Latest Articles - Page 538 of 645

31Aug

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Magic Goes Wrong – Leeds Grand Theatre

Go on….admit it. One reason we still love magic shows is while we are intrigued by how the illusionists fool us, we also secretly hope it will all go horribly wrong. So, it is really smart of Mischief to create another one of their ‘goes wrong’ series around a camp, OTT group of hopeless performers, and it works much better than their mega successful am dram version as that world is just too a bit too serious to really parody. The premise is that the inaccurately named Sophisticato - played just on the right edge of hysteria by Sam Hill - has put together a tacky fundraiser for magicians killed or injured in the line of conjuring duties, including his father crushed by his stage props. But as with all Mischief productions anything that can go wrong does as the body count steadi...

Ay Up, It’s Stand-Up: Paddy Young and Adam Flood – Laughing Horse @ The Free Sisters

31Aug

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

Ay Up, It’s Stand-Up: Paddy Young and Adam Flood – Laughing Horse @ The Free Sisters

When your Fringe comedy show partner in crime goes AWOL in extenuating circumstances, there’s only one thing for it, keep that show on the road come hell or high water. Poor Paddy Young delivers that blow with comic flourish and the audience isn’t to upset when he promises not one but two stand-in stand-ups. Keeping to the theme of Northern comics, Tom Little is the perfect tonic. With only about 15 minutes to keep us entertained, he dives straight into some cracking observational humour, remarking ‘there’s no time to connect it’ as he dives from his fear of a watermelon-based diet to the absolute audacity of dolphins. The humour is clever and strikes an amusing surrealist approach thanks to the time constrictions. Little is brilliantly witty, and it’s a shame that the audience me...

31Aug

By Alison BainesNo Comments

North West

Hairspray – Empire Theatre

Bank holiday weekend, and the last week before kids are back to school and what better than a treat to see musical phenomenon Hairspray as it hits the stage in Liverpool! We arrived at the theatre in plenty of time but were greeted by a massive queue snaking around all the way to the entrance of the Lime Street Station. The queue, presumably due to the checking of covid status in addition to bag searches and tickets, was rather frustrating and after waiting 20 to 30 minutes to enter, we reached the front of the queue for 7.30pm by which time the show was already starting late (as half the audience was still outside), meaning a mad dash to find your seat and prepare. Not a great start I must say, but fingers crossed this can be much better organised for the next show in the run... Aft...

Interview with Oliver Senton of ‘The School of Night’

30Aug

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

Interviews

Interview with Oliver Senton of ‘The School of Night’

After a long time away from the stage, the Fraters are set to return with their first shows being held at a rather unique location; the ‘Willow Globe’ in Wales. Following their inaugural gig many years ago at ‘Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre’, it seems only fitting now that they return to a replica of ‘The Globe’, that was grown organically by planting willow in the shape of Shakespeare’s magnificent theatre. The School of Night’s unusual and eccentric type of improvising stimulates the literary appetite, whilst catching you off guard with their humorous sleight of hand. This event at the ‘Willow Globe’ is to be held on the 11th of September at 3pm and 7pm. To book tickets for this event go to https://www.shakespearelink.org.uk/productions/2021/9/11/the-school-of-night ...

Magic Goes Wrong at the Opera House Blackpool this November

29Aug

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Magic Goes Wrong at the Opera House Blackpool this November

Olivier award-winning comedy favourites, Mischief, today announce hit comedy Magic Goes Wrong is set to head to the Opera House Blackpool this November from Wednesday 24th – Saturday 27th November 2021. Mischief’s biggest and most daring comedy catastrophe to date, Magic Goes Wrong follows a hapless gang of magicians as they stage an evening of grand illusion to raise cash for charity. As the magic turns to mayhem, accidents spiral out of control and so does their fundraising target! The show premiered in the West End at the Vaudeville Theatre in December 2019 and is set to resume performances in London this October. Created with magic legends Penn & Teller, the touring cast presents: Daniel Anthony (Mickey), Valerie Cutko (Eugenia), Sam Hill (Sophisticato), Kiefer Moriarty (The ...

