Regional Theatre Touring shows

Bat out of hell  - 2025 Tour ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Having seen Bat out of hell in its original form in Manchester and London (at both the Dominion and the Coliseum), we were intrigued to see how the spectacular large-scale show was adapted for the latest regional tour which kicked off in January. Gone is the second floor of Falco’s house replaced by two large screens above the eight-piece band. It immediately has the feel of a staged concert of the show with a relatively small space left for the Ensemble dancers to perform and emphasised by the principals all singing into handheld microphones. These certainly amplified the vocals superbly but did seem to inhibit the acting and relationships. The huge tunnel has been moved from stage right to upstage centre and becomes a more focal point dressed in plastic rocks. The sense of locations within the post-apocalyptic city of Obsidian is lost too.

Of course, Jim Steinman’s magnificent rock score made famous by Meatloaf remains at the centre of the show and is the reason enough to see the production. In the late sixties the first rock musical Hair defined a genre in an innovative and compelling form that has seldom been surpassed. Perhaps only the staging of the Who’s rock opera Tommy has really combined successfully rock music with a strong story line, but the West End show matched them in scale and innovation. In adaptation for the tour, so much of the original has been Lost. The special effects of exploding motor bike, stunning car that tipped over the edge of the stage and pool of water have all gone, reducing the key moments in the show to a parody of the original.

There are strong allusions to Peter Pan in the story created to link the songs. We have Peter, here called Strat, leading the Lost with his special confidant, Tink and falling in love with Raven (Wendy) while being pursed and at war with her father, Falco (Hook). But at its heart are the love stories between Strat and Raven, between Falco and Sloane (his wife and Raven’s mother) and Zahara and Jagwire. In the concert version, the characterisations are weaker, switching the focus to the rock anthems rather than portraying characters motivations. Everyone plays it with bags of energy and enthusiasm like fans of Meatloaf having the time of their life and deliver the songs with a strong and powerful clarity, but the story becomes incomprehensible.

On the press night alternate Luke Street played Strat, as a rock star belting out the tunes but lacking the sense of danger and menace of the original. Raven played by Katie Tomkinson exudes a youthful sexual awakening. She is rebelling against by her own parents played still by Rob Fowler as Falco and on press night, Harriet Richarson-Cockerline, the understudy for  Sharon Sexton (Fowler’s offstage wife as well.) The chemistry is muted between each couple although they put plenty of effort into their performances. The relationship between these two couples is supported by an exuberant young cast led by Georgia Bradshaw as Zahara and Ryan Carter as Jagwire. Their duet of “Two out of three ain't bad” is good and, but they surpass this with an energetic “Dead ringer to love”. Throughout the songs are backed with high energy modern tribal choreography.

Of course, at the heart of the show is the music with classic rock anthems such as “Objects in the Rear View Mirror”, “Dead ringer for love”, “Bat out of hell”, “I'd do anything for love”, and “All revved up with no place to go”, sung with great musicality and energy and sure to delight fans of meatloaf and his music.

Nick Wayne

3 stars

The Girl on the Train ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Girl on the Train was a 2015 novel by Paula Hawkins, a 2016 film directed by Tate Taylor and was cleverly adapted for the stage by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel for Wiltshire Creative in 2023. It is now on a UK regional tour playing the New Victoria Theatre Woking this week before moving on  to Birmingham, Southend, Liverpool, Leicester, Cardiff and Brighton in the coming weeks. It is a cleverly staged murder mystery which has the audience grappling with the same challenge as the main protagonist trying to put together the puzzle pieces of a missing person. They have created a very tense taut mystery that keeps you guessing as the twist and turns of the characters are slowly recalled and the full picture emerges.

The stage design by Adam Wiltshire enhanced by Dan Light’s wonderful video design, creates a very fluid environment in which meetings and interviews are interwoven with memories and flashbacks, to unpack the mystery of the disappearance of Megan Hipwell. At the centre of the play is Rachel who glimpses Megan and her husband Scott on her daily train journey to work and fantasises about them as a couple, Jess and Jason. When she awakes from another drunken blackout with a cut to her head and blood on her hands and hears the news that Megan has gone missing, she can’t be sure what role she played in the disappearance. 

Director Loveday Ingram cleverly uses the open staging with see-through panels and raised upstage platform to make us feel the same sense of confusion and bewilderment as Rachel at to what reality is and what is fantasy. Scenes feel half remembered with only small details visible. A drinks cabinet defines Scott’s home, a rug Tom’s lounge, a chair Kamal’s surgery and a mattrass Rachel’s bedsit. Transitions between scenes add to the fuzziness with shadowy characters in drunken binges covering the change of location. The first act slowly builds the characters and the tensions between them before the second act explodes into a brilliant tense climax that is every bit as good as an Agatha Christie reveal.

Louisa Lytton is excellent as Rachel (on the tour until 31st May), on stage throughout, indulging in bouts of drunken escapism, fearfully of what she might had done in a period of blackout but still harbouring a passion and need for affection. Is she a victim, the perpetrator of some ghastly deed or an innocent bystander? As she explores the evidence by retracing steps and interviewing the other characters she seems one thought ahead of the policeman, DI Gaskill, (Paul McEwan) or is someone else feeding into her paranoia and spinning a web around her. Her uncertainty over who to believe and what happened is transferred to the audience and creates a gripping tense finale.

Jason Merrells plays Tom, Rachel’s ex-husband, now remarried to Anna (Zena Carswell) who together live just a few houses away from Megan and her husband, Scott (Samuel Collings). Tom has moved on from his first marriage but seems to still care for Rachel while Anna is frustrated by the Ex’s constant contact with her husband. Another suspect emerges in Kamal (Daniel Burke) a cool calm psychiatrist who may have learned more truths in his therapy sessions but should not breach the ethical client confidentiality.  Each character is well drawn with a believable upright façade and occasional hints of something darker and more sinister.

The truth is revealed through a series of triangulated relationships and meetings or flashbacks which  reveal movements on the night of Megan’s disappearance and alibis. The lighting state designed by Jack Knowles helps switch between reality and recalled memory. There are some unexpected laughs, perhaps just to relieve tension as when Gaskill explains that bodies sometimes “looked better dead than when they were alive” and another character rather telling states you “can’t believe anything anyone says”!

This play is based on a best-selling thriller and if you have read the book and recall the truth you will undoubtedly see what is happening on stage differently and can admire the storytelling and staging but if you like us come to this fresh without prior knowledge then it is the story that builds tension and sympathy as the evidence is revealed while sustaining the uncertainty. Doubts are sowed, surprises revealed and red herrings dropped as you constantly reassess who said what, when and where and that makes it a thrilling night at the theatre.

Nick Wayne

4 stars 

Calamity Jane ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It is always a special experience to see Actor Musicians performing in well staged musicals and to admire their unique skills of being able to act, dance and play as the narrative unfolds. The Watermill in Newbury has developed a strong reputation of staging these wonderful productions and it is magical to see their 2014 production of Calamity Jane be remounted for an extensive tour of the UK through to September. This week it arrived at the new Victoria Theatre in Woking with Carrie Hope Fletcher in the lead role which adds another element to the mix as she attracts a younger fan base alongside the traditional musical theatre audience . 

Calamity Jane (1852-1903) was a real-life sharpshooter and daredevil who dressed as a frontiers man with an US cavalry man hat  and was allegedly involved in many military conflicts with native American,  where she claimed she earned the nickname. The stage musical written by Sammy Fann and Paul Webster was an adaptation of the 1953 Doris Day film and  focuses on a short period of her life in the western town of Deadwood and her relationship with Wild Bill Hickok (1837-1876). It sets up a romantic love triangle between a Calvary Lieutenant Danny Gilmartin (Luke Wilson), who Jane thinks she is in love with and Katie Brown (Seren Sandham-Davies), an aspiring actress who Jane mistakes for a better know star Adelaid Adams (Molly- Grace Cutler). It is set mainly in the Golden Garter saloon in Deadwood run by Henry Miller (Peter Peverley) who is desperate to book a big female star to attract the local cowboys and soldiers. While some of the sentiments may now seem a little dated, it provides a strong basis for a lively romantic musical comedy with a charming score that is simply irrepressibly fun to watch.

