aug

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

West Side Story – Theatre Royal Wakefield

A Tour de Force of a production in every perceived meaning of the phrase. A long-time favourite of many, West Side Story which is based on the concept of Jerome Robbins – as a modern day telling of Romeo and Juliet - is synonymous with Robbins famous choreographic style. Collaborating with Arthur Laurents as writer and the legendary composer Leonard Bernstein with Stephen Sondheim as lyricist; West Side Story was always going to be a hit. From its film versions in 1961 and 2021 to its innumerable stage productions the musical has engaged people for the last 65 years and continues to do so in Wakefield this week! Set in the 1950’s, the musical resets Romeo and Juliet onto the New York streets and the world of rival gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. Maria, sister of the Sharks gang leade...

Derren Brown: Showman – Leeds Grand Theatre

24Aug

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Derren Brown: Showman – Leeds Grand Theatre

At the end of this hugely entertaining and mystifying show Derren Brown asked reviewers not to give the game away about any of the set ups. That is a lot easier than the master mesmeriser thinks as no decent reviewer ever gives the plot away unless it's the forthcoming Titanic musical where we all know what happens. Hint…the voyage doesn’t end well. This is Brown’s first new show for five years, but his popularity hasn’t waned as it was a full house to witness his trademark mix of mind control, uncanny people reading and nifty misdirection. People come to these shows to see if they can work it out, and here’s some good news for his fans - it is still impossible. That’s all part of the fun, and there’s one part of this show where I am still utterly baffled how he pulled it off. ...

28Jul

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Jersey Boys – Leeds Grand Theatre

“If you’re from my neighbourhood, you’ve got three ways out – you could join the army, you could get mobbed up, or you could become a star.” So says streetwise minor hoodlum and guitarist Tommy DeVito opening the show as he creates the Four Seasons as a quartet of blue-collar Italian Americans who force their way out of New Jersey on the back of a string of hit singles If you have the radio in the car tuned to any of the classic hits stations then you don’t have long to wait for a Four Seasons record to come on from an early smash like Sherry to Frankie Valli’s comeback hit Can’t Take My Eyes Off You. Frankie’s unique powerful falsetto might not be to everyone’s taste, but it proved to be their unique selling point. At their height they outsold the Beach Boys and the Beatle...

27Jul

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

School of Rock – Sheffield Lyceum

Sheffield was raising the decibels into the stratosphere last night with the England Women’s Team winning the Semi Final against Sweden in the Euro22 competition at Sheffield Bramall Lane ground and the School of Rock opening at the Sheffield Lyceum, Sheffield really was the place to be! The city was euphoric – Sheffield Rocked! School of Rock is written by Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey fame with Lyrics by Glenn Slater, the dialogue is both topical and sassy and extremely funny on numerous occasions. The music by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber is as expected, catchy with some great songs such as Top of Mount Rock, Stick it to the Man and If Only you would listen. Anna Louizo’s sets are compact, yet well designed to move fluently and at speed between the Horace Green school rooms, Ned Schne...

21Jul

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Singin’ in the Rain – Sheffield Lyceum

Last night, I spent a gloriously nostalgic evening at the theatre watching the spectacle that is Singing in The Rain, it felt like a childhood embrace from a favourite grandparent - warm, happy, secure and where I belonged! We all know of the 1952 MGM classic musical comedy film ‘Singin’ in the Rain’, as it has been named as one of the greatest musical movies of all time. Made famous by the cast of Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds, it light heartedly charts the 1920’s depiction of performers caught up in the transition from silent films to the ground-breaking ‘talkies’. Centring on the silver screen romantic pairing of Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont - the darlings of MGM studios. Everyone has trouble adapting to the changes but none more than Lina Lamont, a beautiful screen...

The Play That Goes Wrong – Hull New Theatre

19Jul

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Play That Goes Wrong – Hull New Theatre

The last time I saw The Play That Goes Wrong, presented by the Cornley Drama Society, Winston the dog (an integral prop in the production) had done a runner then, too. It was the same on Monday evening at the Hull New Theatre, meaning Trevor, the society’s lighting and sound operator (Gabriel Paul), had to ask for our help in finding, or even replacing, the errant mutt. The stage setting for the society’s production of Murder At Haversham Manor was not quite ready at “curtain up”, so chaos ensued immediately, with a hapless audience member (or was he a stooge?) having to help out. The setting is a 1920s manor house, home to Charles Haversham (Steven Rostance), on the occasion of his engagement to Florence Colleymore (Aisha Numah). Unfortunately, Charles is discovered dead as a ...

16Jul

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

A Wilde Life – Workshop Theatre, Leeds

Tonight, I was fortunate enough to see the opening preview of Chevron Theatre production of 'A Wilde Life' in Leeds, prior to dates in Cambridge and culminating at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August. A musical based on the rise and fall of literary giant Oscar Wilde, upon initial viewing I am in little doubt that if the audience seek out this gem of a production in the plethora of offerings in Edinburgh, then this Leeds based company will have a hit on their hands. Running at just under an hour, the show opens in a seedy 'fin de siècle' Parisian café, populated with debauched alcoholics and prostitutes that form the ensemble during the scene setting opening (Oscar in Paris). Following his ostentatious entrance, Wilde (Jake Glantz) then proceeds to illustrate his rise and fall by transf...