Conor O’Hara Archives - North West End UK

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Hull New Theatre

13Apr

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Hull New Theatre

Within two minutes of Bedknobs and Broomsticks hitting the Hull New Theatre stage on Tuesday evening, the stage setting fell apart. An almighty cock-up? No, just the most amazing and dramatic opening of any theatre production I have ever witnessed. It was breath-taking and the whole musical continued in the same vein throughout. Take a bow, set and illusion designer, Jamie Harrison, not forgetting the associate scenic and puppet designer Kenneth MacLeod (more of the puppets later). We in the packed theatre were transported to the dark years of the Second World War, hence the aforementioned stage setting collapse, the result of bombing on the London home of the Rawlins family. The three children, orphaned in the tragedy, are packed off to the safety of the countryside. Thirt...

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Edinburgh Festival Theatre

19Feb

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Edinburgh Festival Theatre

Disney first brought Bedknobs and Broomsticks to the silver screen back in 1971, starring the much-loved Angela Lansbury. With music from the legendary Sherman Brothers, it’s always quietly nestled itself amongst the firm family favourites. The announcement it was coming to the stage and its subsequent tour have sent the musical theatre world into a frenzy and it’s easy to see why. Set amongst the bombs of WWII, three orphaned children find themselves sent to the south coast as evacuees where they are taken in by Eglantine Price, a trainee witch in correspondence with the elusive Emelius Browne. She’s got a witchy idea to defeat the Nazis with an incredible spell, but she and the children need help from Professor Emelius to seal the deal. The gang of travelers soon realize that in orde...

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Leeds Grand Theatre

17Dec

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Leeds Grand Theatre

Every year people gather round their TVs after stuffing their faces to watch the festive classics, and eternally popular among them is Disney’s Bedknobs and Broomsticks offering a quirky mix of live action and animation starring theatre legend Angela Lansbury as yuletide fun for all the family. It’s the story of the grieving Rawlins orphans - Charlie, Paul and Carrie - who are evacuated from bombed out London to a village where they are taken under the wing of local eccentric and trainee witch Eglantine Price. They join Eglantine and dodgy magician Emelius Browne on a series of magical adventures before taking on a dark threat to the village. It is such a familiar fixture on our idiot boxes that it seems natural that the catchy Sherman Brothers tunes would eventually make its way to...

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – The Alexandra, Birmingham

12Nov

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

East Midlands

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – The Alexandra, Birmingham

What a lot of scenery! If you like scenery this is the show for you! Acres it, yards of it flash by one after another - flat trees, flat doors, flat clouds, flat waves all causing this reviewer to wonder how they manage to store it all in the wings rather than consider the show. There really was a lot it… “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” is almost a Disney classic or if you work for Disney it’s a classic. It’s one step below “Mary Poppins” but quite a number of steps above “The Fox and the Hound” adapted from the novels by Mary Norton (who despite having invented the whole thing doesn’t seem warrant a credit in the programme…) and, of course, from the movie with Angela Lansbury. And like all good movies it moves and this stage adaptation from Michael Harrison attempts to move with the same v...

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Sheffield Lyceum

28Oct

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Sheffield Lyceum

First, we had the spectacles that are The Phantom of the Opera, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Mary Poppins and now there is a new contender to the crown with more magical illusions than you can shake a magic wand at! From the very opening sequence we are inundated with illusion and magic from Illusion Designer Jamie Harrison and it doesn’t let up for one moment. The children in the audience gasp and the technically minded amongst us try to work out how it was done. From flying broomsticks to beds, magical moving clothing to magical magician’s tricks. Then there is Kenneth MacLeod’s puppets of mighty lions to neon fish and rabbits to ostriches, this production is nonstop wonderment with a sense of humour and more than a dash of panache! The 1971 Disney film classic staring Angel...

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Palace Theatre

21Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

North West

Bedknobs and Broomsticks – Palace Theatre

Bedknobs and Broomsticks arrives in Manchester this week, the first of a trilogy of Disney productions to play at the Palace Theatre with Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King arriving in the next 12 months. Tonight’s show was truly a lesson in visual artistry with scene after scene making you question if your eyes really saw that? Countless illusions including a flying bed and fully functioning broomstick take centre stage alongside glorious puppets all illuminated by a stunning lighting design all knitted together with slick direction from Candice Edmunds. The shows website says “When the three orphaned Rawlins children are reluctantly evacuated from wartime London to live with the mysterious Eglantine Price, they have no idea what adventures lie ahead. Upon discovering Eglantine...