FULL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR
PRINT ROOM AT THE CORONET’S
THE TEMPEST 

• Kevin McMonagle and Charlotte Brimble to lead cast as Prospero and Miranda
• Further cast: Steven Beard, Callum Dixon, Paul Hamilton, Hugh John, Billy Seymour and Kristin Winters
• The cast will be supported by a community chorus
• Directed by Simon Usher, this production will mark the end of Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary year
• Runs 21 November to 17 December

The full cast for Print Room at the Coronet’s The Tempest is today announced. Directed by Simon Usher, who garnered critical acclaim for his Hamlet at Belgrade Coventry and hisTimon of Athens, Pericles and The Winter’s Tale at Leicester Haymarket, this is the first staging of Shakespeare by the Notting Hill Gate venue. Design is by Lee Newby.

Artistic Director Anda Winters said: “We always aim to offer an ambitious and varied repertoire of work. Our choice to stage The Tempest, Shakespeare’s most experimental play, is an exciting new expression of this ethos.”

Kevin McMonagle (People, Places and Things, Twelfth Night, The Tempest and The Comedy of Errors) will play Prospero alongside Charlotte Brimble (She Stoops to Conquer, Posh and Terms and Conditions) as Miranda.  The principal cast will be supported by a community chorus.

The Tempest is for and about people; what are we human beings like? Shakespeare’s final masterpiece is his mature summary of the subject, reprising all his plays in their essential aspects. It is therefore not only a culmination of, but also a perfect two hour introduction to his work. The play’s diagnosis of existence, of the problem of being in the world, feels as sharp today as it would have been in 1608 when it first appeared.

In The Tempest, Shakespeare holds a mirror up to nature, exploring the problems of living from childhood to old age through some of his greatest poetry. His superb range of characters at the extremes of good and evil gives us an extraordinary reflection of humanity: from the growing pains of adolescence and late middle age, to masters and servants, to bullies with and without a conscience, and our fear of loneliness and the future. The Tempest ultimately outlines the struggle to remain idealistic, and the hope that the younger generation can do better.

Steven Beard’s (Gonzalo) extensive theatre credits include The Trial and The Good Soul of Szechuan (both Young Vic); The Crucible (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Hamlet, Who’s There?(Flute Theatre); Teenage Bodies (Opéra Louise); Minetti (Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh); A Little Hotel on the Side (Theatre Royal Bath); The Importance of Being Earnest (Opéra National de Lorraine); If So, Then Yes (Jermyn Street Theatre); Paradise Moscow; Of Thee I Sing; Let ‘em Eat Cake (Opera North); The Hypochondriac (Almeida Theatre); Romeo and Juliet; King John;Much Ado About Nothing; Ivanov; Devil’s Disciple (RSC). On screen he has appeared inShakespeare in Love; Hoff the Record; Chalk; Cadfael; Requiem Apache; Frank Stubbs andInspector Morse.

Charlotte Brimble (Miranda) trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama has appeared on stage in She Stoops to Conquer (Theatre Royal, Bath); Posh (Nottingham Playhouse); Terms and Conditions (The White Bear). For television, her credits include Spotless;Crime Stories and See it Saw it.

Callum Dixon (Antonio/Stefano) has appeared at the National Theatre on numerous occasions inThe Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other; Market Boy; Sing Yer Heart Out For The Lads; The Day I Stood Still; The Wind in the Willows; Somewhere; The Recruiting Officer and Rosencrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead. Further recent theatrical credits include The Hairy Ape (Old Vic);Between Us (Arcola); The Complaint (Hampstead Theatre); Hamlet and The Government Inspector (Young Vic). His television credits include : Dr Foster; Father Brown; A Touch of Cloth; Random; Casualty; Doc Martin; Doctors and Ashes to Ashes.

