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NATIVITY! THE MUSICAL

RETURNS TO THE REP

FOR THE 2022/23 CHRISTMAS SEASON

PRIORITY BOOKING OPENS TODAY (10 JAN)

Following its world premiere at The Rep in 2017, the theatre is delighted to announce Debbie Isitt’s hit production NATIVITY! The Musical will return to its home stage for the 2022/23 Christmas season.

NATIVITY! The Musical will open on Saturday 19 November 2022 for a spectacular seven-week run until Saturday 7 January 2023. The production was due to return for Christmas 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic. It will finally return in 2022 to brighten everyone’s Christmas.

NATIVITY! The Musical centres around the fictional St Bernadette’s School where every child has one Christmas wish, to star in a Nativity. Enter teacher Mr Maddens and his loveable assistant Mr Poppy as they decide to stage a musical version. Follow this feel-good production as they deal with hilarious children, unruly animals and a whole lot of sparkle and shine to make everyone’s Christmas wish come true.

Sean Foley, The Rep’s Artistic Director said “We are especially delighted to finally welcome back Debbie Isitt’s spectacular and heart-warming hit show to her home city of Birmingham. Christmas is a special time for families to come together and NATIVITY! The Musical provides the perfect theatre treat for all ages.” 

Since its world premiere at The Rep, the production has been seen by over one million people during an acclaimed UK tour and three successful London runs.

“IT REALLY IS TINSEL-TASTIC”

The Times

Adapted for the stage by Birmingham-born Debbie Isitt, the creator of the much-loved films, it features a host of memorable sing-a-long hits from the movies including Sparkle and Shine, Nazareth, One Night One Moment, She’s the Brightest Star and a whole host of new songs.

The NATIVITY! film series is one of the most popular UK Christmas film franchises of recent years. Written and directed by the Bafta Award-winning writer and director Debbie Isitt and produced by Nick Jones, NATIVITY!, NATIVITY 2 DANGER IN THE MANGER!, NATIVITY 3 DUDE WHERE’S MY DONKEY?! and NATIVITY ROCKS! have all gone on to reach top box office positions on theatrical release and sold nearly 2 million DVDs, capturing the hearts and minds of families all over the UK.

Full casting to be announced soon.

NATIVITY! The Musical is presented by Birmingham Repertory Theatre in association with Jamie Wilson. Book by Debbie Isitt with music by Debbie Isitt and Nicky Ager. Based on the film Nativity!, written and direct by Debbie Isitt and produced by Nick Jones.

Priority Booking opens Monday 10th January

General on sale Friday 14th January

Box Office: 0121 236 4455 Online Booking: birmingham-rep.co.uk

STATEMENT REGARDING

BRING IT ON THE MUSICAL

UK AND IRELAND TOUR 2022

The producers of Bring It On The Musical today sadly announce that due to the impact of rising Covid-19 cases and self-isolation requirements resulting in 13 cancelled performances, the show will no longer be able to continue its tour. Performances at the Southbank Centre are unaffected by this cancellation. Therefore, the production will play at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall until it concludes its final performance on 22 January 2022.

Selladoor Worldwide said today, “Cancelling 13 performances has resulted in an overwhelming loss of income for the production during a peak period that would otherwise have provided a vital financial backbone of the tour. This lost income, amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds, has sadly rendered the remainder of the tour financially unsustainable. It would be irresponsible for us to continue, and we therefore have no option but to cancel the remainder of the tour.

We have not taken this decision lightly and have explored every possible alternative to avoid cancellation. Selladoor remain incredibly proud of this fantastically received production and are grateful to everyone who has worked so hard on it, and to all the audiences who have cheered us on. We are only too aware of the impact this will have on our wonderful cast, crew, musicians and creative team – as well as our audiences, venues and suppliers we had been due to work with during the tour.  We are heartbroken that we have been forced into this position, but the impact of these cancellations caused by Omicron has left us with no other choice.”

Customers who have purchased tickets for the UK and Ireland Tour of Bring It On The Musical will be contacted by their point of purchase. Tickets for performances at the Southbank Centre are unaffected and remain valid. 

THE HOPE THEATRE ANNOUNCES

DETAILS OF ITS SPRING SEASON

THE FIRST UNDER NEW ARTISTIC DIRECTOR PHIL BARTLETT, RUNNING FEBRUARY TILL JUNE 2022

TICKETS ON SALE NOW HERE

Phil Bartlett, the new Artistic Director of The Hope Theatre, is pleased to announce details of the spring 2022 season at the acclaimed 50-seat pub theatre in the heart of Islington.