Of course, it is Carrie Hope Fletcher that many have come to see, and she belts out the songs with great energy and a powerful strong voice that suggests she is a match for all the men in the saloon and then shows her more feminine side as she finds herself torn between Hickok and Gilmartin. Vinny Coyle is more than a match for as Hickok as their difficult relationship evolves from animosity and rivalry into love and affection. They work extremely well together in “I can do without you”, while Bill charms us with “Higher than a Hawk”. However, it is Calamity that leads the best songs “Just blew in from Windy City”, “A woman’s touch” with Katie and “Secret love”.

Equally the sub plot of the arrival of Francis Fryer (Samuel Holmes) booked as a female songstress, Frances to star in the saloon and Susan (Hollie Cassar), the waitress come chorus girl,  provides some lovely vaudeville style song and soft shoe shuffle dance routines. The whole Ensemble shines with the choreography of Nikolai Foster and Nick Winston, integrating the instrument playing in to the movement so you hardly notice that they are playing! The fabulous “The Deadwood stage” and the more wistful “Black Hills of Dakota” will certainly having you humming the tune on the way out, but the marvellous “Hoedown” is the show stopping dance routine that bring such joy to the stage. 

Matthew Wright’s saloon bar and stage design works a treat and for those who know the Watermill Theatre in Newbury where this production as originally staged will recognise the layout, but it translates well from the intimate venue to the larger stage. There was a fifteen-minute delay to the start on the first night in Woking and sound mix issues in the first half which distorted some of the vocals, but these were fixed as the show went along and did not distract too much from the enjoyment of the show. The journeys on stagecoach and train and the interiors of Calamity’s shack were creatively and slickly staged adding to the amusement.

The musicals like Paint your Wagon (1951), Annie Get your gun (1946) and Oklahoma (1943) all depict a bygone era as the United States of America was developing its pioneer spirit and the rule of the gun and Calamity Jane reflects that culture too. They all still connect to us today due to the fabulous score, wonderful scope for choreography and romantic characters against this background. But what makes this production stand out is the exuberant cast and the seamless combination  of their fun characterisations, superb musical playing and smooth elegant dance.

Wherever you live in the UK , this wonderful feelgood show will be near you at some point this year. Don’t miss it.

Nick Wayne

Four stars.

101 Dalmatians  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

101 Dalmatians is a very familiar tale. Older generations will recall the wonderful 1961 Disney traditional animation film, while younger generations will have enjoyed the Disney live action versions in 1996, starring Glenn Close as Cruella De Vil and its 2000 follow up,102 Dalmatians. The challenge in bringing the tale to the stage is how to represent the 101 Dalmatians themselves but in a post War Horse era, the puppetry to bring animals to the stage is well established and Jimmy Grimes, an associate director on that show, is the puppet designer and director and together with Propworks have created the stars of this new touring version of the story. Producers Runaway Entertainment appear to have restaged the 2022 Regent Park open air production of Johnny McKnight and Douglas Hodge’s script and music for this tour which began in June 2024 and continues until the end of the calendar year. 

The stars of the show are Pongo, animated and voiced by puppeteer, Linford Johnson and Perdi, Emma Thornett and the most charming and engaging scenes are those with the young puppies Spud, Patch and Button. When they meet on the trail to Cherry Tree Farm having been drawn together by the twilight barking, we get the best scene of the show as they care for Spud and sing together “A thousand kisses”. In these moments you forget the puppeteers and emotionally engage with the dogs. Indeed, throughout the production it is the scenes in which the dogs and occasional cats led by Tabby, are the most effective from the opening chorus of ten dogs in “Take me Home” to the joyous reunion at the end of all 101 dogs.  There are plenty of “ah” moments with the dogs from them sniffing each other’s rear ends, to suffering from the cold snow to the delightful defence of “we are not dogs, we are puppies”.  Their handlers dressed in blue help create the individual dog characters rather than draw attention away from the puppets.

The human characters are cartoonish and played as if in Pantomime with a hammy over the top style which appeals to the younger audiences but emphasises the humanity in the dog’s behaviour. They even include a Boris Jonhson look a like for a single gag even though the feel of the show appears to be set much earlier. Charles Brunton and Danny Hendrick borrow the brokers men characters from pantomime, gurning and waving their arms at every line to get laughs. Kym Marsh plays Cruella at Woking, Cardiff, Southampton , Aberdeen, and York, with Faye Tozer returning to play the role in Glasgow and Edinburgh before she joins the cast of the Woking Pantomime in December when Kerry Ellis takes over for Oxford and Brighton. De Vil is reimagined as a clothing designer at the Haus of de Vil with a penchant for animal furs as material. Her black and white hair is retained with some fabulous capes and drapes over her black leather trousers and boots. Yet she fails to create the villainous character that we love to hate in pantomime, and instead struts the stage as the star of the show. Jessie Elland on her professional stage debut fared better as Danielle alongside Samual Thomas’s Tom, bringing real charm to their first meeting drawn together by their dogs but thereafter they were always outshone by the puppets.

 It may be just a first night in Woking problem, but the sound mix was dreadful and the loud six-piece band in the pit overwhelmed most of the vocals and it was very hard to catch a word of what was being sung sat stage right in the auditorium. The music was generally pleasant with a mix of musical styles from a Chas and Dave style “Pub Song” to bluesy numbers like “Animal Lover” to the delightful caring “A thousand kisses”.

This is a show targeted at the young children in the audience who were charmed , amused and delighted by the Dalmatians, in their innocent energetic battle against the human villains . It is a story of teamwork, compassion and kindness and the wonderful puppets breathe real life into the story  and may well have sent these children home asking Can I have a dog, Mum? If you have a young child, you can catch this show on the rest of its tour to Cardiff, Southampton , Aberdeen, York, Glasgow and Edinburgh, Oxford and Brighton.

 Nick Wayne

 4 stars (if you are aged 5 to 14).

1984    👁👁👁

This Autumn has seen a season of modern play revivals to tour UK playhouses with The History Boys , Art and Stones in his Pocket already on tour and now joined by the Bath Theatre Royal’s production of 1984. All have great theatrical pedigree with strong writers in the background crafting the words although they do deal with adult themes of a molesting teacher, suicide and torture and debate on the nature of art. Yet it is refreshing that Producers should take these out again and hopefully they all attract good houses.

George Orwell’s dystopic prophetic view of the world in 1984, written in 1949, must have been a shocking and disturbing view of world politics at the time with its portrayal of a totalitarian state where fake news proliferates, and everybody is under the state’s gaze. Yet in 2024, 75 years later it all feels uncomfortably true with controlling the regimes in Russia, Asia and Middle East regularly in the news, closed circuit TV in every street and fake news and social media a constant threat to stability of nations and the mental health of their population. Ryan Craig’s adaptation of the book includes references to refugee boat people and features only four main characters live on stage with the rest in projected images and fails to have the same impact as the wonderful Robert Icke adaptation of 2016 at the Playhouse in the West End.

Part of the issue is the large electronic eye that dominates the stage for these projections which stares out as the auditorium fills before the show, zooming in on audience members just in case they needed reminding that Big Brother is watching. It should feel disconcerting and scary but with audience members waving at themselves it feels silly and obvious. In fact, the result is that the first Act is likely watching the dull unedited footage from TV’s Big Brother House , the reality TV hit of the first decade of this century that has now become tired and overdone and spawned a host of similar reality TV formats. The tone changes in the second act as we are shown the interview room 9 and Room 101 but these scenes too have been overtaken by TV shows like Susunu Denpa Shonen  and Squid Game and indeed the scenes suggested  rather dark bushtucker trials from I’m a celebrity get me out of here!  Perhaps that is the point Orwell’s prophetic vision has become a reality.

