To say that Rags The Musical has had a chequered history would be a total understatement. It opened on Broadway in August 1986 and ran for just four performances. It’s been reworked and revised at least four times before landing at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester last year and has now transferred to The Park Theatre in London. Originally conceived as a kind of follow up to Fiddler On The Roof (the original book writer of Rags, Joseph Stein, wrote the book for Fiddler) although the music … [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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Review of Once at the Fairfield Halls | UK Tour
Margo Lion, Broadway producer of “Hairspray”, once said “Traditionally, the great musicals were based on plays, but the thing is we ran out of plays and we had to find something else to base them on”. Whilst I wouldn’t totally agree with her, there’s no doubt there’s a recent trend where films such as “Billy Eliot”, “Kinky Boots”, “Little Shop Of Horrors” etc. have been turned into highly successful musicals as has Once which after award winning runs on Broadway and in the West End, is now going … [Read more...]
A Christmas Carol is ‘an engaging and memorable production’
It’s the right kind of setting for a show like A Christmas Carol, the historic Middle Temple Hall, where (according to the show’s programme) Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night had its first performance in 1602 - and this production from Antic Disposition pulls out all the stops to make this an engrossing experience, even without any major surprises in the narrative for anyone familiar with the Charles Dickens novel. Now in its fifth year, the production has its repeat customers - one family told your … [Read more...]
Review of Soho Cinders at Charing Cross Theatre
Certain productions of certain musicals have their principal cast members (and even the whole company) belting at full volume at a given point or two. What is less common is the situation that I witnessed at this Charing Cross Theatre production of Soho Cinders, where cast members were holding back. I’m still not sure what to make of it: was it simply the method by which the production matches the sounds of the band and the cast’s singing voices? The downside is that some of the musical numbers … [Read more...]
Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical at Theatre Royal Brighton
“Priscilla is more than a show that makes the audience laugh and cry, it is about tolerance and accepting others for what they are without question”(Mark Goucher – producer). This ‘compilation’ musical is also great fun with an almost unbroken string of 29 hits that the audience immediately recognises and sings or claps along with! Based on the Oscar-winning film the flimsy plot tells of the adventures of three friends who take a battered bus (Priscilla) on a journey across Australia to Alice … [Read more...]