Friday, December 5

Tag: Darren Day

Chicago – Hull New Theatre
Yorkshire & Humber

Chicago – Hull New Theatre

Whose idea was it to place a 10-piece band centre stage throughout the production of Chicago, which came to the Hull New Theatre on Monday night? The programme credits a John Lee Beatty as being responsible for “scenic design”. So, Mr Beatty - I doffs my cap, it was a genius move on your part. The musician backdrop was a major part of this amazing spectacle and wouldn’t have been the same if such talents had been hidden away in an orchestra pit. All the action takes place in 1920s Chicago, America, as we follow the shenanigans of two prison cellmates - Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly. Roxie (Faye Brookes) and Velma (Djalenga Scott) are streetwise “broads” and murderers who use their feminine wiles to try to convince a jury to find them innocent. Of course, they need the services ...
Chicago – Wolverhampton Grand
West Midlands

Chicago – Wolverhampton Grand

“Chicago” can hardly be described as bursting with colour with a limited design palette of black, white, grey and occasional splatters of bloody red light during the murders it aims to emulate, perhaps, the movies of the period. More accurately it emulates the still photographs of the newspapers of the period and chooses to present it all in a stilted and, oddly, uninvolving fashion. As the production adopts a distancing alienating technique (I’m guessing more a directorial decision than an authorial one) it deliberately stops us from engaging and empathising with the characters or plot - so all that is left to beguile us is technique and design. The band dominate the stage sitting like a jazz orchestra trapped in a roll-top desk leaving just a sliver of fore stage for the remainder of ...
Darren Day joins Chicago UK Tour cast as Billy Flynn
NEWS

Darren Day joins Chicago UK Tour cast as Billy Flynn

David Ian in association with Barry and Fran Weissler are delighted to announce that West End and TV star Darren Day will play ‘Billy Flynn’ in the forthcoming UK and Ireland tour of the international musical sensation CHICAGO opening at the King’s Theatre, Glasgow on Saturday 11th September 2021. Darren joins the previously announced Faye Brookes as ‘Roxie Hart’, Sinitta as ‘Mama Morton’, Divina De Campo as ‘Mary Sunshine’, Djalenga Scott as ‘Velma Kelly’ and Joel Montague as ‘Amos Hart’. Tour schedule and casting details below. www.chicagothemusical.com The cast will also include Ishmail Aaron, Michelle Andrews, Gabby Antrobus, Delycia Belgrave, Joel Benjamin, Tanisha-Mae Brown, Daniel Clift...
Joseph and the Amazing All Star Concert – Online
REVIEWS

Joseph and the Amazing All Star Concert – Online

When we are all deep in the doldrums as our theatres stay dark, here comes a much needed breath of fresh air, bursting onto our screens, in full kaleidoscopic glory and musical majesty - Joseph and the Amazing All Star Concert – Highlights from the Technicolor Musical. With a foreword from the original touring Joseph, Jess Conrad OBE who played the role of Joseph in the 1970/80’s. This concert is true to the original artistic intent, a pure celebration and after so long without live performances, this brought more than one tear of joy to my eye! Based on the Bible story in Genesis with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Joseph was originally written whilst the pair where at Magdalen College, Oxford. However, the original idea for this concert was spotted on the Joseph ...