Paul Hamilton (Alonso) is a seasoned Shakespearean actor having appeared in Anthony and Cleopatra; King Lear; Julius Caesar; The Winter’s Tale; Henry VI Parts I, II & III and Richard III(RSC). His other stage credits include The Sisterhood (Belgrade Theatre); Secret Cinema: Star Wars (Secret Cinema); Holy Warriors; Anthony and Cleopatra; The Southwark Mysteries(Shakespeare’s Globe); Life of Galileo (Birmingham Rep / RSC Tour); Boris Godunov (RSC); The Sound of Loneliness (Actors Touring Company). His screen work includes New Worlds; 55 Degrees North; Heartbeat; Tarzan: The Untamed and Bridget Jones’ Diary.

Hugh John (Ferdinand) trained at Drama Centre London and has appeared in Romeo and Juliet(Sheffield Crucible); The Picture of Dorian Gray; The Dead Shepherd (White Bear Theatre); The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Chichester Festival Theatre / West End); Deathwatch(Roundhouse); In the Beginning (Theatre Uncut); Our Brother David (Watford Palace Theatre.

Kevin McMonagle (Prospero) recently appeared in the critically-acclaimed People, Places and Things (National Theatre/West End), his further credits include ); The Divided Laing (Arcola Theatre); No Nothing (Lemon Tree / Oran Mor); The Flouers O’ Edinburgh (Finborough Theatre);A Doll’s House (National Theatre of Scotland); Twelfth Night; The Tempest; The Comedy of Errors; Richard III (RSC); Kin; Ladybird; Thyestes (Royal Court); Pieces of Vincent (Arcola Theatre / Paine’s Plough); The Girls of Slender Means (Assembly Rooms / Stellar Quines);Ghosts; Waiting for Godot and Therese Raquin (Glasgow Citizens).

Billy Seymour (Caliban) credits for stage include Secret Theatre; Saved (Lyric Hammersmith);Pornography (Tricycle Theatre / Tour); Pretend You Have Big Buildings (Royal Exchange);Christmas (Bush Theatre); Sing Yer Heart out for the Lads (National Theatre); Herons (Royal Court). For screen he has appeared in Crazyhead; Ripper Street; Privates; Rock and Chips; Any Human Heart; A Christmas Carol; Vera Drake and Mrs Henderson Presents.

Kristin Winters (Ariel) has trained at Tisch School of the Arts, the British American Drama Academy, École Jacques LeCoq and the National Youth Theatre. She has appeared in Richard II(Shakespeare in the Square); Bloody Poetry (Brooklyn Arts); Eurydice (Columbia Stages); The Love of the Nightingale (Insomnium Theatre) and Zanna Don’t (Edinburgh Fringe). For film she has appeared in Essex Stargate and Good Knight.

FOOTLOOSE: THE MUSICAL

RETURNS IN A NEW TOUR FOR 2017

PLAYING AT THE GRAND OPERA HOUSE YORK FROM TUESDAY 2^nd TO Saturday 6 MAY 2017

WITH GARETH GATES AS WILLARD

AND MAUREEN NOLAN AS VI MOORE

 

 

Following an acclaimed 2016 UK Tour, worldwide smash hit musical Footloose: The Musical will burst back onto the stage in 2017, playing at the Grand Opera House York from Tuesday 2 to Saturday 6 May 2017.

 

Based on the 1984 screen sensation starring Kevin Bacon, Footloose: The Musical tells the story of city boy Ren, who has to move to a rural backwater in America where dancing is banned. All hell breaks out as Ren breaks loose and soon has the whole town up on its feet. Featuring classic 80s hits including Holding Out for a Hero, Almost Paradise, Let’s Hear it for the Boy and the unforgettable title track, Footloose: The Musical is set to take the world by storm once again in this brand new production, bursting with youthful spirit, dazzling dance and electrifying music.

