Joe Dipietro’s modern take on Schnitzler’s La Ronde portrays a series of encounters between ten men exploring attitudes to sexuality and relationships in an extraordinary 90 minutes of sex, laughs and surprising tenderness.
The structure of the play, with one character from a scene moving on to a fresh interaction with the next character, can sometimes make for clunky scene changes, but director Steven Kunis utilises Cara Evans’ ingenious split screen-like set brilliantly to keep the audience on their toes. The slickness of Alex Lewer’s lighting and Charlie Smith’s sound elevate the production even further. A series of panels across the stage change from opaque to transparent, revealing new locations or characters. Kunis cleverly uses this device to introduce future characters saying seemingly random lines from their upcoming scenes, as a couple have sex in the main scene, adding layers of tenderness, sadness or humour.
The characters are mainly stereotypes – a escort, a homophobic soldier in denial about his sexuality, a teacher, a college boy (whose insistence that he’s bi elicits wonderful reactions from the older men he hooks up with), a married couple who have “an agreement”, a porn star, a playwright, a closeted actor and a TV personality. The joy of Dipietro’s writing is that he uses these stereotypes to shine a light on the life of these gay men. Smart script changes bring the scenarios into the 2020s, and the play tackles homophobia, monogamy, sex work, porn through the eyes of the different characters with a lightness of touch that never becomes overwrought. The differing attitudes and situations between the generations is best portrayed in the final scene with Charlie Condou’s older TV personality, in a marriage of convenience but living for years with his “assistant” reacts with heart-breaking hope and kindness as Alex Britt’s escort talks about his plans to find a place and settle down with his boyfriend.
The cast of four are on fire. Condou is brilliantly nuanced playing the less showy roles of two older men, while Derek Mitchell is satisfyingly OTT as the flamboyant playwright – making the audience roar with laughter. Stanton Plummer-Cambridge excels playing characters hiding their true selves and Alex Britt is a delight portraying the younger men whose confident and naive world view contrasts hugely with the older characters and their experiences.
There is a lot of sex, but Lee Crowley’s intimacy direction and the inspired staging ensure that this is no peep show – the underlying message of searching for connections shines through in the hands of this talented cast. This new production of F**king Men is a triumph – hilarious and deeply moving, a must-see show.
Cambridge Arts Theatre, Cambridge – until Saturday 29th April 2023
Reviewed by Steph Lott
5*****
The standing ovation from last night’s audience at Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical should tell you all you need to know about the quality of this production, which is a joyful, feel-good story of friendship, community and music. There are 17 sea shanties for you to enjoy, excellently performed by an extremely talented cast and supported by a versatile and clever band, who weave in and out of the action, always on stage with the action. This musical contains a heady mix of emotions and the cast truly take the audience there. There is amusement and bemusement, joy and despair, tragedy and, ultimately, triumph. Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical is a fantastic mix.
For those who don’t know the story and haven’t seen the film, it’s about a group of fishermen who are close friends, who sing sea shanties together and have done for many years. One day, whilst minding their own business singing on the beach in Port Isaac, Cornwall, they are spotted by jaded music executive Danny (played very nicely by Jason Langley). You’ll have to buy a ticket if you want to find out more about this charming real-life story of unlikely success. This stage adaptation of the 2019 film, written by Amanda Whittington and directed by James Grieve, is a fictionalised version of that story.
Lucy Osborne’s set is superb. The fishing boat, the lifeboat, the scenes by the sea in Port Isaac. The bus to London and the antics in Soho – the audience are skilfully and smoothly transported to all these locations by her ingenious set.
I also really enjoyed Matt Cole’s choreography. There is so much vivid movement on stage, with fabulous dancing including whirling and foot stomping! and yet there are times of stillness too. The direction, from James Grieve, is excellent. He brings the story, the characters and the location of Port Isaac, to life right from the outset.
The singing is exceptional throughout, with the whole ensemble often on stage at the same time – making it hard to pick out individual cast members for recognition. However, for me it’s the songs performed by Danny’s love-interest Alwyn, played by Parisa Shahmir, that make the biggest impact. All her songs were sublime, but when she sang of the need to “keep hauling”, despite the very real possibility of heartbreak and loss, you could hear a pin drop in the theatre. However, this is not to detract from the beauty of all the voices joined together in song, which is at the heart of this show.
