Carmel ThomasonA story about the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US doesn’t sound like a topic for either your typical feelgood musical or Christmas production. But ‘Come From Away’ is far from your average show. It tells the true story of what...
Steve TimmsThe Smiths remain one of Manchester’s most beloved bands. The musical alliance between Morrissey and Marr gifted the world a catalogue of melodic pop songs with lyrics which spoke to those on the margins of life: the lonely, depressed and...
Dave PorterIt’s a mad, mad world – and sometimes feels increasingly so as we head towards the festive season – but none more so than in Wonderland, the magical underworld kingdom created by Lewis Caroll more than 150 years ago. Caroll’s classic tale has been...
Paul ThomasonThe BBC Philharmonic Orchestra: The Sound of Gaming was an ambitious and innovative classical musical event catering for three separate audiences simultaneously. The first, of which I was a part, was the in person audience in the BBC Philharmonic...
Cathy CrabbAfter 30 years of accolades, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake still has audiences on their feet at the end, enthralled, moved and wanting more. This deconstructed and thematically enhanced version of the original ballet is an unflinching look at royalty...
Martin ThomassonSeven-(almost eight)-year-olds, Mickey and Eddie form an immediate bond when they meet by chance in a Liverpool park in the 1960s. Unruly, foul-mouthed Mickey thrills and appalls Eddie (‘Edward’ to his parents) with his unfettered language and...
Mozart’s The Magic Flute is enduringly popular because it is the perfect mix of fantasy and fabulousness in an accessible opera that entertains and enchants regular opera-goers and those new to opera alike. Indeed, this Opera North autumn season at...
Whenever “the great and the good” turn out in numbers for a show, it is more likely they are anxious to be seen rather than to see. Laurie Anderson’s remarkable ARK: United States V provides a notable exception to this rule. Familiar faces are much...
There are likely many reasons why Ruddigore is one of the lesser performed works of Gilbert and Sullivan. But audience enjoyment is not one of them. There was a palpable lightness in the Lowry’s large Lyric auditorium for Opera North’s high energy...
I come away from Opera North’s revived production of Benjamin Britten’s adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream still trying to work out whether or not I enjoyed it. Those things that ON, almost without exception, do well, were a triumph. The...