Whether it was the Productions intention or not, the play has to engage audiences, we have to care about the characters, we have to be moved by the action and despite its content this version fails to move or engage for much of it. Even if the second act torture scenes are disturbing and unpleasant and will no doubt cause some audience members to be revolted or faint, we don’t care what happens to Winston, Julia or Parsons at the hands of Big Brother. In part this is because in the first act we have not connected with the characters. The illicit sex scene is subdued rather than a rebellious expression of freedom and Keith Allen’s omnipresence as O’Brien , sat on a chair stage left is distracting rather than threatening and he looks as disinterested and bored as we feel in the audience.

Mark Quartley has the difficult task of portraying Winston opposite Eleanor Wild’s Julia but on a bare brightly lit stage in grey dungarees they are given little to work with. Every room and space feels the same with the dominant eye, only the green fields projection gives a better sense of location. Some locations should feel claustrophobic with tighter lighting and imagery. The Torture scenes are different and disturbing with cameras and lighting adding to the unpleasant feel, but the overall feeling is a desire to get on with the narrative as we get the point and don’t need the overextended scenes. I did look to the Lighting control desk to see if there was a technical problem as the total darkness continued for too long! David Birrell captures the desperation and despair of Parsons. Keith Allen is the duplicitous ever-present O’Brien although he does get to vary his tone in one outburst of angry vitriol, it is generally a rather low-key performance. In another unintended  moment  I half expected the arrival of the Monty Python team to burst on with “no one expects the Spanish Inquisition”.

This production failed to bring Orwell’s powerful work to the stage as effectively as the recent  2022 Animal Farm production at the same Theatre, but it does at least prompt one to consider returning to the original book to see what Orwell actually wrote and reflect on how the world has changed since that post World war II era.

 

Nick Wayne

Three stars.

 

Calendar Girls   🌻🌻🌻

Calendar Girls was an inspirational true story in 1999. It became a delightful comic film in 2003 with an all-star cast including Julie Walters and Helen Mirren, and an emotionally engaging play in 2009 with Patrica Hodge and Sian Phillips. Then in 2017 the scriptwriter of the film and play Tim Firth combined with Gary Barlow to create Calendar Girls The Musical which toured the UK until November 2019 and now arrives in  a stripped back form at the New Victoria Theatre Woking towards the end of its 2023/24 tour. The result is that we are all familiar with the story of the Yorkshire Women’s Institute who produced a calendar featuring their nude members, covered by strategically placed objects, to raise funds to honour a much-loved husband of a member who has died of leukaemia. It is an amusing, emotionally engaging and inspirational story but somehow on each new iteration the power of the story is diluted.

The musical is set mainly in a rather grand looking Knapley Methodist Hall with a distorted perspective with inserts for the key scenes at the Hospital and the London WI National Conference. This limits the opportunity to develop the characters by seeing them in the Yorkshire countryside or their homes with their families. So, the composers use solo songs to offer some insight into the lives of Cora, Annie, Celia, Jessie, Marie, Ruth, and Chris. It gives it a very disjointed episodic feel and only really connects with the audience when the ladies work as an Ensemble. Only “What age expects” really stands out in the score.                                                                              Production images credit Jack Merriman

 In “Yorkshire”, we see the Ladies enjoying their WI meetings and planning their events and competitions like autumn decorations and cake making. In “Dare” we see their camaraderie tested as the calendar idea is proposed by Chris and in “For One night only” we see them bravely and boldly commit to the photo shoot and supporting each other to tastefully get the shot. At the core of the story is the heartbreak of losing someone, dealing with grief with the support of  friends and channelling it into a positive force to make a difference. 

The seven ladies in the touring cast work very hard and you can see and sense the support they give each other as part of the story and also in acting out the photo shoot in front of a full house. The largely female audience gives them plenty of encouragement and appreciation with whoops and applause as each of the ladies poses for her shot.

Production images credit Jack Merriman

Chris, played with plenty of energy by Samantha Seagar, is moved to propose the Calendar but concerned about the impact on her son. Ruth played by Maureen Nolan, is the reluctant participant until fuelled by Vodka. Cora played by Honeysuckle Weeks, is the piano playing single mum worried by the impact on her daughter. Celia, played by Helen Pearson admits she has had “a little work done”. Jessie, played by former New Seeker, Lyn Paul, is one of the oldest members of the WI. Marie played by Liz Carney is the disapproving local WI President . It is Annie, played by Laurie Brett, who is given time to develop her character and show how she deals with the illness and death of her husband John (a poignant optimistic role played by Colin R Campbell) and is inspired to act to raise funds in his honour. 

 We laughed and cried with the film. We were inspired and moved by the play. The musical does not reach these levels, but it is a pleasant evening and  there is no denying that this cast of seven ladies do their very best to find something new in the story and whole heartedly and joyously commit to the roles. 

It is a fun and warm retelling and has a cracker of an ending.

 https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/calendar-girls-the-musical/new-victoria-theatre/

 Nick Wayne 

 Three stars 

We were invited to the Press night on 26th March at New Victoria Theatre , Woking.

I should be so lucky

Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman had a remarkable run of success between March 1986 and October 1990 with a UK a top 100 single in the chart every week and the partnership produced 13 UK Number 1 singles. They were acclaimed for having a winning formula that created this hit factory. Perhaps more importantly they supplied hits for Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Rick Astley and Mel and Kim. So, in this modern era of Jukebox Musicals built around artists catalogues it is no surprise to find ATG asking Debbie Isitt to create a Musical Theatre show from the songs .The result is the energetic, fun, camp show I should be so lucky which is now touring the UK until May and is certain to draw in the fans of those artistes and that era.

  The plot is inevitably very thin, just enough to hang the songs around but it does at least have a feelgood girl power theme endorsed by Kylie herself in her magic mirror appearances. There is a touch of Mamma Mia! in the beach side romances, a little of Shirley Valentine in the ladies abroad and a snatch of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in the sub plot although none of the characters in a cast of 25 in this large touring production get developed beyond a stereotypical caricature. There is no time for nuance as the slick staging slides from scene to scene without pausing for breath. 

                                                                                       The staging is grand and over the top with a surfeit of heart shapes in every piece of the stage furniture from the glorious arch portals to the chairs in the church, the brides house, the Bridal suite bed, the sandbags on the hot air balloon basket and the inflatable rings. We are left in no doubt that everyone in the cast is looking for love. The stage is backed with a magnificent projected image of clouds, beaches, sunsets with occasional flourishes like Kylie’s name as a firework. Plus of course the huge mirror borrowed from Snow White together with another huge heart shape into which Kylie’s videos are repeatedly projected as she interacts with Ella. Each song seems to have its own specific prop to add colour and drama and a little bit of spectacle like the Yacht, the jet skis, and the casino tables. The production is given a concert feel with large stacks of flown speakers which slightly the distort the sound for those not in the centre of the auditorium.

 The show revolves around the jilted bride Ella, charmingly played by Lucie-Mae Sumner who moves and sings wonderfully while being pursued by Nathan (Billy Roberts) and Nadeem (understudy Kade Ferraiolo). Nathan and Ash (Giovanni Spano) have great fun in disguise at a Nightclub looking like George Michael on a night out with Bobby Ball in You spin me around. There are glorious cameos from Kayla Carter as Bonnie with a wonderful rendition of You’ll never stop loving me, Scott Paige as the very camp Michael with outrageous costume choices and Jessica Daley as gambling Britney with a very good version of Respectable. There are plenty of amusing moments in the direction such as the air crew acting as overhead lockers on the flight to Turkey or some spectacular flying from below the hot air balloon.

