The pile of trophies stacking up for Jersey Boys says it all – 57 major awards at the last count. To be fair, I’m not sure if there is anything left for it to win. This panel awarded the UK tour the MTA Brynteg award for best musical at last year’s...
It is a testament to the size of Manchester’s theatre going public that many big shows are now making their way to the region not once, but twice on a national tour. Last year Cameron Mackintosh’s production of Barnum played at the Palace Theatre...
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a musical that audiences never tire of seeing, no matter how many times it tours, and I count myself in that. There’s good reason for its enduring popularity – the story, taken from the Bible’s book of...
Happy Days may be billed as a new musical, but there’s no disguising it’s the chance of a trip down memory lane that’s bringing in the crowds. Nostalgia is the name of the game, and it scores here on two levels – first for...
It is easy to pre-judge 20th Century Boy as a jukebox musical that offers little more than a nostalgia trip to the glam rock era of the early 1970s, but you’d be missing a treat if you do. I admit, initially I fell into that cynical camp. I’ve sat...
Bill Kenwright’s production of Evita returns to Manchester for the third time in almost as many years. With repeated runs it is easy for shows to look tired and pared back. But remarkably with this production the new tour has upped its game...
It’s almost twenty years since The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert opened in the cinema, and almost as long ago since I saw it. I don’t remember liking it very much at the time, well not enough to watch again. So, you might...
For feel-good Christmas nostalgia there is no beating White Christmas. Irving Berlin’s musical is a belter in every sense – a heart-warming story packed to the brim with memorable tunes, such as Happy Holiday, Blue Skies, Sisters, How Deep is...
If ever there was proof that miracles happen, then it is the tale of Susan Boyle. We all laughed when Susan turned up at Britain’s Got Talent and claimed that she wanted to sing like Elaine Paige. Then she sang, and we had to eat humble pie...
Life was very different in 1968. There was no internet, no mobile phones and The Monkees was staple Saturday night TV. Thank goodness we’re not back there again, as the new musical, Monkee Business constantly reminds us. It’s a joke that is over...
Carmel Thomason