Come on, who hasn’t danced around their hotel room, possibly a little hungover, in a bathrobe and green foam Statue of Liberty tiara? Especially after the best night of your life with the person of your dreams… Even if somehow you haven’t, you can feel every giddy emotion right alongside the extraordinary Sam Tutty as … Read more
Walking up to Victoria House at Bloomsbury Square in glitzy open-toed heels and a wrapped polka-dot white and navy knee-length dress, I am welcomed by a grand, beautiful neoclassical building. On our way into the venue, we are given our tickets in the form of an aeroplane ticket from London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare International … Read more
A man in a blinding gold reflective jacket. A silhouette in white shirt, black cropped trousers, white socks and fedora. A sequinned white glove. A funky baseline, shuffling beats, Hammer Horror organ chords… Each time, the crowd screamed ever louder. Part musical, part lavish tribute jukebox, part religious experience. There were moments, briefly, when you … Read more
“Who am I?” screams the sobbing man, desperately alone on stage, apart from a deck chair and side table. It’s a gut-punchingly powerful moment, beautifully delivered, in a show that is primarily a light-hearted, frequently hilarious, romp through some disturbingly dark themes. The paradox lies at the heart of what works and doesn’t work in … Read more
I’ve said it before, this is the greatest new British musical for years. Transferring from the National Theatre to the West End’s Gillian Lynne after bagging Best New Musical and Best Original Score at the 2023 Olivier Awards, Britpop legend Richard Hawley’s back catalogue soundtracks a gut-punchingly charged tale of three sets of inhabitants of … Read more
On paper, Hadestown really shouldn’t work. A broodingly melancholy musical based on Greek myth via modern industrial and socioeconomic concerns, with a fusion steampunk and New Orleans setting, a meandering plot and distinct lack of catchy show tunes? And yet… The packed crowd exuberantly cheered as each character came on, and their delirious delight sustained … Read more
London ticket prices, eh? At least for £395 you get to gawp at two Hollywood stars in Plaza Suite, with Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick on high form in a sub-par play just down the road (which is sadly not paved for most of us with precious metals). In this wildly radical, techtastic reboot … Read more
Don’t be fooled by the pink spangly costumes and cheesy grins. This gloriously written tragicomedy with sensational performances across the board is a piercing elegy to the ties that don’t just bind but suffocate down the years. Set in the ‘public front room’ of the clapped-out Blackpool Sea View motel during the sweltering summer of … Read more
Bieito has always looked for ways to challenge orthodoxy and present a new vision of an opera, but a good director’s job is to add touches to an opera that adds to it or delivers its message more strikingly rather than changing it. The first noticeable innovation in this production is that it is not … Read more
Plaza Suite just swept into town headlined by Hollywood couple Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, but the actual headlines have been blaring that this is the most expensive show in London history, with top-price seats fetching an eye-watering 395 smackeroos. Our own thespian royalty were out in force for Sunday’s opening gala, from David … Read more
