Ben Cracknell Archives - North West End UK

18Sep

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

Heathers The Musical – Storyhouse

Based on the 1988 movie, Heathers the Musical has come exploding in to the Storyhouse, taking us on a journey of high school dramas, with stories of love, popularity, bullying and eventually coming together. Following the diary entries of Veronica Sawyer (Jenna Innes), we are taken through the trials and tribulations of the teens at Westerburg high. Veronica is just trying to get by and ends up forming a boon with the Heathers, the most popular girls at the school and who everyone either looks up to or is afraid of. Along the way we meet meek and mild Martha, Veronica’s best friend since diapers, Kurt and Ram, the high school jocks who think they own the school along with the Heathers. JD, the new dark, mysterious guy who Veronica falls in love with but soon realises that he has many is...

Now that’s What I Call a Musical – Sheffield Lyceum

12Sep

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Now that’s What I Call a Musical – Sheffield Lyceum

Now that’s what I call a…. trip down memory lane for an 80’s kid! I was smiling until my jaw ached as the now 40 year old ‘Now That’s What I Call’ music CD phenomenon blasted out the songs of my youth. The music is prominent in Now, That’s What I Call a Musical as the name implies…The production is unapologetically nostalgic and a little lacking in depth at times, but the soundtrack of a generation takes centre stage as the story underscores the songs for once. And it works a treat! Penned by comedian Pippa Evans and inspired from the screenplay ‘The Video Help Service’ by Ian W Brown, Lotte Mullan and Natalie Malla, the story starts in 2009 and thrusts us back into 1989. Cleverly directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood, we are greeted by two simultaneous time eras as we se...

An Officer and a Gentleman – Sheffield Lyceum

20Jun

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

An Officer and a Gentleman – Sheffield Lyceum

In the same genre as recent musical adaptations such as 'Dirty Dancing' and 'The Bodyguard', using an extensive and repurposed catalogue of music from the period, this jukebox of the beloved 80's film classic - 'An Officer and a Gentleman' is touring the UK in 2024. Fifteen years in the original making, written by Douglas Day Stewart and later adapted for stage alongside Sharleen Cooper Cohen, this new interpretation follows the 2018 version and is again directed by Nikolai Foster. The raw and raunchy story is set in Florida 1982. It tells the story of both autobiographical naval officer recruits and a group of female factory workers at a time when Ronald Reagan sowed the seeds of a new America. These characters collectively, regardless of class and gender, all have their demons and bindin...

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – Edinburgh Playhouse

29May

By Kathleen MansfieldNo Comments

Scotland

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – Edinburgh Playhouse

An amazing spectacle and upbeat tunes (plus the most expensive prop in British theatre history), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, sweeps you along for a few hours of happy distraction with ease and admiration. The lighting, designed by Ben Cracknell and implemented by Ryan Van Delden and deputy head of lighting, Sophie Meredith, is a work of perfection. Gareth Tucker’s set design works seamlessly under the management of Phil Sykes, Lee Harvey and Natasha Wood. The ever-present picture frame and blueprints create a sense of fantasy, innovation and endless possibility. And whatever team designed and created that flying car … not Caractacus Potts himself, I assume … hats off to you. Thanks must go to Kielan Yates and Ellie Holloway for enabling this amazing star in its own right, night after...

An Officer and a Gentleman – Manchester c

2May

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

An Officer and a Gentleman – Manchester c

Based on the original screenplay by Douglas Day Stewart, An Officer and a Gentleman the musical is here at the Manchester Opera House as part of its UK tour. Directed by Leicester Curve Artistic director Nikolai Foster, we are treated to a well-rounded piece of theatre which has been well thought out to keep it fresh and smooth with an air of familiarity about it. The story follows Zack Mayo and his fellow Navy recruits at their training camp in Pensacola, Florida, and their journey through a 12-week programme to try and become Navy Jet pilots. Through rigorous training, we see recruits struggle and fail, leaving the training programme, eventually bringing the other recruits closer together, pushing each other along to reach their final goal. But not everything runs smoothly, and we see...

