Latest Articles - Page 457 of 645

Derren Brown: Showman – Liverpool Empire

1Jun

By Jenn McKeanNo Comments

North West

Derren Brown: Showman – Liverpool Empire

Forget Hugh Jackman, the greatest showman of our generation without a doubt is Derren Brown. The prominent illusionist rose to fame in the early 2000s, starting with the TV show Mind Control and other shows such as Trick of the Mind and his specials Sacrifice, Miracle: Faith or Fiction and The Push are currently available to stream on Netflix, with more available on All4. He has always stated that he is able to manipulate the mind and use psychology to work out people’s actions. More often than not, he is able to do exactly what he says and has stunned audiences worldwide. In today’s fickle age, over 20 years after his rise to fame, he is still as popular with audiences and able to stun them to silence in awe at what he does. Unfortunately, I can’t go into detail about what we wi...

1Jun

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

One Man, Two Guvnors – Octagon Theatre

After a critically acclaimed National Theatre premiere, a UK tour, an award-winning West End transfer and a Broadway run which kickstarted James Corden’s stratospheric stateside success, there can’t have been many people left who hadn’t seen the original production of One Man, Two Guvnors. And then the pandemic struck. Another 200,000 tuned in to the NT Live performance. One of the theatrical highlights of lockdown. It’s a brave programmer then who opts to revive Richard Bean’s adaptation of Goldoni’s commedia dell'arte classic The Servant of Two Masters. It’s a gamble that’s largely paid off. For anyone unaware, 1700s Venice has been replaced by 1963 Brighton. That aside, Bean’s adaptation is surprisingly faithful. Both to the plot and themes of upper-class stupidity, gender equa...

The Play That Goes Wrong – Manchester Opera House

31May

By Max EdenNo Comments

North West

The Play That Goes Wrong – Manchester Opera House

When going to the theatre, I always love to see a ‘comedy farce’ more than anything else; I enjoy a good drama as much as the next person, but I find that farce comedy just works so well in a theatre environment and there’s one company that stands out above all the rest for being masters of the farce; this is of course the Mischief Theatre Company. Set up back in 2008 by a group of talented theatre students; This company has had great success on stage and on screen and perhaps their best known production and most successful is; The Play That Goes Wrong which is without doubt the best of farce and currently back at Manchester Opera House for one week only! The production first debuted in 2012 at The Old Red Lion Theatre in London and now just over a decade later; the original cast hav...

We Will Rock You – New Wimbledon Theatre

31May

By Lewis DownhamNo Comments

London

We Will Rock You – New Wimbledon Theatre

It’s hardly 'A night at the opera' as Queen and Ben Elton’s musical We Will Rock You stomps into New Wimbledon Theatre. This jukebox musical features all the classic Queen songs you know and love intertwined with a quirky and futuristic storyline. The show is set far in the future in a dystopian world where children choose to live their lives through social media. They forget what it means to live in the real world and how to make real friends that aren’t just followers online, while listening to new and upcoming autotuned state-controlled songs. However, the bohemians lead by 'Cliff’ (Michael Mckell) slowly learn of the musical legends from the past and make it their mission to bring rock and roll back into the world. This show falls into the trap that many juke box musicals follow,...

Celebrated Virgins production images released

30May

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Celebrated Virgins production images released

Celebrated Virgins follows the story of Miss Sarah Ponsonby and Lady Eleanor Butler, two women raised in the upper echelons of 18th century Irish society who met when their worlds collided at Miss Parkes School for Girls, forming an unbreakable bond. Following this, they were forced to leave their homes and cast out by society. Taking up residence in Llangollen they became minor celebrities, forced to witness their own lives written about by those who could never understand. Now, they are back, ready to take back the story that’s rightfully theirs - on their own terms. Katie Elin-Salt returns to Theatr Clwyd following a writing residency at the venue from 2020-2021 and various acting credits at the theatre including the Paines Plough Roundabout season, Educating Rita, Under Milkwood, As...