  By the end everyone is coupled up like the finale of Love Island. The show comes to a joyous conclusion with a fabulous mega mix of hits that gets the audience to its feet and a singalong with camera phones in hand to Rick Astley’s Never gonna give you up and a host of Kylie hits. It may be music to a formula in a production that tends towards Hammy and Cheesy but there is no denying the diet is a fun night out which brings a smile to your face and leaves lyrics circulating in your head for the day after. It looks like it is bound for the West End where it will be the perfect Hen Party night out.                                                                         

 : I Should Be So Lucky Tickets | New Victoria      Theatre, Woking in Woking | ATG Tickets

Nick Wayne 

Three stars

Images  Credit Marc Brenner

Peter Pan Goes Wrong ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The play that went wrong began in 2013 and continues to run in the West End and has spawned a series of derivative productions around the same theme establishing Mischief Theatre as an innovative and successful comedy theatre company. The concept itself feels inspired by the 1964 book by Michael Green The Art of Course Acting which lampooned the world of Amateur Theatre but this play takes it to another level with sustained physical comedy, visual gags, and a host of theatrical in jokes. Peter Pan goes wrong, created in 2014 and currently touring the UK is a wonderful example of the genre and had the New Victoria Theatre Woking giggling and interacting throughout.

 Pamela Raith Photography

A part of their format is the preshow which sets the tone and premise for many of the gags. Take you seat early to enjoy the Programme which introduces the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society and their cast with local adverts too while observing the chaos preceding the opening. Flickering lights , a missing hammer, a late arrival of a cast member through the auditorium, a stage frightened cast member trying to leave and a star signing programmes in character. Then we are told that this production is NOT a Pantomime, a perfect invitation for the audience to treat is as if it was one with all the usual glorious interactions and shout outs.                                                                                                       

 Pamela Raith Photography

Indeed, Mischief’s version of JM Barrie’s famous tale retains many more elements of the original story than any of the Peter Pan Pantomimes you will see this Christmas with a long Nursery scene, the flight to Neverland, the Acorn kiss , the Mermaids, The Marooners’ Rock, the Poisoning, the Jolly Roger battle, and the flight home. Each is given the Mischief treatment. Some of the gags are overplayed like a long-recorded audition tape and a conversation played out instead of an audio cue but the jokes and business come so thick and fast we are soon sped on to the next one.  The Physical staging is brilliant with collapsing beds and a table, flying disasters, an out of control revolve, missing props and falling lights and cloths; it is no wonder the large stage crew are invited to take a bow at the end as they have a very busy night making sure each effect is safely delivered.

 Pamela Raith Photography

In front of all this, it is Jack Michael Stacey as Chris the director who plays Mr Darling and Captain Hook who really stands out with a touch of the Basil Fawlty about him. His exit though a jammed door is a wonderful hammy piece of business and his interaction with the audience as he attempts to open the poison and medicine bottles with his hook is a masterful piece of comic improvisation reacting to the shouts outs and using pauses and looks to generate longer laughs. His Co-Director Robert (Matthew Howell) also has a delightful sequence as Nana the dog stuck though the dog flap in the door and then as a scene stealing Shadow.

Gareth Tempest as Jonathan playing Peter Pan and Jake Bergum as Trevor the stage manager execute some amazing flying stunts crashing into scenery and spinning as they traverse the stage. It was exhausting to watch their antics. The children Wendy (Ciara Morris playing Sandra), Michael (Theo Toksvig-Stewart playing Max) and John (Clark Devlin playing Dennis) don’t get to fly but have well drawn stereotypical theatre types. Wendy is the love interest for her two leading men, Michael is the star struck novice cast due to his benefactor father and John is the actor who can’t remember his lines. Each element is woven into the narrative to create more laughs.

Jamie Birkett as Annie who plays simultaneously Mrs Darling and the maid Lisa as well as Tinkerbell requiring multiple costume changes comes nearest to tragedy with a falling light and electrocution but survives both! Rosemarie Akwafo as the timid and nervous Lucy is less lucky in avoiding falling cloths and being bundled up some steps in a wheelchair but ultimately emerges as a confident performer taking over as narrator from Francis (Jean-Like Worrell).

It is undeniable that the audience loved this show, and it will play to full houses all week. It is a brilliant collection of physical comic business, sight gags and theatrical in jokes played with such energy and commitment and a strong sense of fun, that even though at times it felt it could do with some judicious cuts, it provides a wonderful entertaining comic night out and plenty of laugh out loud moments.

 

Nick Wayne

Four stars.

Edward Scissorhands⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Sir Matthew Bourne and his company New Adventures produce extraordinary event productions that open up ballet and dance to whole new audiences with their beautifully staged, exquisitely danced and creatively delightful story telling. Edward Scissorhands, based on the 1990 Tim Burton film and first adapted for the stage by Bourne and Caroline Thompson  in  2005, is a perfect example of his work and is now on tour again around the UK until May. For any theatre goer it is a must-see experience and a refreshing change from Jukebox musicals, classic Musical Theatre revivals, or tribute bands.

It is a simple tale of an outsider coming into a community and the impact he has on the families and relationships within those households. It is a cross between a Frankenstein story (with just a hint of Sweeney Todd demonic cutting) and the SIMS cartoon computer game and is set in the idyll 1950’s American town of Hope Springs (presumably eternally). The dark gothic opening prologue which shows Edward’s creation after a tragic accident is replaced by a beautiful bright red glow of the quaint homes with bird song of the community that he stumbles into as the day begins and we meet the families.

The cast of thirty-three dancers play alternative nights so who you see will vary but have no doubt it will make no difference to the quality of the performances as this is an extraordinary disciplined well-drilled young cast. The Boggs family welcome Edward into their home and when their daughter Kim returns from a camping trip, she becomes mesmerised by him. Kim’s boyfriend Jim , the son of Mayor Upton is jealous of the rival. The local Vicar family, The Evercreech, bring a dark goth feel with their daughter Marilyn-Ann looking like Wednesday Addams with her attitude and look.  The Gaibright family , as the names suggests are a same sex couple. Neighbours, the Monroe family are featured with the mother Joyce portrayed as a flirty seductress of all the men in the town while her oblivious husband George is out jogging or cutting the lawn. The Covitt family making up the sextet of families. Each of these 24 characters is cleverly defined and differentiated through their costumes, movement and interactions and yet perform as a wonderful Ensemble bringing unity to the scenes despite the absence of uniformity in their characters.

The music, the original film score by Danny Elfman and new arrangements by Terry Davies, is exciting, attractive, and melodic, sweeps the production along and underpins the set piece dance routines well offering variation in style and execution.  In Halloween we see a West Side story style dance as the teenagers’ approach and invade the Inventors home.  In Portrait of Kim and Ice Dance we see a more balletic interaction between Edward and Kim which develops their romantic relationship. In Topiary Garden we see a magical fantasy sequence of dancing bushes. But the best routines are those closer to Musical Theatre when the whole Ensemble dance together in choreographed unison while still developing the stories between the characters as in The Boggs Barbeque and Edwardo the Barber.

Through all this the sad faced Edward Scissorhands dances with a robotic movement whilst carefully managing the awkward hands made of scissors and connects with us emotionally so we feel his isolation,  vulnerability and kindness, yet fear throughout that it is bound to end tragically.

This is a visual treat, beautifully lit, painting delightful pictures of this community and their interactions. The characters may be cartoonish without depth, but each is cleverly portrayed and danced with a glorious, elegant ease by this exceptional company. Whether Dance is your thing or not  this is a production that is accessible to all, charming in its execution and a lovely escapist entertainment with a simple message of acceptance and tolerance to all in your community.

 Nick Wayne

Four stars

 Blood Brother ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

In the world of Theatre two names lead the way with their association with the City of Liverpool and together they produced this extraordinary play with music that has received so much award-winning  acclaim. Blood Brothers written by Willy Russell in the early 1980’s and produced and directed by the late Bill Kenwright surpassed 10,000 performances in its West End run from 1988 to 2012. This week it starts the latest leg of its UK tour at The New Victoria Theatre in Woking and continues until May at the Birmingham Hippodrome. Whether you have seen it before or not it is well worth a visit as even though we know the story ( which in any case is foretold in the opening prologue narration) still grabs you emotionally as it unfolds, is fully of wonderfully comic moments and sends you home with an earworm of a tune to remind you of those feelings.

