The songs in The Quentin Dentin Show make up the best, and I mean the best new score that British musical theatre has produced in certainly the past few years. Yes, you heard me right. It’s a stonker.
A thoroughly charming, and fun, experience in musical comedy lies in store for all those who tread the path of the wand’ring minstrel Blondel.
It is to the credit and artistry of these two performers that Instructions for Dancing is a calling card that I am sure will have people asking for more.
Mark Ludmon reviews Matthew Campling’s play The English Heart which is now playing at the Etcetera Theatre in Camden. Book Now!
On The Town is a show where everything is the star, from Leonard Bernstein’s rich orchestral and melodic score to Drew McOnie’s breathtaking choreography
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Broadway Cast Recording Sony Masterworks Broadway 5 Stars Order a Copy from Amazon.co.uk I was a HUGE fan of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when it opened at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane with a score by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. Audiences were presented with a theatrical extravaganza, but what really struck me was the fabulous score which used only one song from the Gene Wilder film. Shaiman and Wittman had pulled off the near impossible by channelling the Wonka zeitgeist, creating new music for Charlie of the same calibre and Bricusse and Newley’s original film score. I was therefore interested to hear that for the Broadway production changes were to be made. More song moments from the film have been integrated, numbers from the London score cut (luckily the London cast album exists!) and new songs written. Christian Borle takes over the spoon … Read more
Taj Express Peacock Theatre, 14th June 2017 3 Stars BOOK NOW If you missed the superlative ‘Beyond Bollywood’ at the Palladium last year, you could do worse than catch this simpler, humbler offering from the Merchant clan (Vaibhavi, Choreography and Shruti, Director and Producer with Pranav, Executive Producer, and music by Salim and Sulaiman Merchant) in the subterranean lair down Kingsway. No, it’s not the equal of that brand-leader in terms of drama, music, choreography or staging, but Toby Gough’s work-a-day book serves up a revue-style panorama of popular Indian dance styles– keeping it strictly in the family –. There is ‘assistant choreography’ also from Rajitdev Easwardas, Deepak Singh, Tejaswi Shetty, Pratik Utekar and Rahul Shetty). There are basic projections and some rather more sophisticated lighting designs by Miguel Angel Fernandez, and Alessio Comuzzi pumps out the sound. Inevitably, given the indebtedness of the show to the Indian film industry, … Read more
Boris and Sergey’s Preposterous Improvisation Experiment. Pulse Festival, New Wolsey Theatre. 10 June 2017 4 Stars And here is a great way to close the Pulse Festival, Flabbergast Theatre presenting one hour of totally unscripted work, with no rehearsals and no preparation. This approach always makes me feel a little nervous as I enter the auditorium, but there were only moments when the performers seemed to run out of steam, but, of course, they made a feature out of those moments! The troupe wisely made fun of the Pulse Festival by going through the programme, quickly noticing how many shows dealt with death, and began by presenting their version of those shows. Performed just two days after the general election, improvisation suggestions from the audience were along the lines of ‘strong and stable’, so for every time the performers looked to be clutching at straws, there were wheat fields to … Read more
