Tom Rogers Archives - North West End UK

Madagascar The Musical – Opera House, Manchester

9Feb

By Bo WarnerNo Comments

North West

Madagascar The Musical – Opera House, Manchester

‘Madagascar the Musical’, an all-singing-and-dancing adaptation of the hit 2005 film, is currently making its way around the UK & Ireland to the delight of children everywhere. 20 years after its release, it’s fantastic to see that this film is still being enjoyed by today’s generation enough that the draw of Madagascar can fill the Manchester Opera House. This is a colourful, high-energy and fast-paced production that doesn’t pause to catch breath. It was clear to me that the children in the audience were thoroughly enjoying the ride, and were engaged from start to finish, singing along and giggling as they did. Impressive set pieces by Tom Rogers were plentiful and rolled out often - I was impressed by how high budget and slick everything felt. I have to say, I didn’t care for...

I Should Be So Lucky – New Wimbledon Theatre

31Jan

By Alan Stuart MalinNo Comments

London

I Should Be So Lucky – New Wimbledon Theatre

‘I Should Be So Lucky’ marks a long-awaited milestone in musical theatre, finally a production that pays total homage to the iconic music of Stock Aitken and Waterman, the soundtrack of “generation pop”, intertwined with a typically British camp musical comedy storyline that should, on paper, be guaranteed to leave audiences dancing in the aisles. At the heart of the show lies the story of Ella (Lucie-Mae Sumner) and Nathan (Billy Roberts), whose impending nuptials are thrown into total chaos when Nathan jilts Ella at the altar due to a mysterious family secret. All is not lost though as Ella's larger than life family and closest friends rally around her, whisking her off to Turkey for what was meant to be her romantic honeymoon, but ends up being a glitter bomb of rom-com moments, i...

UK Pop Sensation Steps Present The World Premiere of New Musical Here & Now

26Jan

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

UK Pop Sensation Steps Present The World Premiere of New Musical Here & Now

UK pop band Steps are delighted to announce the world premiere of HERE & NOW, a brand-new musical using their iconic music, with an original book by Shaun Kitchener. HERE & NOW will open at The Alexandra, Birmingham for a limited engagement from 9 – 24 November 2024. Featuring Steps’ most beloved hit songs, HERE & NOW is produced by the band and ROYO with Pete Waterman, and will be directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, with choreography by Olivier Award winning Matt Cole. Casting to be announced. Welcome to seaside superstore Better Best Bargains, where it's Friday night, the vibe is right, and everyone's dancing in the aisles. But when Caz discovers the shelves are stocked with lies and betrayal, the summer of love she and her friends dreamed of suddenly feels like a tragedy. H...

19May

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

North West

The Cher Show – Opera House, Manchester

After six decades of a career encompassing pop and film stardom, political activism and television success, it was a no-brainer that the life of Cherilyn Sarkasian, aka Cher, would eventually make the transition to a stage musical. Now, the 2018 Broadway show (with a significant overhaul courtesy of Leicester Curve Theatre) lands at Opera House in Manchester to a rapturous reception on press night. The audience here is knowledgeable and primed (unlike at Sunderland Empire, where people left the theatre when they realised it wasn't Cher performing!) and they were not to be disappointed in the depth of detail with which the show represents her early life. Cher has long been a spokesperson for LGBTQ+ rights and her story of early marginalisation, mistreatment and oppression is a story tha...

9Feb

By Jo TillotsonNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

9 to 5: The Musical – Sheffield Lyceum

“Working 9 to 5, what a way to make a living / Barely getting by, it's all taking and no giving” I’m sure this sounds familiar, if not musically then probably existentially! One of country music’s most iconic singers, Dolly Parton, wrote these well-known lyrics back in 1980 for the film ‘9 to 5’, which she then transferred to the stage in 2008 with the help of book-writer Patricia Resnick. Parton’s fingerprints are everywhere, from the tone of the music and lyrics throughout, to her on-stage presence as the narrator of the story; that was a cute and unexpected touch, although I’m not sure that the story was complex enough to warrant the level of narration it got! 9 to 5 takes us to a corporate office in middle America where Judy is starting her first ever job having been dumped b...