 

When the film was released in 1984, it became the highest-grossing February release in US film history.  The soundtrack album ended the year-long reign of Michael Jackson’s Thriller at number one and went on top album charts all over the world, eventually selling in excess of 17 million copies.  Footloose was nominated for a Golden Globe, and both the title song and Let’s Hear It for the Boy received Academy Award nominations. Footloose: The Musical first opened on Broadway in 1998 where it ran for 709 performances, with a London production following in 2006, opening at the Novello Theatre following a UK Tour.

 

The cast will include Gareth Gates as Willard and Maureen Nolan as Vi Moore.

 

Gareth Gates rose to fame through the inaugural series of Pop Idol in 2001, going on to sell over 5 million records worldwide and have hits across the globe. His version of Unchained Melody sold over a million copies in the UK and is the 3rd best-selling single of the Noughties. Gareth is also the youngest ever-male solo artist to debut at number 1.  More recently Gareth has enjoyed a successful career on stage, with credits including Les Misérables, Legally Blonde and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. In 2014 Gareth appeared in the final series of Dancing on Ice, and joined boyband 5^th Story as part of ITV’s second series of The Big Reunion, touring arenas with bands including Blue and Five.

 

Maureen Nolan has been singing with her sisters since she was nine years old, when they became one of Europe’s first girl bands, The Nolans. Best known for their smash hit single I’m in the Mood for Dancing, The Nolans enjoyed phenomenal record sales worldwide, and worked with some of the world’s most respected artists including Frank Sinatra. On stage, Maureen has played Mrs Johnstone in Blood Brothers in the West End and on tour to critical acclaim. She was the fourth Nolan sister to play the role, earning them entry into the Guinness Book of World Records. Other credits include Sadie in Girl’s Behind, Jill in Mum’s the Word and Sarah in The Naked Truth.

Further casting is to be announced.

 

Footloose: The Musical has music by Tom Snow and lyrics by Dean Pitchford, and is adapted for the stage by Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie. It is based on the original screenplay by Dean Pitchford. It is directed by Racky Plews (American Idiot, West End) with choreography by Matthew Cole, design by Sara Perks and musical supervision by Mark Crossland. It is produced by David Hutchinson and Phillip Rowntree for Sell A Door Theatre Company, Tristan Baker and Charlie Parsons for Runaway Entertainment, Jason Haigh-Ellery and Stephen McGill Productions. It is presented by arrangement with R&H Theatricals Europe.

  

www.footloose-musical.com

@FootlooseTour

 

LISTINGS

 

Footloose

Grand Opera House York

2 – 6 May 2017

Performances eves 7:30pm Wed & Sat mats 2.30pm

Tickets £13.75 – £37.75

Box Office 0844 871 3024

Online Booking  www.atgtickets.com/york

Sonia Friedman Productions and Colin Callender present
the American Repertory Theater production of

The Glass Menagerie
By Tennessee Williams
Directed by John Tiffany

• Broadway and Edinburgh International Festival hit production will preview in the West End from 26 January 2017

• Universally acclaimed creative team, including John Tiffany & Steven Hoggett (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two)

• Tennessee Williams’ classic play features Broadway star Cherry Jones alongside Michael Esper, Kate O’Flynn and Brian J. Smith

• John Tiffany’s production will run for 13 weeks at the Duke of York’s Theatre

• Over 20,000 seats available for £20 or less

• Preview Pricing from 26 January – 1 February 2017

• Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday 21 October at 12pm

John Tiffany returns to the West End for the first time since the international critical hitHarry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two, to bring his acclaimed production ofThe Glass Menagerie to the Duke of York’s Theatre for a limited season.

Following its premiere in 2013 at the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University, a multi Tony Award-nominated run on Broadway at the Booth Theater and a European premiere at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival, John Tiffany’s fresh staging of Tennessee Williams’ classic play will begin previews on 26 January 2017 with Opening Night on 2 February 2017.

Cherry Jones will reprise her Tony Award-nominated Broadway role as Amanda Wingfield, with fellow Edinburgh International Festival cast members Michael Esper (Tom) and Kate O’Flynn (Laura). Brian J. Smith reprises his Tony Award-nominated Broadway role as the Gentleman Caller.

