Theatre News & Reviews: 2013

REVIEW: Stephen Ward, Aldwych Theatre ✭

The piece has no idea what it is doing: it does not tell any story well or with feeling. You know as much about Stephen Ward and his part in the Profumo scandal when the final curtain falls as you do when the opening notes sound in the orchestra.

Olivier Awards Promo 2014

REVIEW: Henry V, Noel Coward Theatre ✭✭✭✭

it reflects the standards, achievements and sense of the entire season: A great play, a real star at the heart of the production, a set design redolent of the Donmar Grandage seasons and some spectacularly awful casting.

REVIEW: A Gentleman's Guide To Love And Murder, Walter Kerr Theatre ✭✭✭✭

Jefferson is quicksilver Broadway magic - effortlessly creating 9 very different members of the same clan. He is a joy to watch and he chews the scenery as he goes, dying with considerable and hilarious effort time after time.

REVIEW: West Side Story, Currently On Tour ✭✭

It was impossible not to feel anything but sympathy for this cast and nothing but irritation bordering on contempt for the "creatives" who think this is the way to present West Side Story to non-London UK audiences.

REVIEW: Richard II, RSC ✭✭✭✭

Rightly, the cast received a standing ovation at the RST - an unusual sight at Stratford Upon Avon. This is a startlingly clear and quite gorgeous production of a play which can seem convoluted and which, really, has no heroes.

REVIEW: The Scottsboro Boys, Old Vic Theatre ✭✭✭✭

The nine boys are, in an unqualified way, magnificent: the line-up here is better than the Vineyard line-up. Each of the nine can sing, dance and act. They are simply tremendous: with special, remarkable turns from James T Lane (seriously, just get the awards engraved now), Kyle Scatliffe, Clinton Roane and Carl Spencer. When they all sing together, it is unarguably thrilling.

REVIEW: Twelve Angry Men, Garrick Theatre ✭✭✭

It's a worthwhile night at the theatre, quite engrossing, but it does not reach the level of excitement it ought.

REVIEW: The Fastest Clock In The Universe, Old Red Lion Theatre ✭✭✭✭✭

Tom O’Brien’s production is a rare opportunity to see one of Ridley’s greatest works performed to such a high standard. Not for the faint of heart, and not to be missed.

FROM THE DRESSING ROOM: Jenna Russell

2013 REVIEW: The Book Of Mormon, Prince Of Wales Theatre. ✭✭✭

For my part, it is as plain as a pike staff that the performers at hard work in this Parker, Lopez and Stone piece are, uniformly, at the top of their game and give more than 100% constantly. This production is far, far better than that original Broadway production.

REVIEW: Jeeves and Wooster - Richmond Theatre ✭✭✭✭

This is one time a play lives up to its name. It's undeniable nonsense, but Perfect in every way.

REVIEW: Ghosts, Almeida Theatre at Trafalgar Studios ✭✭✭✭✭

Lesley Manville has never been better than she is here: brittle, desperate, trapped, her Helene Alving is a pulsing stream of artic lava, engulfing everyone around her. Her outward facade of high moral piousness eventually falls to reveal the broken tormented golem inside

REVIEW: From Here To Eternity, Shaftesbury Theatre ✭✭✭

Sir Tim describes the work as a grown-up musical: not sure what that means, but one cannot but think everyone would been better off if this piece was mature in tone and execution rather than "grown-up".

REVIEW: The Light Princess, Lyttleton Theatre at the National ✭✭

It has to be said that, taking into account the whole experience, The Light Princess is no better or worse a musical than Viva Forever! In both cases, the book needs fundamental reworking, the score too, and there were avoidable casting issues - but each had/has real potential.

REVIEW: The Commitments, Palace Theatre. ✭✭✭

It is chock full of great musical classics and extremely well sung and performed. Indeed, the vocal work of Killian Donnelly as the lewd lout Deco is assured, spectacular and riveting: a true tour-de-force.

REVIEW: The Herd, Bush Theatre ✭✭✭✭✭

This is a wonderful night at the theatre, exhilarating and rewarding, and a portentous debut for Kinnear. It is a play which could play anywhere - and should. It has insightful and glorious things to say about love, parenting and family - and it is fiendishly funny to boot.

REVIEW: Roots, Donmar Warehouse ✭✭✭✭

This is difficult theatre to watch - but it is engaging and ultimately life affirming. And quite splendid.

