Hull New Theatre Archives - Page 2 of 9

5Jun

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Come From Away – Hull New Theatre

A complimentary badge was handed to me, along with a press pack, as I entered the Hull New Theatre on Tuesday evening, to watch the musical Come From Away. The badge depicted the Earth surrounded by the words “Wherever We Are”, words relating to one of the 14 songs in this uplifting musical. The story centres around the Newfoundland town of Gander whose inhabitants found themselves playing hosts to almost 7,000 passengers, as American and Canadian planes were grounded on September 11, 2001 after two planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York. Although the tragedy was the catalyst for Gander’s upheaval, this lively musical doesn’t dwell on the bad stuff. The all-singing, all-dancing cast, accompanied by talented musicians, portray townsfolk who refuse to be downhearted by thei...

31May

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Mind Mangler – Hull New Theatre

My reviewer mind started to be slightly mangled as I was handed my press pack in Hull New Theatre’s foyer on Thursday night, and told there would be no programme available for Mind Mangler: Member of the Tragic Circle. No programme meant I had to really pull up my reviewer socks and, gulp, concentrate for the duration of the show. After the initial shock wore off, I took my seat in row N of the stalls, after being handed a pencil and a folded card upon which we were asked to write our full name and a secret about ourselves. Now, my regular reader will know I have an intense aversion to audience participation. So I tucked the blank card away from the prying eyes of the tall young man collecting completed cards from those eager theatregoers not as averse to the spotlight. However...

15May

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

2:22 A Ghost Story – Hull New Theatre

Having reviewed quite a few musicals this year, it was a lovely change to take my seat at the Hull New Theatre, in participation of watching a ghost story. The city’s theatregoers were out in force on Tuesday night when 2:22 A Ghost Story came to the stage. And what a stage! The setting of a big, old house was wonderfully realistic - large kitchen with the usual electrical trappings, plus a sofa, table, chairs, an Alexa and a baby monitor. Oh, and a large digital clock which my eyes were drawn to every two minutes waiting for it to turn to 2:22. It’s the home of young married couple Jenny (Fiona Wade) and Sam (George Rainsford) and their baby daughter, Phoebe. While Sam is away working on the island of Sark, Jenny and her baby girl are alone in the big, rambling house - a house...

24Apr

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Edward Scissorhands – Hull New Theatre

The 1927 song “I Danced With A Man, Who Danced With A Girl, Who Danced With The Prince of Wales”, refers to the oft-desired human condition of forging connections with famous people - however remote those connections may be. Well, I possibly suffer from the same condition and can claim family folklore has revealed that my nephew’s daughter’s mum is Liam Mower’s cousin. Impressive eh? Mower, for those not in the know, has the lead role of Edward Scissorhands in Matthew Bourne’s magical dance production of the same name, which began a run at the Hull New Theatre on Tuesday night. As I took my seat, I wondered if the Hull-born dancer’s performance would cut it (pun intended) with his home crowd. I needn’t have worried, he was stupendous. And that goes for everyone on stage that ni...

10Apr

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Cluedo2 – Hull New Theatre

When a publicity blurb for a theatre production informs us we will “laugh ’til they die`”, it’s bound to pique the interest of theatregoers. Those four words certainly got my attention, and I looked forward to watching Cluedo2 at the Hull New Theatre on Tuesday night. But would I laugh ’til they die? As we waited for curtain up we could admire the stage setting of a huge Cluedo board, at an angle, with the shape of the multi-windowed Graveny Manor in front. A few minutes after 7.30pm the action started with the home’s owner, rock star Rick Black, inviting selected guests to listen to his latest album. The married Rick (Liam Horrigan), he of the afro hair and dazzling white teeth (well, it is the swinging sixties), is a bundle of energy. You simply can’t ignore him. His wi...

Opera North: Così Fan Tutte – Hull New Theatre

5Apr

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Opera North: Così Fan Tutte – Hull New Theatre

Theatre lovers enjoyed more than three hours of a most delightful opera on Thursday night, as Opera North brought its production of Così Fan Tutte to the Hull New Theatre. I say delightful because, unlike others I have seen, I found this very easy to understand from the get go, though it helped that it was sung in English. The title translates as “they’re all the same”, describing professor Don Alfonso’s take on all women. Dutch baritone Quirijn de Lang played the professor with the right amount of menace, cunning and gravitas, as well as more than a hint of mischief. The professor is the cause of all the shenanigans on the night, betting two lovestruck young men that their faithful amours would cheat on them, because in his mind women are “all the same”. He challenges the t...

28Mar

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Life of Pi – Hull New Theatre

I was almost lost for words - written and vocal - after watching Life of Pi at the Hull New Theatre on Tuesday night. Not a good state for a reviewer to be in. Faced with the question “How do I describe perfection?”, back home, I made myself a coffee, opened a bag of chocolate buttons and got my brain into gear. Life of Pi tells the story of 17-year-old Indian boy, Pi Patel, who, after political disruptions in his homeland, seeks out a new life in Canada, with his family. However, the Tsimtsum, the cargo ship they embark upon, sinks in a terrible Pacific Ocean storm, leaving Pi stranded on a small lifeboat with a hyena, zebra, orangutan and a Bengal tiger - animals being transported from his family’s zoo. Pi (the amazing Divesh Subaskaran) loses his family - mother (Goldy Notay...

20Mar

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Crazy For You – Hull New Theatre

I love the sound of hordes of dancers tap dancing en masse on a theatre’s wooden stage. So, I was in my element witnessing just that when Hessle Theatre Company brought its production of Crazy For You to the Hull New Theatre on Tuesday night. Riverdance eat your heart out. I’d already had the privilege of watching this talented crew in their final run rehearsal, so had more than an inkling of what to expect. What I didn’t expect were the most glorious costumes reminiscent of Vegas showgirls - sequins, feathers and huge head-dresses, all in various shades of pinks, creams and turquoise. Crazy For You is a musical, set in the 1930s, so glitter and glamour should have come as no surprise; but it was the sheer beauty of the outfits that amazed me. The feel-good story centres aro...

13Mar

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Drifters Girl – Hull New Theatre

There aren’t many 1950s singing groups whose story can still pack theatres 70 years later. But The Drifters are no ordinary group as we discovered while watching The Drifters Girl, a new musical, at the Hull New Theatre on Tuesday. This entertaining production was as much about the group’s manager, Faye Treadwell, as about the group itself. Treadwell (the amazing Carly Mercedes Dyer) managed the group from the 1970s for 30 years, when women weren’t expected to be in business, never mind actually running the whole shebang. And being the first female African American manager brought its own difficulties. Faye’s husband, George, was the original manager of The Drifters, but when he died in 1967, his wife took over the management. Facing litigation in the US and needing to ma...

6Mar

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Shrek The Musical – Hull New Theatre

Imagine being thrown out of your house and told by your parents to make your own way in life - at the age of 7! That’s exactly what happened to a young Shrek, the green ogre whose story is told in Shrek The Musical which started its run at the Hull New Theatre on Tuesday night. But that was the only sad-ish part of the whole rip-roaring production. On the stage, a huge arc of lights surrounded by a backdrop of falling snowflakes and a massive Shrek story book, plus a soundtrack of croaking frogs, greeted us as we took our seats. Within minutes of curtain up, Shrek, now a giant, broke wind, then used a skunk as a deodorant under his armpits. That’s what ogres do. Shrek (Antony Lawrence) had us in the palm of his hands from that first window-rattling trump. But his world is...