20Mar

By Philip EdwardsNo Comments

North West

My Beautiful Launderette – The Lowry

For those of us who lived through the 1980’s much of the story told in My Beautiful Launderette is familiar. The need to achieve at all costs gripped much of society and some people gave up principles for the chance to get rich quick. There was a growing middle class, not least in people who settled here from different countries. It was also a time of advancing rights in the gay community despite the long shadow of HIV/AIDS. Put that lot together as Hanif Kureishi did in 1985 and you have a very successful movie on your hands which went a long way to explore Britain becoming a multi-cultural society, those who embrace it and those who resent it. The story has now been brought to the stage and once again we meet Omar as he seeks to make a success of his uncle’s rundown launde...

Hanif Kureishi’s My Beautiful Laundrette Takes Centre Stage in Liverpool

2Mar

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Hanif Kureishi’s My Beautiful Laundrette Takes Centre Stage in Liverpool

Based on Hanif Kureishi's Oscar-nominated screenplay, My Beautiful Laundrette stars Gordon Warnecke, who originally played Omar in the 1985 movie. Featuring original music composed by the Pet Shop Boys, this stage production is directed by Nicole Behan, Co-Artistic Director of Liverpool-based company Paperwork Theatre (Deep Blue at the Everyman). My Beautiful Laundrette is at the Liverpool Playhouse from Tuesday 26th to Saturday 30th March. Set in South London during the Thatcher years, My Beautiful Laundrette was nominated for Best New Play and Best Regional Production at the WhatsOnStage Awards 2020. The play tells the story of young British Pakistani, Omar, who transforms his uncle’s run-down laundrette into a thriving business. Gordon Warnecke, who played Omar in Stephen Fr...

The Addams Family Live in Concert – London Palladium

14Feb

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

The Addams Family Live in Concert – London Palladium

Act normal. Wear a black dress or pinstripe suit. Paint your face and snap along. At the London Palladium it’s Halloween in February. Copious amounts of fog billow forth from the palatial stage and the theatre is bathed in purple light as audiences amble in, many dressed for the special occasion and already buzzing with excitement. The orchestra, unlike the assembled spirits of the dead, remains unseen but makes its presence known in a vigorous overture playing jauntily under conductor Andrew Hilton, and is energetically reinforced by a skilled ensemble dancing in choreography by Alistair David. Consistently visually interesting even as the plot stretches itself thin and tired jokes leave audiences groaning, this rendition of a mid-tier musical is nonetheless entertaining and well perfo...

2Aug

By Robert BartleyNo Comments

London

Chess – Theatre Royal Drury Lane

One of the key players in the ‘MegaMusicals’ club of the 1980s, ‘Chess’ was a megahit on both sides of the Atlantic. Springing from the minds of ABBA geniuses Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, with lyrics by Tim Rice, the musical became of staple of the decade (despite being about a chess tournament being played at the height of the Cold War), with its hugely memorable synth-rock score which included the worldwide smash “I Know Him So Well”. Now, over 36 years later, the musical is back on the West End at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, for three performances only. Set during the height of the political tensions of the 1980s, ‘Chess’ sees the American world champion Freddie Trumper (played here by Joel Harper-Jackson) preparing to defend his title against the Russian challeng...

11May

By Jo TillotsonNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Cher Show – Sheffield Lyceum

From Disney princess childhood dreams to fierce warrior princess on stage: that’s the journey of Cher as told in this new musical that originally premiered in 2018 prior to a Broadway run, which won two Tony Awards. Now with an updated book by Rick Elice, the production uses Cher’s extensive catalogue of music to chronicle the highs and lows of the more than sixty years that she has spent as an entertainer. Such is the diverse and prolific nature of Cher’s work, that it takes three women to play her. They are on stage almost constantly, sharing the narration of the story and each enjoying their time in the spotlight. Millie O’Connell as Babe takes the audience through the early years, embodying the nervous and shy younger Cher as she tries to fit in with her peers and find an anchor in ...