Reading Time: 3 minutesWhat an incredible night this was in Piccadilly London, at the famous West End show biz venue, The Crazy Coqs. The room was packed out for Mr Hugh Panaro. Huge is somewhat of a New York Broadway king, with many years under his belt playing leading roles in some of the longest running musicals of all time. Huge is famously known for playing more than 2,000 shows as The Phantom, from The Phantom Of The Opera.
Reading Time: 2 minutesTwine is a deepdive into the mind of an adoption ‘success’. Inspired by her own experiences, Selina Thompson’s writing brings the hidden depths of a woman in turmoil to the stage. Employing an impressively original approach to storytelling, it is unfortunately weakened by mixed messaging and some uncomfortable acting. Twine is an interesting show in need of some refinement.
Reading Time: 2 minutesA gonorrhea outbreak in an old folks’ home; a banker who is “sexually a cat”; a young man extolling the virtues of being choked. Such are the gems drawn from interviews in the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (NATSAL), and played out by puppets in The Sex Lives of Puppets. Despite their dull, staring black eyes and gurning faces, deft manpulatio and skillful voice-acting lend a startling likeability and authenticity to the characters onstage. Similarly, The Sex Lives of Puppets is more than a little macabre, but also filled to the brim with personality, and possessed of a uniquely weird charm.
Reading Time: 2 minutesKnight, played with dark intensity by Fred Wardale, finds himself locked in a cage in an anonymous interrogation centre, with no idea why. He undergoes brutal interrogation, psychological breakdown, and the fringes of insanity. To escape, he only needs to tell the truth. But what truth is this, who wants it and why, and how on earth is he supposed to discover it?
Reading Time: 2 minutesDeadnamed kicks off with a really good bit - award winning writer, stand-up comedian, and actor Dian Cathal bursting from a cardboard coffin centre stage. He struggles to get out, acknowledging that they’re not usually meant to be gotten out of. What follows is an hour of mesmerising theatre, throughout which Dian’s bright, charismatic comedy shines.
Reading Time: 4 minutesHave you got musical theatre ear worms? If you do, this show is just for you and those ear worms. These worms aren’t actual worms, if you do have worms in your ears, please see someone. Olivia Ruggiero takes the audience on a journey into the world of musical theatre through her own experience, how she found her love, the highs and the lows of trying to break into the tough industry. Which you can relate to if you have also considered being an actor/actress. The journey is of course, in true musical theatre style, through song. The songs are either parodies of popular classics (not Popular from Wicked) or covers of the original scores. There is also a little bit of opera. It has the glitz, glamour and ruby red slippers of Broadway and is delivered to an audience in a room converted into a theatre in a room upstairs at a pub.
Reading Time: 2 minutesFrom the second our two performers, Xhloe Rice and Natasha Roland, arrive into the space as our heroes Ace and Grasshopper, muddy-kneed and adorned in Scout garb, we know we are in more than capable hands. A few wild stories, knockabouts, harmonica harmonisations and spit-shakes later, they have our full and undivided attention.
Reading Time: 2 minutesBringing the frills and fuss is the incredibly energetic ensemble, made up of Patrick Cook, Olivia McBride, Daniel Walford, and Tayla Watson-Briathwaite. They exude everything from sex to sympathy, and dazzle their way through the snappy and well-instructed choreography by Jo McShane. To say nothing of Luke Farrugia, who, as The Diva, plays everything from a bawdy Ethel Merman to a soothing Karen Carpenter. Where he shines, however, is in his thoughtful interpretation of Judy Garland. With a soaring falsetto and the crude humor of a panto dame, he is a definite highlight.
Reading Time: 2 minutesWritten (and possibly directed) by Tim French, The Bastard Sons of Catford Elvis tells the story of two best friends, Danny (Mike Gillette) and Billy (Niall Hemingway). Together with Danny's mother Brigitte (Kathryn Haywood), they confront Danny's estranged birth father John (Neil Maddock and Tim French), after receiving a mysterious invitation to a rock&roll event. There, they meet John, a self-proclaimed rock star, and Lisa-Marie (Maggie McGuire), later Billy's love interest. John needs Danny's cooperation to seize upon a famous TV show which is actually produced by Lisa-Marie's father, while Danny sets up an Elvis quiz to challenge John's fatherhood.
Reading Time: 3 minutesWe sat down with Romain Borgeaud from RB Dance Company. Fresh from a sold-out European tour, France’s Got Talent finalists, the company presents the UK premiere of its critically acclaimed, award-winning production Stories- The Tap Dance Sensation at Sadler’s Wells’ Peacock Theatre from Wednesday 23 October - Saturday 2 November 2024.