This production of “Fisherman’s Friends” is what musical theatre should be all about. Cracking actors and musicians performing a charming and compelling story on a fabulous theatrical set. The shanties they sing are powerful and pure, connecting us back through time with nautical history. To hear them is a simple delight. Entertainment at its best. If you’re a fan of sea shanties specifically or folk music more broadly, you’re in for a treat with this show.
IN ASSOCIATION WITH SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY, WASHINGTON, D.C.
PRESENT
RALPH FIENNES AND INDIRA VARMA
IN
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S
MACBETH DIRECTED BY SIMON GODWIN
PLAYING IN
LIVERPOOL, EDINBURGH,
LONDON AND WASHINGTON, D.C.
FROM NOVEMBER 2023
SIGN UP NOW AT MacbethTheShow.com
Wessex Grove and Underbelly, in association with Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington, D.C. are delighted to announce that Tony and BAFTA Award-winning Ralph Fiennes will star as Macbeth and Olivier Award-winning Indira Varma will star as Lady Macbeth in an intimate new production of William Shakespeare’s MACBETH which will open in Liverpool this November.
Directed by Simon Godwin with set design by Frankie Bradshaw and an adaptation by Emily Burns, this new production will break free from the confines of traditional theatres and instead be staged in four site-specific warehouses in four iconic cities.
MACBETH will play seasons in Liverpool (24 November – 16 December 2023), Edinburgh (13 – 27 January 2024), London (11 February – 23 March 2024) and Washington, D.C. (2 – 28 April 2024).
Tickets for the UK dates will go on sale in June. Tickets for The Washington, D.C. season are on sale now as part of a six-play subscription to Shakespeare Theatre Company’s 23/24 Season.
For priority booking access and further information please sign up at MacbethTheShow.com.
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Further creative team and full casting to be announced soon.
Ralph Fiennes said today “Ever since we collaborated on Man and Superman I’ve longed to work with Indira Varma and Simon Godwin again. Simon brought us together then and he’s reuniting us for Macbeth. Simon’s visionary process is exceptionally collaborative. This will be my third time working with him – I’m truly excited. Macbeth is a play that always carries relevance but with wars in Ukraine and Sudan – and murderous authoritarian regimes very present in the world the play seems particularly current. But Shakespeare’s examination of the MINDS of his protagonists – the intimate nature of this – is what gives the play its brilliant and terrifying focus.”
Indira Varma said today “I’m thrilled to be heading back in to the rehearsal room with Ralph Fiennes and Simon Godwin exploring Macbeth and Lady M’s fraught relationship and the play’s themes of ambition and corruption which still feel chillingly poignant in our modern world.”
Director Simon Godwin said today “I’m thrilled to be reuniting with Ralph and Indira after our acclaimed Man and Superman at the NT. Macbeth is a remarkable portrait of a marriage and a terrifying account of the drift towards tyranny. The experience will be heightened by playing in different spaces across different cities before ending our journey – during a US election year – in America’s capital. I’m thrilled to be embarking on an international journey driven by Shakespeare’s capacity to urgently reflect our shared and volatile present.”
Producers Wessex Grove and Underbelly said today “We feel very honoured and excited to be working with Ralph, Indira, Simon and Frankie on such a bold artistic vision for one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. Both Wessex Grove and Underbelly’s producing ethos is very much to push the boundaries of what a theatrical experience can be and who that experience is for. This production of Macbeth will inhabit stunning warehouses in four great cities, bringing the audience even closer to Shakespeare’s work, and in doing so we hope encouraging a whole new audience to discover the brilliance of live theatre.”
William Shakespeare wrote Venus and Adonis during the Plague epidemic of 1593 when London’s theatres were forced to close. He was 28 years old and his career as a playwright had barely got off the ground. Venus and Adonis was his first work to be published and was an instant bestseller, its huge popularity due in no small part to its erotic passages and vivid narrative.
