I might possibly need counselling after sitting through a performance of Outlawed, at the Hull Truck Theatre, on Wednesday night. And I’ve only myself to blame for breaking my own lifetime golden rule and willingly “audience participating”. I’ll never know what possessed me to roll a chunk of dry bread up into a ball and […]
Director Oliver Mears triumphs with this modern-day interpretation of Puccini’s full-blooded three-act drama of politics and power with its many allusions to global current affairs to the fore. In a war-torn Rome, Floria Tosca (Anna Netreba) and Mario Cavaradossi (Freddie De Tommaso) live for each other and for their art. But when Cavaradossi helps an […]
Whilst it’s not customary to review the same production, a couple of key cast changes, a new venue, and the omission of the supporting orchestra meant that director Sarah Helsby-Hughes would have to overcome some challenges with Flat Pack Music’s ingenious re-setting of one of Mozart’s most complete operas to La Dolce Vita of 1960’s […]
Sarah Helsby-Hughes’ direction is inspired as we embrace La Dolce Vita of 1960’s Italy in Flat Pack Music’s ingenious and comic interpretation of one of Mozart’s most complete operas as part of the De Mowbray Music Festival in Thirsk. Don Giovanni (Richard Walshe) has seduced over two thousand women, all catalogued by servant Leporello (Hamish […]
Taking on a musical like Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, the true story of a young man who dreams of being a drag queen and wearing a dress to prom, can be an ambitious project requiring a strong, triple-threat cast, clever staging and the energy to send the show strutting into the audience’s hearts in glittery […]
Most of the packed press night audience will have arrived in the Victorian splendour of the Royal Exchange thinking they had a firm idea of what to expect from their evening’s entertainment. This suburban satire is firmly fixed in the collective theatrical imagination, chiefly thanks to the 1977 televised ‘Play For Today’, which confirmed Mike […]
Delivering once again a powerful and meticulous performance, Scottish Opera presented a collection of Richard Strauss’ finest works at the Usher Hall. Led by musical director Stuart Stratford, we were taken on a journey filled with melodrama and sly wit that still translates to the modern-day audience. To begin the concert we were presented with […]
Mid Cheshire Musical Theatre Company (MCMTC) are back with their annual musical offering bringing Disney’s Beaty and the Beast to the wonderful Grange Theatre. Beauty and the Beast is a stage adaptation of Disney’s beloved animated film. The musical, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, and a book by […]
An Officer and a Gentleman the Musical got off to a delayed start on Monday evening with a voice emanating from the nether regions of the Hull New Theatre stage, informing us that “due to unforeseen circumstances the show will now start at 8pm”. We’d all taken our seats ready for curtain up at 7.30pm, […]
On what was one of the hottest days of the year so far, the welcoming arms of the Storyhouse’s air conditioning system was very much appreciated as I took my seat to see D&S Productions latest show, Ghost The Musical. Having seen this show many, many times before in a number of guises I was […]