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The Greatest Love Of All Whitney Houston Tribute Comes To St Helens

27Sep

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

The Greatest Love Of All Whitney Houston Tribute Comes To St Helens

The Australian producers of a Whitney Houston tribute concert bring their smash-hit show to St Helens Theatre Royal next week starring Britain’s Got Talent finalist Belinda Davids. The Greatest Love Of All starts its UK national tour in St Helens. The tour was originally planned to follow Belinda’s appearance in the BGT finals in September 2020 but was postponed due to pandemic restrictions. The Greatest Love Of All comes to St Helens Theatre Royal for one night only on Wednesday 6th October 2021, the show is at 7.30pm. St Helens Theatre Royal has been granted the use of the Society of London Theatre & UK Theatre’s ‘See It Safely’ mark. This certifies that the venue is complying with Government and industry Covid-19 guidelines to ensure the safety of staff, perfo...

Casualty star Tony Marshall joins Jitney cast at Leeds Playhouse

27Sep

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

NEWS

Casualty star Tony Marshall joins Jitney cast at Leeds Playhouse

Tony Marshall who played Noel in Casualty joins a strong cast in a new production of American classic Jitney at Leeds Playhouse. Written by August Wilson, this poetic work is now seen as one of the great American contemporary classics filled with conflict, love, jealousy and deceit. It is set in 1970s Pittsburgh exploring the volatile bond between eight unlicensed cab drivers as they live, love, fight and work in racially segregated, post-war America. The co-production with Headlong will be directed by Tinuke Craig who worked on The Color Purple, at Leicester Curve. Tony Marshall plays Fielding, and recently finished a 12-year run as Noel Garcia as his beloved character left the show in a BAFTA award-winning episode about the strains on the NHS during the pandemic. Play...

26Sep

By Gemma PrinceNo Comments

London

The Great Gatsby – Immersive LDN

The Great Gatsby, London’s longest-running immersive show directed by Alexander Wright, is a stage adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic 1925 novel of the same name is back with a bang. The show is set in Gatsby’s extravagant mansion, envisioned by Casey Jay Andrews, its lavish art-deco design and dim speakeasy lighting created the perfect setting to transport you back in time for an evening. Most of the action and the dancing happened in the main space whilst characters led crowds of audience members into smaller rooms for more intimate moments. Each room was meticulously decorated, from Daisy’s dazzling dressing room with an enviable collection of pretty dresses to Gatsby’s ominous oak-panelled library, all the details were extraordinary and really added to the opulent ‘20s ch...

Comedy Double Bill: Who Here’s Lost? & Wife On Earth – The King’s Arms

26Sep

By Adam WilliamsNo Comments

North West

Comedy Double Bill: Who Here’s Lost? & Wife On Earth – The King’s Arms

There are many ways in which someone can try and make you laugh. We have gag tellers and slapstick prat fallers, satirists and surrealists who will all try and make us chortle. For this comedy double bill at the King’s Arms, as part of the Greater Manchester Fringe Festival, we were treated to some character comedy from Joanna Neary and a story from Ben Moor. First on was Joanna, who in Wife on Earth, was examining marriage through different characters. Taking us through this dissection of matrimony was Celia, a middle-class Joyce Grenfull-esque posh lady who was not unlike Celia Johnson in the film Brief Encounter. She was married to Fred who seems to spend most of his time doing sudoku or crossword puzzles. Celia is hosting an evening to raise money for the church roof and the d...

Dumbledore Is So Gay – Pleasance Theatre

26Sep

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

Dumbledore Is So Gay – Pleasance Theatre

After a sold out run at VAULT Festival 2020, Robert Holtom’s comedy that explores what it means to be gay returns at the Pleasance Theatre’s main house cabaret. Directed by Tom Wright and produced by Hannah Elsy Productions, the show is a nostalgic hug to coming of age, coming out, and growing up with Harry Potter. For Holtom, the story comes from a deeply personal place, inspired by real-life incidents that shaped their childhood. Recounting the script’s development process from early 2019 until its first run in February 2020, Holtom believes it serves as a testimony to the strength and resilience of the LGBTQ+ community. The story centres around the growing up years of Jack, a young boy whose fascination with J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is perhaps exceeded only by his infatuati...