The show begins in 1980's in the Victorian inner-city slums of Liverpool and tells the tale of a catholic woman and her teddy boy husband’s ever-growing family which is torn apart when she announces twins. It follows those brothers lives in critical periods, their birth and separation in the 1950’s, their first meeting as 7 years old, nearly 8 old kids, their reunion as teenagers and then the final dramatic confrontation in the Eighties. The evocative set with images of the Liverpool waterfront, the terraces of slums and slickly flown settings for the other locations mean the action flows seamlessly and along the back wall graffiti says Everton, a reminder of Kenwright’s other passion in life.

 This is a show that hooks the audience in and must attract frequent return visits. Indeed, many of the cast seem permanently drawn to the show with many returning to reprise roles they have played before and all that experience shines though in so many beautiful performances. At the heart of the show is a stunning performance as Mrs Johnstone by Niki Colwell Evans ( who played the role in the West End). She has great stage presence and delivers the iconic tunes of “Marilyn Monroe” and “ Tell me it’s not true” with an overwhelming sense of emotion so we can see and hear the torment and love that tear at her as she watches her two youngest grow up.

Sean Jones is magnificent as Mickey (returning after West End and Touring runs) with a powerful and shocking contrast between the fun-loving cheeky child riding his imaginary horse around the stage and the depressed and drug fuelled adult when his life goes off the tracks. My favourite moment is when as a 7-year-old going on 8 he comically breaks the fourth wall which delightfully connects us to the character. His transition is mirrored by Joe Sleight as Eddie (reprising the role from 2022), the shy uncertain brother who through his upbringing and schooling emerges as a pillar of the local society. They react to each other’s presence in a believable and engaging way as children, despite both being obviously adult performers. Gemma Brodrick (who has previously toured the show) plays the love interest Linda and is also called upon to show a moving transformation from flirty young schoolgirl to desperate housewife trying to save her husband from himself. It is another compelling performance. Timothy Lucas (a Liverpudlian himself) is equally impressive as the wild older brother, Sammy, who is happiest with a gun in his hand

Scott Anson guides us through the tale as the Narrator (having previously toured the role twenty years ago) and speaks the poetic verses with a wonderful rhythmic Liverpudlian delivery as he observes and reflects on the action. Sarah Jane Buckley , fresh from playing Fairy Snowfall at the Theatre Royal Bath returns to the show to reprise Mrs Lyons, the mother who brings up Eddie. It too is a role packed with emotion with the heartfelt desire for a child and desperation to protect her son being conveyed throughout. There is good support too from the Ensemble playing all the other roles with lovely touches like when the actor playing the milkman returns as the gynaecologist and explains it away as a change of profession and from their interactions as a policeman, bus conductor or teachers.

This has the feel of a play with music where the story telling, and character relationships are central to the tale and the music enhances and engages us emotionally rather than some Musical Theatre where the narrative merely links the song. The result is so much more satisfying, but the music is also distinctive and memorable with a great band under Matt Malone ( in his 26^th year associated with the show) creating a rich rock folk sound and the songs are well sung throughout.

It is not hard to see why this wonderful show endures with its engaging storytelling capturing those feelings of love, hope and fears all parents have about their young children with the strong unique cultural influence of Liverpool and a great eye for comedy. It given an extra poignancy by the death in 2023 of the great Theatrical producer Bill Kenwright as this will endure as his legacy to British Musical Theatre. Its easy to see why the cast once hooked by the show return to play it again and I have no doubt audiences across the country will pack houses to enjoy it again too.

 

Nick Wayne

Five stars 

The Bodyguard  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  

The 1992 film The Bodyguard was very successful starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner and in 2012 became part of  the recent trend of screen to stage stories with several UK Tours since winning new fans. In this latest tour, which is at Woking’s New Victoria this week, before continuing its tour  during the rest of 2023, it presents as a stripped back staging relying on pale tabs to define interiors and the effect is to focus the audience on the music as the narrative is set largely in concert and karaoke club settings. Yet it works because the songs are so strong and familiar and the singing voices of Emily Williams as the star, Rachel Marron, and Emily-Mae, as her sister Nicki are so wonderfully powerful that each number fills the auditorium with passionate rock tunes. Opposite them is the calm and cool deep voice of Ayden Callaghan who is magnificent as the eponymous bodyguard, Frank.

The opening sets the tone well with a slick glossy projection introducing Rachel, 25 albums, six Grammy’s and twelve number 1’s before she bursts on the stage accompanied by four bare chested male dancers, and we are immediately in her concert as she belts out her anthem Queen of the Night. Williams’s pedigree and experience as a former Australian Idol finalist and pop star is clear to see and by the time, she comes to the glorious finale I wanna dance with somebody we can see she is in her element centre stage, powerfully delivering her songs and engaging the audience as a true pop diva. In between times, she may not convey the fragility and vulnerability of Whitney Houston looking at times more like Taylor Swift, the powerful woman in control of her destiny but she knows how to pack a punch with her songs and in this format that carries the show.

Emily-Mae is her equal in singing and is excellent in the cabaret version of Saving all my love, but we can see and feel the tension between her, and her sister exacerbated by her love for Frank, and this makes her ultimate fate even more compelling and dramatic. We connect with her character and that adds nuance to her duet to with her sister, Run to you.

Callaghan makes a very convincing Frank torn between his duties as her protector and his attraction to her as a person. It may not have been the intention but when Act 2 opens with him in her bed with an oiled bare muscular chest shining in the spotlight there are whoops of delight from the audience followed by prolonged giggling. It does rather detract from Rachel’s delivery of All the man that I need which in any case is sung in the shadows.

Fletcher, her nine-year-old son was played on the night by Kaylen Luke who absolute charms us all with confident delivery, clear voice and enthusiastic dance moves and holds our attention even when surrounded by many other dancers. There is good support to from James Groom as her single-minded publicist, John Macaulay as her manager Bill and Graham Newell as her head of security, Tony.

Marios Nicolaides is suitably chilling as the Stalker and creates that real sense of foreboding and danger in his shadowy and silhouetted scenes although the jump fright appearance may not have been intended to generate as many laughs as rippled around the audience when he appeared so dramatically.

 

Only in the remote chalet scene does Tim Hatley’s design attempt to create a detailed realistic setting with most other interiors set with a single piece of furniture. It makes for slick transitions between scenes covered by flown tabs and clothes but makes it feel sketchy and Mark Henderson’s lighting is best when recreating Rachel’s concert scenes which are enhanced by Karen Bruce’s modern high energy dance routines.

This is show that is easy to enjoy and the set piece delivery by Rachel of I’m every woman and One moment in time provide memorable highlights and a glorious celebration of the music of Whitney Houston. At the same time, the sinister stalking of a major star feels stronger than ever in the days of social media trolling and the allegations of the threats to current TV star Holly Willoughby so the simple narrative that connects her songs resonates strongly. But when you leave the theatre, it is the music that leaves to wanting to dance with somebody.

 

Nick Wayne

4 stars

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 

Roald Dahl’s stories are darkly comical with strong leading children’s characters who dominate the stories and are perfect tales to entertain young and old audiences with clear social warnings. Charlie and the chocolate factory is full of quirky slightly bizarre characters and is a simple story of the very poor Charlie Bucket, full of hope and kindness, winning a golden ticket to visit the secretive Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory with four other obnoxious kids and their pushy parents . In the musical version which was first staged in 2013 at Drury Lane we meet the five children and their families in Act 1 and experience the tour of the factory in Act 2. It gives the production a very different feel in each half, but the charm of the young performers carries us through while the eccentric Willie Wonka cavorts around the stage with a knowing grin and twinkle in his eyes.  

For the UK tour which I caught in its three weeks stop at the Mayflower Southampton there  are four Charlies (2 girls and 2 boys) and on our visit Hayden Court played Charlie with great confidence and stage presence often singing alone in the huge Mayflower stage. He oozed charm and likeability and deserved the “final bow” at the finale .  Opposite him Gareth Snook revelled in the part of Willy Wonka in a long ginger wig and brightly coloured suit . He gets to sing the best song of the show “Pure Imagination” but occasionally with his hard-to-place accent we lose some of his words. 