Alcina: Grimeborn Opera Festival – Arcola Outside

26Aug

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Alcina: Grimeborn Opera Festival – Arcola Outside

Now in its 14th year, the Grimeborn Opera Festival returns at the Arcola Theatre’s new outdoor space, Arcola Outside. Almost a year and a half after the act of singing was largely prohibited due to the pandemic, Arcola Artistic Director Mehmet Ergen felt thrilled to host the Grimeborn programme in their new and safe outdoor theatre. In its fourth outing at the festival, London-based Ensemble OrQuesta returns with a contemporary treatment of Handel’s compelling opera of desire, power and rage. Written in the 18th century by the German-British Baroque composer, the opera seria's story was originally taken from Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando furioso. The original story is set in enchantress Alcina’s island where she rules a magnificent palace full of former lovers and muses that she’s lured un...

Rock of Ages opens UK Tour in Birmingham

26Aug

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Rock of Ages opens UK Tour in Birmingham

Following a sell-out tour in 2018/2019, the producers of the smash-hit ROCK OF AGES are delighted to announce the cast and Kevin Clifton’s return in the role of Stacee Jaxx. The tour will open at The Alexandra, Birmingham from 9th September 2021. Full dates and casting can be found at the website www.rockofagesmusical.co.uk Kevin Clifton thrilled audiences as Stacee Jaxx on the 2018/2019 ‘Rock of Ages’ UK tour and he is so excited to be back, reprising the role in 2021. Kevin is best known for being a professional dancer on BBC1's 'Strictly Come Dancing’. In seven years on the show Kevin reached the final a record five times - winning four glitter balls including the main show Glitterball trophy in 2018 with Stacey Dooley - before leaving in 2019. Since then, Kevin has gone on to appear...

Faulty Towers the Dining Experience Returns to London

26Aug

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Faulty Towers the Dining Experience Returns to London

Faulty Towers the Dining Experience, the critically acclaimed international immersive phenomenon that celebrates its tenth birthday in London’s West End in October 2021, will resume full capacity performances at the Radisson Blu Edwardian in Bloomsbury from 2nd September for a limited run this autumn. Closed for much of 2020 due to the pandemic, the show reopened last autumn in a new socially distanced format, before closing again due to the December lockdown. The producers are pleased to announce that they will be bringing back the original version of the pre-pandemic show, in a newly refurbished space in the hotel, which has extremely high-quality ventilation. A loving tribute to the BBC’s classic TV series, the show has been seen by over a million people worldwide since it was born i...

25Aug

By Donna M DayNo Comments

Scotland

Carmilla – Edinburgh Fringe

Carmilla, adapted and directed by Laura J Harris from Le Fanu’s original Gothic novella, is a tale of love, decorum, passion and vampires. The adaptation focuses on and enhances the LGBTQIA+ elements of the story, to create a piece of theatre which is haunting, tragic and wonderfully terrifying. The play opens with a dark and creepy stage with the background of a very Gothic castle. We see Dr Hesselius creeping across the stage with a lantern, towards a table holding an old book, glass of red wine and a delicate porcelain teacup. The good doctor is nearing the end of his life, and leafing through his casebook as he reflects on whether his future may lie in hell, or if the souls he saved were enough to gain passage to heaven. As he ruminates on what is to come, Laura rises from the be...

25Aug

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

All Above Board – Gladstone Theatre

The World Premiere tour of Nigel Planer's All Above Board came to life at the Gladstone Theatre in Port Sunlight this week before heading off around the North and Midlands. It was wonderful to be back at the Gladstone theatre after such a long time of it being closed due to Covid and it was as homely and welcoming as ever. Nothing is too much in this theatre and that is why people continue to return time and time again All Above Board is a hilarious farce where a good deed ends up going as horribly wrong as it possibly could but with much wit and laughter along the way. Set in the living room of a flat, it had a feeling of Not Going Out with a hint of Fawlty Towers and a huge nod to The Young Ones, the show that writer, Planer, is so well known for. Robert Stuart-Hudson in the ...