Review: & JULIET (UK Tour) @ Manchester Opera House

 

& so...   It's fair to say we feel rather proprietorial about & Juliet as we caught the show during its world premiere season prior to its move to the West End (and Broadway, and Australia etc. etc.)  So it seems rather fitting we return to the scene of that very first visit - Manchester's magnificent Opera House - to watch the opening date of the very first UK Tour.

The premise of the show is a fairly simple one. Mrs. Shakespeare, Anne Hathaway (there'll never be another!), travels down from Stratford to London to see what her husband Will has been writing.  He presents her with the plot of Romeo & Juliet,  with the lovers tragically killing themselves at the denouement.  Anne thinks Juliet deserves more of a future, and sets about re-writing the ending much to Will's annoyance. In this battle of Will(s) Juliet finds herself alive and heads to Paris with her nurse Angelique, best transgender friend May and fun loving April, a way Anne Hathaway has of writing herself into the action.  There, in the party scene of Paris, Juliet meets Francois du Bois and somehow becomes romantically involved,  but of course its not as simple as that.  With Will and Anne battling for control of the writers quill, the journey takes many twists and turns before there is a happy ending.

 

The real calling card of this show though are the songs of Max Martin and his many collaberators.  Max's name might not be on the tip of everyone's tongue but his songs certainly are.  Think Britney's 'Kiss Me Baby One More Time',  Jessie J's 'Domino' ,  Kelly Clarkson's 'Since U Been Gone', The Backstreet's Boys' 'Larger Than Life' and Katy Perry's immortal 'Roar' to name just a few in the show.  30 wall to wall hits, an A - Z of pop from the 1990s onwards.  Its infectious, by the time you get to leave the theatre you are on a musical high like no other.  

Having been witness to the brilliant original cast,  we were guilty of being a little wary of the incoming class of 2024,  but we need not have been.  The entire ensemble ooze quality and talent.  At the performance we attended the 'alternate Juliet' was on show.  Psalms-Nissi Myers-Reid dropkicked every note and comedy line, giving us a memorable Juliet to lead the mighty production.  Sandra Marvin was equally magnificient as outspoken Angelique,who finds her former lover Lance in Paris.  Lance is played by television doctor Ranj Singh,  and guess what?  He pulls off the singing and acting with style. So allay fears he is not up to job, he's the real deal. Jordan Broatch gives us a slightly understated May perhaps to match Kyle Cox's laid back Francois,  polished performances but a bit more depth of characterisation might be required here, we never quite get the attraction they both have for each other. Jack Danson's Romeo is a foppish joy as he struggles to come to terms with how Juliet can have moved on without him.  Matt Cardle's Shakespeare takes centre stage from the off,  we know he can belt out a tune but his delivery of the comedy is equally on point,  but perhaps the evening really belongs to Lara Denning's Anne Hathaway.  By turns hugely funny, and then she can wring a tear out of your eye with her longing for her husbands attention.  A star performance at the heart of a supernova of a show.

This year long UK tour is bound to bring this cult show a mountain of new fans. We are already planning where we can see it again. If you need a lift, you need to see this show. Its the only jukebox musical that equals the joy of Mamma Mia! Make sure you catch this tour, because in the words of Pink it's "Fuckin' Perfect".

Rob & Ian

Details of the UK tour can be found at the OFFICIAL & JULIET WEBSITE

Review: UNFORTUNATE - The Untold Story Of Ursula The Sea Witch @ Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton (UK Tour)

Long long ago, 1837 to be precise, Danish author Hans Christian Anderson introduced the world to the story of The Little Mermaid, who gave up her life as a mermaid to be human.  In 1989 Disney brought us the by now most globally familiar version,  an animation that would herald the new age of Disney and has become one of their most popular titles.  The late great Pat Carroll stole the show as she voiced the movie's most celebrated character, the bitter Octo-woman Ursula.