The other four children are very well played by young adults creating the distinctive unpleasant golden ticket winners. Marissa Morgan is the bubble gum chewing Violet Beaureguade, Robin Simoes Da Silva plays the gluttonous Augustus Gloop , Kazmin Borrer is the spoilt Verucca Salt and Teddy Hinde is the TV obsessed Mike Teavee. Each gets their comeuppance in the factory with an appropriately unpleasant interaction with the factory machinery. 

There are good supporting performances from Michael D’Cruze as the veteran Grandpa Joe who leaves his bed to join Charlie in the factory and Leonie Spilsbury as Mrs Bucket, using BSL signing to add to her performance as well as a large Ensemble as the town folk and the robotic Oompa-Loompas dressed in tin foil. 

The set design by Simon Higlett of the junk yard, sweet shop and Bucket’s home is a very neatly designed truck which enabled slick transitions between scenes and the flown entrances and crystal lift provide excellent setting for key scenes. The production showcases some excellent projects video designs by Mike Walker, an effective lighting design by Tim Mitchell and some good illusions by Chris Fisher. The combination works very well in the second half from Wonka’s first appearance as just a hat and cane through to Mike Teavee’s transportation into a TV screen and into a miniature puppet in a handbag. The transformation of Violet into a giant bouncing blueberry is far less convincing with a clumsy costume change and ludicrous balloon and could have been done much better.

 This is a long tour with a big cast, but they were full of energy and joy at Southampton and if you have some young children or grandchildren this is a very enjoyable entertaining evening entertainment with a strong message of how we should expect children to behave !

 Wish you were dead ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Peter James’s Brighton based detective stories of Detective Superintendent Roy Grace have a common feature in their titles with the inclusion of the word “Dead” and usually very dark storylines of murder. In recent years, we have seen productions of Dead Simple (a buried alive story) and Looking Good dead  (snuff  movies) and this latest UK tour which played the Mayflower recently is Wish you were dead, but it has a different feel. Set in France in the Chateau-sur-L’Eveque, a rather dark and foreboding house where Grace (George Rainsford) and his second wife Cleo (Katie McGlynn) have arrived for a relaxing holiday with their friend and nanny Kaitlyn (Gemma Stroyan) and her boyfriend Jack (Alex Stedman). But from the first moment all is not as it should be, and they begin to speculate where Jack is, as he was expected to be there when they arrived. 

The dodgy electrics of the house, the lightning flashes outside, dark walls, the huge suit of armour with a large halberd and the heavy musical interludes between scenes are all the hallmarks of a Hammer horror film and rather obvious devices to add tension and drama. Then add a French maid with a Allo Allo accent as Madame L’Eveque and Vicomte L’Eveque in a wheelchair (like Dr Scott from the Rocky Horror Show) and the drama soon dissipates into a comical parody. When Curtis appears in the second Act as a criminal mastermind from the East End out for revenge, you naturally smile at the overtop hammy characterisation but at least he ups the action, waving his shotgun widely at everyone and moves the story forward to its inevitable conclusion .

Clive Mantle must be enjoying his role as the villainous Curtis; he dominates the stage when he is on and raises the temperature in each scene, as he tries to control the behaviours of the other characters. It is fun to watch him strut around the stage, threatening everyone and gives it a different feel to other Peter James stories. There is good support from Rebecca McKinnis as Madame who much more subtly creates threat with a look or a move towards the baby in the carry cot but also suggests that she may have a more caring and honest side to her personality.

The large composite setting with the honeymoon suite raised upstage above the downstage front hall and stairs to the tower and other rooms promises more than it delivers although you do wonder why anyone would book to stay there if there were picture online! Much of the action is played out on the forestage and the scenes in the bedroom are static (there is not a lot of room) and generally left in the half light. There is at least one surprise in the staging, although if you have seen Looking good dead the same devise is used!

The result is a two-hour drama (including interval) that is entertaining and amusing without being taxing or scary, carried by Clive Mantle and without the horror or unpleasant elements of other Dead stories. The tour continues until end of July with visits to Malvern, Birmingham, Sheffield , Southend, Leicester, and Woking to come, all quite large venues so I suggest you sit near the front. If you like Peter James books or your mysteries formulaic or are simply admire Clive Mantle , its worth seeing but otherwise wait for the “And then there were none” tour to see how really great murder mystery thrillers are constructed.

Nick Wayne 

Three stars

Sherlock Holmes - The Valley of Fear ***

Sir Arthur  Conan Doyle’s fourth full length novel about his brilliant creation Sherlock Holmes was written in 1915 and called The Valley of Fear and is less well known than his early novels A study in scarlet, The sign of the four and The hounds of the Baskervilles or even than some of the short stories like The Final Problem with its famous fight with Moriarty on the Reichenbach Falls. Indeed, Professor Moriarty is often seen as Holmes arch nemesis but only gets mentioned a handful of the many stories. He is an omni present force in the Valley of Fear although curiously seemingly unconnected to the story and Black-eyed Theatre writer and director of the touring adaptation of Valley of Fear, Nick Lane, does give Moriarty a meeting with Holmes in an Art gallery to add to the drama.

It is a difficult tale to bring to the stage as the central murder in January 1895 of Mr John Douglas in a country house surrounded by a moat, Birlstone House, which creates a sort of locked room mystery is seemingly unconnected to the other stream of narrative set twenty years earlier in Pennsylvania and involving a murderous gang known as the Scowrers. Indeed, the adaption which switches back and forth between events in the USA and Holmes investigation of the mysterious death, seems to focus more on the characters in the gun carrying wild west and we are left without many clues as to the potential connection except that Dr Watson is narrating the tale. To explain the connection would spoil the Holmes’s final reveal so you would have to read the book or see the show on its UK Tour to find out.

 Luke Barton plays Sherlock Holmes with a quiet steely intensity giving the air of an Oxbridge graduate exercising his little grey cells as his cold blue eyes stare out across the audience as he ponders the mystery of Douglas’ death from a regular downstage position. This is a young thoughtful Holmes without any of the trademark uses of a pipe, deerstalker, violin, or cocaine.  Barton doubles up as Teddy Baldwin, the wild knife wielding desperado in the US , the sort who would kill first and ask for explanation after in sharp contrast to Holmes’s cerebral approach.

We also meet Doctor John Watson played by Joseph Derrington with a limp and a stick with the emphasis being on his role as biographer explaining the narrative or sat at his typewriter. The technique does make the script heavy on exposition and descriptive passages about the events and characters. Derrington has two roles state side as a timid accountant and an ineffectual society member but dressed the same it was sometime hard to recall which one wore the glasses. 

The third of the traditional characters is Mrs Hudson, the loyal and patient housekeeper, played by Alice Osmanski, whose main role is to deliver the post, the tea and to introduce the guests at the door of 221B Baker Street. She also plays all the female parts including the widow Mrs Ivy Douglas, the maid Ettie Shafter, and the US love interest Mrs Allen. Each portrayed with a slight change of accent and well-designed period dresses

Moriarty is briefly played by Gavin Molloy creating the sense of manipulative evil presence with the slightest of reactions, but his main role in UK is as Ames the butler and in the US as the bodymaster McGinty the violent leader of Scowrers. The range of roles gives him plenty of chances to create very different characters and have great fun in the show.

The fifth member of the cast is Blake Kubena as criminal Jack McMurdo and Pinkerton detective Birdy Edwards in the US and John Douglas and Detective Mason in the UK but to say more would be another spoiler.

The set design by Victoria Speering is designed for touring and although covered in attractive William Morris wallpaper does little to add to the setting except to provide doors and windows for the cast to use but is well lit by Oliver Welsh with some good atmospheric underscoring by Tristram Parkes. The Blackeyed Theatre company produce good storytelling shows of classic novels which are easy to tour around the smaller UK Venues. They are consistently good productions well-acted and using the cast effectively, it is just that this tale’s structure is a little laboured and does not have the power to connect with the audience of some of their previous adaptations. But if you are a Sherlock Holmes fan it does provide a chance to see acted out one of the less well-known tales.

