Paul ThomasonGrease is back in Manchester for a welcome return with this energetic touring production featuring a youthful cast. This current version is a blend of one of the greatest movie musicals of the last half century and the original 1971 stage show it...
Carmel ThomasonIt wouldn’t be an odd question to ask: what is The Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre Production of Jesus Christ Superstar doing indoors? Timothy Sheader’s bold new staging first opened in 2016, winning a host of awards, including an Olivier Award for...
Cathy CrabbWe can say it now – anything set in the 80’s has become a period piece and The Curve’s production of An Officer and a Gentleman, the Musical, is as 80’s as legwarmers in shoulder pads. Douglas Day Stewart’s original story was an 80’s hit film...
Olivia HowlettSex, Sorcery, and Suckers… The tagline promises exactly what ‘Unfortunate: The Untold Story of Ursula the sea witch’ delivers. The production offers crude jokes, amateur charm, and a proper parody that pokes fun at all those clichés in your typical...
A tropical forest isn’t the setting you might imagine for a Christmas musical. But when temperatures are minus 7 outside, the idea of being transported to a lush green land, if only for a couple of hours is inviting. The adventure starts from first...
The glittering ball that awaits audiences at Hope Mill Theatre this Christmas has been a long-time in the making. Owners, Joseph Houston and William Whelton had this show in their sights for four years, and twice its staging was stalled due to Covid...
Georgina WellsWhen you stop and think about it, it’s incredible that a musical parody based on a US television series which finished airing over 18 years ago is touring the UK, and that people are paying to go and see it. Such is the cultural phenomenon of...
Dave PorterA staple of school set texts no doubt, Blood Brothers is testimony to this fact with what felt like hordes of schoolchildren descending upon The Lowry for this most primeval of shows. The tightly-structured plot and allusions to Greek tragedy make...
Martin ThomassonThe region’s cultural shores are currently awash with new musicals. Bolton’s Octagon Theatre is right now premiering, “The Book Thief – the musical”. A couple of weeks back, here at the Lowry, your doughty reviewer saw, “Identical – the...
In handing over his entire back catalogue (40 albums) with permission to “use any songs in any way he liked”, Bob Dylan dealt the gifted Irish writer, Conor McPherson a far better hand than, for example, Benny and Bjorn allowed Catherine Johnson...