Alongside this stellar cast, the Duke of York’s Theatre will be transformed into Tennessee Williams’ St Louis of the 1930’s by a universally acclaimed creative team. The Glass Menageriefeatures movement by the Olivier Award-winning Steven Hoggett, who has collaborated withJohn Tiffany on numerous previous productions including Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Once and Let the Right One In. It is designed by seven-time Tony Award-winner Bob Crowley, lighting design is by six-time Tony Award-winner Natasha Katz with sound design from Olivier and Tony Award-winning Paul Arditti with music by celebrated composer Nico Muhly.

Time is the longest distance between two places.

A domineering mother. A daughter lost in a world of her own. A son determined to leave.

Former Southern Belle, Amanda Wingfield, is desperate to find a husband for her fragile daughter Laura, whilst son Tom dreams of breaking free from their faded St. Louis home. But will the long-awaited ‘gentleman caller’ fulfil or shatter the family’s delicate dreams?

Michael Esper and Brian J. Smith are appearing with the support of UK Equity, incorporating the Variety Artistes’ Federation, pursuant to an exchange program between American Equity and UK Equity

Listings:

Sonia Friedman Productions and Colin Callender in association with
1001 Nights Productions, Rupert Gavin, Just For Laughs Theatricals, Richard Winkler, Brian Zeilinger present
the American Repertory Theater production of
The Glass Menagerie
By Tennessee Williams

Directed by John Tiffany

Steven Hoggett Movement
Bob Crowley Set and Costume Design
Natasha Katz Lighting Design
Paul Arditti Sound Design
Nico Muhly Music
Jim Carnahan, CSA Casting

Duke of York’s Theatre

Duke of York’s Theatre, St Martin’s Lane, WC2N 4BG
26 January 2017 – 29 April 2017
Opening Night Thursday 2 February

Audio Described Performance: Tuesday 21st March 7.30pm
Captioned Performance: Tuesday 7th March 7.30pm

Box Office: 0844 871 7623 (Calls cost 7p per minute, plus your phone company’s access charge.)
Online: www.theglassmenagerie.co.uk

Monday to Saturday 7.30pm, Thursday and Saturday matinees 2.30pm

Tickets from £15 (Premium tickets are available)

Preview Pricing £10 off top 3 price bands from 26 January – 1 February 2017

THE NEW 20^TH ANNIVERSARY PRODUCTION OF JONATHAN LARSON’S PULITZER PRIZE- & TONY AWARD-WINNING MUSICAL

RENT

IS ON SALE NOW AT YORK THEATRE ROYAL.

 

York Theatre Royal is thrilled to be a venue from Tuesday 18 – Saturday 22 April 2017 for Robert Mackintosh and Idili Theatricals Limited, in association with Theatr Clwyd, 20th Anniversary production of Jonathan Larson’s ground-breaking Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning musical RENT.  After opening at Theatr Clwyd for a limited season from 21 October to 12 November 2016, RENT will go on a three-week tour, prior to a Christmas Season at St. James Theatre, London from 8 December 2016 to 28 January 2017 followed by a national tour. The new production will be directed by Bruce Guthrie.

Jonathan Larson’s musical, inspired by Puccini’s opera La Bohème, won four Tony Awards, six Drama Desk Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1996.  Ben Brantley’s New York Times review was a love letter to the show, calling RENT an “exhilarating, landmark rock opera”.  RENT ran on Broadway for 12 years, from 1996 to 2008.  The show premiered in London’s West End in 1998 at the Shaftesbury Theatre, where it ran for 18 months.  It was adapted into a film in 2005.

Larson’s world is inhabited by a group of bohemian artists who struggle to maintain their friendships and their non-conformist ideals in New York’s East Village.  Facing their problems head on, they make personal self-discoveries and find what really matters most in life.  The poignancy of the story was heightened when Jonathan Larson died of an aortic dissection on 25 January 1996, the night before the show’s first off-Broadway performance at New York Theatre Workshop.

