Hull New Theatre Archives - Page 3 of 11

21Feb

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Romeo & Juliet – Hull New Theatre

What word describes a ballet that is more than just the choreography? “Drambalet” is the perfect description of the production I enjoyed on Thursday night, when the Varna International Ballet and Orchestra company brought its production of Romeo & Juliet to Hull. This most famous of William Shakespeare’s stories was brought to life by a musical score composed by Sergei Prokofiev, in 1935, who, according to historic reports, endeavoured to model his work on the idea of a drambalet - “a ballet rooted in dramatic storytelling”. And it’s to his rousing music, played live by an amazing orchestra, conducted by Peter Tuleshkov, that the most talented performers danced and acted out the tale of the star-crossed lovers. Set in Renaissance Verona, Italy, the huge backdrop throughout, mo...

12Feb

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

An Inspector Calls – Hull New Theatre

As curtain raisers go, there can’t be many more dramatic than that which I witnessed on Tuesday evening, when a National Theatre production of JB Priestley’s classic thriller, An Inspector Calls, exploded on to the stage. Hull New Theatre seemed to be packed to the gills, especially after the arrival of hordes of school leavers and their teachers. All soon settled and then the fun began a few minutes after 7.30pm. The explosive start of a very stormy night, with real water falling as rain that little street urchins splashed in, took part outside the impressive home of the wealthy Birling family. This stage setting - a telephone box, street lamp, a distant urban backdrop and the house - changed very little throughout. But when it did, my goodness it was ear splitting. All the ac...

Now That’s What I Call a Musical – Hull New Theatre

5Feb

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Now That’s What I Call a Musical – Hull New Theatre

Set in Birmingham, the Brummy tones in this new musical were a joy to listen to. Now That’s What I Call a Musical, written by Pippa Evans and directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood, of Strictly Come Dancing fame, charts the lives of two best school friends, whose loves, hopes, dreams (shattered or otherwise) are played out to some of the greatest pop hits of the 1980s. It’s 1989, and April (Maia Hawkins) and Gemma (Nikita Johal) are typical schoolgirls - April is blonde, bubbly and dreams of stardom in Hollywood. Her bestie, the shorter, dark-haired Gemma, dreams only of marriage and having kids. Gemma’s family are a scream - that accent again. Dad (Christopher Glover) works in a car factory, while Mum (Poppy Tierney), seems to spend her time laying the kitchen table...

2Feb

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

La Bohème – Hull New Theatre

Opera lovers were transported to 1830s Bohemian Paris on Friday night when a new production of La Bohème came to the Hull New Theatre. I admit to not being an opera buff, even although I have reviewed quite a few, but there was something special about this Ellen Kent Production with the Ukrainian Opera and Ballet Theatre, Kyiv, that had me gripped from curtain up. Stage settings help enormously to reel us in from the get-go and this was no exception. Though not lavish, the setting was a Parisian garret studio graced with an easel displaying a huge painting of the Red Sea; a single bed, table, chairs etc, plus a painted backdrop of buildings. A simple scene, but it piqued my interest, even more so with the comic antics of its occupants - poet Rudolfo (Hovhannes Andreasyan) and pain...

Goldilocks and the Three Bears – Hull New Theatre

16Dec

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Goldilocks and the Three Bears – Hull New Theatre

An incident tonight at the Hull New Theatre highlighted a perfect example of how lovely panto folk are. Goldilocks and the Three Bears were in town, and, after Joey, the Clown (Neil Hurst) had sprayed those seated on the front rows with water from a huge water pistol, many times, he then covered the wet theatregoers in reams of toilet paper, so they could dry off. Thoughtful or what! And that is why I never, ever sit on the front rows of a panto - one blast from that pistol and I would have been a fuzzball. But from my fab seat up in the circle, how I laughed at the victims’ screams. And I never stopped laughing all the way through this rip-roaring, colourful spectacle. The whole production was a riot of colour from start to finish, thanks to the most amazing costumes - some...

