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26Nov

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

North West

Top Hat – Opera House

Following a hugely successful revival in Chichester, Top Hat is bringing old-school Hollywood glamour to venues around the UK and is about to tap dance into the hearts of tonight’s audience in Manchester. Based on the iconic Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie with a sparkling Irving Berlin score, Top Hat – under the assured helm of the multi-award winning director/choreographer Kathleen Marshall - weaves its comedy via many classic tropes – mistaken identity, spying on each other, marital disharmony and love triangles – with lashings of charm, showmanship, and the breezy, effervescent joy that defines a true musical comedy. From the moment opening number ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’ sparks into life, the stage erupts with breathtaking choreography and a surge of high-voltage energy from t...

26Nov

By Zain RussellNo Comments

London

Murder at Midnight – Churchill Theatre

Murder at Midnight is a new comedic murder-mystery that unfolds over the course of a chaotic New Year’s Eve, inviting the audience to watch the crime unravel in real time. Unlike a traditional “whodunnit,” this production doesn’t rely on keeping you guessing about the killer’s identity. Instead, the fun lies in discovering how everything went wrong, why it happened, and what the increasingly frantic characters will do to cover their tracks. The show stars Max Bowden as Paul, who stumbles onto the stage after a New Year’s Eve party dressed in a priest’s outfit, accompanied by Lisa, played by Iryna Poplavska. Bowden is a comic standout as an undercover cop attempting to infiltrate a drug operation while simultaneously trying to maintain his cover, and charm Lisa. His performance is full o...

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Riverside Studios

26Nov

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Riverside Studios

Douglas Adams' wildly inventive intergalactic adventure has landed in West London, allowing audiences to escape Earth by hitching a ride on the Heart of Gold spaceship with its infinite improbability drive. Accompanied by all the Hitchhikers' characters, the crew try not to panic as they seek the answer to the eternal question of life, the universe and everything. This beloved sci-fi classic has been given an immersive theatre adaptation by co-creators Arvind Ethan David and Jason Ardizzone-West with a cast of energetic and multi-talented performers. Benjamin Durham's Arthur Dent has the perfect expression of a man who doesn't know what's going on while he searches for his lost love and simultaneously tries to stop his home being bulldozed. Tamara Saffir as Fenchurch is also spot-on castin...

The Tempest – Ivan Vazov National Theatre, Sofia, Bulgaria

26Nov

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

REVIEWS

The Tempest – Ivan Vazov National Theatre, Sofia, Bulgaria

The term legacy is often over used but the work of experimental theatre director Robert Wilson who sadly passed away earlier this year is rightfully celebrated with his production of Shakespeare's celebrated play that lends itself perfectly to his innovative exploration of time and space on stage. Opening to the travails of a ship at sea, we meet Prospero (Vesslin Mezekliev) and his daughter Miranda (Zhaklin Daskalova), and learn how 12 years ago his brother, with assistance from Naples, had usurped him as Duke of Milan. Put to sea in a rotten boat, they washed up on a distant island inhabited only by the son of a witch, Caliban (Yavor Valkanov), and a spirit, Ariel (Vasilena Vincenzo). Since then, Prospero has ruled the island and its two inhabitants using magic arts and having divined...

25Nov

By Karen Morley-ChesworthNo Comments

North West

Wizard of Oz – Theatre by the Lake

Following the A66 to Keswick leads to the start of a magical journey along the Yellow Brick Road at Theatre by the Lake this festive season. The set is simple and beautiful. The opening scene with the full moon over the Lakeland fells with a storm brewing. This ain’t Kansas, but it is a beautiful retelling of Dorothy’s adventures with the scarecrow, tin man and lion. Sonia Jalaly’s production, based on L Frank Baum’s classic this is a beautiful retelling that has something for all ages. After moving from London to Keswick, to live with her Aunt Em, Uncle Henry and cousin Rosie, Dorthy wants to run back to her old home. However, she ends up in the land of Oz, where she meets the brilliant Munchkins. This is where the magic kicks in. With the looks, costumes, fun and drama of Elt...