The season opens with the world-premiere of Measured, Emma O’Brien’s witty and moving play about the hidden consequences of living with an eating disorder, which is accompanied by Measured Festival, a selection of electric late-evening events celebrating mental health awareness, including stand-up, improv and comedy. Other world-premieres include A Good Time Was Had By All, a dark satire about a group of friends who discover disturbing information about one of their group, and Up in Town, a new stage adaptation which marks the twentieth anniversary of the cult TV series about an older woman’s desire to be visible.

Much of the programme looks outside of London, with Emma Zadow’s new play Fridge focussed on two sisters reuniting in Norfolk, and If. Destroyed. Still. True., the debut script from Jack Condon, exploring male friendship in rural Essex. The season closes with 100 Paintings, a dystopian comedy about a young artist and his mother which comes to the Hope after a successful shorter run at the Bread and Roses Theatre last year.

There is also the return of the popular Sunday-Monday programme, which offers emerging theatre-makers the opportunity to present their work without having to commit to a full three-week run.

Ticket prices will rise from £15 (£12 concessions) to £16 (£13 concessions) for performances taking place from April 2022 onwards. This reflects the rise in national living wage and the theatre’s ongoing commitment to ensuring all performers, stage management and box office staff are paid a legal wage.

Tickets are on sale now via the Hope Theatre website.

Artistic Director Phil Bartlett said, “Despite the many challenges the theatre industry continues to face, it’s been a real pleasure putting together the spring season. With a focus on new writing and stories which look beyond London, these productions are dramatic, surprising, and have something to say about the world we live in now.”

MEASURED / MEASURED FESTIVAL

Written by Emma O’Brien, directed by Cat Robey, starring Juliette Burton

Tuesday 22 February – Saturday 11 March @ 7.00pm

“Well, it’s not a party ’til someone’s crying in the toilets.”

Sophie’s sister, Lucy, is at that age where her friends are throwing yoghurt around at school. Sophie’s boyfriend, Tom, runs a catering company for picky wedding planners. And Sophie? Sophie has an eating disorder – which she sees as a rather large inconvenience. Now that she’s in recovery, Sophie is hopeful she can reconnect with Lucy and Tom, but she knows that after hiding within her illness for so long, it’s not going to be easy to cope without it.

MEASURED is a witty and moving new play examining the hidden consequences of an eating disorder for the sufferer and those who love them. Exposing the emotional turmoil of the illness without glamorising its dangers, MEASURED questions how effective recovery can be in a society that still wants women to be as ‘little’ as possible.

Emma has worked in mental health social work for over ten years and wrote MEASURED whilst in recovery from anorexia. Award-winning director Cat was Deputy Director of Jermyn Street Theatre 2019-21. Comedian and mental health ambassador Juliette Burton has sold out Edinburgh Fringe 2015-18 and won numerous awards, most recently recommended by The Guardian for lockdown comedy in 2020.

To accompany Emma O’Brien’s moving new play comes the MEASURED FESTIVAL – a powerful range of award-winning comedy, improv, spoken word and performance art celebrating mental health awareness and bringing out the laughter within.

The festival comprises a roster of electric late-shows presented after each performance of MEASURED. Stand-up performances by award-winning comedians and actors hope to foster a lively and enthusiastic environment in which frank discussion about the difficulties of living with a mental illness can be had.

Full line-up will be announced soon.

FRIDGE

Written by Emma Zadow, performed by Emma Zadow, Gabrielle De Saumarez, and Edward Watchman, directed by Anoushka Bonwick

Tuesday 15 March – Saturday 2 April

Alice hasn’t been home for a while. Seven years in fact. But when her little sister, Lo, attempts to take her own life, the journey from South London to Norfolk proves to be more than just a simple change of pace. Disney VHS tapes, walkmans and shared memories fill the family home where Alice must confront what she left behind and what exactly brought her back.

With the help of their friend Charlie, together, the three try to rekindle a family broken in the Norfolk wilderness.

“When it’s this silent, it’s easy to hear voices.”