19Nov

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Hairspray – Hull New Theatre

Hull New Theatre was packed to the rafters on Monday evening, in anticipation of watching Hairspray - “the hilarious, joyous and most inspiring musical of all” according to the press release. Did it live up that that description? You bet. I loved every madcap minute. It’s 1962 America - Baltimore to be exact - and teen schoolgirl Tracy Turnblad (Katie Brace) is desperate to appear on her favourite TV programme, The Corny Collins Show. Corny (Joseph Bristow), invites teens to show off their dancing skills, but racial segregation is prevalent in America at that time, so all of the dancers are “white”, with a “negro” night being held every so often. Corny’s show is sponsored by a hairspray company, and Tracy’s ears prick up when she hears of a competition for a Miss Teenage Hairsp...

13Nov

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

A Christmas Carol – Hull New Theatre

“One magical night” were the first three words of the press release describing the well-known story, A Christmas Carol, ahead of Northern Ballet’s run of the Charles Dickens’ classic at the Hull New Theatre on Tuesday evening. Those same three words aren’t praise enough to describe what we theatregoers witnessed when this amazing company took to the stage. It was sheer perfection - from the opening snowy scenes of Victorian life, to the closing joyous scene amidst the falling snow. The famous story, set in Victorian Leeds for this production, focuses on miserly money-lender Ebenezer Scrooge who is shown the error of his ways after visits from three spirits, Christmas Past, Present and Future. It’s a gloomy start, with the funeral procession of Scrooge’s business partner, Jacob ...

An Officer and a Gentleman – Hull New Theatre

5Nov

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

An Officer and a Gentleman – Hull New Theatre

An Officer and a Gentleman the Musical got off to a delayed start on Monday evening with a voice emanating from the nether regions of the Hull New Theatre stage, informing us that “due to unforeseen circumstances the show will now start at 8pm”. We’d all taken our seats ready for curtain up at 7.30pm, so 30-minute delay sort of dimmed or excitement. No matter, I just hoped the show was worth waiting for. It most definitely was, so that delay I mentally grumbled about, was very soon forgotten. I had seen the movie (of the same name) upon which this musical is based, way back on its UK release in 1983, and could only remember its star, Richard Gere, resplendent in white naval uniform, doing something so breathtakingly romantic that the scene has stayed with me all these years later....

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – Hull New Theatre

31Oct

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – Hull New Theatre

The cheering and clapping started even before curtain up, at the Hull New Theatre on Tuesday evening, as the audience in the packed venue instantly reacted to the very recognisable melody being played by the in-house orchestra. As the strains of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang rang out, the anticipation built to fever-pitch and, a few minutes after 7pm, the curtain rose on a night of rip-roaring fun. The much-loved family favourite (an Ian Fleming story for children, later made into a film in 1968) tells the tale of an absent-minded inventor, Caractacus Potts, who, urged on by his two young children, restores an old racing car - only to discover the machine has a magical mind of its own. Potts (Adam Garcia), a single parent to Jemima (Isla Ithier) and Jeremy (Charlie McGuire), has very li...

12Oct

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Re:INCARNATION – Hull New Theatre

Not being familiar with the Yoruba philosophy which forms a big part of Re:INCARNATION, a show brought to the Hull New Theatre stage by the QDance Company, I Googled and learned of its values - in the hope of it helping me to understand more of what I witnessed on Friday evening. Reading that there is a supreme being known as Olorun or Olodumare, plus numerous divinities known as Orisha, revered ancestors and malevolent or benevolent spirits, and that Yoruba people's cardinal virtues - love, morality, temperance, honesty, honour, bravery, justice, prudence, and fortitude - helped me not a jot. So, I relied on my imagination, relaxed in my seat on Row I and prepared to soak up what turned out to be an amazing spectacle produced by 10 young Nigerian dancers, plus two on-stage musicians...