The much-loved score features songs such as Seasons of Love, Take Me or Leave Me, One Song Glory, La Vie Bohème, Without You, I’ll Cover You, Out Tonight, I Should Tell You and the title song.

Director Bruce Guthrie said

I am delighted to be working with a truly world-class creative team on this new production of Jonathan Larson’s classic musical.  Our aim is to serve the fans of the show who have loved it so passionately since its ground-breaking premiere Off Broadway in 1996, while introducing it to a new generation of musical theatre fans.  We want to capture the essence of bohemian New York City at the height of the AIDS epidemic.  It’s a place of grime and excitement, where voices are fighting to be heard and the inhabitants are fighting to connect with one another, as well as fighting for their lives.  The musical is a celebration of life and living in the moment.  It’s blood and bone, sweat and tears, laughter and joy, despair, hate and love, all in this one remarkable year shared by a group of friends.  It is a privilege to be working on one of the great ‘moment’ musicals and to celebrate 20 years of RENT.

Tamara Harvey, Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd, said,

RENT is a powerful and passionately life-affirming musical and we’re delighted to be working with Robert Mackintosh and Idili Theatricals Limited to bring it to a new generation in this, its 20th Anniversary year.

The new production of RENT will have Choreography by Lee Proud, Set Design by Olivier Award-winner Anna Fleischle and Costume Design by Loren Elstein, with Lighting Design by Olivier and Tony Award-winner Rick Fisher, Sound Design by Olivier Award-winner Mike Walker, Video Design by Andrzej Goulding, Musical Direction by Phil Cornwell and Casting by Will Burton Casting.

RENT has Book, Music and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson, Musical Arrangements by Steve Skinner, Original Concept and Additional Lyrics by Billy Aronson, Music Supervision and Additional Arrangements by Tim Weil, and Dramaturg is Lynn Thomson.  RENT was originally produced in New York by New York Theatre Workshop and on Broadway by Jeffrey Seller, Kevin McCollum, Alan S. Gordon and New York Theatre Workshop.

RENT is presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe) Ltd.

Tickets for RENT are on sale now priced £32 – £12 (£1.50 transaction fee per booking) from the York Theatre Royal box office in person, by phone on 01904 623568 or securely online at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Fiery Angel presents
PLAYS AT THE GARRICK
KENNETH BRANAGH THEATRE COMPANY

THE ENTERTAINER NOW IN FINAL WEEKS AS YEAR-LONG
WEST END SEASON COMES TO TRIUMPHANT END

JOHN OSBORNE’S SEMINAL PLAY WILL BE BROADCAST LIVE
TO CINEMAS WORLDWIDE ON 27 OCTOBER

• KENNETH BRANAGH, GAWN GRAINGER, SOPHIE MCSHERA AND GRETA SCACCHI STAR IN ROB ASHFORD’S PRODUCTION

• BRANAGH THEATRE LIVE HAS NOW BROADCAST ITS PRODUCTIONS TO 340,000 PEOPLE ACROSS 37 COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD

• THE ENTERTAINER IS THE FINAL PRODUCTION IN THE KENNETH BRANAGH THEATRE COMPANY’S SEVEN PLAY SEASON IN THE WEST END

The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company in partnership with Picturehouse Entertainment invites dozens of countries around the world, including over 600 cinemas across the UK, to share one of The Entertainer’s final performances. John Osborne’s modern classic will be broadcast live to cinemas direct from London’s Garrick Theatre on Thursday 27 October, marking the final production in a year of unmissable theatre.

The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company has staged seven plays at the Garrick over the past eleven months featuring a total of 64 actors wearing some 286 costumes and 36 wigs. Eighteen cast members made their West End debuts in the acclaimed productions, playing opposite actors such as Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi, Zoë Wanamaker, Lily James, Richard Madden, Adrian Lester, Rob Brydon and Meera Syal.