FRIDGE is a play about familial ties and the importance of giving support to those we love. In the wake of mental health cuts to the NHS, over 81,000 people in the Norfolk area are experiencing mental health difficulties, with suicide rates presenting as particularly high. This is a show with magic realist writing at the heart of a story about a broken family that are brought back together in Norfolk, despite themselves and their past trauma.

A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL

Written and directed by Sam Smithson, performed by Hattie Kemish, Holly McComish, Bethany Monk Lane, and Cameron Wilson

Tuesday 5 – Saturday 23 April @ 7.45pm

A dinner party.

A dark secret.

A damn good time.

When university friends re-unite over dinner, they are forced to make an uncomfortable decision about one of their oldest friends..

“People aren’t always what they show you, do you understand? People hide things.”

A darkly satirical play exploring justice and who has access to it. 

IF. DESTROYED. STILL. TRUE.

The debut production from JAWBONES Theatre, telling the epic stories in everyday lives. Written by Jack Condon, directed by Sarah Stacey

Tuesday 26 April – Saturday 2 May @ 7.45pm

“But where the fuck have you actually been though? What have you really done? It’s been… I hardly recognise you mate.”

A cliffside hangout. A friendship. A forgotten town.

Summer 2012, a warm evening by the sea. James is home from University with his new girlfriend Charlotte. John, James’ best friend, can’t wait to reunite.

Until they do.

Something is changing, something seismic.

And none of them knows how significant this day will be for the rest of their lives…

A story spanning ten years, IF. DESTROYED. STILL. TRUE. shines a stark light on life between the cracks, and asks what happens when the place you were born can no longer be called home. Identity, class and cultures clash as life pulls childhood best mates apart. We bear witness to what we stand to lose when we cannot truly communicate, and the lengths to which we must go to find peace…

100 PAINTINGS

A new tragic comedy by Jack Stacey (The Play That Goes Wrong, West End), directed by Zachary Hart (Julius Caesar, The Bridge).

Tuesday 17 May – Saturday 4 June @ 7.45pm

Set in a dystopian future, 100 PAINTINGS tells the story of a young artist and his mother struggling to survive in the crumbling Savoy Hotel.

“How am I supposed to be a professional artist with my mother barging in offering hot beverages and food every five minutes?”

Battling mountains of unpaid hotel bills, the young artist has three days to produce one-hundred original paintings and deliver them to the new hotel manager or he and his mother face being turned out onto the street.

With hilarious distractions coming in full force, he struggles to keep on course to meet the deadline, but help often comes from the most unexpected of places…

The Sunday/Monday shows in the season announced so far are as follows: MRS GREEN (27 & 28 February), EVERYTHING IS GRAND AND I’M COMPLETELY OK, (6 & 7 March), CARELESS

(27 & 28 March), UP IN TOWN (10, 11, 17 & 18 April),HAPPENINGS (22 & 23 May)

Opening in 2013, The Hope Theatre was originally a sister theatre of Islington’s King’s Head Theatre, renovated from a function room above the famous Hope & Anchor pub and music venue into a black box studio theatre. The Hope Theatre has transferred two productions to the West End (Ushers to the Charing Cross Theatre and the Snoo Wilson’s Lovesong Of The Electric Bear to The Arts) and has been home to many world premieres. It also housed the professional world premiere of Joe Orton’s Fred And Madge.

The Hope Theatre is a place for audiences and companies to explore BIG ideas. It nurtures and develops new producing models, working with exciting companies to present a mix of new writing, lost gems from well-known writers, re-polished classics and innovatively staged musicals.

Although The Hope Theatre has received no regular public subsidy since its 2013 opening, it was the first Off West End venue to open with a house agreement with Equity. This ensures a legal wage for all actors, stage managers and box office staff working at the theatre.

In 2020, Kennedy Bloomer became Artistic Director of the theatre and navigated the theatre through the global Covid-19 pandemic and total closure by taking The Hope Theatre online. Phil Bartlett was appointed Artistic Director in September 2021.

Artistic Director: Phil Bartlett 

Associate Director: Toby Hampton 

Technical Manager: Laurel Marks 

Patron: Paul Clayton 

Support The Hope Theatre: https://www.thehopetheatre.com/support-us/

Or visit www.thehopetheatre.com for more information.

CONTAINED LIVERPOOL ESCAPE ROOMS & SCARE MAZE, BOOTLE – 9TH JANUARY 2022

REVIEWED BY MIA BOWEN

5*****

If you love all things supernatural and occult, you are guaranteed screams attempting to achieve the end game in this escape room experience in less than 60 minutes.