MarMaxTheatricals LTD present
William Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis
created and performed by Christopher Hunter
director David Salt
Riverside Studios, London
Tuesday 9 May – Sunday 21 May
In 1592 Shakespeare’s career as a dramatist had barely got off ground when a severe outbreak of the plague forced London’s theatres to close. He turned his hand to poetry and the result was Venus and Adonis, an epic poem that became his first published work and the best seller of its day!
Its commercial success was due in no small part to its more erotic passages which describe how, over a period of 24 hours, the sexually experienced Venus tries to seduce a young, virginal boy.
Is Venus and Adonis a soft-focus centrefold in the playbook of Elizabethan erotica? Or is it a portrait of sexual power, love, lust and its catastrophic consequences?
As we emerge from another period where London’s theatres were all shut for an extended period due to a global medical emergency, Christopher Hunter’s brilliant one-man dramatisation takes us on a journey through Shakespeare’s vibrant language and into the poem’s pulsating dark heart.
Christopher Hunter said: “I read the poem and fell in love with its incredibly vivid language and pounding narrative. It is seldom performed, but the performer in me found Venus and Adonis extremely exciting – it was clearly the work of a dramatist and it had theatre at its core – so I set out to explore the possibility of turning the poem into a one-man play.
“As I worked on the piece, researching it and exploring its themes, a darker and more sinister narrative started emerging from the soft-focus of Elizabethan erotica – and this narrative told the story of a young boy who, walking out of his front door one morning, is sexually assaulted and never returns home. This is the story that I want to tell. The more I understood the dark heart of the poem, the more I altered my approach. The deeper I worked, the more shocking the narrative became.
“Venus and Adonis will entertain, shock, thrill, provoke, challenge and surprise you. Just as working on the poem did me.”
Produced by MarMaxTheatricals LTD.
Christopher Hunter (Actor/Writer)
Christopher Hunter began as an actor playing Malcolm in David Halliwell’s ‘Little Malcolm and his Struggle Against the Eunuchs’, directed by John Caird. From there he joined the National Theatre Company as it prepared to open its new home on the South Bank. He appeared in the first new play produced there – Howard Brenton’s ‘Weapons of Happiness’, directed by David Hare, and assisted in the creation of the National Theatre Youth Theatre, before leaving to perform leading roles with the RSC.
Subsequent years combined film work (including the lead In Nothing To Lose, the award winning Maestro, Nic Roeg’s Aria, Merchant-Ivory’s Maurice, Christopher Columbus) with leading roles in theatre (including Edinburgh Traverse, Sheffield Crucible, Oxford Playhouse, NT and the RSC). He joined Michael Bogdanov and Michael Pennington in the English Shakespeare Company’s multi-award winning Wars of the Roses world and UK tour, taking in the Far East, the USA and Europe – while opening Tokyo’s Globe Theatre on the way. Also for the ESC he directed Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter at Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre, which later went on to play in Berlin and London’s Young Vic. TV includes Sherlock, Mr Selfridge, Dracula, Chalk, East Enders and Silent Witness. Christopher appeared in the West End in Peter Whelan’s award-winning play The Herbal Bed directed by Michael Attenborough. He founded The Noontide Sun, producing and starring in Patrick Süskind’s one-man play The Double Bass in London to great critical acclaim.
Christopher’s adaptation and performance of Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis was first seen at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017 where it thrilled audiences and critics alike. Recently, he wrote and directed States of Mind for Extant (London) working with severely visually impaired performers. Christopher regularly works with students in leading UK drama schools directing final year productions and black box projects (contemporary & classical genres). He has led workshops on Venus and Adonis,performing Shakespeare and verse speaking.
