Features

Critic’s Choice: The Top 10 London Musicals (16th Dec)

Features, News, West End
Assassins at the Menier Chocolate Factory starring Aaron Tveit

10 Best New Musicals in the West End What Musical should you see first in London’s West End? We have compiled this list to save you the trouble of working it out! It’s just our view – and everyone has one – based on our Reviewers’ thoughts. We will update the list regularly so new productions get on your radar and when original casts change that is factored in. Musicals which have been running for more than three years are not included – this is a list for new or relatively new productions running in the West End. We are in the process of doing health checks on long running shows and we’ll be publishing those soon. So go see them! 1. Assassins (5 Stars) Read our review of Assasins. Book Tickets 2. Here Lies Love (5 Stars) Read our review of Here Lies Love 3. Urinetown (5 Stars) Read … Read more

OPINION: Do We Need More Dogfights?

Features, Off West End
Dogfight at Southwark Playhouse

There are questions to be asked about Dogfight. Any attempt at a review really ought to address those questions rather than simply parroting the plot and blurting out an opinion. Is it any good? Well, first let me declare an interest – I am fortunate enough to represent two clients appearing in the show, Cellen Chugg Jones and Samuel J Weir. It would be remiss of me not to mention this, and while I thought both were outstanding performances, it doesn’t really have any bearing on what I thought of the show. Suffice to say both men did me proud, turning in dazzlingly focused and nuanced performances. As Boland, right-hand man to Jamie Muscato’s thrilling Eddie, Chugg Jones gives a performance of raw masculinity and power. I probably would say that though, wouldn’t I? Weir, like all the marines, balances virility with vertiginous vocals. No On The Town-esque mincing for … Read more

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel: From 1945 to 2014 in a single hit

Features, Off West End
Morphic Grafiti's production of Carousel at Arcola Theatre

  Is a kiss with a fist better than none? Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel: From 1945 to 2014 in a single hit I know what you want me to do. You want me to write a review – to churn out something interesting and witty about Morphic Graffiti’s production of Carousel at the Arcola. And yes, I can attempt to satisfy you in that to an extent – lest I fail entirely in my role as reviewer/critic/ writer, or whatever it is you wish to call me. I can tell you about the space – a space that, when entered, inspired involuntary and audible gasps from its unsuspecting audience (somewhat attributable to the humidity, sure, but mostly due to the theatre’s radical transformation), the band perched high overhead preparing to chirp, and more ropes, pulleys and levers than PGL. Stuart Charlesworth’s design is simple and yet sumptuous, suggestive rather than … Read more