Yorkshire & Humber Archives - Page 6 of 49

14Jan

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Rocky Horror Show – Sheffield Lyceum

Sheffield waited with antici……….pation and at last the Rocky Horror Show crash landed into the Sheffield Lyceum. With a well versed and non-virginal Rocky audience there were more sparkly tailcoats and top hats, green surgical gowns, heavy rocker leather jackets and more basques, corsets and suspenders than you can find in Ann Summers and this production did not disappoint. After first seeing Richard O Brien’s Rocky Horror Show on its original UK tour in 79/80 (as a 14-year-old schoolgirl with a music teacher who didn’t do his research homework very well and was subsequently horrified he may lose his job!) I am somewhat of a connoisseur it could be said, and after sampling over 60 visits to Frank’s castle the question was - could this production still fill me with the amazement of my first...

Carlos Acosta’s Nutcracker in Havana – Sheffield Lyceum

9Jan

By Jo TillotsonNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Carlos Acosta’s Nutcracker in Havana – Sheffield Lyceum

The Nutcracker is inextricably linked to the Christmas season; a young girl, Clara, receives a gift of a nutcracker doll and as she sleeps, the doll transforms into a handsome prince and draws her into a world of adventure and fantasy. This version of that classic tale, Nutcracker in Havana, is transported into a Cuban setting by renowned Cuban ballet dancer Carlos Acosta, here serving as artistic director and choreographer. The show opened with a swirling video-projected tour of the streets of Havana which really helped to set the scene and highlight the changes from the off. However, as someone who suffers with quite severe motion sickness, I did struggle a little and I would have liked to have known that before it started! Acosta has cleverly woven aspects of Cuban culture and dan...

9Jan

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Fawlty Towers – Leeds Grand

Fawlty Towers is regularly voted the greatest ever British sitcom, so five decades after the madcap antics of the world’s worst hotelier were first broadcast it seemed ripe for a stage adaptation. John Cleese was famously moved to co-write his comedy masterpiece with his then wife Connie Booth after the Monty Python team endured a stay at a rundown hotel run by a very strange and rude owner. Thus, the xenophobic, misogynistic and downright rude hotel owner Basil Fawlty was born. Cleese has seamlessly weaved his three favourite episodes - The Hotel Inspectors, Communication Problems and The Germans - into what is now a classic British farce, featuring a ninety-minute Basil meltdown. In many ways the adaption is spot on for an audience who have come to see comedy gold recreated right i...

15Dec

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Beauty and the Beast – Hull New Theatre

Panto season is upon us once more and as young and old packed into Hull New Theatre on Sunday evening to watch Beauty and the Beast, the excitable atmosphere among theatregoers was palpable. As a reviewer, I have been fortunate to watch many such productions at the New Theatre. But would this year’s offering live up to its billing as “The Spellbinding Pantomime”? Just after 5pm, the curtain rose to reveal a huge throne, upon which sat the handsome Prince Sebastian (Scott Royle) in all his purple silk finery. Rudely shooing away an old hag begging for help, he soon becomes more friendly when she reveals her youthful, beautiful self. However, his fate is sealed as the woman turns out to be an Enchantress (Sharon Sexton) who casts a spell on him, turning him into an ugly beast. Th...

14Dec

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Hercules – Wesley Centre, Maltby

With delight I went to see Sherlock Productions latest show, the pantomime Hercules and as expected their talent and skill improve with every show – this was my favourite to date! This has become a yearly occurrence for me and one I look forward to as a visual reminder of the true spirit of Christmas – to love one another. Sherlock Productions is a unique amateur dramatics company who completely embrace inclusivity and wholly demonstrate the joy that this gives to all involved and to its observers - one of heart-warming accomplishment and unity – equality and achievement. Sherlock Production was originally founded in memory of Paddy Sherlock a talented thespian and a great friend to all who had the pleasure of knowing him, Paddy would have been so very proud of this production of Hercul...

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – Alhambra Bradford

12Dec

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – Alhambra Bradford

The year Billy Pearce began his panto career at this historic venue Bill Clinton had just become President, Microsoft released Windows and Jurassic Park was pulling the crowds in. 25 years on, and Pearce is no dinosaur as for a performer in his seventies he still has energy to burn His festive turn as the leading man at the Alhambra is now as traditional as turkey stuffing, and from the moment the kids (and big kids) bellowed back ‘hello Billy’ (oh, yes they did) he has a very lively intergenerational audience in the palm of his hand. It really is a masterclass in how to work a crowd, and as a veteran of the Yorkshire club circuit his timing and ability to think on his feet is still razor sharp. This year (as he notes on stage) for his silver jubilee he is The Man In The Mirror - com...

11Dec

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Aladdin – Sheffield Lyceum

Aladdin flew into Sheffield this week and lives up to its hype with a high energy, nonstop flight of frivolity! Evolutions Productions do it again in their 20th year with Paul Hendry writing, directing and producing joined by Emily Wood as Associate Director and Producer of the pantomime. This year’s cast is a strong, extremely talented and an evenly matched array of performers/musicians and they inclusively have energy abound. None more so than the Musical Director James Harrison who entertains the audience both at the keyboard and on stage, with the excitable energy of a child… I was tired watching him and was constantly draw to his exuberance. Harrison’s score is fresh and up to date with more than a few ‘bangers’ to get the audience of all ages buzzing! The set design by Morgan Brin...

Aladdin: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto – Leeds City Varieties

9Dec

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Aladdin: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto – Leeds City Varieties

The first I time I saw the Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto in Leeds the Iraq War had just ended, Novak Djokovic has secured his first Wimbledon crown and Prince William got hitched to Catherine Middleton Since then, this traditional pantomime with a musical edge has become a must see for families across the generations – oh, yes it has – and taken its place in the pantheon of great shows in one of the North’s most historic theatres. It may be entering its fifteenth run, but the latest Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto basically is the same show, albeit with a different name, and a few more topical gags. This time star-crossed lovers A-lad-in-Leeds (see what they did there?) and Princess Peachblosoom are helped by a motley crew of friends to overcome evil villain Abanazer before they find true love. Oh, yes th...

5Dec

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

A Christmas Carol – Crucible Theatre

What a start to my Christmas celebrations, a joyous and heart-warming new adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic – A Christmas Carol. Set in Sheffield and dripping with the festive custom of Carols, these harmonic vocal bells charm the local audiences and provide the grounding human link between our past and our present. Long before the well-known choral carols in churches, Christmas regional songs were sung ad hoc in pubs and this tradition remains strong and striving in Sheffield. What better way to highlight Dicken’s story of change and redemption than with a kaleidoscope of a vocally created backdrop, replacing much of the instrumental music and also gifting the community audience with localised lyrics and customs encompassing and highlighting the moral story to inclusiv...

4Dec

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Oliver Twist – Hull Truck Theatre

Published as a serial between 1836 and 1839, Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist has undergone a myriad of adaptations, and Deborah McAndrew’s dramatic and highly theatrical take on this age-old classic is currently wowing audiences at Hull Truck Theatre. The venue was packed on Tuesday night with all ages of theatregoers eagerly awaiting curtain up at 7pm. Of course, regular Truckers will know there never is a curtain to actually rise; every nook and cranny of the stage for whatever production is always totally on show giving one a chance to have a pre-production nosy. At first glance, the stage for this show looked quite empty. However, towards the rear there rose huge arched windows and spaced columns, with an elevated walkway reached by a hefty spiral staircase. The atmospheres w...