MarMaxTheatricals LTD – Producer
MarMaxTheatricals LTD is the UK arm of MarMaxMedia LLC, based in the US. The partners Alexander ‘Sandy’ Marshall and Mitchell Maxwell collectively have 100 years of experience in the production of theatre, film, and television. Their productions include: ‘Network’ starring the Tony Award-winning Bryan Cranston, Martin McDonough’s ‘Hangmen’ (Tony nomination), ‘American Buffalo’ starring Laurence Fishburne, Sam Rockwell, Darren Criss (Tony nomination), ‘Funny Girl’, ‘The Old Man & The Pool’ starring Mike Birbiglia, Adrienne Kennedy’s ‘Ohio State Murders’ starring six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald and, currently, ‘Pictures from Home’ starring Nathan Lane, Zoë Wanamaker and Danny Burstein. Additionally, Drama Desk Award-Winners Martha Clarke’s ‘Garden of Earthly Delights’, Scott McPherson’s ‘Marvin’s Room’, the ground-breaking hip-hop performance piece, ‘Jam on The Groove’, the Broadway revival of the classic musical comedy, ‘Damn Yankees’, starring Bebe Neuwirth and Victor Garber, where they later brought the legendary Jerry Lewis to Broadway (in his Broadway debut) to replace Mr. Garber. Following a triumphant run on Broadway, the production starring Mr. Lewis toured the US for two years and later played the Adelphi Theatre in London, garnering three Olivier nominations. ‘Blues in the Night’ nominated for the Olivier for Best Musical, as well as the Tony award in the same category. Their productions have been nominated for multiple Tony, Olivier, Drama Desk, and Outer Critic Awards and have won such honours in every iteration. In 2000, they recieved the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the play, ‘Dinner with Friends’, During lockdown, they presented the first Brodway style podcast of the acclaimed novel ‘Little Did I Know,’ with music by three-time Tony winner, Doug Bestermen and lyrics by Grammy, Oscar, and Emmy winner, Dean Pitchford, where it soared to number 3 on Apple and remained in the top 40 for over 6 consecutive months.
LISTINGS INFO
MarMaxTheatricals LTD present
Venus and Adonis
created and performed by Christopher Hunter
director David Saltss
Riverside Studios 101 Queen Caroline Street Hammersmith London W6 9BN
Tuesday 9 May – Sunday 21 May
Monday -Saturday at 7.30pm Wednesday and Saturday at 2.30pm
Tickets: General Admission £15.00, concessions £10 (plus £1.50 per ticket booking fee)
CHRISTOPHER J ORTON AND JON ROBYNS THEN, NOW & NEXT
Paul ViridesProductions today announces the world première production of the heart-warming, original musical Then, Now & Next, written by Christopher J Orton (My Land’s Shore)and Jon Robyns (currently playing the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera)in a first-time collaboration for the pair.
Directed by Julie Atherton (Ordinary Days) and starring Alice Fearn (Come From Away, Wicked), with further casting to be announced, the production opens at Southwark Playhouse, Borough on 28 June, with previews from 23June, and runs until 29 July.
Christopher J Orton and Jon Robyns said today “We started work on early drafts of this show together almost ten years ago, and eagerly revisited it in April 2020. It got us both through lockdown with no expectation of the show turning into what it is today. We came out the other side with a piece that speaks to how we all feel now about moving forward and what it means to belong.
We are strong advocates of new, original British musicals, and are delighted to have our debut show produced at Southwark Playhouse; a proven breeding ground for new innovative writing. Alice Fearn has beautifully embodied the character of Alex Shaw through several workshops, and we’re extremely excited for audiences to see her bring this brand-new musical to the stage for the first time.”
Julie Atherton adds “I’m beyond excited and feeling very lucky to be working with such an innovative and passionate creative team on this beautiful moving story written by my old friends and colleagues, Jon & Chris. I just can’t wait to get in that rehearsal room.”
Paul Virides Productions presents:
Alice Fearn in
THEN, NOW & NEXT
by Christopher J Orton and Jon Robyns
Directed by Julie Atherton
Orchestrations, arrangements and musical supervision by Ben Goddard-Young
23 June – 29 July 2023
Cast: Alice Fearn
Musical director: Honor Halford-MacLeod; Movement director: Alexzandra Sarmiento;Set and costume designer: Bob Sterrett;Lighting designer: Adam King;Sound designer: Raffaela Pancucci; Production manager: Titch Gosling;Produced and general managed by Paul Virides Productions; Dramaturgy: Kate Golledge
Struggling with a difficult past, Alex Shaw is attempting to take steps forward. We follow her journey over twenty years, through two loves – young, adventurous idealist, Stephen, and the older, reliable and charming Peter – as she gathers the scattered chapters of her life, in the hope of re-building her story and asking if she will ever be more than just “fine”.
