Regional

Show Boat Comes To Sheffield Theatres

News, Regional
Show Boat at Sheffield Theatres December 2015

Sheffield Theatres Artistic Director Daniel Evans has today announced the company for his new production of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s musical Show Boat which will play at the theatre from December 2015 to January 2016. This epic musical is based on the classic novel by Edna Ferber and spans three generations of show folk as they perform along the Mississippi River. Labelled one of the most romantic musicals of all time, Show Boat’s score contains musical theatre standards including Ol’ Man River, Make Believe and Cant Help Lovin’ Dat Man. Showboat was a ground-breaking moment in American musical theatre history marking the first time that songs helped tell the story marking the beginning of the modern musical. Evans will direct Michael Xavier as Gaylord Ravenal, Gina Beck as Magnolia Hawks, Lucy Briers as Parthenia Hawks, Sandra Marvin as Queenie, Emmanuel Kojo as Joe, Rebecca Trehearn as Julie La … Read more

What’s On In Manchester – September to October 2015

News, Regional, Touring
Mack and Mabel at Chichester Festival Theatre

Manchester is a vibrant theatre city which plays host to a number of national touring productions as well as housing some of the great producing theatres. So What’s On In Manchester? If you are visiting Manchester we can recommend any of the following productions and look forward to hearing your feedback. SEPTEMBER 2015 Annie The classic children’s musical starring Craig Revel Horwood. Lesley Joseph plays Miss Hannigan on 25/26 September. 15 – 26 September Manchester Opera House Book Tickets Facing the Music with Patricia Routledge An evening with Patricia Routledge in conversation with Edward Seckerson. 9 September 2015 Stockport Plaza Book Tickets The Crucible Arthur Miller’s stage classic comes to the Royal Exchange. 18 September – 24 October 2015 Royal Exchange Theatre Book Tickets Handbagged Moira Buffini’s high-spirited and shrewd piece cleverly explores the nature of history – and what might have gone on behind closed doors 15 – 19 … Read more

REVIEW: Mrs Henderson Presents, Theatre Royal Bath ✭✭✭✭✭

Regional, Reviews
Mrs Henderson Presents Theatre Royal Bath

There is no doubt that Mrs Henderson Presents should transfer to the West End. The material is first-rate and superior to many new musicals that have played there in recent years. It will need a bigger orchestra (and, accordingly, bigger orchestrations) and it could do with some casting fine-tuning and a larger ensemble (another dozen dancers at least) so that a grander sense of scale was permitted. In Bath, it comes across as a superb chamber piece, perfectly suited to the gorgeous Theatre Royal. In the West End, its aim can be higher.

REVIEW: For Services Rendered, Minerva Theatre ✭✭✭✭✭

Regional, Reviews
For Services Rendered Chichester

I doubt anyone could hope for a finer, more delicate production of this great play. It is genuinely funny in parts, full of melodramatic touches which are not silly but insightful, and incredibly moving when the final scenes play out. Davies is at the top of his game here- this is a symphony of theatrical pleasure. It should transfer to the West End and play and play. Producers should not be fearful of a good old-fashioned triumph.

REVIEW: Mack And Mabel, Chichester Festival Theatre ✭✭✭✭

Regional, Reviews
Mack and Mabel at Chichester Festival Theatre

Ball is an exceptional, utterly convincing Mack. He completely gets under the skin of the character, finding precisely the right level to pitch every moment of anger, driven determination, and offhand callousness. The passion for making comedy films that can see people of any race and creed laugh in any place on the planet is the backbone of Ball’s characterisation. He is entirely unsentimental in his delivery and never seeks the approval of the audience. Musically, Ball is exceptional. He uses his big, bright voice deftly, producing clear, strong notes, ringing phrases of great colour, and perfectly supported passages of soft and delicate singing

REVIEW: Othello, Royal Shakespeare Theatre ✭✭✭

Regional, Reviews
Othello at the Royal Shakespeare Company

This is a curious production of Othello. You get the bones of the story, clearly, but the flesh, the marrow, the heart – all of which depends upon the rich characters of the central trio and the way the actors approach their motivations, fears and tempestuous feelings – is thin on the ground. As Othello says: “Certain men should be what they seem”. In appearance, word and action. In Khan’s hands, and with this casting, none of Othello, Desdemona nor Iago are what they seem according to Shakespeare’s text.

REVIEW: Volpone, Swan Theatre ✭✭

Regional, Reviews
Henry Goodman in Volpone at the RSC

Henry Goodman is assured and magnetic as the titular Volpone. He gives a larger than life performance which suits – entirely – Johnson’s larger than life character. In the extreme, absurd comedy, Goodman is very good indeed. His fake almost-dead patient is a riot, not the least because when Goodman has his wig and hospital gear in full flight, he bears an uncanny resemblance to Worzel Gummidge as played by Jimmy Savile. There is something splendidly repulsive yet unsettlingly endearing about him in this mode.

REVIEW: Joking Apart, Theatre Royal Windsor ✭✭✭✭

Regional, Reviews
Joking Apart by Alan Ayckbourn at Theatre Royal Windsor

As with so many theatres of a certain age, the bar at the Theatre Royal is proudly lined with photos of bygone productions from the golden age of repertory theatre; and there, sure enough, were the production shots of a 1986 production of this very play, Joking Apart – all duffle coats, cravats and tweed jackets, floral print dresses, and big, frizzy hair-dos, taking you straight back to the 1970s. But the lesson of this fine production is that this is a timeless play that holds up as true a mirror to our foibles now as ever it did before.