Musical Geek - Musical Theatre Reviews

Well this is review 100 since I started writing seriously and frankly one I suspect I might run out of remarkable phrases to describe but, I'll do my best to do a superlative performance justice, one I can only imagine Charles Addams would have been justly proud to inspire. Music & Lyrics from a modern day great in the industry, Andrew Lippa and a book by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice, the stage was transformed stunningly by Margaret Taylor and her Stage Crew into the strange surroundings inhabited by the even quirkier Addams Family. Having seen some publicity shots it wasn't obvious to me at first glance who had been cast as family leader Gomez Addams, I should have known better, there is only one person who could create that character in such a magnificent way, of course that is 'local stage hero' Leon Davies adding to a string of previous successes. As his vampish or should I say vampire-ish wife Morticia is the breathtaking Rachel Davies with a performanc...

This review is dedicated to the entertainment phenomenon that was Mitchell Bastable who would have appeared in this production were he not taken from all those that knew and loved him way before his time. Always remembered, never forgotten, hoping you're up there looking down and still enjoying music and musical theatre as much as you ever did Mitch. As the words of the song go 'c'mon everybody take a real deep breath' and see if you can follow the multitudinous storylines in this musical, full of classic tracks from Elvis Presley woven into a tale loosely based on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night by Joe DiPietro. It's all credit to the direction of Doug Forrester and a talented cast that it isn't too difficult to follow the heavily interlinked relationship dramas that unfold, add to this some expressive choreography from Lucy Webb and Russell Painter's interpretation of songs that are well known to pretty much all of us and you have a night of engaging e...

You could be forgiven for thinking that Top Hat is all about the dance and very little else, after all it is intrinsically linked with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers but, you would be wrong as there is a complex storyline, some highly comedic moments and a rich musicality to add to the movement which make this a strikingly all round piece of entertainment. Let's fast forward from Fred & Ginger in 1935 to South Staffs Musical Theatre Company in 2018 and Harry Simkin as a sophisticated and debonair Jerry Travers alongside Fiona Winning as a refined and polished Dale Tremont (forgive me for a small aside here but, I did feel I was looking at a young Grace Kelly every time I looked at and listened to Fiona, quite a startling resemblance). This partnership would probably give any a run for their money, both individually and as a pair the glided through every scene as if they were meant to be there. Roger Stokes gave a dryly witty performance as the much maligned Horace Hardwick ...

There is no doubt that most people will know and love the story of Peter Pan, there is probably a little of the 'boy who never grew up' in all of us but, I suspect many will default to Walt Disney Movie of 1953 when they open up those memories. This however is the Musical from probably one of the great modern day partnerships in that genre, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. We are of course talking the same story, however a little richer, a little deeper and perhaps even a little darker in its interpretation, brought to the stage under the experienced direction of local theatre personality Tye Harris, ably assisted by Edd Caine as Musical Director and Anna Forster as Choreographer, a team that obviously know how to get the best from a cast and entertain an audience. We are taken along the journey to Neverland and back in the hands of a strangely ageing and darkly clad Storyteller, played in quite a haunting style by Nicola Howarth, only as the tale closes do we realise that ...

Lerner & Loewe's My Fair Lady I imagine will still be performed long after I stop writing about musical theatre and will no doubt still be entertaining audiences in the same way it always has, however it still needs an enthusiastic cast and crew to bring it to life and this production by Alcester Musical Theatre Company at Redditch Palace Theatre is very much in the traditional vein. Leading the on stage performances is an emotional, passionate and highly melodic portrayal of Eliza Doolittle by Millie Coles, an exceptionally talented individual with a voice that could easily grace any professional stage. Professor Henry Higgins is played with panache and verbal dexterity by Karl Willis alongside Jeff Gill as a wryly humorous Colonel Pickering, both actors bouncing off each other as a well oiled double-act when required. Jamie Glenn as love interest Freddy Eynsford-Hill delivers just the right level of besottedness whilst effortlessly vocalising the classic 'On the Str...

There’s a level of professionalism in this production that makes me wonder if it really should be taken to a much wider audience, I would always hesitate to use a word like flawless, so perhaps let’s call it consummate and something that Emma-Jayne Gladman as Director and Hayley Gibbs as Musical Director must be exceptionally proud of, Rob Gladman’s set design additionally adds just the right atmosphere to proceedings. I’ve not been to the Hinckley Concordia Theatre before, it’s a little gem of a facility, somewhere I’d recommend more people, whether local or not, visit and if the standard of this show is anything to go by, you’ll not be disappointed with what you see. Jonathan Larson’s emotional story set in the poverty stricken East Village neighbourhood of Manhattan confronts many sensitive topics head on and this cast would rival any in handling all of the challenges in exemplary fashion, what makes it such a triumph is the acting and vocal skills which are quite simply of top-...

After Les Miserables last year and finding out that Phantom of the Opera was the challenge for 2018, I seriously thought this society had 'bitten off more than it could chew', we are talking a difficult piece of theatre for even a highly trained adult cast and surely they can't surpass the exceptional standard from last year. Suffice to say I was wrong, because this is performance art that is beyond your average superlative, delivered with style and professionalism to a richly appreciative audience. Creatively bubbling away at the centre of this highly accomplished and intensely portrayed production is a triumvirate of formidable characterisations, Alex Cook's outstandingly powerful Phantom, Alex Cooper's vocally unparallelled Christine (that is a West End Voice and the last voice I said that about is now understudying Fantine in the West End production of Les Miserables !) and Oliver Keeling's sophisticated and charming performance as Raoul. Gifted performa...