Robyn Grant and Daniel Foxx spotted that the most fabulous creation in the Disney movie, Ursula The Sea Witch, was perhaps being undersold.  What was her backstory?  Why was she so evil?  And couldn't she perhaps be a role model for plus size women with attitude?  With composer Tim Gilvin on board, together they set about telling what they felt sure was Ursula backstory of rejected love and seething resentment.  It was perhaps inevitable that what we are presented with is unashamedly camp and fabulous. Disney for adults.

Abby Clarke works miracles with her set, costume and puppet designs as she weaves us through the life of Ursula, big show number by big show number.  At the centre of the evening, and its biggest draw, is the performance of veteran musical diva Shawna Hamic.  She inhabits Ursula (or Ursula Squirts to give Ursula her full name) like a spurned drag queen,  and as she herself says 'masturbation, chemical peels and rage' are what keeps her going.  With the voice of Chaka Khan and the spirit of drag queen Divine,  Hamic makes the evening her own and is worth every penny of the ticket price.  Her comic put downs hit the spot whilst her love duet 'Sucking On You' with Triton, god of the sea, is a chart buster waiting to happen. Speaking of Triton,  Thomas Lowe gives us low budget macho as he banishes Ursula yet retains an unrequited love for the silly Octo-woman who has designs on his daughter. Its a fine commanding, piss taking performance. Ariel herself is manifested by a star of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, River Medway whose Essex girl delivery is a million miles away from the gentle tones of the movie.  She's hilarious from start to finish,  even when her voice is taken by Ursula,  Medway's mannerisms and gestures prove her talent doesn't stop when the words do.  The entire ensemble of ten work their socks off to bring us a high energy, outrageous evening of adult humour and song.  Allie Dart's Sebastian, Jamie Mawson's ineffectual Eric and Julian Capolei as Grimsby and 'Tory mistress Vanessa' deliver in spades.

The score is full of highlights and earworms. 'We Didn't Make It To Disney' is a savage essay on representation,  'Where The Dicks Are' an anthem for Ariel's longings and the title track 'Unfortunate' would be welcome at any Gay disco in the country.

 

The band were slightly underwhelming at points, and could have done with a bit more umph, but this is more of a sound issue as such perhaps.  Five musicians were listed in the programme, and this should have been enough to create a big sound but it was surprisingly muted.

Our visit in Wolverhampton marked the final date of Unfortunate: The Untold Story Of Ursula The Sea Witch's UK tour. We can't imagine for one second we have seen the last of the octo-diva. We have our chemical peels and rage ready for the next deep dive.

Rob & Ian

Further information can be found at the OFFICIAL UNFORTUNATE MUSICAL WEBSITE and the 2024 cast recording can be found on all major download and streaming services.

Review: STARLIGHT EXPRESS @ Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre (preview performance)

 

Starlight Express is one of the most unique musicals ever staged.  It's simple story of the downtrodden steam train Rusty taking on the all powerful (and frankly not very nice) diesel and electric locomotives for the railroad championship of the world belies its pioneering and problematic staging. Critics were not very welcoming when the show debuted in 1984, but audiences responded by going in their droves making the original production of Starlight Express the ninth longest running show in West End history.

The show has been waiting in the sidings for 22 years,  but now makes a triumphant return to London at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre,  where fans old and new are flocking to see this good versus bad tale on wheels all over again. Now we know our Starlight.  Having seen the original production many times,  as well as the Broadway Production,  the legendary long running production in Bochum, Germany (our favourite version and still going) and the slightly underwhelming scaled down UK tours,  we were as keen as mustard to see what director Luke Shepperd has cooked up.

 

Andrew Lloyd Webber has a penchant for tinkering with his shows, and no show has been more tinkered with than Starlight Express. Songs have come and gone with regularity and each new production seems to have a unique song list.  The 2024 version is no different.  We have two new songs from Lloyd Webber and his lyricist, the brilliant Richard Stilgoe, in the form of 'I Am Me' and 'Hydrogen', the theme of the new engine. They are blended in seemlessly to the rest of the familiar score,  the master of musical ear-worms once again making sure our heads are whirling with his melodies as we leave the theatre.