Nathan Cassidy: Bumblebee – Salford Arts Theatre

26Sep

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Nathan Cassidy: Bumblebee – Salford Arts Theatre

Being a theatre reviewer asked to write about a comedy gig is a tricky proposition. Does one deconstruct the jokes, analyse the structure and critique the persona of the main protagonist? In the case of ‘Bumblebee’, the new show from the self-deprecatingly titled ‘award nominee’, Nathan Cassidy, all such considerations are superfluous, just sit back and watch a very talented and funny man construct a jigsaw puzzle, where all the pieces neatly slot into place at the end of an hour in his company. The purported premise of ‘Bumblebee’ is the rash decision Cassidy makes following the burglary of his flat, to pursue the thief. To the strains of Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’, he gives chase, and it is the random thoughts that occur to him during this pursuit form the real heart ...

26Sep

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Interviews

imitating the dog take on the undead

Nobody ever accused imitating the dog of not being ambitious but in Dracula: The Untold Story they are taking on one of the world’s biggest cultural icons. Typically, they are twisting the timeless classic to look at the Transylvanian prince of the undead from a totally new perspective. As well as the usual innovative visuals they have become famous for over the last two decades this co-production with Leeds Playhouse will use the stage to create a live graphic novel. Our Yorkshire Editor Paul Clarke spoke to imitating the dog’s co-artistic director Andrew Quick to find how they are reimagining Bram Stoker’s classic tale of Count Dracula’s bloodlust. This might be your biggest challenge as Dracula is such an iconic figure to virtually everyone on the planet. You’re right,...

Never Lost At Home – The New Wolsey Theatre Livestream

26Sep

By Caroline WorswickNo Comments

REVIEWS

Never Lost At Home – The New Wolsey Theatre Livestream

For die hard Ipswich Town fans this year is the 40th Anniversary of Ipswich Town F.C.’s UEFA Cup win and something to celebrate. Finally, the New Wolsey Theatre can help fans to celebrate this piece of Ipswich’s history, by programming ‘Never Lost At Home’ which charts how the team made it to the finals, and how their fans supported them along the way. It is no coincidence that they have run with a theme of joyous celebrations and the enjoyment of being in a crowd with friends, togetherness is a feeling that has been sorely missed! I joined in to watch the show via livestream, which is a welcome addition for audience members who do not live locally or have disabilities that make it difficult for them to go to the theatre. The New Wolsey have some wonderful shows progra...

The Formidable Lizzie Boone – The Anthony Burgess Foundation

26Sep

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

The Formidable Lizzie Boone – The Anthony Burgess Foundation

Ever since Phoebe Waller-Bridge wowed the Edinburgh Festival in 2013 with 'Fleabag', a litany of semi-autobiographical dark comedies have trod the same path in the hope of emulating her success. Selina Helliwell has the latest hopeful incarnation of this confessional oeuvre, bringing 'the Formidable Lizzie Boone' to the Anthony Burgess Foundation for a two-night residency, beginning on 24th September. Helliwell appears alone onstage throughout the hour-long performance, her only support being a number of recorded voice artists playing the various characters that flit in and out of the narrative she unfolds. As Lizzie Boone, she unburdens herself to an unseen therapist (Marie) and we move through the chronology of her sad childhood and adolescence, chronicling broken relationships with w...

24Sep

By Gaurav SinghNo Comments

London

The Last Five Years – Garrick Theatre

Jason Robert Brown's musical The Last 5 Years comes to the West End a year after its sold-out London premiere at the Southwark Playhouse. The show originally premiered at Chicago's Northlight Theatre in 2001 and has been produced in Northern America and internationally ever since. The musical takes us through five years in the relationship of New Yorkers Jamie and Cathy, an emerging author and actress respectively, and the toll their demanding professions take on their lives as they fall in and out of love. The action follows a non-linear approach with Jamie's story told in chronological order, starting at the first encounter between the two, whilst Cathy’s story plays out in reverse chronological order, starting just after their marriage has ended. Their individual timelines play out i...