Alexandra Theatre Archives - North West End UK

26Apr

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

West Midlands

Home, I’m Darling – Alexandra Theatre

Laura Wade has held her own as both a playwright and screenwriter with numerous successes to her name. “The Riot Club” was adapted from her play “Posh” offered early career chances to Freddie Fox and Tom Hollander and she soon has an adapted of agilely Cooper novel coming our from Disney. “Home, I’m Darling” opened at the National Theatre in 2019 followed by a season at the Duke of York’s and has proved itself a hit which left me wondering what I was missing. A small but keen audience arrived last night at the Alexandra and clearly enjoyed their evening. Tamara Harvey directs with attention to detail but creates scenes of such speed I was left a little bewildered. The tempo of each scene and pitch of so many of the voices is relentlessly similar and makes for a hard watch. Jessica Rans...

6Apr

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

East Midlands

Annie – Alexandra Theatre

No One Cares For You a Smidge When You’re In An Orphanage Well, that’s the first production of “Annie” I’ve seen that ended with the theme tune to “Blankety Blank” - and for very good and poignant reasons. Read to the end to find out why… Like the Allied Carpets sale which never ended “Annie” is out on tour as if it were ever not on tour. Endless generations of kids have been weened on the show and the demand never seems to wane. It’s a staunch Broadway warhorse which has been inflicting its schmaltz on unsuspecting and, indeed, suspecting audiences since 1977 when it was wrenched kicking and screaming from a newspaper comic strip and thrust upon the Broadway to wild, unstinting and, it seems, endless acclaim. We gave them “Oliver!” they reupholstered him, changed his sex and gave h...

The Mirror Crack’d – Alexandra Theatre Birmingham

16Feb

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

West Midlands

The Mirror Crack’d – Alexandra Theatre Birmingham

Miss Marple first surreptitiously ambled onto the crime scene in 1927 and she was very old even then. Since her first appearance in “The Tuesday Night Club” she has solved more murders than is normal for one petite detective to encounter in a lifetime and all without forensic tools, magnifying glass or DNA. “A Murder at the Vicarage” saw her first appearance in a full length novel, which, suspiciously, is the very novel on which your current reviewer is embarked. Spooky and perhaps a tad revealing. But I mustn’t mix up my murders! Miss Marple would not approve. The first actress to play our erstwhile spinster was (interesting fact for detective fans) our very own Gracie Fields in a 1956 episode of “Goodyear TV Playhouse” and many notable actresses have followed in her tiny footsteps - ...

South Pacific – Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham

28Sep

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

West Midlands

South Pacific – Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham

For a show 73 years old, “South Pacific” more than holds its own in the modern world. Its central premise, which is fleetingly mentioned in James A. Michener’s novel “Tales of the South Pacific” but given full-flight in the musical adaptation by those giants of Broadway, Rodgers and Hammerstein, is one of racism - a subject as pertinent today as in 1949. The cross-race romance is explored deftly and sensitively, and prejudices are challenged. But this is not a preaching show. This is slap-bang Broadway classic which ran for over five years on its initial run. So, expect some solid, stonking numbers - which we get in abundance. Daniel Evans, newly appointed co-director of the RSC, helmed this ship into safe harbour when he was in charge in Chichester and he has re-shaped, re-imagined, r...

30Jun

By Priya GuptaNo Comments

West Midlands

Guys and Dolls – Alexandra Theatre

BMOS Musical Theatre Company has returned to The Alexandra Theatre Birmingham stage with their rendition of the popular Broadway classic musical, Guys and Dolls. BMOS are Birmingham’s award-winning musical theatre company, clearly excited to bring this funny musical story of luck, gambling, and love under the bright lights of Broadway to life. Guys and Dolls has been enjoyed by audiences since the 1950s, initially as a musical, then as a film starring Marlon Brando, Gene Simmons, Frank Sinatra, and Vivian Blaine. Tonight's press showing coincided with the BSL (British Sign language) performance, and it was nice to see this inclusion within the theatre on stage, allowing the theatre to be accessible to everybody. The production values of this performance were incredible. There were m...

20Apr

By Priya GuptaNo Comments

West Midlands

Footloose – The Alexandra

Go cut loose down at The Alexandra Theatre Birmingham where Footloose has unashamedly danced its way into town. This fan favourite musical promises to be a smash hit. This musical is based on the 1984 film of the same name, with music by Tom Snow, lyrics from Dean Pitchford, and the book by Pitchford and Walter Bobbie. The show tells the story of Ren McCormack, an ordinary teen from Chicago who moves to a small town where dancing is banned. Ren attempts to overturn this ban and convince the town to get on its feet, resulting in moments of hilarity, triumph, and self-discovery. The music stole the show for me with classic 80s hits including Holding Out for a Hero, Almost Paradise, Let's Hear It for the Boy and of course the unforgettable title track Footloose. The iconic songs had th...

Diversity Connected Tour – Alexandra Theatre

18Apr

By Priya GuptaNo Comments

West Midlands

Diversity Connected Tour – Alexandra Theatre

I don’t know about you, but 13 years have flown by. It feels like only yesterday it was 2009 and Diversity was winning Britain’s Got Talent. Since then, they have gone from strength to strength and have become extremely successful. Now, Diversity is back with an extravaganza of a show. As promised on their last tour, this one is bigger and better than ever! Fans will not be disappointed at this spectacle of a show which is full of powerful and energetic routines. This new show centres around social media, the internet, and the new digital world that we now find ourselves living in. It is aptly named Connected, highlighting how we are all interlinked no matter where we are in the world thanks to this new digital age. This is cleverly done by intertwining visuals alongside video messages...

25Jan

By Priya GuptaNo Comments

West Midlands

Chicago – Alexandra Theatre

Start the car and head on down to the Alexandra Theatre, where Chicago really is all that jazz. The Tony award-winning, record-breaking hit musical has Fosse walked its way to Birmingham and it doesn’t disappoint. Set in Chicago in the Jazz age, the musical is based on the 1926 play by Maurine Dallas Watkins. With the music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb, and the book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the ‘celebrity criminal’. Set in the backdrop of 1920’s decadence Roxie Hart murders her lover after he threatens to walk out on her. To avoid conviction, she dupes the public and the media by hiring Chicago’s slickest criminal lawyer, Billy Flynn, who will defend you for a high price, guilty...

13Sep

By Lou SteggalsNo Comments

West Midlands

Rock of Ages – Alexandra Theatre

Part rock gig, part romp down memory lane, the new tour of Rock of Ages has landed, ready to make the UK ‘feel the noize’ and indulge in some heavy metal headbanging. Tonight, we’ve been transported from the centre of Birmingham to the heart of Los Angeles, the Sunset Strip. We meet the regulars of the Bourbon Bar; an insalubrious rock joint being faced with extinction as a villainous German duo look to demolish and develop the gritty Strip into a gleaming European vision of modernity. Underneath this shadow we meet barback Drew who is instantly smitten with the wholesome new girl in town Sherrie, and the show follows their budding ‘will they, won’t they’ relationship as they navigate the standard fare of missed opportunities and misunderstandings as well as their attempts to make i...