SHOWMAN Archives - North West End UK

Showman: An Evening With Anton Du Beke – Buxton Opera House

19Nov

By Natasha AspdenNo Comments

North West

Showman: An Evening With Anton Du Beke – Buxton Opera House

On a nippy November night, just on the cusp of turning to winter, myself and my partner had the pleasure of being invited to review the latest Strictly Theatre Co. offering at the beautiful Buxton Opera House. As a not so fussed Strictly Come Dancing viewer my partner was semi hesitant about coming to watch “Showman: An evening with Anton Du Beke”, but after some arm pulling and fluttering of eyelashes he finally relented and I’m glad he did! Accompanied by a supporting cast of 6, plus the dulcet tones of Lance Ellington, Anton Du Beke shone in this showcase of all things jazz and golden age. From dancing the Viennese waltz and Tango with the outstanding Polina Mayer, to joining the ensemble of an Irving Berlin mash up, this show had something for everyone. Anton welcomed us as an au...

Derren Brown: Showman – The Alexandra, Birmingham

7Sep

By Peter KinnockNo Comments

West Midlands

Derren Brown: Showman – The Alexandra, Birmingham

I promised Derren I wouldn’t tell you anything. Well, it wasn’t just me - there were about fifteen hundred of us. All sworn to secrecy which, to be fair, doesn’t allow me much scope to tell you about the show, but let’s have a bash anyway. So, Derren Brown has been beguiling, bewitching and bewildering us with brash bravado and unashamed chutzpah for over twenty years offering a self-proclaimed blend of "magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection, and showmanship” and last night at the Alex in Birmingham he certainly provided examples of all of those in equal measure. He proved himself a master of reading body language and facial ticks to an uncanny and unsettling, Sherlockian level. He sniffed out someone’s childhood accident after a few minutes of looking them over. Did he read it on...

Derren Brown: Showman – Leeds Grand Theatre

24Aug

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Derren Brown: Showman – Leeds Grand Theatre

At the end of this hugely entertaining and mystifying show Derren Brown asked reviewers not to give the game away about any of the set ups. That is a lot easier than the master mesmeriser thinks as no decent reviewer ever gives the plot away unless it's the forthcoming Titanic musical where we all know what happens. Hint…the voyage doesn’t end well. This is Brown’s first new show for five years, but his popularity hasn’t waned as it was a full house to witness his trademark mix of mind control, uncanny people reading and nifty misdirection. People come to these shows to see if they can work it out, and here’s some good news for his fans - it is still impossible. That’s all part of the fun, and there’s one part of this show where I am still utterly baffled how he pulled it off. ...

Derren Brown: Showman – Liverpool Empire

1Jun

By Jenn McKeanNo Comments

North West

Derren Brown: Showman – Liverpool Empire

Forget Hugh Jackman, the greatest showman of our generation without a doubt is Derren Brown. The prominent illusionist rose to fame in the early 2000s, starting with the TV show Mind Control and other shows such as Trick of the Mind and his specials Sacrifice, Miracle: Faith or Fiction and The Push are currently available to stream on Netflix, with more available on All4. He has always stated that he is able to manipulate the mind and use psychology to work out people’s actions. More often than not, he is able to do exactly what he says and has stunned audiences worldwide. In today’s fickle age, over 20 years after his rise to fame, he is still as popular with audiences and able to stun them to silence in awe at what he does. Unfortunately, I can’t go into detail about what we wi...

Derren Brown: Showman – Blackpool Winter Gardens

2Oct

By Anne PritchardNo Comments

North West

Derren Brown: Showman – Blackpool Winter Gardens

‘Showman’ is Brown’s first brand new theatre show in six years; his one-man shows have received wide critical acclaim and more Olivier wins and nominations than any other in history. The award-winning mentalist and illusionist closed his successful Broadway show, ‘Secret’ in January this year. Brown is known worldwide for his numerous television appearances, including the series Trick of the Mind, Mind Control, and his Netflix show Pushed to the Edge. After enjoying watching Derren Brown many times on TV, I was eagerly awaiting seeing his live theatre show. I wanted to be enthralled, amazed and left literally speechless. As I took my seat in the packed theatre, I kept my fingers crossed. The theatre was packed to capacity, audience members being mainly in the 23–...

Derren Brown’s SHOWMAN: New 2021 tour dates announced for Blackpool

15Mar

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Derren Brown’s SHOWMAN: New 2021 tour dates announced for Blackpool

He’s finally back! This October, Derren Brown, the popular multi-award winning master of mind control and illusion, will bring SHOWMAN, his first new live show for six years to the Opera House Blackpool from Friday 01st – Saturday 02nd October 2021. Not suitable for under 12s Derren’s live shows have won him two prestigious Olivier Awards – for Something Wicked This Way Comes (2006) and Svengali (2012) and he has received more Olivier nominations and wins than any other one-man show in theatre history. He has played to sold-out houses across the country every year since 2003 to over 1.6M people. Previous shows, Infamous, (2013, 2014), Miracle (2015, 2016) and Underground (2017, 2018) have also enjoyed critically acclaimed seasons in London’s West End. In 2017 he made an award-winning...