The Plays at the Garrick season has now sold more than 30,000 theatre tickets for just £15, which included seats in the front row of the stalls via the Today Tix mobile and online lottery. Around the world, over 340,000 people have seen the Branagh Theatre Live broadcasts of Romeo and Juliet starring Derek Jacobi, Lily James and Richard Madden in July 2016 and The Winter’s Tale with Kenneth Branagh opposite Judi Dench in November 2015.

Set against the backdrop of post-war Britain, John Osborneʼs The Entertainer conjures the seedy glamour of the old music halls for an examination of public masks and private torment. Rob Ashford directs Kenneth Branagh as Archie Rice alongside Phil Dunster as Graham, Gawn Grainger as Billy Rice, Jonah Hauer-King as Frank Rice, Crispin Letts as Brother Bill, Sophie McShera as Jean Rice and Greta Scacchi as Phoebe Rice. Further casting also includes Lauren Alexandra, Yasmin Harrison, Pip Jordan and Kate Tydmanas dancers.

The cinema broadcast of The Entertainer is directed by Benjamin Caron, who also directed the broadcasts of The Winter’s Tale and Romeo and Juliet, and recently collaborated with Kenneth Branagh on the final series of Wallander (BBC). Caron has also directed two episodes of the greatly anticipated new Netflix series The Crown by Peter Morgan.

The Plays at the Garrick season for the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company featured productions of The Winter’s Tale, Harlequinade / All On Her Own, Red Velvet, The Painkiller, Romeo and Juliet and The Entertainer.

Participating cinemas and screening dates can be found at branaghtheatrelive.com

For more information and to buy theatre tickets for The Entertainer please seewww.branaghtheatre.com

LISTINGS INFORMATION

The Entertainer
20 August 2016 – 12 November 2016
Performances Monday – Saturday with 2.30pm matinee performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays excluding 20 August.

Garrick Theatre Box Office: 0844 482 9673
Online Theatre Bookings: www.branaghtheatre.com
Tickets from £15

International cinema broadcast of The Entertainer: 27 October 2016
Cinema ticket bookings: branaghtheatrelive.com

No booking fees or transaction fees on any ticket booked direct through branaghtheatre.com, nimaxtheatres.com, direct telephone bookings at the Garrick Theatre and to personal callers at the Garrick Theatre.

 TodayTix run a £15 Front Row Mobile Lottery via the TodayTix App for all productions of the Plays at the Garrick season. The Front Row Lottery will open from midnight for performances that day and close four hours prior to the chosen performance. Customers who share their entry via Twitter or Facebook will gain an additional entry into the Lottery. Every entrant has the potential of three entries per performance.

Theatre Twitter
@BranaghTheatre
#BranaghTheatre

Live Screening Twitter
@KBTCLive
#KBTCLive

Theatre Facebook & YouTube
Search: Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company

Live Screening Facebook
Facebook.com/BranaghTheatreLive
Search: Branagh Theatre Live 

Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle – 18 to 23 October.  Reviewed by Rebecca aged 10

When we arrived at Metro Arena all of the children were buzzing with excitement, everywhere you looked you could see mini Elsa and Anna’s ready and raring to see the show. Much to the audience’s surprise the first characters on the ice were NOT from Frozen, but there was an array of other Disney characters, from Princesses to Toy Story and lots of other characters too many to list, everyone cheered with amazement as they leaped and twirled around the ice.

Next to appear were Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald. Then they disappeared and we were suddenly transported into Elsa’s bedroom at Arendelle and the audience went into hushed silence as the story started to unfold before our eyes.

The special effects were very clever as the lights dazzled and the snow fell and a snowman was being built before our eyes, Olaf had been created. Then the story continued, the next highlight was when all of Frozen’s other awesome characters appeared such as: Sven, Kristoff and Hans. I liked the bit in “Let in go”, how the ice castle was created, icicles dropped down from the ceiling and the icy wonderland was formed.