Through Alex’s experiences, her uplifting story questions how relationships can change over time and explores what it takes to truly heal.
Accept what was. Embrace what could be.
Christopher J Orton is an actor, composer, lyricist and writer. His writing credits include My Land’s Shore, Grace Notes, The Gory Story of Edward Polidori, Dracula, This Time Next Week, B.O.A.T.S, The Road to the Port of Barry, Elephant Juice and Are you Sitting F**king Comfortably?. As an actor his credits include Tom (UK tour), The Hired Man (Leicester Curve), Spamalot (UK tour and Playhouse Theatre) and Oliver! (Watermill Theatre).
Jon Robyns is an actor and writer. Then, Now & Next marks his debut project as a writer, and first collaboration with Christopher J Orton. As an actor, his credits include Les Misérables, Hamilton, The Phantom of the Opera, Avenue Q, RENT, Miss Saigon and many more. He has released 2 Albums, completing a sell-out UK tour of his most recent entitled Musical Direction.
Alice Fearn plays Alex Shaw. Her theatre credits include Come From Away (Phoenix Theatre), Wicked (Apollo Victoria Theatre), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Savoy Theatre), Oliver! (Watermill Theatre), Woman in White (Palace Theatre), Les Misérables (Queen’s Theatre), Into The Woods (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) and Shrek (Theatre Royal Drury Lane).
Julie Atherton directs. Her theatre credits include Ordinary Days (Cockpit Theatre), Well Behaved Women (Cadagon Hall), Club Mex (Hope Mill Theatre), Cinderella (Capitol), Made in Dagenham (Mack Theatre), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Bernie Grant Arts Centre), Girlfriends, Deed Not Words (Karamel Club), Legally Blonde (Laines Theatre Arts) and The Hello Girls (St Peter’s Arts Centre).
The show opens with two bodies laid out on stretchers in the street, immediately setting the scene for a tragic story that everyone in the audience knows is not going to end well.
Willie Russell’s tale of twin brothers separated at birth highlights how the two boys futures are determined by the circumstances of their upbringing, with Sean Jones and Joe Sleight brilliantly playing the two protagonists – Micky and Eddie.
Starting at ‘Seven Nearly Eight’, the children play those games that so many of us have done… Riding imaginary horses, shooting each other with pretend guns, and seeing who could spit the furthest. From there you see them grow into manhood, and they couldn’t take much more contrasting paths along the road of life.
The pair are watched over by their biological mum (Niki Collwell-Evans) and Eddie’s adopted mother (Paula Tappenden), the latter desperate to keep them apart despite fate having other ideas for them. As a result she gradually loses her grip on reality.
The ominous presence of the narrator, voiced by Richard Munday, increases the tension of this harrowing tale, and as the pair become ‘Blood Brothers’ they are constantly reminded that ‘the Devil’s got your number’. Their lives intertwine and they end up falling in love with the same girl, Linda (Olivia Sloyan) – an eventuality that inevitably leads to the story’s shocking climax.
Though sorrowful, Russell’s classic is at times full of joy, with typical northern humour and the Scouse ability to laugh at adversity. You can’t help but laugh at the antics of the young characters as they played in the street or tried to be clever with the local bobby, and it is fatastically played by the main cast.
Powerful renditions of the show’s now iconic songs were goosebump inducing, and there didn’t seem to be a dry eye in the house at the final scene as the case received the standing ovation that they so greatly deserved.