It is 1974, you are entering the pitch-black bedroom of a 12 year old girl, who Father Daniels believes, is possessed by a malevolent demon. The priest has mysteriously disappeared and this is where he was last known to be. You are young students, searching for him, to find and assist him in the exorcism, freeing the possessed child of this demon. In order to do so, you have to solve puzzles to gain information and tools to use, to defeat and banish this vicious demon.

Our game master and host, Sean could hear and see everything we said and did, and I am certain he must have had such a belly laugh watching at us, screaming, jumping and hiding behind each other! He was able to speak to us over a speaker system, giving us specific clues and directions to solve the puzzles to find the clues.

This escape room experience has all the characteristics of the spine-chilling HORROR movie; mystery, suspense, terror and shock, whilst attempting to solve the puzzles.

This was our fist visit to Contained Rooms. Very easy to find and parking outside the building. We were a group of four, our ages ranging form 18 to 47. We achieved the endgame in 53:44, placing us 3rd on the leader board!

It is open all year round, guaranteeing you a distinctive, thrilling and realistic experience. Sean informed us that they have a brand new Escape room coming to Contained Rooms in 5 to 6 weeks, entitled ‘The Addams Family: Dead by Wednesday’, which is more family friendly. They also produce an ‘immersive, script based live actor scare maze’ in Liverpool, running for limited dates in October.

Celebration of queer activism adapted into
digital theatre piece to celebrate LGBT
History Month 2022
Riot Act
Streaming Tuesday 1st – Monday 28th February 2022

Alexis Gregory’s critically acclaimed production Riot Act returns in 2022 to celebrate LGBT History Month. Direct from the West End and touring the UK, this online ‘reimagining’ has been created using interviews with a Stonewall survivor, a radical drag artist, and an AIDS activist. This audience favourite solo show is filmed at the Hackney Empire and will be available to watch throughout February

The production is formed word-for-word from playwright and performer Gregory’s interviews with three key players in the history of the LGBTQ+ rights movement: Michael-Anthony Nozzi, a survivor of the Stonewall riots; Lavinia Co-op, an alternative ‘70s drag artist; and Paul Burston, a ‘90s AIDS activist. Gregory’s verbatim solo show Riot Act is a breath-taking, hard-hitting, yet hilarious wild white-knuckle ride through six decades of queer history, directed by Stonewall (1995) writer Rikki Beadle-Blair MBE, taking the viewer right up to the present day.

Following a gala West End performance at the Duchess Theatre, runs at the Arcola Theatre and King’s Head Theatre and three tours, Riot Act will be available to stream globally via stream.theatre to mark LGBT History Month 2022. This beautiful online version is filmed at the iconic Hackney Empire, blending the mediums of theatre and film. A celebration of queer activism across the decades; pulling no punches, hilarious, moving and inspiring… It’s a riot.

This online production is created in partnership with and commissioned by Hackney Empire; their first-ever digital commission in their 120th birthday year, and is funded by Arts Council England.

Riot Act online is the latest offering from performer, playwright, producer and director Alexis Gregory, following the sell-out run of his Sex/Crime (Soho Theatre); Safe, online version, also in association with Hackney Empire; directing Guardian top online pick Declan, written and performed by Alistair Hall (The Actors Centre); and directing Jonny Woo’s series of online monologues for his Silvertown project.

Acclaimed theatre legend Rikki Beadle-Blair MBE returns to direct Riot Act. Beadle-Blair has written and directed over forty plays, and his screen work, as writer or director, includes the ground-breaking Channel 4 series Metrosexuality (2001) and the feature films Stonewall (1995) and Blackbird (2015)

Alexis Gregory, Creator and Performer, comments, It has been an honour to perform these three extraordinary, hidden, queer stories, all over the UK since Riot Act’s premiere in 2018. Since 2018, there has also been talk of filming Riot Act, and so, finally, to mark LGBT History Month 2022, here is that special filmed version of the show. With the pandemic redefining what online theatre can be, this digital reimagining of the show for the screen sits somewhere between theatre and film. Streamed globally via stream.theatre, partnered with and filmed in the stunning Hackney Empire, funded by Arts Council England, and once again directed by Rikki Beadle-Blair, with an amazing creative team attached, now, wherever in the world you are, Riot Act is available to you, and everyone can ‘meet’ Michael, Lavinia and Paul, who so generously and bravely shared their stories with me