A Fairytale for Christmas – Dominion Theatre

25Nov

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

A Fairytale for Christmas – Dominion Theatre

‘A Fairytale for Christmas’ returns with all the charm, sparkle, and heart that has made it a staple of the festive season. Blending Irish musicality with classic Christmas nostalgia, this year’s production proves why audiences return year after year. It is a warm, generous show that wears its joy proudly and delivers exactly what its title promises, wrapping tradition, talent, and musical storytelling into a glittering seasonal package. The staging places the entire concert inside McGrath’s, a pop-up Christmas bar tucked away in a corner of Central Park, instantly grounding the show in a sense of homespun nostalgia. Wooden bar stools, twinkling lights, and the gentle clutter of a well-loved local Christmas haunt create an atmosphere that feels lived-in rather than theatrical. This sett...

Reece Dinsdale returns to Leeds Playhouse to play Scrooge

24Nov

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Interviews

Reece Dinsdale returns to Leeds Playhouse to play Scrooge

Reece Dinsdale is Yorkshire acting royalty and is once again back at his spiritual home Leeds Playhouse taking on the iconic role of Ebenezer Scrooge in their festive version of A Christmas Carol. The Normanton born actor played Jack Rover in what was then the West Yorkshire Playhouse’s very first production when they opened with Wild Oats, and since then he has starred in eight more shows at the Leeds theatre. Away from the stage, where he also worked at the National Theatre, Reece began his successful TV career opposite John Thaw in the hit sitcom Home to Roost. He’s also appeared in Threads, Spooks, Life on Mars, Murder on Mind, Silent Witness and Ahead of the Class with Julie Walters. He has the rare distinction of being killed off in both Corrie and Emmerdale, but both soaps hav...

Jack and the Beanstalk – Lyric Hammersmith

24Nov

By Olivia CoxNo Comments

London

Jack and the Beanstalk – Lyric Hammersmith

Written by Sonia Jalalay and directed by Nicholai La Barrie, Lyric Hammersmith’s new production of Jack and the Beanstalk doesn’t totally follow the classic pantomime story. Introducing the story is the Fairy Godfather (a hilarious Jade Hackett), who explains that the people of Hammersmith are in a critical imagination deficit. With an ‘imagination meter’ framing the whole stage, our Fairy Godfather wants us to hit the top level of HEIOMGN: Huge-Epic-Imagination-OMG-Nirvana. The big problem? The ruthless, authoritarian Fleshcreep Academy. John Partridge hams it up — literally, donning a pepperoni-print suit — as the cruel Fleshcreep, instilling rules such as “no singing”, “no dancing” and “no joy” as part of his educational regime. His greatest punishment for children is sending them...

24Nov

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

REVIEWS

Arabella – The Metropolitan Opera

Dylan Evans’ revival of Otto Schenk’s masterpiece brings the glamour and enchantment of 19th Century Vienna back to the Met with Strauss’ elegant romantic lyric comedy in three acts. Count Waldner (Brindley Sherratt) and his wife, Countess Adelaide Waldner (Karen Cargill) have fallen on hard times, much because of his love of gambling and her loftier aspirations, although a fortune teller (Eve Gigliotti) suggests things may be about to change by marrying their eldest daughter into money. Unable to afford the expense of marrying off two daughters, the younger one, Zdenka (Louis Alder) has been brought up as a boy, and whilst older sister Arabella (Rachel Willis- Sørensen) is much admired, it in fact Zdenka who has fallen in love with one of her rejected suitors, Matteo (Pavol Breslik)...

24Nov

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Jobsworth – Park Theatre

Cast your mind back a few years and it’s easy to recall how the concept of a ‘zero hours contract’ was presented to the public as a gift to those seeking employment. Workers could choose when to work, without the onerous restrictions of a full or part-time contract. Students, single mothers, people with caring responsibilities and even those struggling with mental health problems would be able to dip in and out of work without compromising their other concerns. That was the spin. Like many aspects of late-stage capitalism, it was sold to the nation as freedom and choice. The reality has proved to be a boon to ruthless employers and tax-dodging global corporations. Even the term ‘gig economy’ feels less like a hipster lifestyle choice and more like a fun-sounding euphemism for workplace exp...