The current financial climate means that 1980s mega excess is out, so instead we have simply excess.  The designer Tim Hatley has taken the nucleus of John Napier's original version and given us a railroad race circuit which takes in much of the theatre space, and we once again have a setting in which children and adults alike can wallow in the sheer spectacle of the races. This is brilliantly complimented by a lighting design from Howard Hudson, which any rock act would kill for.  In addition projection screens bathe the auditorium in atmosphere and keep us abreast of the racing.  It's a thrilling environment as we enter into the immersive world that was so pioneering in theatre all those years ago.

 

The mostly young cast smash it from the get go. The action takes place in the imagination of a child (just a disembodied voice in previous productions) who we see at the beginning playing with a train set,  the trains magically come to life as the story gets underway, the child becomes 'Control' overseeing all the trains and acting as an arbiter between warring factions, rarely leaving the stage. Central to the show is poor Rusty, played superbly by Jeevan Braich who like so many in this company is making his professional debut.  Al Knot is Greaseball,  the diesel locomotive who is the reigning champion.  Knot possesses a fine voice,  and manages to belt out signature tracks 'Rolling Stock' and 'Pumping Iron' with relish.  Then there is Tom Pigram's gender fluid Electra,  all neon and sassy power surges whilst Jade Marvin makes a lovely homely Momma,  in which we can all associate. And she sings the blues like an angel too.   It seems churlish to pick out individual performances though, as its very much an ensemble piece. Each member of the company adding their character to flesh out this world of trains.  The voices and band are are just sensational,  We love a bit of loud pop and we get it in spades with this show. Highlights for me include the love duet 'I Do' by Braich and Kayna Montecillo as Pearl (it was actually written by Lloyd Webber's son Alistair!) and the carriages feminist anthem 'I Am Me' (Montecillo, Eve Humphrey,  Ashlyn Weekes, Renz Cardenas).  All the ensemble numbers are a knockout though.  If you can get the refrain "It's not a matter of if, its a matter of when for Hydrogen" out of your head on the way home you will be very lucky.

Looking around the auditorium, kids faces were aglow with the sheer energy on the stage and on the track.  It is clear that Starlight Express is bewitching a new generation of theatre goers,  who will love and cherish the experience like their Mums and Dads did all those years ago.  The show is critic proof, the public have spoken. Starlight Express is a fantasy tonic we all need,  it's good to have it back.

Rob & Ian

Tickets and information at the STARLIGHT EXPRESS LONDON website. 

Incidentally, here is an updated old blog by Rob on the various recorded versions of Starlight Express over the years  FOR THE RECORD: STARLIGHT EXPRESS

Review: AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN (UK Tour) @ Regent, Stoke

 

And so we come to another movie-to-stage adaptation for the masses,  this time focusing on the 1982 Richard Gere-Deborah Winger vehicle An Officer And A Gentleman.  A romantic tale of a Navy cadet and his true love,  spawning of course the Oscar winning power ballad Up Where We Belong sung by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, the song probably as famous as the movie itself.  This second UK tour has hit the road in 2024 and looking around the auditorium it is clear that the 50+ hen generation are up for some serious romanticism.  Coupled of course with a soundtrack that transports us all back to the 1980s.

 

For those who cannot recall the story,  Zack Mayo is sent to live with his womanising father,a petty officer in the US Navy, following the suicide of his mother.  Zack surprises his father by eventually declaring that he wishes to train to become a US Navy fighter pilot.   This is where he encounters tough talking Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley who is determined that he will drill them hard into passing the relentess physical and mental training regime.  Zack and his fellow cadet Sid meet two factory girls at a dance, Paula and Lynette, whom they start dating respectively.  The tale of Zack and Sid is not pretty, with the latter committing suicide, a turning point for the rebellious Zack and his transformation into an officer and a gentleman.

To be honest, the story is pretty cheesy and some of the dialogue with its regular doses of "son of a bitch" type Americanisms come close to being a spoof of itself.  However the producers know the power of nostalgia,  and interspersed with these scenes of self discovery comes a soundtrack that hits all the right notes.  The show is a feast of 80s musical excess, think Billy Ocean's When The Going Gets Tough,  Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,  Foreigner's I Want To Know What Love Is and perhaps most infuriatingly catchy Bon Jovi's Livin' On A Prayer.  Definite crowd pleasers that allow the audience to gloss over the problems with the script, and just enjoy being back in the decade of neon.