First look at Amy Adams as Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie

30May

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

First look at Amy Adams as Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie

Second Half Productions has today released production images for The Glass Menagerie, a new revival of Tennessee Williams's celebrated memory play, directed by award-winning director Jeremy Herrin. Performances began on 23rd May with Opening Night on 31st May 2022. The Glass Menagerie will run at The Duke of York’s Theatre until 27th August. Jeremy Herrin’s bold new staging explores the fragility and fallibility of memory in Tennessee Williams’s semi-autobiographical masterpiece. Six-time Academy Award nominated and two-time Golden Globe winning actress Amy Adams takes on the role of one of Williams’s most iconic matriarchs Amanda Wingfield, a former Southern Belle living precariously with her two children, Tom and Laura, in a space between past and present. Tony award-nominee Paul Hilt...

30May

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

NEWS

Big Brother Is Watching You

Liverpool community theatre company, Thingwall Players, returns following a sold-out panto with an adaption of the science fiction classic Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell, directed by Gateacre based director and playwright David Griffiths. The play will be staged at Thingwall Community Centre in Wavertree, 23rd to 25th June at 7:30pm. Tickets are £10 (£7 Concessions) and available from www.trybooking.co.uk/bpcr Winston Smith is in prison, found guilty of Thoughtcrimes against Big Brother. As part of his reconstruction, he must re-enact key moments from his past life, with the help of other thought criminals, so that everyone can learn from his mistakes. Including his biggest mistake of all: falling in love with Julia. George Orwell's classic dystopia Nineteen Eighty Four...

Bow & Arrow: The Ghost of Sherwood – Epstein Theatre

30May

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Bow & Arrow: The Ghost of Sherwood – Epstein Theatre

There’s a saying in elite army regiments: big boys’ games, big boys’ rules, and tonight City Theatre stepped up to the big stage but sadly, despite passion and well-meaning, it didn’t come off. Set in the days of Robin Hood (Shaun Herr) and Maid Marian (Alex Rochford), we were almost halfway in before the plot was revealed with ghost hunters Bow (Rebekah Jayne Moreland) and Arrow (Johnny Sedgwick-Davies) having not paid their taxes to caretaker Sheriff Maxwell (Graham Lyne) who is supported by some oddball characters in Gob (Louis Cashin-Harris), Miss Thorn (Anna Chan), and Ursula (Dee Patricia). So far so bad but lining up for the goodies are King Lincoln (Leo Hewitson) and his niece Princess Elle (Lydia Pearl), yet still questions remain unanswered: will Friar Tuck (Sean Campbell) be ...

The Canterville Ghost The Musical – Hope Street Theatre

27May

By Ezzy LaBelleNo Comments

North West

The Canterville Ghost The Musical – Hope Street Theatre

Every now and then a gem of a show comes along and leaves you thinking about it after like a dramatic hangover. This is that show. Unique, creative and hilarious, The Canterville Ghost – The Musical is based on Oscar Wilde’s renowned text. Be a fly-on-the-wall and witness the arrival of the brash, American Otis family as they arrive at Canterville Manor. Disrupting the peace of the Mrs Umney the housekeeper (Lizzy Paes) and the Butler (Luke Furlonger-Copeland), the Otis’ and their three daughters make themselves at home. Mr Otis (Omar Hussein) and Mrs Otis (Neve McLaughlin) are sceptical about warnings of the malicious Simon de Canterville (Jack Royens) ghost. Their mischievous twins, Stars (Frankie Fleming) and Stripes (Katie Moncaster) are also not fazed by the resident ghoul but t...

Tomorrow May Be My Last – Old Red Lion Theatre

27May

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Tomorrow May Be My Last – Old Red Lion Theatre

In the Second Summer of Love, during the late ‘80s, I went full-tilt psychedelic. I tie-dyed my clothes, listened to Janis Joplin’s Pearl and read the infamous sex and drugs memoir, ‘Going Down with Janis’ by Peggy Casserta. Unlike Janis, I lived to tell the tale. In post-modern 2022, that teenage flirtation with psilocybin and flares seems very distant. Tomorrow May Be My Last delivered a patchouli flavoured flashback to my flower powered youth and is probably the nearest one can get to experiencing a Janis Joplin live show. Nobody sings like Joplin. That’s a fact, but Collette Cooper brings an impressive range to the table in this one-woman show, exploring the life and work of the iconic rock goddess. It’s a tall order, but at times, Cooper totally nails the vocals, esp...