Saturday, November 16

Tag: Paul Allison

Annie – Stockport Plaza
North West

Annie – Stockport Plaza

I think just about everyone will be familiar with the tale of Little Orphan Annie and the rags to riches story which covered the life of this young girl and her friends from the orphanage where she was brought up. The word that often comes to mind when thinking about this musical is “cute”, but this production moved beyond that. There were times when you didn’t realise that you were watching a cast of mostly pre-teens as the maturity and professionalism of these young girls was amazing. I must start by praising the star of the show, the young girl who played the title role of the production. I have seen a number of versions of this show over the years and the performance of Zara Bateson as Annie was up there with the best of them. You knew that this was going to be something out of the ...
Priscilla Queen of the Desert – Stockport Plaza
North West

Priscilla Queen of the Desert – Stockport Plaza

Sometimes, reviewing theatre productions can be a bit like pulling hens teeth. You sit there, you get acted at, you clap then you leave. All very nice, but you can’t say very much about what you’ve seen. Then there are the nights when you get blown away by a production. A production so good, you can’t stop saying things about it. I saw one of those tonight. By any criteria you can name, this production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert was a joy from start to finish. I guess you will know the plot by now. Three drag queens schlep across Australia in an old bus, (the titular Priscilla). They encounter the sort of people who don’t take naturally to people who are different. They are despised, assaulted in the vilest way. One finds romance, one a family but they all have adventures they wo...