Apart from the infamously expensive (and risk assessment defying) Broadway production of Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, there hasn’t really been a show that specifically caters to fans of the Marvel/DC comic universes in the musical theatre canon. Eugenius! fits that gap in the genre and is a gloriously silly evening of superheroes and 80s tunes. Following a concert … [Read more...]

The Bishopsgate Institute is a stone’s throw from Liverpool Street Station. Step inside the Great Hall and you are instantly transported to an Upper West Side Manhattan basketball court framed by chain-linked fence and scaffolding reminiscent of the towering fire escapes associated with the city’s architecture. This is the setting for the Institute’s take on Jerome … [Read more...]

Wouldn’t life be better if it were like a musical? Alexander S. Bermange certainly thinks so as he presents his musical revue at Crazy Coqs about the journey of an actor from fresh-faced drama school graduate through to a “past-it” chorus member, directed by Paul Foster. The cast of four actors reunites Suzie Mathers and Oliver Savile from their stints in Company … [Read more...]

The Sherman family have been in songwriting business for over a century. Spanning three generations, Al Sherman, his sons Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman (known as “the Sherman Brothers”) and Al’s grandson, Robert J. Sherman, have produced an impressive catalog of uplifting melodies and lyrics for film, theatre and radio etc. Their music has been part of countless … [Read more...]

Swiss-French film director Jean-Luc Godard once said, “All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun”. The truth behind this statement is explored in Louise Orwin’s piece A Girl and a Gun, produced by Jen Smethurst, which made a return to the Vaults Festival this week following a successful run last year. Orwin stars as “her” in the piece. Her on-stage partner … [Read more...]

The premise of Christopher Adams’ production is an intriguing one: an entire piece of theatre sculpted out of overheard conversations in London. On arrival at the Bunker Theatre, I was given some programme notes that outlined the rules that underpinned this performance piece: 1. Recording must only be done in a public place. 2. People must be speaking publicly in … [Read more...]

Oh, what a night. New Jersey Nights is a fun celebration of the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The setting of this new touring production begins in an imaginary bar where the voiceover invites the crowd to enjoy the show that is about to take place. Four suited singers, six dancers and a three-piece band knocked out back-to-back vintage numbers and … [Read more...]

As I took my seat in The Vaults below Waterloo Station, I was met with the sight of a child-sized tent; a table adorned with multiple notebooks and miniature musical instruments; individual cardboard cut-outs of all five members of One Direction and a laminated memorial to Carrie Fisher amongst other objects dressing the stage. Objects that would aid Joseph Cullen in … [Read more...]

As I entered the Canal Café Theatre performance space I was met with the scene of a puppeteer’s workshop where New York-based Temple Theatre’s tale of Geppetto: Extraordinary Extremities was about to take place. Written and directed by Renee Philippi, Geppetto is portrayed by Carlo Adinolfi, who brings the recently widowed craftsman and performer to life. Weary after … [Read more...]

I guess you could say the ChurcHILL was “alive with the sound of music” on Tuesday night. This was the opening night of Bill Kenwright’s new 2018 UK touring production. Before a note of Rogers and Hammerstein’s famous score was played, the dramatic alpine landscape on the front curtain transported you away from Bromley to the Austrian mountains. Lucy O’Byrne (Les … [Read more...]