Thursday, March 28

Tag: Sheffield Lyceum

Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula The Sea Witch – Sheffield Lyceum
Yorkshire & Humber

Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula The Sea Witch – Sheffield Lyceum

(Warning :- this is NOT a children’s show, it is firmly and deliciously an Adult Parody with vulgar, blue jokes and imagery – leave the kids at home with a babysitter!) I have always found the Disney princess’ lacking personality and in a word… boring! Now, the Villians, that’s a different kettle of fish and none did I identify with more than Ursula from Hans Christian Anderson’s and later Disney’s - The Little Mermaid.  A strong, larger than life female with sass, attitude and in three words… big, brash and bold!  Ursula is unconventional and superbly bucks the norm with an independent style and flair that any young woman would do well to have in their armour. So, why must she be a baddie because she doesn’t fit the stereotypical images of what a women should look like and b...
Bugsy Malone – Sheffield Lyceum
Yorkshire & Humber

Bugsy Malone – Sheffield Lyceum

Originally conceived at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in 2015 - This is the first UK touring musical production based on Alan Parker’s 1976 much-loved movie - Bugsy Malone and it is an absolute delight! Directed by Sean Homes with choreography by Drew McOnie this production keeps its roots firmly true to the film yet adds a spicy and slick new presentation. If you haven’t seen this movie, Bugsy Malone is a gangster spoof musical, set in the American prohibition era, where the cast are played by children and the guns are replaced by messy custard pies and splurge. It follows the story of two rival gangs, vying to be top dog, led by Fat Sam and Dandy Dan. Enter Bugsy Malone to save the day. The moral being - we are better together than divided. The staging problem of this musical has ...
School of Rock – Sheffield Lyceum
Yorkshire & Humber

School of Rock – Sheffield Lyceum

Sheffield was raising the decibels into the stratosphere last night with the England Women’s Team winning the Semi Final against Sweden in the Euro22 competition at Sheffield Bramall Lane ground and the School of Rock opening at the Sheffield Lyceum, Sheffield really was the place to be! The city was euphoric – Sheffield Rocked! School of Rock is written by Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey fame with Lyrics by Glenn Slater, the dialogue is both topical and sassy and extremely funny on numerous occasions. The music by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber is as expected, catchy with some great songs such as Top of Mount Rock, Stick it to the Man and If Only you would listen. Anna Louizo’s sets are compact, yet well designed to move fluently and at speed between the Horace Green school rooms, Ned Schn...
Singin’ in the Rain – Sheffield Lyceum
Yorkshire & Humber

Singin’ in the Rain – Sheffield Lyceum

Last night, I spent a gloriously nostalgic evening at the theatre watching the spectacle that is Singing in The Rain, it felt like a childhood embrace from a favourite grandparent - warm, happy, secure and where I belonged! We all know of the 1952 MGM classic musical comedy film ‘Singin’ in the Rain’, as it has been named as one of the greatest musical movies of all time. Made famous by the cast of Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds, it light heartedly charts the 1920’s depiction of performers caught up in the transition from silent films to the ground-breaking ‘talkies’. Centring on the silver screen romantic pairing of Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont - the darlings of MGM studios. Everyone has trouble adapting to the changes but none more than Lina Lamont, a beautiful scree...
The Play That Goes Wrong – Sheffield Lyceum
Yorkshire & Humber

The Play That Goes Wrong – Sheffield Lyceum

The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society cordially invites you to enjoy its production of ‘The Murder at Haversham Manor’, a witty, dramatic retelling of a classic murder mystery… until it all goes a bit wrong. Disasters with the set, actors who can’t remember their lines, accidents incapacitating members of the company… Nothing goes right for this daring troop of amateur actors. But we all know that that’s not the real synopsis of this brilliant play. Mischief Theatre created the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society as a vehicle for their particular brand of comedy, with every actor essentially playing two roles: their Cornley persona and then the character played by that persona in the production of the day. In today’s theatre landscape of nuanced drama and technological wizardry, th...
Chicago – Sheffield Lyceum
Yorkshire & Humber