On the night we saw the saw, tour leads Luke Baker and Georgia Lennon were absent, but in their place two confident performances by James Wilkinson-Jones and Julia Jones whostole the limelight as Zack and Lynette, with Georgia Lennon as Paula and Paul French as Sid completing the romantic quartet.  Jamal Kane Crawford was particularly well cast as Emil Foley, forever testing and goading his recruits.

Ben Cracknell's impressive lighting added much atmosphere to the scenes,  his star very much in the ascendant particularly at the Curve in Leicester where this production originated.  Similarly the Curve's Nikolai Foster does his best to get some gravitas to the story,  but some scenes miss their mark which is more to do with Douglas Day Stewart and Sharleen Cooper Cohen's lacklustre script than any misgivings of this production.  

At the end of the day, its all about the songs. We get the moment when Zack dressed in his military whites carries off Paula to the sounds of the shows anthem, with added cheers and whoops from the faithful.  An Officer And A Gentleman is an entertaining show for sure, our advice is to switch off your brain and wallow in a decade long past and let love lift you up.  

Rob & Ian

REVIEW: CIRCUS OF HORRORS (Cabinet Of Curiosities) UK Tour @ Victoria Hall, Stoke

 

 

The cult hit Circus Of Horrors has been wowing audiences around the world since 1995,  the brainchild of Doctor John Haze who sadly passed away in 2023, but has left behind his mark on the entertainment scene in no small measure with this amazing entertainment. Part freak show, part circus spectacular, part rock show - its a journey through the twisted hell of circus and boy is it fun!

The loss of Doctor Haze as the shows ring master and guiding mercurial presence might have been a severe blow to the brand but thankfully they have found a sinister and hilarious mistress of ceremonies in the shape of Baby Lame, a self titled 'punk drag superstar' who has been drafted in and fits perfectly into the collection of weird and wonderful performers who make up the Circus Of Horrors company. Lame's banter and charisma really hold the show together.  I don't think we will be asking 'Whatever Happened To Baby Lame?' anytime soon.

Baby Lame

The company of the talented and the bizzare make sure the circus never stops,  all to a pulsating rock soundtrack with a brilliant live band 'Doctor Haze's Inceptors From Hell' lead by Elspeth Foster on lead vocals.  They are worth the price of admission alone.  

Trying to describe the show to anyone not there is nigh on impossible,  its a fusion of so many things with performers who bring multi skills to the night.  Kudos to each and every one with their talents, and what surprising talents they are.  Anatasia IV and her husband Hannibal Hellmeurto are the masters of the 'peep from behind your hands' moments. Hellmeurto will swallow anything... and we mean anything...  More traditional circus fayre comes from Mongolia's The Serpent Sisters,  a dazzling aerial act, and Italy's fantastic Gore Doom,  juggler extraordinaire.  Double jointed Voodoo King,  the human pin cushion Blue Jigsaw,  aerial and strength act Priest and Pandora and the super sexy Deadly Divas  all added to the cult of mayhem that pervades the show.  With the stage bathed in fire and a guillotine showing what happens to those who offend the Circus freaks,  it is a sensory feast from beginning to end.  

Anybody worried that the absence of  Doctor Haze would affect the quality of the show should think again.  We would like to think he was looking down - or more likely looking up! - and investing the experience with his mastery of the dark arts and unrivalled showmanship.  If the company had set out to put on a show in tribute to Haze, they couldn't have done a better job.  The Circus Of Horrors, now in its 29th year, is in rude health (and we do mean RUDE).  

Welcome to the Carn-evil folks and enjoy what has become a legend of circus and the strange.  Catch it while you can. Or die trying.

Ian & Rob

(with thanks to Callum Fradley for the photos)

Further information can be found at the CIRCUS OF HORRORS OFFICIAL WEBSITE