Hope Mill Theatre Archives - North West End UK

6Mar

By Peter RuddickNo Comments

North West

Glorious! – Hope Mill Theatre

The fascinating story of Florence Foster Jenkins was brought back to mainstream attention by Hollywood in 2016. Hope Mill Theatre’s production of Glorious! covers much of the same ground but does so in a way that feels a lot more focused and a lot less condescending about the ‘worst singer in the world’. The ever-versatile Ancoats stage is, once again, utterly transformed. Clam shell footlights, a dusky velvet curtain and a vintage gramophone player set the scene. Charlie Hiscock’s Cosmé McMoon emerges to assure the audience he is not a pseudonym and that what we are about to see is all true. He also plants the core message: that maybe Jenkins was living in a cocoon, but that perhaps that’s a lesson for us all. The curtains open, McMoon and Jenkins meet, and we are away. Swift sto...

14Feb

By Katie LeicesterNo Comments

North West

Blithe Spirit – Hope Mill Theatre

Director Hannah Ellis Ryan of Her Productions illuminated Hope Mill Theatre with her production of Blithe Spirit. Ellis Ryan has had some fabulous successes in her previous direction of ‘Vignettes’ and ‘Taming of the Shrew’ at Hope Mill, so I was thrilled to be asked to review her latest masterpiece. Blithe Spirit is a High-Spirited Comedy by the Masterful Noël Coward, the play was first seen in the West End in 1941 and ran for 1,997 performances, which was a new record for a non-musical play in London. It also did well on Broadway later that year, running for 657 performances. The play was adapted for the cinema in 1945; a second film version followed in 2020. The plot relates to Charles Condomine (Peter Stone) a novelist, and his wife Ruth (Ntombizodwa Ndlovu), who have invited the...

A Christmas Carol: The Musical – The Lowry

13Dec

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

A Christmas Carol: The Musical – The Lowry

When the December review list lands in my inbox I have to confess to my spirits lowering, the plethora of pantomimes do nothing to lift my festive mood and there are always a significant number of variations on ‘A Christmas Carol’ on offer. However, having battled the seasonal traffic to get to The Lowry my Scrooge like mood was quickly lifted by this delightful musical version of the old redemption story, sending me home smiling and full of seasonal joy. Although this production is being staged in the beautifully proportioned 420 seat Quays Theatre at the Lowry, it is the estimable duo of William Whelton and Joseph Houston from Hope Mill Theatre that are the creative powerhouses behind it. Following a decade of success showcasing musical revivals from their Ancoats home, they have cros...

13Sep

By Scot CunninghamNo Comments

North West

Gwyneth Goes Skiing – Hope Mill Theatre

It’s barely been a year since Awkward Productions tickled and perplexed Manchester audiences through Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story, yet this queer little theatre company is back at Hope Mill with another not-entirely-accurate story of a style icon to tell. Adversity strikes for the otherwise carefree actress-turned-entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow (Linus Karp) after a ski crash with optometrist Terry Sanderson (Joseph Martin) leads to a court battle. The real-life incident occurred in 2016 but wasn’t brought to trial until 2023. An understanding of goop-founding Gwyneth’s background helps to appreciate the humour of this part-musical, part-comedy, as references come hurtling down the Deer Valley slopes thick and fast. The script confidently covers it all, from her incalculable f...

30May

By Brian MaddenNo Comments

North West

Judy & Liza – Hope Mill Theatre

What an absolute joy and honour it was to attend "Judy & Liza" at the Hope Mill Theatre. And what a show! "Judy & Liza" is like the concert many have dreamt of but never had the chance to see. This vaudeville-style production revisits the brief but iconic history of Frances 'Baby' Gumm and her daughter, Liza May Minnelli, marking 60 years since they last performed together at the London Palladium. The show is so well-crafted and thoughtfully executed that you could almost forget you were watching actors and not the legends themselves. Helen Sheals as Judy and Emma Dears as Liza were the perfect pair, making the audience feel welcomed and at ease. Neither outshone the other; each had ample time to shine individually and together in numerous duets. Their performances were fille...

