Nikolai Foster Archives - North West End UK

22Jan

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

Calamity Jane – Opera House

Aaahh, Calamity Jane; evoking warm childhood memories of sitting on a Sunday afternoon in front of the TV with my late Mum, watching Doris Day (in implausibly pristine buckskin) sparring with Howard Keel in the iconic 1953 film. I clearly was not alone in my wistful nostalgia this evening, with a packed press night audience forsaking hearth and home during a freezing January, to rapturously welcome this stage version as it sets off on a 29 city tour of the UK over the next six months. They were rewarded with a show which revels in its sentimentality but has enough heart and humour to send even the most cynical critic home humming its memorable songs. An example of screen inspiring stage rather than vice versa, ‘Calamity Jane’ didn’t arrive on stage until nearly a decade after the movie ...

10Oct

By Philip EdwardsNo Comments

North West

Grease – Palace Theatre

Sometimes when a reviewer goes to see a show, no matter what the content, the audience will so completely overwhelm the performance that there is very little one can say in review. Such is the case with “Grease” which continues a national tour at The Palace. The audience are so loyal to the show, they will it along every moment of the performance. I have to say that I would have preferred to hear the paid cast singing some of the songs rather than the “Levenshulme Ladies Choir” across the aisle from me, but hey, we know the tunes anyway. Despite a book as thin as a cigarette paper, Director Nikolai Foster drives the show along like greased lightening and genuinely lights up the stage with the musical numbers. To add to the “A” list production team the choreography by Arlene Phill...

1Aug

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

West Midlands

The Wizard of Oz – Wolverhampton Grand

“There’s no place like Wolves!” Well, there certainly isn’t as Dorothy Gale and her little dog, too, land their wooden house on the stage of the Grand Theatre which they’re calling no place like home for the next few days. “The Wizard of Oz” is, undoubtedly, an iconic, kaleidoscopic, psychedelic trip into the mad and inventive mind of L. Frank Baum who, eager to create a new style fairy tale for a new, burgeoning nation, let his eyes drift to his library index cards one day where the letters O-Z jumped out and he was off down his yellow brick road to literary success. His unstoppable quill knocked out a dozen or so Oz titles within a few years with further volumes being penned by other authors. Baum, being no slack capitalist, exploited his work in all media - books, stage and film. Way...

1Aug

By Phoebe Olivia Sian HobsonNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Grease – Alhambra, Bradford

Grease is most definitely the word on everyone’s lips after attending last nights show at the Alhambra, as it’s fair to say the withdrawals from the thrill and excitement have well and truly kicked in. There are always high expectations for beloved productions such as Grease, and the performance by the cast and crew exceeded all of them, inviting in younger audiences by bringing fresh new ideas but also reminding those maturer fans of their favourite scenes and songs. The show was impressively enticing, horny and funny with the entertaining representations of the burger bar boys and the pink ladies, the cast hit the nail on the head while capturing these characters, whether it was on their best or worst behaviour the teen groups had the audience in stitches. The show invites you in l...

28Jun

By Melissa JonesNo Comments

Scotland

Grease – Edinburgh Playhouse

Think you know Grease? Think again. This production takes Rydell High back to its gritty roots and it’s never been so refreshing. Forget your memories of Travolta and Newton-John politely bopping away in pastel pinks, Nikolai Foster’s Grease’s origins appear firmly rooted in the sardonic gritty teenage drama that Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey originally wrote. Here, the teenage hormones flow quicker than burger sauce, the cuss words come thick and fast and hand-jiving is a very serious business, indeed. Now sitting somewhere between a homage to Americana and a raw Westside Story, Douglas O’Connell's set design includes all key components of the era, reveling in Americana. One can’t help but feel a little High School Musical creep into the giant Rydell High with the bright red tracksuit...

An Officer and a Gentleman – Sheffield Lyceum

20Jun

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

An Officer and a Gentleman – Sheffield Lyceum

In the same genre as recent musical adaptations such as 'Dirty Dancing' and 'The Bodyguard', using an extensive and repurposed catalogue of music from the period, this jukebox of the beloved 80's film classic - 'An Officer and a Gentleman' is touring the UK in 2024. Fifteen years in the original making, written by Douglas Day Stewart and later adapted for stage alongside Sharleen Cooper Cohen, this new interpretation follows the 2018 version and is again directed by Nikolai Foster. The raw and raunchy story is set in Florida 1982. It tells the story of both autobiographical naval officer recruits and a group of female factory workers at a time when Ronald Reagan sowed the seeds of a new America. These characters collectively, regardless of class and gender, all have their demons and bindin...

An Officer and a Gentleman – Manchester c

2May

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

An Officer and a Gentleman – Manchester c

Based on the original screenplay by Douglas Day Stewart, An Officer and a Gentleman the musical is here at the Manchester Opera House as part of its UK tour. Directed by Leicester Curve Artistic director Nikolai Foster, we are treated to a well-rounded piece of theatre which has been well thought out to keep it fresh and smooth with an air of familiarity about it. The story follows Zack Mayo and his fellow Navy recruits at their training camp in Pensacola, Florida, and their journey through a 12-week programme to try and become Navy Jet pilots. Through rigorous training, we see recruits struggle and fail, leaving the training programme, eventually bringing the other recruits closer together, pushing each other along to reach their final goal. But not everything runs smoothly, and we see...

27Apr

By Coral MourantNo Comments

North West

The Wizard of Oz – Palace Theatre

Nikolai Foster has taken many a musical theatre staple and put his own spin on them, with this show being another triumph to come out of the tried and tested method of starting at the Leicester Curve before becoming a big hit. Sending this spectacle out on a national tour is a no-brainer, bound to bedazzle theatre goers all over the country with its imaginative take on the heart-warming classic. Based on the book by L. Frank Baum, the tale has had many iterations, proving its generational appeal. But at the heart of its story, there’s a young girl on a heroic journey to find a place to belong. We are taken on this adventure by Dorothy (Aviva Tulley). The audience is in very capable hands here, Tulley’s voice soars as she delivers Over the Rainbow, and her performance encapsulates all...

21Mar

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

The Wizard of Oz – Bradford Alhambra

We’re off to Bradford to see the wonderful Wizard of Oz in an updated stage version of the classic Judy Garland movie that has become a must see every Christmas for generations of families everywhere. Unless you have spent your life in a closed religious order then there is no point in detailing the plot as a young girl in depression era Kansas enters a strange new world, and with the help of some new mates fends off a wicked witch to find her way home. This lively technicolour revival comes straight from a sell-out run at the London Palladium, and the good news for all friends of Dorothy is the classic movie tunes are still here, with typically solid extra songs by the venereal duo of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice in the second act. Whilst staying true to the movie’s message t...

An Officer and a Gentlemen – Alexandra Birmingham

28Feb

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

West Midlands

An Officer and a Gentlemen – Alexandra Birmingham

Like “Dirty Dancing” before it, yet another of the screen to stage transmutations which seem to proliferate currently, “An Officer and a Gentlemen” has a single, vibrant choreographic image around which all else might be considered mere dressing. He lifts her up (presumably where she belongs) and carries her from the factory surrounded by applauding workers and colleagues. So ingrained is that image in my mind I can recall it without any research 42 years after its release! Such is the power of screen, but what of stage? In the highest grossing movies of 1982 only ET and Tootsie* elbowed “An Officer and a Gentleman” into third place just above Rocky III - which, I’m sure, would make an excellent ballet - proving itself a huge success for Richard Gere, Debra Winger and the very shouty Lo...