As well as that, I liked how all of the cast got the children involved with the performance; clapping, dancing and singing along to all their favourite songs. The costumes were really good because Anna’s cape lit up with snow flakes and Elsa’s outfit transformed into a winter wonderland dress. Overall I think that the show was amazing and would recommend it for ages.

Grand Opera House York – 18 October 2016.  Reviewed by Michelle Richardson

Everyone knows the classic film so well, with its iconic music, dancing and stars. This tour of Dirty Dancing brings it to the stage. Now showing at the Grand Opera House, York until Saturday 22nd October, touring throughout 2016/2017.

We turned up at the Opera House, after battling heavy traffic and doing a good impression of powerwalking to get there on time, to find a mass of people queuing to get inside. It is certainly the biggest queue I have seen to any event we have attended. Everyone was excited to be there and were looking forward to getting in and the show starting. The queue quickly dissipated and we were there ready and waiting for the show to begin. The auditorium was packed, with predominately ladies over 40, including myself!

It’s the summer of 1963, when America was still innocent. Set in the Catskill Mountains at Kellermans we meet Baby, played by Katie Hartland, and the Houseman family. She manages to gatecrash a staff party, and yes the “I carried a watermelon” scene is included, and is memorized by Johnny Castle, played by Lewis Griffiths, who had the audience swooning from his first muscular appearance, and the raunchy dancing, which is more explicit than I remember. The dancers certainly deliver an impact and Carlie Milner as Penny is outstanding.

The story follows the film closely and we see the naïve Baby maturing into a young woman, and from a shy, clumsy dancer into someone who is confident and able to hold her own. I found some of the learning to dance section a bit of a disappointment, and silly, especially the lake scene, I’m sure it could have been done differently, though it did provide a giggle and the projection was pretty good to see.

The set was very good with moving buildings which created a seamless transition from scene to scene. The cast are a talented group, from the actors and the dancers with all the lifts and gyrating. Daniela Pobega and Simon Campbell, who stepped in as understudy for Billy, delivered great vocal performances.

For the first half of the show I was not convinced, but it did get a lot better the second half, and I started to feel the chemistry between Baby and Johnny. The audience certainly appreciated Johnny’s naked scene. Both Hartland and Griffiths put in admirable performances, but I was not blown away. The finale for me was the highlight of the show and that really made the whole play worth it.

Did we have “the time of our lives”? Maybe not, but it is still an exciting show to go and see. I did leave on a high with a feel good felling and I would certainly recommend to all.

I am now off to watch the film all over again!

The Bunker 12 October – 5 November.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Brand new venue The Bunker opens its first season with Isley Lynn’s award winning Skin A Cat. Based on Lynn’s own sexual experiences, this funny and heart-warming play takes a candid look at the life of Alana (Lydia Larson) and her quest to lose her virginity.

Beginning with her first period at nine, Alana relates her early experiences with boyfriends and her decision to lose her virginity on prom night – “We wanted it to be… American!” Lots of fumbling and awkward encounters follow until Alana finds ways to enjoy sex other than actual penetration. She finally seeks medical advice and is diagnosed with Vaginismus – a psycho-sexual condition where her muscles spasm painfully and prevent penetration. But Alana still can’t talk about her problem, instead only apologising to her partners, blaming herself and abstaining from sex. This all changes when she meets Geri, an older man who annoys her so much that she blurts out the truth. They start a relationship and his spiritual outlook enables Alana to relax and, finally, lose her virginity.

