Sara Poyzer Archives - North West End UK

10Jul

By Tracey BellNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Come From Away – Sheffield Lyceum

Musical Theatre does not get any better than this! It has a heart and Soul, so buckle up on the soaring flight that lands exactly where it should - in the hearts and minds of its audience. Pure Perfection! Direct from the West End this award-winning musical ‘that welcomes the world’ is written by Irene Sankoff and David Hein and Directed by Christopher Ashley, Musical Staging by Kelly Devine. With Scenic Design by Beowulf Boritt we are greeted by stage that is versatile yet warming and welcoming. With the trees aligning the wings and a wooden slatted wall upstage, the only other set is movable and mismatched tables and chairs which are manipulated by the cast with a choreographical magic to behold. The band are visible upstage left as they interact with the cast and seamlessly perform the...

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...

1May

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Come From Away – Leeds Grand Theatre

Wandering through Broadway’s theatreland my youngest daughter and I were looking for a show to see so she suggested that Come From Away had fantastic word of mouth on TikTok. We popped into the box office scoring great stalls seats for 80 bucks, and she was spot on with her pick as this warm-hearted show about the best and worst of humanity went straight into my top five musicals. A musical about the aftermath of 9/11 seems an unlikely hit, but it’s based on a true story set thousands of miles away from the twin towers in a small Canadian town called Gander that was home to an airfield once used to refuel jets before they set off across the Atlantic. Super jets made the landing strip almost obsolete, but as airspaces were shut down after the terror attack 38 airplanes carrying 7000 diso...

5May

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

West Midlands

Mamma Mia – Birmingham Hippodrome

Stephen Fry once compared ABBA to a bottle of coke. It wasn’t because their bubbling pop music was sweet and saccharine. It was because the original glass bottle was so well designed - becoming a design classic - it could withstand a hundred times more pressure from its contents than it needed to. A case of over-design. Just like ABBA. Their work is so well designed, so perfectly engineered and far, far better made than it ever needs to be - that they too have become classics. If Benny and Bjorn had created songs half as good they would still be some of the most outstanding pop music in the world. And “Mamma Mia”, that staggeringly successful stage show, stands testimony to the words and music of those talented Swedes and their well-designed pop classics. The auditorium of the Birmingha...

31Mar

By Anne PritchardNo Comments

North West

Mamma Mia! – Liverpool Empire

Everyone is familiar with the ‘Mamma Mia!’ films but not everyone has seen the stage show upon which they’re based; I’m lucky enough to have seen it many times, the first time being the London premier in 1999 when I was blown away by the production, the songs and the energy of the cast. Based around the songs of Swedish pop legends ABBA, ‘Mamma Mia!’ is now a box-office worldwide musical phenomenon. The feel-good musical is presently playing in both the West End and Broadway and has countless touring versions performing world-wide. The show was originally conceived by English producer, Judy Craymer and written by Catherine Johnson, with director Phyllida Lloyd, these being the collaborative creative force behind what was to become an unprecedented commercial success; it premier...

10Feb

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Mamma Mia – Hull New Theatre

Those of a nervous disposition at the Hull New Theatre on Wednesday evening were warned, just before curtain up, that platform shoes and white satin trousers would be much in evidence on the stage, as feel-good musical Mamma Mia! came to town. Talented musicians got a packed theatre into the right mood, pre-show, by playing several of Abba’s hits, the Swedish super-group whose music is the backbone of this energetic production. As the curtain rose, we were all eager to hear the words “I do, I do, I do, I do, I do, I do”. Set on a beautiful Greek island, Mamma Mia! tells the story of taverna owner Donna Sheridan (Sara Poyzer), her 20-year-old daughter Sophie (Jena Pandya), and Sophie’s upcoming marriage to Sky (Toby Miles), to be held on the island. Sophie intrigued all of her life...

17Aug

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Mamma Mia! – Harewood House

This was my daughter’s fourth time seeing this perennial blockbuster, but it was certainly the most unusual with the audience sitting in a windy field near Leeds. This was the very first time the team behind the Mamma Mia! juggernaut have opted for an open-air production and given how protective they are of the brand they threw everything at it – live band, massive lighting rig, pin sharp sound plus the full set and cast. And to make extra sure it would work for a near capacity crowd, including Olympic champion Jonny Brownlee, they packed the cast with Mamma Mia veterans who were clearly enjoying the challenge of this new format. It would be easy for performers who know this show backwards to coast through it, but they were really trying to project their performances to the people at...

Mamma Mia! goes open air for the first time at historic Harewood House

27Jul

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

NEWS

Mamma Mia! goes open air for the first time at historic Harewood House

Mamma Mia! fans have their only chance to see the record breaking show outside London at the first ever open air production at Harewood House . Casting has been announced for the ‘Mamma Mia! Under the stars’ shows from 13th to 20th August at the historic venue near Leeds. and it’s full of veterans of the London and touring shows, which have has seen by over 65 million people in 50 productions in 16 different languages. Sara Poyzer plays Donna Sheridan, Nicky Swift is Rosie and Helen Anker returns as Tanya. The trio of possible dads are Richard Standing playing Sam Carmichael joined by Phil Corbitt as Bill Austin and Daniel Crowder is Harry Bright. Younger cast members include Lucy May Barker as Sophie Sheridan with Toby Miles as love interest Sky and Jasmine Shen as Al...

MAMMA MIA! comes to Harewood House this summer

12Mar

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

MAMMA MIA! comes to Harewood House this summer

The sensational feel-good musical MAMMA MIA! will come to Harewood House in the heart of Yorkshire this summer from 13th – 30th August 2021 for audiences to enjoy the original stage show in the open air for the first time. Tickets are on sale to the public from Friday 19th March 2021, 10am. Playing 23 performances only with a strictly limited capacity, this will be part of the MAMMA MIA! UK & International Tour celebrating 22 years since MAMMA MIA! premiered in London in April 1999. Fall in love with the irresistibly funny tale of a mother, a daughter and three possible dads on a Greek island idyll, all unfolding to the magic of ABBA’s timeless songs. Since premiering in London’s West End over 21 years ago the world’s sunniest and most exhilarating smash-hit musical has been turn...