THE AWARD-WINNING SMASH HIT PLAY THE FULL MONTY BY SIMON BEAUFOY
OPENING AT THE
EVERYMAN THEATRE, CHELTENHAM
ON 14 SEPTEMBER 2023
Everyman Theatre Cheltenham & Buxton Opera House in association with Mark Goucher and David Pugh are delighted to announce that the UK Tour of Simon Beaufoy’s THE FULL MONTY will star Danny Hatchard as Gaz, Jake Quickenden as Guy, Bill Ward as Gerald, Neil Hurst as Dave, Ben Onwukwe as Horse and Nicholas Prasad as Lomper. THE FULL MONTY opens at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham on 14 September 2023. Full tour schedule below, with further casting to be announced. www.fullmontytheplay.com
Danny Hatchard is probably best known for his role as Lee Carter in BBC One’s EastEnders, and Gary in BBC One’s Not Going Out. His other television roles include Lee in BBC One’s Ridley Road and Private Rhett Charlton in BBC One’s Our Girl. His theatre credits include Aaron in Eyes Closed Ears Covered at The Bunker Theatre, for which he was nominated for an Off West End Theatre Award, as well as Tom Jenkins in Scrooge at Curve, Leicester, Jack Dawkins and Noah Claypole in Oliver Twist at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Ste in Beautiful Thing at The Arts Theatre and UK Tour and Valentin in Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Jake Quickenden’s theatre credits include the UK Tours of Hair, Footloose and Friendsical, as well as Peter Pan a Musical Adventure at Blackpool Opera House. On television Jake has previously appeared on ITV’s The X Factor, The Chart Show, I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!, Dancing On Ice, The Real Full Monty: On Ice and Channel 4’s Hollyoaks and Celebrity SAS Who Dares Wins. Most recently, Jake has been presenting regularly for ITV shows such as Lorraine and Loose Women.
Bill Ward is probably best known for his roles as Charlie Stubbs in ITV’s Coronation Street and James Barton in ITV’s Emmerdale. His other television credits include ITV’s The Hunt for Raoul Moat, Vera, Midsomer Murders, Heartbeat and Footballers’ Wives, BBC’s Silent Witness, Jonathan Creek, Casualty and Holby City. His West End theatre credits include Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at the Apollo Theatre, Viva Forever at the Piccadilly Theatre, Million Dollar Quartet at the Noel Coward Theatre, Spamalot at the Palace Theatre and Japes at Theatre Royal Haymarket.
Neil Hurst’s television credits include Channel 5’s All Creatures Great and Small, ITV’s Coronation Street and BBC’s Home from Home, Casualty, Doctors, The Syndicate and Moving On. His theatre credits include the UK Tour of Fat Friends the Musical, Early Doors Live UK Arena Tour, Evita at the Leeds Grand Theatre, and Jungle Book The Musical at the Oldham Coliseum.
Ben Onwukwe’s theatre credits include the UK tours of The Shawshank Redemption and Black Men Walking, The 47th at the Old Vic, New Nigerians at the Arcola Theatre, The Treatment at the Almeida Theatre and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh. Ben’s television credits include ITV’s Professor T, Coronation Street and Law & Order UK, Netflix’s Marcella and the BBC’s EastEnders, Doctors and Holby City.
Nicholas Prasad’s theatre credits include Around the World in 80 Days at Theatre by The Lake/Hull Truck, The Comedy of Errors with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Approaching Empty at the Kiln Theatre, Treasure Island at Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Baghdad Wedding at the Soho Theatre. On television he has been seen in the BBC’s Doctors and EastEnders, and SyFy’s Krypton.
This fast and funny play is still very much of our time, as again we are hit by a cost of living crisis. Gaz and his mates are down on their luck and feel they have been thrown on the scrap heap, but they are determined to fight back and bare a little more than they ever thought they would have to.
As in the 1997 smash hit film, this brand new production is a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs, laughs and heartbreak.
THE FULL MONTY marks the first co-production and partnership between the Everyman Theatre Cheltenham and Buxton Opera House, which recently became an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation.
THE FULL MONTY is directed by Michael Gyngell, choreography and intimacy co-ordination is by Ian West, Set and Costume design is by Jasmine Swann with Lighting design by Andrew Exeter and Sound design by Chris Whybrow. The Casting Director is Marc Frankum.