 

The tour continues until May.

 

Nick Wayne

Three stars

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ On tour until June 2023

Deborah Moggach’s book These Foolish things inspired a surprise hit 2012 film starring Judi Dench and Maggie Smith and a 2016-2020 TV series featuring Wayne Sleep, Paul Nicholas, and Selina Scott. Both benefited from placing these familiar faces in the actual setting of an Indian Hotel and showing their experiences in the wonderful culture around it.  She has now adapted her book for the stage for a UK Tour until June 2023 with 22 more venues ahead as well as a transatlantic crossing on the Queen Mary in December before the publicity claims a West End Transfer. The challenge in this latest version is to capture the heat and cultural atmosphere of Bangalore in a single set of the hotel courtyard without seeing the places around it that feature in the video versions.

The characters on stage are the same as in the film and it is difficult to shake off the memories of that stella cast of Dames, but the touring cast has a good pedigree too and after a slow start they establish themselves in their own right. The stage version may rely a little too much on stereotypical British old age pensioners abroad and cultural references to Delhi belly and the Indian caste system as a shorthand to establish the characters and their pasts in an alien setting but once it settles down and the relationships are established the second half explodes into an emotionally engaging and touching exploration of the challenges of growing old and the attitudes required to enjoy the benefits of all their life experience. Those older audience members will respond to the cast of elderly pensioners while young members will respond to the call centre workers who ultimately unlock the emotions.

At the centre of the story and giving it real heart is the delightful Hayley Mills as Evelyn (the Judi Dench character). She may be 76 but she is young at heart and still emits a gently enticing aura that wins over all around her. It is a magnificent well-judged performance that charms and moves us reflecting her experience from her wonderful film, stage, and TV career. Rula Lenska plays Madge (the Celia Imrie character) a feisty cougar, who has seen off three husbands, on the lookout for a younger man with a fantastic head of red hair and a long, elegant look and  a good line in cutting putdowns. She is strong and powerful and a formidable force that is bound to get her way.  Marlene Sidaway is Muriel (the Maggie Smith character), described as “a poor old bugger, half dead already” and too timid to go outside the hotel grounds.

Eileen Battye (who played Anna in the King and I opposite Yul Brynner in 1979) plays Jean (Penelope Wilton in the film) the dominant wife of Douglas (played by a rather subdued Paul Nicholas) usually seen marching across the stage on the way to exploring the world outside the hotel with her husband following meekly and obediently behind. While Andy de la tour plays the aged Lothario Norman while hiding a guilty secret that once revealed melts his unsympathetic appearance. Interestingly the character Dorothy (played by Richenda Carey) was not in the original film and presents a mysterious upright and aloof character who disappears off on her own mission without engaging with the other residents but once the truth is revealed provides a strong emotional reaction and insight into the historical relationship between Britain and India.

The young cast are led wonderfully by Nishad More as the son of the hotel owner, Sonny, a cheerfully incompetent but energetic hotel manager who charms the guests and the audience as we see him struggle to reconcile his devotion to his mother played by Rekha John-Cheriyan and his friend Sahani (Shila Iqbal). The scenes where the Indian culture bursts onto the stage in a Funeral and a wedding or in the treatment of hotel staff provide a hint of the cultural world and difference outside.

The staging is impressive with an evocative two storey courtyard designed by Colin Richmond (although on the New Victoria stage at Woking the masking in the wings was very poor) and the lighting by Oliver Fenwick did not really capture the heat of the Indian daytime sun. Lucy Bailey direction has to cope with the short vignette scenes of the first forty five minutes to establish the characters and the regular resetting of chairs on the forestage but in the second half draws the elements together as they reveal each of their own truths and come together as a group of friends so that despite the sadness, it becomes a joyous and uplifting celebration of life and reminds us all that it never too late in life to try something new.

Nick Wayne  

Four stars

The Color Purple Tour ***

In February 2021 I watched the stream of the Curve’s Colour Purple filmed in the round at their venue, so I was very interested to see how they translated the show to a traditional proscenium arch for this UK regional tour with just one more stop on its current tour. Alice Walker's 1982 book (which was made famous by Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film) was adapted for this musical version of the story in 2005 by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray and does not shy away from the challenging context of the story. It deals with domestic violence, incest, racism, and sexism in Tennessee over about forty years from 1910 to 1945 and turns the epistolary book into an episodic telling of Celie's life from abused child suffering at the hands of her father Alphonso and her husband Mister Albert to a successful businesswoman. It makes for a very dark and difficult first forty-five minutes without much variation in the tone and the absence of any light and shade before it bursts into life with an emotional engaging second Act.  

The music style is a fusion of Southern America blues, gospel, and jazz with a hint of the African roots and while some are enjoyable to hear none of them fix in your memory even a few hours later. When Shug Avery arrives at Mister and Celie's home the show takes off with some of the better tunes featuring Celie and Shug, "Dear God" and "Too Beautiful for words” set the tone before we get a bit of fun light relief with bluesy nightclub song "Push Da Button" and then the show defining song duet "What about Love?" which closes Act 1.  

Indeed, Bree Smith lifts the show as Shug at every appearance, a confident woman who knows what she wants and how to get it especially in the eponymous song "The Colour Purple". Opposite her is Me’sha Bryan as Celie who emerges from her oppression into the more powerful and confident woman who overcomes adversity and comes into her own in “I'm here". Ako Mitchell reprises his role as Mister changing from the oppressive and unpleasant bully in Act 1 into the more mellow and caring old man by the end with Aaliyah Zhane adding the strong emotional connection as Celie’s sister Nettie.

There is good support from Ahmed Hamad as Harpo and Anelisa Lamola as Sofia especially in the fun "Any little thing" and a periodic commentary from a three-piece chorus in white of Rosemary Annabelle Nkrumah, Karen Mavundukure and Esme Laudet including in the upbeat "in Miss Celie's pants". 

Director Tinuke Craig has restaged the show in front of a beautiful wood screen which bisects the large Mayflower stage designed by Alex Lowde with inserted trucks for the various rooms of their homes. This creates a more intimate space for Mark Smith's choreography and gives the show a very different feel from the streamed version. Onto the wooden screens are projected imagery to give the scenes context including some dates to show the passing of time. 

Another wonderful feature of the performance was the integration of the BSL interpreter into the show. This remarkable lady added another dimension to the show acting out brilliantly the story and emotions for those with hearing difficulties and at times engaging the rest of us with her beautiful performance.

It builds strongly over the last third to a powerful emotional reunion in which good triumphs over evil led by Celie's soaring vocals in the reprise of the title song, but it is not quite enough to overcome the disjointed difficult opening third of the show. But it is worth persevering with as its strong central message about abusive behaviour and how hope, trust and love can overcome the oppression is as powerful today as when it was set and written. In the era of #MeToo and Black Lives Matters this is period drama that clearly defines the roots of these issues and ultimately shines a light on how society must work to overcome them. 

2022/23 Sister Act UK Tour

The latest revival of Sister Act was delayed due by Covid before settling into the Hammersmith Eventimapollo with an all-star cast for a run which ends on 28th August and then heading out in September on an extensive UK and Ireland tour until July 2023. The inflated Eventimapollo front stalls seat prices of between £100 to £250 each can only be justified by the presence of Jennifer Saunders as the Mother Superior and Beverley Knight as Deloris Van Cartier. When the show goes on tour Mother Superior is taken over by Lesley Joseph and Van Cartier by Sandra Marvin, although the rest of the main cast remains in place and front stalls prices drop on the tour to under £60 each. Unless you are a huge Beverley Knight fan, waiting to catch the tour will offer much better value for this excellent show.

