Category: Musicals
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As You Like It at the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch review ***
As You Like It Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, 26th August 2019 I don’t think I was alone in praising the first initiative in the collaboration between Public Acts and the National Theatre last year which brought amateur and professional creatives together to produce a piece of large scale community theatre. That…
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Blues in the Night at the Kiln Theatre review ***
Blues in the Night Kiln Theatre, 31st July 2019 Right. I’ll cut to the chase. Blues in the Night isn’t really a work of drama. Or really musical theatre. It is a nostalgic revue purporting to tell the story of three women, the Lady (Sharon D Clarke), the Woman (Debbie…
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Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other love songs) at the Lyric Hammersmith review ***
Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other love songs) Lyric Hammersmith, 22nd May 2019 Never seen John Gay’s ballad opera The Beggar’s Opera, though have seen Brecht and Weill’s Threepenny Opera, on which it is based, a couple of times. Have been waiting patiently for a production of Britten’s 1948…
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The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre review ****
The Book of Mormon Prince of Wales Theatre, 20th April 2019 Better late than never. Six years after it opens the Tourist finally gets to see The Book of Mormon. As all Tourists should. Thanks to LS and LGN. Now the previous musical theatre adventures with the two of them…
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The American Clock at the Old Vic review ***
The American Clock Old Vic Theatre, 11th February 2019 All the reviews will tell you the same thing. This was not one of Arthur Miller’s finest moments. Mind you his finest moments are amongst the greatest in theatrical history so the bar is set pretty high. A series of vignettes,…
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Company at the Gielgud theatre review ****
Company Gielgud Theatre, 29th November 2018 Regular readers will know that the Tourist doesn’t like musicals. However, with Company now ranking alongside Follies, Caroline, Or Change, Groundhog Day, Gypsy, Girl From the North Country, Junkyard and White Teeth, the list of exceptions to the rule is growing alarmingly long. Looks…
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White Teeth at the Kiln Theatre review ****
White Teeth Kiln Theatre, 21st November 2018 I have never read Zadie Smith’s 2000 debut novel White Teeth. So I have no benchmark against which to set the adaptation by Stephen Sharkey, directed by Indhu Rubasingham, which is still showing at the Kiln. I gather it is something of a…
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Porgy and Bess at the ENO review ****
Porgy and Bess English National Opera, 31st October 2018 It has been a long time coming. This co-production, together with the Met and the Dutch National Opera, is the first time it has appeared on the Coliseum stage. The re-written version, with book by Suzanne Lori-Parks, (which attracted the ire…
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Caroline, or Change at the Hampstead Theatre review *****
Caroline, or Change Hampstead Theatre, 18th April 2018 How many exceptions does it take before the rule is unproven? I don’t, as a rule, like musicals, as I have oft repeated on these very pages. I absolutely adored this though. That might be because it isn’t your classic show tunes,…