Joseph Rowntree Theatre – until Saturday 29th April 2023
Reviewed by Michelle Richardson
3 ½ ***
Last night I visited Joseph Rowntree Theatre in York, a local community theatre. It is fantastic that York has such a wealth of venues that cater for live theatre, we are so lucky. NE, a York am-dram group, is currently performing Into The Woods at this warm and welcoming theatre.
Into The Woods is a mishmash of characters from the Brothers Grimm fairy tales. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, it premiered on Broadway in 1987 before hitting the big screen with a Disney film in 2014. The main characters are taken from Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel and Cinderella, the latter being my favourite fairy tale.
Before the show even started, we had elves running up and down the aisles, with birds flying through the air, setting the scene for what lay ahead. Narrated by Steve Tearle, who also plays the Mysterious Man and is the shows director, it follows the story of a baker (Chris Hagyard) and his wife (Perri Barley), who are desperate to have a child, but unbeknownst to them a witch (Pascha Turnbull) had placed a curse on them. For the spell to be reversed they are tasked gather a list of items – a blood-red cape, a milk-white cow, a slipper of gold and hair as yellow as corn. Off into the woods they venture to fulfil their quest.
Along the way they meet Cinderella (Rebecca Jackson), her Prince Charming (Sam Richardson), Rapunzel (Juliette Brenot), her Prince (Kristian Barley), Jack (Jack Hambleton) and Red Riding Hood (Missy Barnes, who shares the role with Molly Surgenor). The show gives us a condensed version of their stories that we all know so well. We see them fall in love, find their riches, defeat evil, but happily ever after that comes at the end of act one is not the end of this tale. Act two we soon come to expect the unexpected. You’ll have to get along to JRT to find out what happens next, though I will say we get to meet a lady giant (Helen Greeley)!
Tearle does a fabulous controlling the action, even with his wardrobe malfunction, trousers around ankles, which we spied at the side of the stage. He is very personable and comfortable to be at the helm of proceedings. He was certainly rocking those elf ears and costume.
Jackson as Cinderella gave a strong performance with her singing and just the right amount of sass. I was impressed with Hagyard and Hambleton’s vocals, both owning the stage whilst singing. Hambleton’s dealings with the milk-white cow, complete with her powder puff, were hilarious, and sometimes raised an eyebrow. I have seen Hambleton in a previous show, he shone then and I’m glad to say that shine has not diminished. I enjoyed the interaction between the two princes, and loved the camp, but not so charming Prince Charming.
The staging was inventive using camouflage netting, masses of it, large scaffolding towers on wheels, which were rotated by the ensemble cast to change scenes. The costumes, designed by Paul Shriek, were vibrant, accessorised by some very high sparkly shoes, and no expense was spared. You really felt you were in a fairy tale.
I must shout out to the musical director Scott Phillips. Not only was it great to hear a live band under his leadership, but the enthusiasm he showed whilst conducting was infectious. He was so resplendent in his colourful outfit and sparkly tiara.
On opening night there were a few hitches with the sound and the microphones delay in picking up some of the actors when they were speaking. This was quite evident when the giant was speaking, but this hiccup only added to the laughter. I’m sure that this will improve as the week goes on.
This had a large cast, the youngest being six, packing out the stage. It is always great to see so many adults and children wanting to share their love of theatre and I’m in awe of anyone who can get up on stage and perform to an audience. I must say hats off to NE for choosing Into The Woods to perform. It is an ambitious undertaking and though there were a few problems along the way they did the story proud. They all worked so hard to provide us with an entertaining evening, full of musical fantasy. Thank you to everyone involved.
‘RAVE ON – That is what Blackpool is in for when watching this spectacular performance of Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story’
I have never had the opportunity to watch this production and was pleased to hear that it would be returning to The Blackpool Grand Theatre as part of its 2023 UK Tour.
For me this was a true evening of pure entertainment and delight and was a change to the musicals that I have seen recently that have been adapted from books and movies. To tell the true story and I mean the true story (not a tribute concert) off an extraordinary talent was to me a real challenge and it is hats off to writer and producer Alan Janes, director Matt Salisbury and musical director Dean Elliott for producing something so spectacular.
