Yorkshire & Humber Archives - Page 7 of 26

9Oct

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Light House – Leeds Playhouse

A lone woman comes through the dry ice holding a lantern and looking serious. So, the initial thought is this one woman show is going to be a hour long misery fest. Thankfully it is the exact opposite as Alys Williams has written and performs a show that is warm, witty, always humane, but never afraid to delve into the challenges that mental health issues pose for those battling with their own minds, and for those around them. Cleverly she uses the standard protocol for what happens when a man goes overboard at sea as a metaphor for how society reacts when someone starts to struggle with their mental health, and it’s a motif she returns to throughout. What really gives The Light House resonance is Williams has based it on her own experience with a partner who does go overboard me...

Jesus Christ Superstar – Hull New Theatre

3Oct

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Jesus Christ Superstar – Hull New Theatre

When a theatre production seems to pass in the blink of an eye, you know you have witnessed something special. So, it was on Monday evening, when Jesus Christ Superstar came to the Hull New Theatre to spellbind us in the fairly full venue. After a 10-minute delay for curtain up, the first half was well worth the wait. Events on stage were so utterly engrossing, next thing we knew the interval was upon us. The stage setting for the last weeks of Jesus Christ’s life (seen through the eyes of Judas), was devoid of colour; even the actors’ costumes were mostly a drab beige. This cleverly created the perfect atmosphere of suspicion, fear and doubt leading up to Jesus’s demise. Feared by the authorities for being hailed as the “King of the Jews” and the “Son of God” by his followers...

27Sep

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Heathers The Musical – Hull New Theatre

Thank goodness my years at the Newton Hall Grammar Technical High School, in Hull, weren’t as angst-ridden and dangerous as those “enjoyed” by the pupils of Westerberg High School, in Ohio, US. When the energetic cast of Heathers The Musical took to the Hull New Theatre stage on Tuesday evening, their actions shed light on the likes of bulimia, latent homosexuality, suicide, bullying and murder. Phew! There was never a dull moment, making my schooldays seem dull and boring. I was new to Heathers, but a large chunk of the audience whooped and hollered loudly on many occasions throughout - showing, not only their appreciation, but also their knowledge of the storyline. I admired their enthusiasm, but, sadly, couldn’t join in as (and I’m sure I was in the minority here, judging b...

26Sep

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Rocky Horror Show – Bradford Alhambra

Look, after 50 years of camp genius this show is bomb proof from reviews so all you can do is judge how good the latest production is. The good news is that this is a really solid version of Richard O’Brien’s bonkers tribute to the schlocky 1950’s horror B-movies he watched as a kid in his native New Zealand, complete with some delicious pastiches of rock and roll songs from that period. Unless you have been living in a cave since the show premiered in 1973 - or have never been to a musical - then you don’t need a synopsis of what happens, and to be honest none of it makes sense anyway. What this show does need is two things – a great narrator and a crowd that is up for it as unlike others shows audience participation is not only encouraged but expected. Well, one out of two a...

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 antise...

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 hi...

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 p...

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 ...