I have no hesitation in saying that the 1952 movie “Singin’ in the Rain” and its 1985 stage version is one of the greatest musicals of all time, winning many awards over the years. It is one of the few musicals that not only has many first-rate songs (Nacio Herb Brown / Arthur Freed) but an intelligent, very witty, book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Also, because it is set in the late 1920s, at the time of the first “talkies” and just before the Great Depression, it has a timeless … [Read more...]
The Fellowship by Roy Williams at Hampstead Theatre
Children of the Windrush generation, sisters Dawn and Marcia, grew up in the 1980s. In Roy Williams’ new play Dawn is shown struggling to care for their dying mother as her son drifts away from her and high-flying barrister Marcia finds that her affair with a married politician might destroy her career. The blurb on the script cover describes the play as “electrifying, hilarious... gripping”. Williams has structured his play in two acts, each of six scenes, most of which are short. Nearly … [Read more...]
The King Symphonic: The Music of Elvis Presley
The King Symphonic, presumably timed to complement the recent movie biopic, is a concert of about 25 Elvis Presley songs, mostly well known, performed by the “Las Vegas Symphony Orchestra”. This is actually a 30-piece ensemble, heavily amplified, and not to be confused with the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra which IS a symphony orchestra giving ‘classical’ concerts throughout the year in the USA. In fact, sound design and balance was one of the problems of this concert, the overall effect … [Read more...]
Cluedo at Theatre Royal Brighton | Review
Cluedo, the board game, was invented by a British musician and munitions factory worker during World War 2, and launched in 1949, since when there have been 29 special editions, an ITV gameshow, a movie and now a play, written by Sandy Rustin and based on Jonathan Lynn’s (Yes Minister) screenplay. Wisely this witty, unassuming, two hours of very pleasant ‘nonsense’ has been put into the imaginative hands of Mark Bell who was responsible for The Play That Goes Wrong, in which several of the cast … [Read more...]
Everyman – Miracle Theatre – Brighton Fringe and Tour
Everyman is one of the earliest printed plays, originally written in Middle English and first performed around 1510. It is a morality play, popular entertainment designed to put the fear of God into congregations, unable to read or write and used for church services in Latin. Its central character, Everyman, stands as a reminder to every one of us that our time on earth is short and that we should take a cold hard look at our lives before it is too late. The poet laureate, Carol Ann … [Read more...]
Three Decembers presented by Opera della Luna
“Three Decembers is the finest modern opera that I have seen.” So wrote Chicago reviewer Tom Williams, having seen its premiere in 2008, and I can do no more than concur! Jake Heggie is an American composer, born in 1961, whose style is very approachable: romantic with broad, sweeping melodies: theatrical but never outstaying its welcome. Originally slated to be a commercial two-act “music theatre” production with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, based on an unpublished play Some Christmas … [Read more...]
A Murder Is Announced at Churchill Theatre, Bromley
A Murder is Announced was Agatha Christie’s fiftieth novel, published in 1950 and adapted into a stage play by Leslie Darbon in 1977. Middle Ground’s production of one of Christie’s most intricately plotted Miss Marple tales has now been touring the UK for six years, and visited the Churchill, Bromley way back in 2017, when the cast was slightly ‘starrier’! The residents of the village of Chipping Cleghorn are shocked when they read an advertisement proclaiming that a murder will take … [Read more...]