Lydia Larson is natural and fearless as Alana – equally convincing as a nine-year-old, teenager and adult. Her nuanced body language and fine comedy timing are fantastic to watch in a fine performance that carries the narrative seamlessly. Jessica Clark plays the women in Alana’s story with energy and a fine ear for accents. Her portrayal of Alana’s mother and her hysterically inept explanations of menstruation were reminiscent of Victoria Wood at her best. The male characters are played by Jassa Ahluwalia, boyish and innocent as Alana’s early boyfriends (with brilliant deadpan delivery of overly polite text messages and email breakups) and measured and mature as Geri.

Although the set is basically a bed, the play a conveyor belt of sex scenes and the writing is full of jokes about bums, flaps and willies, this isn’t a sexy show. Larson spends the night in flesh coloured support underwear and pop socks, and when Ahluwalia takes off his dungarees, he is wearing long johns. There is no titillation at all – the sex is stylised and funny, making Alana’s pain and seizures even more shocking and creating a roller coaster of emotions as the play veers from fantastic physical comedy to heart-breaking despair without warning.

Blythe Stewart’s able and sympathetic direction enables Lynn’s story to shine. The play delivers its message about there being many different ways to enjoy sex apart from what society tells us is “normal” without getting too tub thumping, and Alana’s final realisation that she has actually been happy as she is all along is written and performed with touching simplicity.

Skin A Cat is a great play – sweet, filthy, thought-provoking and very, very funny. This is a very promising start at this exciting new venue. Go and see this play – and take your teenage sons and daughters along – this is the sort of sex education they should be getting in school.

Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatre 12 – 30 October.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

All Star Productions’ Wonderful Town is one of those shows where everyone leaves with a big soppy smile on their faces.

This chamber production hits all the right notes and, under Tim McArthur’s inspired direction, celebrates the fact that this is an extremely corny and frankly bonkers story, and very much of its time.

Sisters Ruth and Eileen Sherwood arrive in New York from Ohio with ambitions to be a writer and actress. They rent an apartment in Greenwich Village and soon all the local men are falling for Eileen, whilst Ruth meets newspaper man Bob Baker, but just can’t stop herself from saying all of the wrong things. An array of bizarre neighbourhood caricatures complicate matters but the girls end up with the right guys in the finale. Ben Hathaway’s simple set design – all newspaper print and McArthur’s favourite hanging frames adds to the cartoon feel of the show and McArthur has created a slightly edgy but very nostalgic production that delivers all you could wish for.

With music by Leonard Bernstein, you’re on to a winner, and musical director Aaron Clingham is obviously having the time of his life on the piano playing (expertly) some of Bernstein’s more light-hearted tunes. Choreographer Ian Pyle has done a superb job, with the talented dancers doing things that shouldn’t be possible in this tiny space. Swing is a wonderful routine, with shades of the Jets and the Sharks having a party instead of a rumble. The rhythms created by the piano and the dancers’ bodies and voices are breath-taking. Give that man an Offie.

Some of the musical numbers’ lyrics don’t showcase Comden and Green at their best, but One Hundred Easy Ways To Lose A Man is the song you’ll recognise from this show, performed by the fabulous Lizzie Wofford as Ruth – making the most of a rare leading role for the lower register. Wofford and Francesca Benton-Stace, as Eileen, are an enchanting double act – playing their roles with knowing humour and plenty of gusto. Aneurin Pascoe is charming as Baker, with a beautifully judged and delivered rendition of A Quiet Girl being his standout moment. Hugo Joss Caton as Frank is delightfully clumsy and sweet, and Simon Burr and Francesca Pim are a hoot as footballer Wreck and his fiancée Helen.

The entire cast give energetic and funny performances, with pastiche Greek, New “Yoik” and Irish accents aplenty. The Irish policemen are hysterical in the scene where they serenade Eileen after arresting her, with Jon R Harrison seemingly modelling his character on Rory Brown – brilliant!

I can understand why Wonderful Town isn’t revived very often, as its plot and lyrics haven’t aged well. But when it is given the Tim McArthur treatment and performed with such joy, the show is simply fantastic.

Go on, take a selfie as you leave the theatre – Wonderful Town will turn you into a grinning loon.