Reviews

A Chorus Line is a musical that tells the stories of seventeen different dancers at the final recall audition for a Broadway show in the 1970s. The director, Zach (Adam Cooper), assisted by choreographer, Larry (Ashley-Jordan Packer), gets each dancer to talk about themselves rather than perform, and to tell the truth about why and how they are where they are today. It explores the separate stories of each dancer […]

To begin, Your Lie In April is based on the manga of the same name by Naoshi Arakawa, with which I am unfamiliar, so I cannot draw any direct comparisons. However, audience members did say that the characters of Ryota Watari and Tsubaki Sawabe, performed by Dean John Wilson and Rachel Clare Chan, had been cut down considerably. This is to be expected when translating a series into a musical […]

Very occasionally a show comes along that stuns the world of musical theatre. Fairly recently it was Hamilton that sent shockwaves out when it opened at the Victoria Palace in 2017, and, way back in 1984, the same thing happened when Starlight Express opened across the road at the Apollo Victoria. Now, Starlight Express is back, and it is just as thrilling and entertaining as it always was – with […]

When writing this review the only words I can find are WOW, WOW and WOW!! Unfortunately our reviews need to be a little longer than just four words! So, where to begin. I had no preconceived idea as to what to expect from this show. I’d read the blurb and had a basic understanding, but nothing prepared me for the two and a half hour emotional rollercoaster I was a […]

Knowing only the title, I visited Leicester’s Curve for opening night of Here You Come Again on Tuesday 11 June, and I haven’t seen anything quite like it before. Surprisingly for a musical, it’s a two-hander with musicians. We have Kevin – a northern forty year-old Dolly superfan struggling with self-confidence, played by Steven Webb – and Dolly needing no introduction, played by Tricia Paoluccio. Dolly ‘comes to life’ from […]

Having seen the concert version of Babies at the Lyric Theatre in November 2023 we enter The Other Palace auditorium filled with anticipation. Will the Babies fledge in to a fully blown musical or will it need a longer gestation period? As we enter the auditorium we see a newly-conceived open set. Lockers and tables are scattered around and two towers dress the back of the stage. Lights down and […]

There is nothing more exciting than walking in to a brand new show you know nothing about. The excitement doubles as you get to your seat and are greeted by bright electrically charged stage and banging millennial tunes coming out of the auditoriums speaker system. By the time Kathy and Stella Sold a Murder started, I was already hooked by the first note. Kathy and Stella solve a murder is […]

It’s hard to transport a 21st century audience back to the 1900s, but Opera North’s production of My Fair Lady did all that and more at the Leeds Playhouse. Their dazzling revival of this timeless classic brought a refreshing freshness to the beloved story, which follows Eliza Dolittle (Katie Bird), a poor flower seller with a strong Cockney accent who dreams of a life beyond the streets of Covent Garden. […]