A cast of fourteen plus five musicians provide a rather impressive musical experience for The Mill at Sonning’s Singin’ In The Rain. The evening (or, indeed, matinee) includes a programme and a two-course meal, ensuring audiences really do get value for money when purchasing tickets. Having not visited the venue before, I can’t vouch for their regular menu, but their … [Read more...]
London Musical Reviews for West End and Off West End
If you are planning to visit London to see a musical on stage at one of the West End theatres, or a musical in one of the many Off West End or Fringe venues, then maybe our London musical reviews section can be of help? Read one of the latest reviews or use the search button to find and view one of our previous reviews. We use a star rating system on our site.
Six: ‘something about the feistiness, the sassiness, the riotousness of it all’
There’s a good mix of musical styles amongst the ten musical numbers, though most of the melodies are firmly in the style of what I call ‘minicab music’ – the sort of chart music tunes I would only listen to if I were being driven home and the driver just so happened to have the radio on. But there’s something about the feistiness, the sassiness, the riotousness of it all. I liked the music so much I bought the cast recording on the way out. It only leaves me to wish Six a long and glorious reign.
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Whistle Down The Wind at The Union Theatre | Review
Whistle Down The Wind is, as the programme cover states, is “Based on a novel by Mary Hayley Bell and the screenplay by Willis Hall and Keith Waterhouse and the film by Richard Attenborough and Bryan Forbes”. The novel was published in 1959 and the film was released in 1961 but prior to that, it had been a stage play too. Unusually it has been turned into a musical … [Read more...]
Amélie The Musical at The Other Palace | Review
Amélie is a charming, whimsical, musical, based on a 2001 French Film, which was originally (2015) staged in California, and then on Broadway where it ran for only two months. It was revived at the Watermill Theatre Bagnor earlier this year and has been touring the UK prior to landing up at The Other Palace for its Christmas offering (with a suggestion of being … [Read more...]
The Boy Friend at the Menier Chocolate Factory | Review
Written in the 1950s and set in the interwar period, The Boy Friend is one of those shows that one hears about every so often but opportunities to see a production outside the amateur dramatics circuit are relatively rare. Just as well, then, that this one retains the original setting without a radical reinterpretation. And while it’s true that they don’t write … [Read more...]
West Side Story at Curve (Leicester) | Review
I’ll admit it: I’m a little biased. Occasionally I’m asked what my favourite show of all time is - if the questioner is looking for me to give them my favourite play, it’s rather difficult to say for certain. But if they’re happy to accept a musical for an answer, it’s West Side Story. It retains a relevance over the decades that might just remain timeless even a … [Read more...]
& Juliet at Shaftesbury Theatre, London | Review
There’s already been a major musical reworking of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It’s called West Side Story, which has been enjoyed by audiences through various revivals and tours over the decades since its 1957 Broadway opening. This one, & Juliet, truth be told, doesn’t beat West Side Story, but there is nonetheless much to be enjoyed in this rather thrilling … [Read more...]
Review of Dear Evan Hansen at the Noël Coward Theatre
There are certain Broadway shows that are so hyped up that by the time they reach the West End one wonders whether the London incarnation is going to be as remarkable as people across the Atlantic have been saying their production is. The songs of Dear Evan Hansen feel as though they have become established standards in musical theatre concerts in the capital for some … [Read more...]
Much Ado About Nothing at Wilton’s Music Hall | Review
Much Ado About Nothing is Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory’s twentieth anniversary production, a company that, in the words of this production’s Director Elizabeth Freestone, values language, storytelling and the audience experience above all else. With the apparent “comedy” of revenge and miscommunication at the centre of this story’s near-farcical spiral, it might … [Read more...]
Review of Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward Theatre
Mary Poppins is an unashamedly old-fashioned, feel-good musical, at times very pantomimic in style - ideal family Christmas-time entertainment for children of all ages, especially in Cameron Mackintosh’s lavish production at the Prince Edward Theatre, where it was first seen in 2004. There can be few who do not know the Sherman Brothers songs, most of which are … [Read more...]