Previous praise for Riot Act:

Riot Act is at once frank, warm and uninhibited…a forceful reminder of the importance of
knowing your history. – Evening Standard

This stand-out piece of theatre will become part of LGBT cultural heritage…a career defining performance. – Attitude Magazine

★★★★★ The rage is palpable, as is the humour. And it’s a moving experience…a wonderful tribute to three strong people and their unique stories that is well worth seeing…brilliant. – Queer Review

★★★★★ One of the most moving pieces of new queer writing in London…powerful, deeply moving and politically rousing…Gregory remains an incredibly watchable and powerful figure on stage…mesmerising. – The Spy in the Stalls

★★★★ Verbatim theatre at its best…Gregory; a powerful presence, shows fierce awareness of his theatrical and political context. – The Stage

★★★★ A compelling account of gay rights activism… what makes Riot Act really work is Alexis Gregory’s utterly captivating delivery. – Gay Times

Runaway Entertainment presents

2:22 – A GHOST STORY

The hit play by Danny Robins

Directed by Matthew Dunster

@222AGhostStory #222AGhostStory 

• FINAL 5 WEEKS OF THE RUN OF 2.22 A GHOST STORY AT THE GIELGUD THEATRE

• THE PRODUCTION IS DIRECTED BY MATTHEW DUNSTER AND WRITTEN BY AWARD-WINNING WRITER DANNY ROBINS

• THE PRODUCTION MUST CLOSE ON 12 FEBRUARY 2022

• TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW FROM WWW.222AGHOSTSTORY.COM

The production of 2.22 A Ghost Story enters its final 5 weeks at the Gielgud Theatre in London’s West End. The run must end on Saturday 12 February 2022.

Despite playing during an incredibly difficult time during the Coronavirus pandemic, the show has so far not missed a single performance. Giovanna Fletcher has recently had to temporarily withdraw from the show having injured her foot. She hopes to return to the run as soon as possible. Her role is currently being played by Rhiannon Handy.

2.22 – A Ghost Story is written by award-winning writer Danny Robins, creator of the hit BBC podcast The Battersea Poltergeist and it is directed by Matthew Dunster. Intriguing, funny and scary, it takes audiences into one adrenaline fueled night where secrets will emerge and ghosts may appear….What do you believe? And do you dare to discover the truth?

“There’s something in our house. I hear it every night, at the same time.”

Jenny believes her new home is haunted, but her husband Sam isn’t having any of it. They argue with their first dinner guests, old friend Lauren and her new partner Ben. Can the dead really walk again? Belief and scepticism clash, but something feels strange and frightening, and that something is getting closer, so they are going to stay up… until 2.22am… and then they will know.

2:22 – A Ghost Story features set design by Anna Fleischle, costume design by Cindy Lin, lighting design by Lucy Carter, sound by Ian Dickinson for Autograph Sound, casting by Jessica Ronane CDG and illusions by Chris Fisher.

2:22 – A Ghost Story is produced by Tristan Baker and Charlie Parsons for Runaway Entertainment, Isobel David and Kater Gordon. 

TICKETS GO ON SALE FOR

THE JAMIE LLOYD COMPANY’S THE SEAGULL

Tickets go on sale today for The Jamie Lloyd Company’s production of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, in a version by Anya Reiss. The production opens at the Harold Pinter Theatre on 7 July, with previews from 29 June, running until 10 September 2022. Jamie Lloyd directs Emilia Clarke (Nina), Tom Rhys Harries (Trigorin), Daniel Monks (Konstantin), Indira Varma (Arkadina) and Sophie Wu (Masha), with Katie Buchholz, Tina Harris and Joseph Langdon, with further cast to be announced.

Tickets are on sale to ATG Theatre Card Members now, and those signed up for priority booking at 12pm today, Monday 10 January; general booking opens Wednesday 12 January at 10am.

The company continues its commitment to accessibility, with 12,000 tickets priced at £15 available across The Seagull and the UK productions of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac, freely adapted by Martin Crimp, directed by Jamie Lloyd, and starring James McAvoy.

For The Seagull, there will be specific performances throughout the run, where half the seats in the house are £15. These tickets are exclusively for under 30s, key workers and those receiving government benefits.