Chicago – Sheffield Lyceum

At its best, Chicago is a biting, hilarious and glamorous satire. This production demonstrates a great balance of all the razzle-dazzle you would expect with this show whilst possessing a very welcome comedic humility. The cast of performers are fit for their respective roles. The ensemble was worked astutely and intelligently and lent themselves tremendously to many of the set pieces of the show, and all were at the level set by their main roster counterparts. Faye Brookes’ portrayal of Roxie Hart is brilliantly devious and glamorous, yet refreshingly is a portrayal possessing fantastic comedic sensibilities. Jamie Baughan’s Amos Hart almost steals the show, a performance rich in pathos. Michelle Andrews stepped into the role of Mama Morton with an equally admirable poise. One of t...
Cluedo – Sheffield Lyceum
Yorkshire & Humber

Cluedo – Sheffield Lyceum

The maid, in the hall, with the champagne! That is how Wadsworth the butler greets us, and the six guests who each received a mysterious invitation, as we enter Boddy Manor. Most, if not all of us, will be familiar with Miss Scarlett, Professor Plum, Mrs Peacock, Reverend Green, Mrs. White and Colonel Mustard, the protagonists of the now 70-year-old board game, Cluedo, on which this play is based; and now we get to meet them in the flesh. They arrive in time for dinner, but the staff are acting strangely, and the evening soon comes to an unforeseen halt, as a body is discovered in the study. But… who was it that brought the evening to its arresting conclusion? The script by Sandy Rustin, based on Jonathan Lynn’s original screenplay, is full of clever nods to the board game, snapp...
The Cher Show – Sheffield Lyceum
Yorkshire & Humber

The Cher Show – Sheffield Lyceum

From Disney princess childhood dreams to fierce warrior princess on stage: that’s the journey of Cher as told in this new musical that originally premiered in 2018 prior to a Broadway run, which won two Tony Awards. Now with an updated book by Rick Elice, the production uses Cher’s extensive catalogue of music to chronicle the highs and lows of the more than sixty years that she has spent as an entertainer. Such is the diverse and prolific nature of Cher’s work, that it takes three women to play her. They are on stage almost constantly, sharing the narration of the story and each enjoying their time in the spotlight. Millie O’Connell as Babe takes the audience through the early years, embodying the nervous and shy younger Cher as she tries to fit in with her peers and find an anchor in...
Bat Out Of Hell – Sheffield Lyceum
Yorkshire & Humber

Bat Out Of Hell – Sheffield Lyceum

Set in a dystopian future, this post-apocalyptic rock and roll musical has the audience fully invested as the characters live and relive the spine-tingling drunkenness of youth and love.  With the greatest storytelling hits of the legendary Jim Steinman and Meatloaf forefront and taking centre stage, this UK tour is setting the theatres in its path alight, and Sheffield was no exception. With its unusual live video capture on stage, which is projected onto both a screen and the windows of Falco Towers, the audience are subject to aesthetic ensemble spectacle and heart wrenching close up intimacy – a peep into a hybrid between theatre and film. The story is set in Obsidian (Manhattan as we know it) which has floated out to sea and is tyrannically ruled by Falco played by the role’s orig...
Six – Sheffield Lyceum
Yorkshire & Humber

Six – Sheffield Lyceum

So, I polished my crown and headed (minus the be-) off to the beautiful Sheffield Lyceum, my husband reluctantly in tow to witness the royally resplendent Six. Before I even got in the building I was praising the show for its allure to so many young theatre goers, the diversity of the audience was a real heart warmer. Six has become a cultural phenomenon and is a British musical comedy with book, music and lyrics by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. Presented as a pop concert, the competitive wives of Henry VIII each tell their stories and vie to be ‘the one who suffered the most’ to enable the victor to become the group’s lead singer.  Under the direction of Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage the stylish Six took to the stage. With a set mainly given over to lighting and upstage steps, which hou...