The production depicts the true story of Buddy Hollys rise to fame from the moment in 1957 when ‘That’ll Be The Day’ hit the airways until his tragic death at just 22 less than two years later after his legendary final performance at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa on 3rd February 1959.
Buddy started out as a Country & Western singer in Lubbock, Texas with his two friends Joe and Jerry (‘The Crickets’) and with the support of ‘Hipockets’ Duncan a local radio DJ, their career in music began.
After a less than successful start at Decca Records in Nashville, Buddy and the Crickets meet Norman Petty an up-and-coming innovative record producer with whom they sign a contract and immediately start recording ‘That’ll Be The Day’. The record rockets up the charts reaching number one and within a matter of weeks Buddy Holly & the Crickets become one the hottest act in the country.
Now that they have become successful, they travel to New York where Buddy meets Maria Elena Santiago the receptionist to his music publisher whom he proposes marriage too after only 5 hours of courtship. Now that he is married, Buddy shifts his focus to New York which ends up finding him in the pursuit of a solo career after a rift between himself and the Crickets which causes the band to split.
Buddy joins the ‘Winter Dance Party 1959’ travelling by bus through the Midwest with his final performance at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, with Ritchie Valens (“La Bamba”) and the ‘Big Bopper’ J.P. Richardson (“Chantilly Lace”). After the concert, Buddy breaks his promise to his pregnant wife not to fly as he and the other two headliners board a small plane and fly off into the night for Moorhead, Minnesota, only to crash into a ploughed field shortly after take-off.
The tragedy snatches away the lives of three dynamic musical talents – Buddy Holly (22), Ritchie Valens (17) and the Big Bopper (28) – and as the legend says, it was “the day the music died.”
This production starred Christopher Weeks as Buddy Holly, Miguel Angel as Ritchie Valens, Christopher Chandler as the Big Bopper and Thomas Mitchells as Hickpockets Duncan with the support of an incredible cast. Their voices can only be described as out of this world and along with their acting talents created such a presence on stage with a standing ovation at the end.
The Buddy Holly Story features two terrific hours of the greatest songs ever written, including That’ll Be The Day, Oh Boy, Rave On, La Bamba, Chantilly Lace, Johnny B. Goode, Raining In My Heart, Everyday, Shout and many many more.
The production also needs special thanks to Pete Cox for the wonderful sound, Darren Coopland for the dazzling lighting and Miguel Angel for the streamlined choreograph
Writer Deborah Moggach has created a story of love, loneliness and finding your place to grow old. It opens the dialogue about the worthlessness older people feel in British society. No longer considered the responsibility of busy younger family members, before it is too late, you need to find a place to spend your later years. Somewhere you can feel comfortable, cared for and needed. It reflects how different it is in Indian culture and the weight of responsibility that young people feel there.
Nishad More gives his character Sonny Kapoor a frenetic energy that keeps the stage vibrant and active. The breadth and depth of emotion More (Sonny) goes through is impressive and looks exhausting! Mrs Kapoor (Rehka John-Cheriyan) plays with her son’s emotions, whilst clearly frightened she will end up like the new residents of the hotel. Through Sonny’s (More) clever thinking, they have all been sold a story of a cheap place to spend their final years in the warmth of the Indian sun and comfort of a luxury hotel. Dorothy (Paoloa Dionisotti) portrays a lost soul in search of her past. Dionisotti gives a touching performance of a fragile mind. The tale of finding love, whether old or young, is beautifully played out by Douglas (Paul Nicholas) and Evelyn (Tessa Peake-Jones), Sonny (More) and Sahani (Shila Iqbal). My favourite character has to be Madge (Belinda Lang), younger than you think and wiser than she looks! She adds another layer to this already humorous story. Both Madge (Lang) and Evelyn (Peake-Jones) give you some hope that we are moving past our British colonial mentally.
The set draws you in to the atmospheric, fairly dilapidated, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It has cleverly integrated different levels for different scenes, whilst providing space for the dynamic creation of the call centre and street scene. A good dose of joy is added by the choreography, especially in the final scene.
If you loved the film and have read the book it is based on ‘These Foolish Things’, you will not be disappointed.