• The first two performances will take place on 13 July (2.30pm) and 18 July (7.30pm) and go on sale on 6 June at 12pm for a limited time only.
• The next performances will take place on 27 July (2.30pm), 1 August (7.30pm), 10 August (2.30pm) and 15 August (7.30pm) and go on sale on 29 June at 12pm for a limited time only.
• The final performances will take place on 24 August (2.30pm), 29 August (7.30pm) and 7 September (2.30pm) and go on sale on 27 July at 12pm for a limited time only.

Tickets will be available via thejamielloydcompany.com

In addition, a dedicated outreach manager is distributing 5,000 free tickets amongst both secondary state schools and community organisations who otherwise would not have access to the theatre. Those working with a group who does not have the means or opportunity to visit the theatre, can register their interest here.

Anton Chekhov‘s

THE SEAGULL

A version by Anya Reiss

Cast: Emilia Clarke (Nina), Tom Rhys Harries (Trigorin), Daniel Monks (Konstantin), Indira Varma (Arkadina) and Sophie Wu (Masha), with Katie Buchholz, Tina Harris and Joseph Langdon

Directed by Jamie Lloyd; Designed by Soutra Gilmour; Lighting Design by Jackie Shemesh

Sound and Composition by George Dennis; Casting by Stuart Burt CDG

Costume Supervision by Anna Josephs; Props Supervision by Fahmida Bakht

Associate Direction by Jonathan Glew; Associate Design by Rachel Wingate

Harold Pinter Theatre: 29 June – 10 September 2022

‘We need the theatre, couldn’t, couldn’t do without it. Could we?’  

A young woman is desperate for fame and a way out. A young man is pining after the woman of his dreams. A successful writer longs for a sense of achievement. An actress wants to fight the changing of the times. In an isolated home in the countryside where dreams are in tatters, hopes dashed, hearts broken and there is nowhere left to turn, the only option is to turn on each other.

Produced by ATG Productions, Gavin Kalin Productions, Glass Half Full Productions and Wessex Grove in association with Rupert Gavin/Mallory Factor.

THE JAMIE LLOYD COMPANY

LISTINGS

CYRANO DE BERGERAC

Harold Pinter Theatre

3 February – 12 March 2022

www.haroldpintertheatre.co.uk

Theatre Royal Glasgow

18 – 26 March 2022

www.atgtickets.com/venues/theatre-royal-glasgow

Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York

5 April – 22 May 2022

www.BAM.org

THE SEAGULL

Harold Pinter Theatre

29 June – 10 September 2022

www.haroldpintertheatre.co.uk

THE HIPPODROME, BIRMINGHAM – UNTIL SUNDAY 30TH JANUARY

REVIEWED BY NADIA DODD

5*****

Panto is back at the Hippodrome, Birmingham for the first time in 2 years and they have come back bigger, bolder and better than ever.

Tagged as ‘The Greatest Panto On Earth’ they really lived up to this giving the audience last night over 2 hours of pure escapism.

Headline cast Jason Donovan in his panto debut as the Evil Ringmaster, Andrew Ryan as Dame Betty Barnum, Alexia McIntosh as Candy Floss, Samantha Dorrance as Goldilocks, Doreen Tipton as the Lazy Lion Tamer and panto legend Matt Slack as the Ringmaster.

The story is based on Dame Barnum trying to save her beloved Big Top Circus from the Evil Ringmaster, who tries a few different crafty tricks to steal her star act – the 3 Brummy Bears – which would ruin her business and livelihood if he succeeded.

Amazing circus acts throughout the show including magician Phil Hitchcock, The Gemini Twins showing off their circus skills and I was in awe of the motorcycle act, Peter Pavlov with their Globe of Speed, real hair raising stuff.

There really was something for everyone, panto is great for kids of all ages and with the cheeky jokes and adult themed innuendos, belly laughs were on the menu right from the start.

Matt Slack is a panto legend, back for his eighth year at the Hippodrome and you can really see why they keep having him back. Amazing at impersonations and singing, the comedy legend has great chemistry with his fellow co-stars but the scenes with him and Jason Donovan were just hilarious – lots of jokes about his casting in Neighbours and history with Kylie Minogue, the audience just loved him.