15Feb

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

The Gap – Hope Mill Theatre

The small (but perfectly formed) Hope Mill Theatre in Ancoats has firmly established itself over the last decade as the place to see innovative and exciting musical theatre productions, their ability to produce consistently excellent shows during this time has seen this Mancunian gem showered with deserved praise and awards galore. That success looks set to continue into 2024 for owners William Whelton and Joe Houston, as in something of a theatrical coup they have secured the premiere of a new Jim Cartwright play ‘The Gap’, featuring bravura performances from two very familiar faces from stage and screen. Matthew Kelly and Denise Welch may be known to a large percentage of the population for their presenting roles on television shows such as ‘Loose Women’ and ‘Stars In Their Eyes’, but...

2Nov

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

LIZZIE– Southwark Playhouse

London's Southwark Playhouse is currently playing host to a riveting and unapologetically fierce production of ‘LIZZIE’, the true crime rock punk musical. This fresh and dynamic production of the first UK staging, presented by the accomplished team at Hope Mill Theatre, is edgy, bold, and nothing short of brilliant. It brings a thrilling blend of music, drama, and history to the stage, redefining the boundaries of what a musical can be, and quite frankly goes toe-to-toe with some of the other similar historical productions that are currently playing in the West End and round the globe. Set in the backdrop of the infamous Lizzie Borden murders in Fall River, Massachusetts in 1892, ‘LIZZIE’ weaves a gripping narrative that blends fact, fiction, legend, and female sass, into an intoxicatin...

To Wong Foo The Musical – Hope Mill Theatre

27Oct

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

To Wong Foo The Musical – Hope Mill Theatre

Back in 1994 a struggling playwright called Douglas Carter Beane went to Hollywood and sold the rights to a screenplay he had written, a year later a movie called 'To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar' was born. This 'road movie in drag' was a modest hit on release, helped by the star power of Patrick Swayze and Wesley Snipes donning sequins and high heels for the silver screen. Now nearly thirty years later Carter Beane has teamed up with Lewis Flinn, added music and lyrics and brought the world premiere of 'To Wong Foo The Musical' to the home of the innovative new musical, Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester. When Vida Boheme (Peter Caulfield) and Noxeema Jackson (Gregory Haney) jointly win 'New York Drag Queen of the Year', with an all expenses paid trip to Hollywood as the ...

4Sep

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

LIZZIE The Musical – Hope Mill Theatre

On a late Summer Sunday afternoon when the sun had finally decided to grace Manchester with its presence, I forfeit the chance of barbeques with friends (or beers in the pub garden) to attend the UK rebirth of 'Lizzie', billed as 'A True Crime Rock Musical'. Some two hours later, I emerged blinking into the light having witnessed a 'tour de force' of musical theatre with powerhouse performances and cracking choreography. A production which will stay with me for a very long time, I definitely made the right decision. 'Lizzie Borden took an axe, And gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, She gave her father forty-one.' This nursery rhyme is as well known to American children as 'Ring a Roses' or 'Three Blind Mice' is to their British counterparts, and it...

Things I’d Like To Get Off My Chest – Hope Mill Theatre

14Jul

By Louise KershawNo Comments

North West

Things I’d Like To Get Off My Chest – Hope Mill Theatre

Turns out there are quite a few things that Eva Lily would like to get off her chest and having big boobs is just one of them. This highly entertaining one woman show currently playing at Hope Mill Theatre takes a very honest and open look at the long-term failings of female healthcare and the constant narrative, and subsequent judgement, that the mere existence of women’s bodies creates in our society. But firstly, the boobs. They are big. Really big. At a size 38K, (‘average’ UK woman is a 36DD) they are prohibitively big and the impact of them upon Eva’s life cannot be underestimated. The piece opens with a 13-year-old Eva in the dressing room at Rigby and Pellier, brassiere makers to the late Queen and the scene of the ritual humiliation of her first bra fitting. I don’t belie...