Thursday, May 2

Tag: Hope Street Theatre

The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) – Hope Street Theatre
North West

The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) – Hope Street Theatre

It is no shock that ‘The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!)’ is in fact, a musical by Joanne Bogart and Eric Rockwell. The show premiered off-Broadway in 2003 and went on to tour around London, Australia, Canada and America. It is a brilliant to see that a show like this has now made its way to our very own Hope Street Theatre in Liverpool. From the get-go, it is apparent that Jordan Alexander (musical director) is a musical genius on the piano as he begins playing the opening score with vigor and charm. This complex musical score barely stops for the full duration of the production and his talents lays excellent foundations for this musical creation. The thinking behind this show is unusual in that it promotes the idea that there is ‘nothing new here’. There is a loose plot which i...
Spring Awakening – Hope Street Theatre
North West

Spring Awakening – Hope Street Theatre

In most instances, a quiet audience would be a sign of a failed, boring performance. Tonight, the quiet is a reflection of an audience completely captivated by the story being played out before them. Spring Awakening is the multi award-winning musical tale, based on the 1891 play, of teenage discovery – of the wider world around them, and of the more intimate desires starting to blossom as they reach puberty. In the setting of late 19th century Germany, we watch our cast explore new ideas and sensations that have both sweet and tragic consequences. The show is presented by students of the First Act Drama Studio, which means leading roles are tackled by much younger performers than you might usually expect, given the subject matter. It is an ambitious ask of any performer to bring li...
First Act presents Spring Awakening at The Hope Street Theatre
NEWS

First Act presents Spring Awakening at The Hope Street Theatre

Warrington based First Act, will be bringing Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik’s award-winning musical Spring Awakening to The Hope Street Theatre from the 28th - 30th October in a fresh and vibrant new production. Based on the 1891 German by Frank Wedekind, Spring Awakening tells the story of teenagers discovering the inner and outer tumult of adolescent sexuality. Set in mid-19th-century Germany, the musical, with its alternative and folk-infused rock score, explores oppression, freedom, teenage angst, and the dangers of hiding the truth. First Act launched in 2017 with a simple vision: create acting classes for young performers which developed skill, technique, and talent; an acting school where theatre education is the primary goal. Since its incorporation First Act have been delive...
Leaving – Hope Street Theatre
North West

Leaving – Hope Street Theatre

This was the second night of a quartet of new plays written by Liverpool Scriptshop playwrights. Selected from many scripts submitted, Scriptshop wanted to present four of these new pieces as part of the exciting Liverpool Fringe Theatre Festival 2021. The theme, like the previous pair of plays, was all about leaving in one form or another. The third play in this quartet is Left Behind written and directed by Tom McLennan and centred around a couple Margie (Sarah Wood and Mick (Tommy Tyler Morgan) trying to come to some sort of agreement during a family crisis. The couple’s discussions alluding to both Brexit and the UK political landscape was quite sparky and their differing opinions and thoughts made for some good solid drama. We see their marriage unravel as the days lead up t...
Leaving – Hope Street Theatre
North West

Leaving – Hope Street Theatre

This was the opening night of a quartet of new plays written by Liverpool Scriptshop playwrights. Selected from many scripts submitted, Scriptshop wanted to present four of these new pieces as part of the exciting Liverpool Fringe Theatre Festival 2021. The overall theme of these one act plays was all about leaving, whether it be physically or emotionally. On this first night, Scriptshop presented us with the first two plays. Prayers for Albert written and directed by William Lee focused on a local family living and surviving through World War 1. Based upon actual events, the play was simply set and told the moving story of young couple Eileen (Catherine Fahy) and Albert (Luke Morgan). It was a familiar tale with one half of the stage set as the home front and the other half set as ...
Woyzeck – Hope Street Theatre
NEWS

Woyzeck – Hope Street Theatre

‘A rollercoaster journey from the heights of black comedy to the depths of Freudian despair.’ With the challenge of picking only one show, I shall stick with the first one I saw as a full preview performance on 2nd January and which, rarely for me, I returned to see again when it played at Hope Street Theatre in Liverpool in the last week of January. Step forward Old Fruit Jar Productions and their debut production, a take on Jack Thorne’s 2017 adaptation of Georg Büchner’s classic play, Woyzeck, with this its first performance since its inaugural West End run by kind permission of the writer himself. It was a delight to see this new young company grabbing the opportunity to do something different and tackle real issues – class divide; poverty; exploitation; mental health – that...