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Derren Brown: Showman – The Alexandra, Birmingham

7Sep

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

West Midlands

Derren Brown: Showman – The Alexandra, Birmingham

I promised Derren I wouldn’t tell you anything. Well, it wasn’t just me - there were about fifteen hundred of us. All sworn to secrecy which, to be fair, doesn’t allow me much scope to tell you about the show, but let’s have a bash anyway. So, Derren Brown has been beguiling, bewitching and bewildering us with brash bravado and unashamed chutzpah for over twenty years offering a self-proclaimed blend of "magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection, and showmanship” and last night at the Alex in Birmingham he certainly provided examples of all of those in equal measure. He proved himself a master of reading body language and facial ticks to an uncanny and unsettling, Sherlockian level. He sniffed out someone’s childhood accident after a few minutes of looking them over. Did he read it on...

The Osmonds: A New Musical – Liverpool Empire

7Sep

By Anne PritchardNo Comments

North West

The Osmonds: A New Musical – Liverpool Empire

Love them or loathe them, The Osmonds were a tour de force in the musical showground in the 1960’s and 1970’s and the brothers attracted massive adulation from female fans, particularly Donny; together the group lived an incredible life producing chart-topping albums, selling out huge arena concerts and creating record-breaking TV shows. This production is based on Jay Osmond’s personal experiences charting the story of an extraordinary family and their rise to superstardom. Alex Lodge as Jay acts as Narrator; he managed a heavy script containing facts and figures about the Osmond family detailing their highs and lows; he did it extremely well with exuberance and panache. The Osmond brothers and sister, Marie were born in Utah, USA to parents George and Olive; brothers Alan, Wayne...

Northern Ballet launch autumn season with a world premiere at Leeds Playhouse

6Sep

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

NEWS

Northern Ballet launch autumn season with a world premiere at Leeds Playhouse

Northern Ballet launch their autumn season with the world première of three exhilarating new dance pieces under the banner Made in Leeds: Three Short Ballets at Leeds Playhouse from 10th – 17th September. Yorkshire audiences will be the first to see new works from award-winning choreographers Mthuthuzeli November, Stina Quagebeur and Dickson Mbi performed by Northern Ballet’s world-class dancers. Olivier award-winning Mthuthuzeli November’s Wailers is described as "a work that gives thanks to life. To its struggles, beauty and its people. Those with us and no longer with us. It is a prayer for guidance." Stina Quagebeur, Associate Choreographer with English National Ballet, presents Nostalgia billed as "an exploration of that familiar state of longing, poignancy and piercing...

Corrie legend Paula Lane stars in Oldham Coliseum Theatre’s revival of Jim Cartwright’s Road

6Sep

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

NEWS

Corrie legend Paula Lane stars in Oldham Coliseum Theatre’s revival of Jim Cartwright’s Road

Corrie legend Paula Lane leads a strong case for Oldham Coliseum Theatre’s timely revival of Jim Cartwright’s raw and powerful Road. Well-oiled narrator Scullery takes the audience along his run down Lancashire road in 1987 where’s no jobs and little hope. but there’s a party to go to that’ll take you from the gutter to the stars and back again. Sound familiar? Ironically Paula Lane who was Kylie Platt in the Street plays the equally feisty Lane in Road and is joined by Coliseum regular Richard J Fletcher as feckless Scullery. Lancashire playwright Jim Cartwright’s debut play mixture of humour and pathos was voted third best play of the 1980s being revived many times, and even being produced at the Lincoln Centre in New York featuring cast Kevin Bacon and Joan Cusack. ...

Venus Rising – Liverpool Theatre Festival

6Sep

By Ezzy LaBelleNo Comments

North West

Venus Rising – Liverpool Theatre Festival

Pulsing with energy and sprinkled with laughs, Venus Rising takes you on a trolley ride of emotion through the life of an accidental erotic writer. Performed as a monologue, it has you perched with anticipation. Meet James Wilkinson. All he had ever wanted to do was write, but not like this. Having made a drunken bet with a friend, James finds success carving out his own greasy niche in the market. Life should be brilliant, shouldn't it? It is clear from the staging - a messy room with several wine bottles - that life is perhaps not as brilliant as you'd expect for a writer supposedly living the dream everyone else has. But that's the problem; he's not the one living the dream. He’s the most successful person you’ll ever meet, and you’d never know it. He hates his job, hates his l...