There are some very wonderful performances in the all-star cast . Clive Rowe as the friendly cop Eddie Souther is an absolute joy with his fine voice and lovely comic touch, you instantly warm to his personality, and he really shines in “I could be that guy” . The criminals he seeks to arrest are Curtis Jackson played with a strong seventies vibe by Jeremy Secomb and supported by a hilarious trio of gangsters played by Bradley Judge, Tom Hopcroft, and Damian Buhagiar. They are great together in “When I find my baby” and  then really ham it up in “Lady in the long black dress” . They transported us back to those seventies disco in their look and moves , great fun.

The ensemble of nuns works exceptionally well together in their transformation from dreadful singers into an impressive gospel choir with strong characterisations from the leading Sister Mary’s . Lesley Joseph has a good comic cameo as the rapping conductor Mary Lazarus (and will make a bigger Impact as Mother Superior on the tour). She has a great comic stage presence in whatever she does, including Pantomime, this year in Milton Keynes, which means she will miss the tour visits to Plymouth and Norwich . 

Lizzie Bea brings a delightful innocent charm to the postulant Mary Robert and is wonderful in “The life I never led” exploring her self-doubt.  

At Hammersmith Keala Settle makes an excellent Mary Patrick confirming herself as a musical theatre star with strong stage presence. 

But the show revolves around the extraordinary presence and voice of Beverly Knight as the would-be cabaret singer and gangster’s moll Deloris Van Cartier. She dominates the stage with a succession of powerful soulful seventies tunes from her first appearance with “Take me to heaven” and “Fabulous, Baby” through to the show defining “Sister Act”. She maintains her American accent throughout and convinces that she can win over the  Nuns. Jennifer Saunders also gets won over by her charm moving from reluctant protector to thankful and grateful friend with a gentle comic touch. 

The production is very slickly staged and lit with huge arches over the stage with built in coloured lights and simple and effective trucks to set internal scenes of the police station, Eddie’s spare bedroom, and the local bar. Director Bill Buckhurst and choreographer Alistair David ensure the pace is maintained and movement looks good with some lovely touches in for example, the chase of the rickshaw, Souther’s costume changes and in the final gun fight in the convent. The finale costumes by Morgan Large are a gloriously glittering rainbow twist to the usual nun’s habit that naturally brings the audience to their feet in appreciation.

This is a fun musical with a diverse cast of all sizes and backgrounds that blend together into a full-blown ensemble production that entertains and occasionally emotionally engages but most of is simply a joy to watch . One to see when it visits your City over the next year.

Nick Wayne

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 

 

2022 Bedknobs and Broomsticks UK Tour

The Music and Lyrics for the Bedknobs and Broomsticks 1971 Disney film were written by Richard and Robert Sherman and form the basis of this brand-new stage musical which opened in August 2021 in Newcastle and continues until May 2022 around the UK. We caught up with the show at the wonderful Mayflower Southampton where another full house showed their appreciation for colourful and fun production. 

You do wonder why it has taken for so long for Disney to licence it for the stage until you realise that very few of the songs have found their way into the National Consciousness. The Sherman Brothers scores for Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang , Jungle Book and The Artistocats films have all had songs that have become classic children’s songs that instantly bring to mind these classic films . None of the Tunes in Bedknobs and Broomsticks have achieved that recognition, they are pleasant easy listening but don’t have the same impact . Indeed, the best-known song “The Beautiful Briny” with its catchy chorus of “bobbing along singing a song” while recognisable does not immediately bring recall of the film in the same way as the best songs in their other film scores.

This is however a very well-produced touring show with some very clever ideas in bringing the magic and animated sequences of the film to the stage. The delightfully simple opening prologue showing how the three central children are orphaned by the London Blitz and are evacuated to the country is a slick wordless sequence which cleverly sets the period, establishes the three Children’s characters and the production style. The show uses some simple illusions  by Jamie Harrison and Chris Fisher to add magic to the staging with the flying bed, a broom ride and  dancing shoes and boots but maybe because it is a touring show they do not match the spectacle of a Twin FX effect in Pantomimes and Back to the Future or the range of illusions in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

The puppeteering is very good with a clever transformation into a white rabbit and excellent full-size puppets of Norton, a fish (Rob Madge), King Leonidas, a lion (Matthew Elliot Campbell ) and Angela , a bird (Emma Thornett) which take on a life of their own even though we can see the voicing puppeteer working them. The invasion of German soldiers has the look and feel of the soldiers in Toy Story. 

 Dianne Pilkington takes on the Angela Lansbury role of Eglantine Price the apprentice witch who reluctantly cares for the Children and Charles Brunton, the David Tomlinson role of Emelius Browne, the Magician shopkeeper and both bring great stage presence and charm to the roles. Conor O’Hara is the oldest child Charlie with four kids sharing playing each of Carrie and Paul, the younger children. Indeed, the young lady playing Carrie at the matinee we saw was excellent with a strong confident voice.

 This is a show designed to appeal to six- to fourteen-year-olds and their parents and grandparents, younger kids would get bored by some sequences and older kids would not engage with the story and it’s Mary Poppins like themes. If it is to eventually transfer into the West End there is an opportunity to enhance the illusions add more spectacle so that it really does match up to spectacle of Back to the Future and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child which have set such an exceptional standard for stage illusions.

 

Nick Wayne

Three stars

2019

Quality Street - Northern Broadsides

It is always a pleasure to visit venues for the first time and the trip to Bury St Edmunds to the so called Theatre Royal, the third oldest Georgian theatre which first opened in 1819  was delightful with an excellent tour of the venue and explanation of the history before returning to see a Northern Broadsides production of JM Barrie's 1901 play Quality Street .


The new artistic director Laurie Sansom choose to revive this rarely seen romantic comedy partly as the production company are based in Halifax which is the home of Mackintosh Factory that took the play name to create a global chocolate brand of the same name in 1936. He then integrated conversations from a diverse group

of workers at the factory to act as a modern-day chorus to the story and to act as stagehands for scene changes. The colour palate for costumes and set decoration mirrors the wrappers of those sweets. It a bold and imaginative reinvention of the play but it does not quiet work as the elements don't gel together in a comfortable logical way.


The original play is set over a 10 year time frame around the Battle of Waterloo of 1815 with the recruiting officer (John Gully) seeking conscripts in 1805 in Halifax as a voluntary battalion which persuades Valentine Brown (Dario Coates) and four others to enlist and then return after the battle having lost a hand to pick up life as before on Quality Street. The sisters Phoebe (Jessica Baglow) and Susan (Louisa May Parker) live on Quality street and follow Valentine's advice to invest in a venture that fails forcing them to become reluctant teachers while he is away on the military campaign. Phoebe is worn down by the children (here played by puppets by Beka Haigh held by the actors) and when the dashing Captain Valentine returns, he does not recognise her, so she creates an alter ego Cousin Libby to tease him. Baglow has great fun playing these two contrasting personas and responding to the suspicion and confusion that they create.



The chorus is played by Jim English (mostly dressed as a female Fanny) , Claire Hackett (who plays the sister's servant Patty), Sophie Marcell, Alicia McKenzie and Gabriel Paul (a gay factory worker) and they are more interesting and funnier as the modern day Quality Street workers reflecting on their own love lives and growing old than as the supplementary characters in the original play. They joke that their jobs include a chocolate spreader and a sweet wrapper. They emphasise how society and manners have changed over the last two hundred years from genteel ladies gossiping and aspiring to attract a suitable gentleman to a diverse group bantering about each other's lives.

It is simply set with a scaffold outline of the sister's room overlooking Quality Street in front of plastic strips which presumably reflect a feature in the modern day factory but it would have been more interesting if the image on the front of the Quality Street tin had been recreated on stage . Equally when the music by Nick Sagar is played off stage to represent the balls taking place nearby to which the sisters long to go it does not sound quite right , almost like some modern day sound coming into the theatre from a nearby club . When they dance in Act 2 at the ball the choreography looked rather too modern.



It was a pleasure to see the show in this venue and discover this long forgotten play by the author who created Peter Pan and the update was an interesting and intriguing premise but despite the best energetic efforts of the cast , Northern Broadsides did not quiet pull it off.



Nick Wayne

⭐️⭐️⭐️