The stage, scenery and costumes really were high class, dazzling and a sheer joy. Lots of pyrotechnics used throughout the show and not forgetting an amazing huge gorilla and elephant head that almost comes out to the first few rows of the stalls from the stage – children were left spellbound.

Matt Slack rounded up after the finale with an extremely emotional thank you to the rest of the cast and all staff at the theatre for making the show work under the current rules due to Covid, he also thanked the audience for supporting and introducing the next generation to live theatre.

Still another 3 weeks to catch the show and you really won’t be disappointed now matter what your age !

EMPIRE THEATRE, LIVERPOOL – UNTIL SATURDAY 22ND JANUARY

REVIEWED BY MIA BOWEN

5*****

Appearing at Liverpool’s iconic Empire Theatre, this astoundingly powerful musical had us gasping, laughing and reaching for the tissues. With scenery that was inspired by Victor Hugo’s paintings Les Misérables wowed from start to finish.

Despite this show having run for so many years, the performance given by the cast in this production feels fresh and far from tired. A sung through musical, with familiar rousing songs, gorgeous multilayered vocal arrangements as well as heart-rending solo pieces, it tells one of Victor Hugo’s major works of fiction.

Dean Chisnall plays the strong protagonist Jean Valjean, an ex convict in 19th century France that out of his encounter becomes an honourable and dignified man. Essentially the storyline depicts a cat and mouse chase between Javert, a serious, ‘the law’ police inspector (Nic Greenshields) and Valjean for many years. Interwoven in the plot is the beautiful love story between Cosette (Rebecca Ferrin), the adopted daughter of Valjean and Marius (Will Callan) a student linked with the revolutionaries who set about to whip up support following the death of General Lamarque. With excellent acting from the young Teddy Probets as Gavroche and the amusing acting from Ian Hughes as Thénardier and Helen Walsh as Madame Thénardier the production made the audience laugh and gasp equally. In fact the whole cast is worthy of a mention as they pulled on every emotion and demonstrated their acting versatility.

The swift changes of focus power the show, moving it along briskly with sets that move smoothly between each transition. It captivates the audience making you feel as though you are part of the performance and story from start to finish. The score played by the live orchestra adds to the atmosphere and an honourable mention must go to the talented musicians playing for the duration.

Cameron Mackintosh’s highly rated production played out to a sold out audience at the Empire Theatre, seeing a standing ovation for all the cast at the interval and close. Highly recommended five star performance ‘storm the barricade’ for your ticket!

Bristol Hippodrome – until 22 January 2022

Reviewed by Lucy Hitchcock

3***

Written by Tom Eyen with music from Henry Kreiger, Dreamgirls hits Bristol Hippodrome on its UK Tour.

The swinging 60’s stills the auditorium for a feel good show; multi award winning and sequin studded! The sparkling tale of the Dreamgirls is told, following Effie (Nicole Raquel Dennis) Lorrell (Paige Peddie) and Deena (Natalie Kassange) as they battle to make it into showbiz.

The stand out song was Dennis’ rendition of ‘And I am telling you I’m not going’, where The heavily emotive performance rang through the theatre. Whilst Dennis has volume and power in her voice, the song was tainted by the sheer volume of the song. Throughout the show, the microphone volume was extremely high, which was a shame to draw away from the performances. As this song closes Act 1 and was met with a standing ovation, it was hard for the cast to move forward from there and Act 2 seemed slightly flat in comparison to the big finish of the first Act. Natalie Kassanga and Paige Peddie as Lorrell and Deena were pleasant and it was nice to have the focus on them for quite a bit of the show too, with their own solos and performances.

For me, the absolute stand out performance of the night goes to Brandon Lee Sears as ‘Jimmy Early’ an established singer who seems to use his wit and charm to get where he is in life. Sears was funny and so different from any of the other characters that we couldn’t help but laugh at him and clap and dance along when he sang. He gave an air of James Brown and really entertained the audience.

The costume and lighting also deserves a congratulation for the sheer number of sequins on stage, quick changes and lighting to cover every inch of the stage. This truly is no mean feat of a production! There was one quick change which was met with rapturous applause and it truly deserved it!

Whilst the cast seemed to hit the ground with so much energy and excitement, it was hard to top scene by scene and left me feeling like I wanted more. The songs were also very repetitive that I was almost waiting for a section of dialogue (this is not to detract from the performances of the cast!).

If you like sequins and sparkles mixed with the swinging 60’s and some big songs-this is the one for you.