INTERVIEW: Chris Urch, Playwright

REVIEW: Strange Interlude, National Theatre ✭✭✭✭

Godwin's sensational production will be long remembered - chiefly for being exactly what The National Theatre should be about all the time: first rate productions of first rate texts with first rate casts. The theatrical world's other triple threat.

REVIEW: Barnum, Chichester Festival Theatre ✭✭✭✭✭

A triumph - in almost every way...On the basis of tonight, it is a five star hit, which should transfer to the Palladium and play for a long time.

REVIEW: Titanic, Southwark Playhouse ✭✭✭✭

This is a thoroughly engaging production with many highs and real drama at play - and the music makes you float through the passages where the vocal work does not. Maury Yeston is a genius.

REVIEW: Billy Budd, Southwark Playhouse ✭✭

A wasted opportunity, especially given the presence of Archer and McArthur.

REVIEW: The Sound Of Music, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre ✭✭✭✭

No matter what one might have thought about The Sound of Music before, what Kavanaugh achieves here, with a gobsmackingly good cast, redefines it, giving it a truth and honesty and freshness which is utterly, completely joyous.

INTERVIEW: Dana P Rowe, Composer Of The Fix

There is nothing quite like when John and I get together because of the vast history we share. We write well and quickly together; there's no fluff to dig through. It's all very real. We don't live in each others pockets though.

REVIEW: The Drowned Man - A Hollywood Fable ✭✭✭✭✭

Punchdrunk, since forming in 2000, have unabashedly muddied the theatrical waters and, in this mega collaboration with The National Theatre, have redefined the form and its capabilities entirely. So, go. Marvel. Dance. And if you don’t come out with shoes full of sand, bark in your hair, drowning in sweat and emotionally exhausted, then you’re not doing it right.

REVIEW: Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Theatre Royal Drury Lane ✭✭✭✭

It is an absolute sensation - guaranteed to restore and replenish your inner child and to restore your faith in the concept of the good old fashioned musical.

REVIEW: Deconstructing Broadway, Leicester Square Theatre ✭✭✭✭✭

For any musical theatre fan, this is a night of sheer bliss. For anyone else it’s a night of comedy gold.

INTERVIEW: Seth Rudetsky

REVIEW: Patti LuPone, Leicester Square Theatre, ✭✭✭✭✭

If ecstasy were a fragrance the air would be rich with it, seeping from the overjoyed auditorium

Broadway Interview - Telly Leung

Emily Hardy chats to Glee’s Telly Leung about his show at the London Hippodrome, Rent, Godspell, Allegiance, and life as a musical theatre performer on Broadway.

Broadway Interview - Jason Ralph

I was a real goth kid at school and my mum was terrified of all my friends. She really pushed me in the direction of theatre. I found out later that she had actually persuaded the drama teacher to give me all the roles I’d played at school, but I’m so grateful because I was able gain a lot of experience.

REVIEW: The Universal Machine, New Diorama Theatre ✭✭✭

Richard Delaney is striking in the complex role of Turing, capturing his being both physically and in brief moments of song. The composers have chosen to allow the music to occur around Turing highlighting his alienation, which is palpable.

REVIEW: Kinky Boots, Al Hirschfeld Theatre ✭✭✭

Billy Porter is wonderful as the cross-dressing Lola, funny and fragile, but one vaguely wonders whether his voice will last the distance. The performance of the evening comes from Annaleigh Ashford who is perfect in every way as the feisty local gal who gets the Boss.

INTERVIEW: Declan Donnellan

REVIEW: Once, Phoenix Theatre ✭✭✭✭✭

This version of Once aches with a rawness, a shuddering and tremulous intensity that is almost unbearable to endure, so true, brave and intense are the performances from the entire ensemble.

REVIEW: The Audience, Gielgud Theatre ✭✭✭✭

The Audience, written by Peter Morgan, starring Helen Mirren and directed by Stephen Daldry, is one of those rare theatrical experiences which embraces and delivers all of the possibilities in a rich, perfectly-pitched and played meditation on the UK Monarchy, the office of Prime Minister and the state of the evolving UK society...If all West End productions were this good, London would expire from sheer pleasure.

REVIEW: The Judas Kiss, Duke Of Yorks ✭✭✭✭

Neil Armfield's glorious revival of David Hare's masterpiece about the torments, triumphs and tragedy of Oscar Wilde's last years, The Judas Kiss, is spellbinding theatre and, but for one glaring inadequacy, would be hard to beat as revival of the year.

REVIEW: Versailles, Donmar Warehouse ✭✭✭✭

This is the sort of play the Donmar is famous for. An instant classic.