Yorkshire & Humber Archives - Page 38 of 43

24Nov

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Addams Family – Sheffield Lyceum

The Second UK tour of the neighbours from hell The Addams Family moves into the Sheffield Lyceum this week – and what an entrance! Originally conceived by Charles Addams in 1938 in the New Yorker. With the book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice and Music and Lyrics by Andrew Lippa, this spine chillingly spectacular tour is directed by Matthew White and designed by Diego Pitarch. The choreography by Alistair David from the initial finger clicks through the Addams Family letter box to the full ensemble splendour is the beating heart of the stage show. Elaborate, abundant and exquisitely amusing, the ethereal ensemble takes this new production to a higher level than its predecessor. The set is yet another star of the show with slick movement and sumptuous detail its huge size never detracts...

The Rocky Horror Show – Hull New Theatre

24Nov

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Rocky Horror Show – Hull New Theatre

“Mucky mouths” were much in evidence on Monday night, as the infamous Rocky Horror Show hit the Hull New Theatre stage, running. Suspenders, stockings, glitter and general naughtiness were much in evidence. But that’s enough about the audience … This legendary show - born in 1973 - comes to the city as part of a worldwide tour. It tells the story of two innocent college students, Brad (Ore Oduba) and fiancée Janet (Haley Flaherty), whose car breaks down outside a creepy mansion - a mansion they enter to try to find a telephone on which to ring for help. The creepy mansion is home to the even creepier Dr Frank N Furter (Stephen Webb). Furter, strutting around in stockings and suspenders, has total control over his staff - two of whom turn out to be instrumental in his eventua...

17Nov

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Elf The Musical – Sheffield Lyceum

What a wonderful way to start the festive season, with more cheese than you would see on any Cheeseboard at Christmas! Elf - The Musical is based on the original film Elf written by David Berenbaum, staring Will Ferrell as Buddy the Elf. The musical version does include a few changes from the film script, but its essence and Christmas spirit is very much alive. However, I did miss the snowball fight in the park though! (One of my favourite scenes). If anyone is unfamiliar with the storyline, we follow the story of Buddy, who is brought up in Christmastown by Santa and his elves. After crawling into Santa’s sack as a baby, Buddy is mistakenly transported to the North Pole. We join the story as it becomes evident that Buddy has a few ‘special’ qualities that set him aside from the rest of...

17Nov

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Me, Myself and Micha – Leeds Playhouse

When Brazilian dancer and choreographer Ana Silverio realised she was pregnant she began to make detailed notes to make a piece out of her nine month journey. Silverio who had worked across Europe initially thought this was going to be performed by three dancers after presenting an initial 10 minute work in progress during a scratch session as part of the Playhouse’s Furnace Festival she realised it was a solo show. Furnace is the engine room that supports new and more established artists like Silverio with space to create new work, as well allowing them to tap into the Playhouse’s vast reservoir of creative and technical expertise. Usually for Furnace which was cancelled last year due to the virus this is staged as a fully realised forty-minute piece that begins with a beauti...

10Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Parade – Sheffield Theatre Deli

Parade by Jason Robert Brown is probably one of the most underrated musicals ever written. It is totally captivating from beginning to end with a powerful score and gripping storyline, the only down side is that it is not performed very often in this country. The musical is a dramatization of the 1913 trial, imprisonment and subsequent lynching, of Jewish American Leo Frank in Georgia. Tonight, Cutting Edge Productions brought this story to Theatre Deli in Sheffield where it continues until Saturday (13th November). https://www.cuttingedgetheatreco.com/ The lead role of Leo Frank requires an accomplished actor to play him, and tonight Dylan Lambert shone. His attention to detail in the role was impressive, he portrayed an introverted character with an inner determination to get perso...

9Nov

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Chicago – Hull New Theatre

Whose idea was it to place a 10-piece band centre stage throughout the production of Chicago, which came to the Hull New Theatre on Monday night? The programme credits a John Lee Beatty as being responsible for “scenic design”. So, Mr Beatty - I doffs my cap, it was a genius move on your part. The musician backdrop was a major part of this amazing spectacle and wouldn’t have been the same if such talents had been hidden away in an orchestra pit. All the action takes place in 1920s Chicago, America, as we follow the shenanigans of two prison cellmates - Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly. Roxie (Faye Brookes) and Velma (Djalenga Scott) are streetwise “broads” and murderers who use their feminine wiles to try to convince a jury to find them innocent. Of course, they need the services ...

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie – Leeds Grand

4Nov

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie – Leeds Grand

The performing arts often attracts outsiders looking for a safe haven, so it is hardly surprising many musicals are about the plucky outsider finding their true selves against what seem like insurmountable odds. That’s true of this big-hearted musical that started life just down the road in Sheffield, before becoming a West End hit, and is loosely based on the real story of working class gay teenager Jamie Campbell who decided that only did he want to be a drag artist when he left school, but he was going to his prom in a dress. Here our Jamie New, supported by Muslim best mate Pritti, wants to do the same despite the school bullies, but is up against a bigoted teacher determined he will turn up to the big night in ’normal’ attire, provoking an unexpected response from his schoolmate...

3Nov

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Elf the Musical – Hull New Theatre

I once spent many hours one weekend, corresponding with an “elf”, via email. His name was Blodwit and he was helping me organise Santa letters for the youngsters in my family. Obviously, Blodwit was a mischievous Santa letter employee working from home, but I happily played along with him as the child in me wanted to believe he was real. Fast forward to Tuesday evening and I couldn’t wait to get to the Hull New Theatre to watch some of Blodwit’s relatives (maybe) in Elf The Musical. And judging by the many theatregoers wearing elf hats, I wasn’t the only one eager to get into the festive spirit. As the lights dimmed in the packed theatre the colourful stage setting, bedecked with 20ft-tall candy canes, left us in no doubt we were in Santa’s domain at the North Pole. As the “elv...

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Sheffield Lyceum

28Oct

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Sheffield Lyceum

First, we had the spectacles that are The Phantom of the Opera, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Mary Poppins and now there is a new contender to the crown with more magical illusions than you can shake a magic wand at! From the very opening sequence we are inundated with illusion and magic from Illusion Designer Jamie Harrison and it doesn’t let up for one moment. The children in the audience gasp and the technically minded amongst us try to work out how it was done. From flying broomsticks to beds, magical moving clothing to magical magician’s tricks. Then there is Kenneth MacLeod’s puppets of mighty lions to neon fish and rabbits to ostriches, this production is nonstop wonderment with a sense of humour and more than a dash of panache! The 1971 Disney film classic staring Angela...

27Oct

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Lemon Table – Crucible Theatre

The Lemon Tree is presented by Wiltshire Creative, Malvern Theatres, Sheffield Theatres and Home, in association with MGC. It is two short stories penned by Julian Barnes, co-directed by Michael Grandage and Titus Halder and performed by the actor Ian McDiarmid. Lighting designer Paule Constable, Associate lighting designer Ryan Day and Sound Designer by Ella Wahlstrom make up the creative team. Barnes’ 2005 book of Short Stories are first person accounts on the reality of ageing. The two chosen stories in the Lemon Table are told through the eyes of Jeffrey in ‘Vigilance’ and the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius as he draws to the end of his life, in the second – ‘Silence’. Both these dramatizations are depicted back to back over a 65 minute period by McDiarmid with the ease of a masterc...