6Sep

By Max EdenNo Comments

North West

We Will Rock You – Palace Theatre

‘We Will Rock You’ is one of those musicals where you know exactly what you’re going to get; a musical with a set list jam-packed with singalong mega hits and bags of energy and fun, it’s a real crowd pleaser! Launched back in 2002; it has become the eleventh longest running musical of the West End and credited as one of the original ‘jukebox’ musicals, it’s popularity and longevity can be acknowledged in part by the back catalogue of Rock Legends; Queen - which make up its score; featuring a whooping 25 songs from Freddie Mercury and the band. The script although quite far-fetched and silly at times is perfectly tailored to our British humour, and writer Ben Elton has revamped and refreshed the script over the years to keep the production relevant, including a rather amusing Covid t...

David Essex ‘I’ll Be Missing You’ Tour – Liverpool Philharmonic

6Sep

By Jenn McKeanNo Comments

North West

David Essex ‘I’ll Be Missing You’ Tour – Liverpool Philharmonic

How do you scare a man in his mid-70s from East London? Lock him in a room with hundreds of scouse women screaming for him. Some people might think that David Essex is well past his prime, still going on tour into his 70s, but being on stage at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, it seemed as though he was still in his prime. Still sounding almost exactly the same as he did on his records and still able to fully captivate an audience. As someone who grew up, only knowing his biggest hits and learnt more of his back catalogue through his musical ‘All the Fun of the Fair’, it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. We were treated to a fabulous set from Tim Newman, as Essex’s support act and he definitely got the crowd warmed up and ready for the main event. He sang some of his own tracks, in...

5Sep

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

Interviews

Big Fish swims into Northwich

Big Fish the musical is heading to Northwich Memorial Court later this month from Mid Cheshire Musical Theatre Company and our editor, Paul Downham has been speaking to director Louise Colohan to find out what we can expect from this lessor known musical. Mid Cheshire Musical Theatre Company have once again opted to produce a lesser known musical after the success of Sunshine on Leith 12 months ago and American Idiot earlier this year, which both gained huge critical acclaim. This year they bring us Big Fish, tell us about the storyline? Big Fish tells us the story of Edward Bloom, a seemingly ordinary man who, through the tales he tells his son, appears to have led a life full of magic, wonder, love and adventure. As an ailing Edward seeks to reconcile with his now grown-up son, we ...

Fear and Misery of the Third Reich – Liverpool Theatre Festival

5Sep

By Ezzy LaBelleNo Comments

North West

Fear and Misery of the Third Reich – Liverpool Theatre Festival

With no ticket left unsold, Fear and Misery of The Third Reich transports the audience to a time the history books say will never happen again. Written by Bertolt Brecht in 1938, viewers witness events that took place in ordinary German households through a series of twenty-four interconnected playlets. This version is dedicated in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Produced by Theatre Right Now and directed by Anthony Proctor, Fear and Misery of The Third Reich, the performance provides an intimate, moving evening. They have made use of the actors’ skillsets and focused on the storytelling of Brecht's work. The script is powerful. With only four people in the cast - Liam Powell-Berry, Reginald Edwards, Megan Thorne, Mary Savage and Samantha Alton - a multitude of characters a...

A Night at the Musicals – Buxton Opera House

4Sep

By Angela KellyNo Comments

North West

A Night at the Musicals – Buxton Opera House

The stunning Buxton Opera House hosted ‘A night at The Musicals’, an Icy Shark production with an array of well-known scores from some of the world’s most popular musicals. Directed by Chris Ellis and Des McGill and produced by Dennis Kay this is a must for any lover of musical theatre. Including music from Moulin Rouge, Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables and Jesus Christ Superstar, and accompanied on stage by keyboards, drums and percussion and guitar, this non-profit making company had put on quite a show, considering that their first rehearsal was only in September 2021 following many delays related to Covid 19 prior to this. Before discussing the entire performance, it would be remiss not to mention the one major issue with the entire production and it was sadly the poor qualit...