Sheffield Lyceum – until Saturday 17 June 2023

5*****

Tim Firth’s Greatest Days  is a new spin on what was previously The Band.  Following the lives of a group of teenage girls and their love for a band over a period of 25 years.

Set in the North West of England, the younger group of friends Emilie Cunliffe (Rachel), Mary Moore (Debbie), Kitty Harris (Heather), Mari McGinlay (Claire) and Hannah Brown (Zoe) are the biggest fans of the Band ever, watching Top of the Pops regularly to learn the lyrics and dance moves to practise at school the day after.  Luck brings them winning tickets to see their boys at a concert and what was the best night of their lives turns into tragedy and the girls all go their separate ways.

25 years later another competition brings the chance to see their band again, this time in Greece and the older group of Kym Marsh (Rachel), Rachel Marwood (Heather), Jamie-Rose Monk (Claire) and Holly Ashton (Zoe), now grown women, meet up again.

The Band (Kalifa Burton, Jamie Corner, Archie Durrant, Regan Gascoigne and Alexander O’Reilly) are excellent, singing and dancing along and a shout out must go to Christopher D Hunt as Rachel’s long term partner; steady dependable Jeff and Alan Stocks who is hilarious as several different cameo characters and billed as Every Dave in the programme

It’s a fabulous feel good show, although there are times when you need tissues.  Tim Firth is an excellent writer and proves yet again he can write well rounded multi dimensional characters and the music of Take That fits seamlessly into the show, moving the narrative along nicely.  Aaron Renfree’s  choreography works well and the live band ((Zach Flis, Josh Cottell, Gareth Lieske, Nathan Finn and Dave Stewart) play the music to perfection.  Lucy Osborne’s set design is ingenious, easily adapting to living room to bus to plane to school etc  

Greatest Days celebrates how music soundtracks our lives – and powerfully brings back memories while making plenty of new ones too.  Bursting with emotion, laughter and some of the most loved pop songs ever written. Laugh out loud jokes mixed with some heart-rending and tear-jerking moments, it takes the audience on a roller-coaster of emotions from the opening scene to the very last.

LIFE OF PI CONTINUES ITS AWARD-WINNING SUCCESS WITH THREE WINS AT THE

2023 TONY AWARDS

THE SPELLBINDING SHOW MADE ITS BROADWAY PREMIERE THIS SPRING

Opening to celebratory reviews on Broadway in March, Lolita Chakrabarti’s dazzling Olivier Award-winning stage adaptation of Life of Pi, starring an extraordinary life-size puppeteered Bengal Tiger, was last night celebrated at the Tony Awards, winning three of its five nominated categories: Best Scenic Design of a Play (Tim Hatley & Andrzej Goulding) and Best Lighting Design of a Play (Tim Lutkin) and Best Sound Design of a Play (Carolyn Downing).

Life of Pi made its Broadway premiere at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater where it opened on 9 March 2023. The show’s full list of nominations at this year’s Tony Awards was: Best Direction (Max Webster), Best Costume Design (Tim Hatley, Nick Barnes & Finn Caldwell, Life of Pi); Best Scenic Design of a Play (Tim Hatley & Andrzej Goulding) and Best Lighting Design of a Play (Tim Lutkin) and Best Sound Design of a Play (Carolyn Downing).

Producer, Simon Friend says of last night’s wins: “It is wonderful that the Broadway community has honoured Life of Pi as they have done. It has been an enormous privilege to take this show on the very long journey since we opened at the Crucible in Sheffield, and we’re particularly excited to bring it to audiences around the UK over the coming year.”

Life of Pi won five Olivier Awards in April 2022. As well as Best New Play, and Best Actor for Hiran Abeysekera (the original Pi); in an historic first for the Olivier Awards – the seven performers who puppeteer the Tiger ‘Richard Parker’ were collectively awarded Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The production also picked up awards for set (Tim Hatley, Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell), and lighting design (Tim Lutkin and Andrzej Goulding).

Beginning its first-ever tour of the UK and Ireland at Sheffield’s Lyceum theatre this August, where it runs from 29 August to 16 September 2023, Simon Friend Entertainment recently announced that Divesh Subaskaran will make his professional debut in the central role of Pi.

He is joined by Antony Antunes, who performs as Tiger Hind / Cook / Father Martin, Adwitha Arumugam as Pi Alternate, Bhawna Bhawsar as Lulu Chen/Mrs Biology Kumar, Ralph Birtwell as Mamaji/ Admiral Balbir Singh, Kriss Dosanjh as Father, Sebastian Goffin as Tiger Head, Akash Heer asTiger Head,  Romina Hytten as Tiger Heart and Hind,  Katie Kennedy-Rose as Tiger Heart and Hind, Aizah Khan as Tiger Heart and Hind, Chand Martinez as Pandit-ji,  Keshini Misha as Rani, Goldy Notay as Amma, Sharita Oomeer as Lulu Chen / Mrs Biology Kumar, Kate Rowsell as Tiger Heart and Hind, Lilian Tsang as Mrs Okamoto/Zaida Khan/Ships Captain, Peter Twose and Tiger Head/Voice of Richard Parker/Cook/Father Martin. 

‘BREATH-TAKING. IT WILL MAKE YOU BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF THEATRE.

ROAR IT OUT: THIS IS A HIT’ The Times

Following its Sheffield engagement, the tour will then continue to Milton Keynes Theatre; Norwich Theatre Royal; Woking, New Victoria Theatre; Southend Cliffs Pavilion; Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff;  Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury; Alhambra Theatre, Bradford; Chichester Festival Theatre; The Lowry, Salford;  Leeds Grand Theatre; Bristol Hippodrome; Newcastle Theatre Royal; Birmingham Hippodrome; GrandOpera House; Belfast, Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin; Theatre Royal Plymouth; Curve Leicester; Churchill Theatre, Bromley; Hull New Theatre; Derngate Theatre, Northampton; Coventry Belgrade; Nottingham Theatre Royal; Wolverhampton Grand Theatre; Liverpool Empire; Severn Theatre Shrewsbury; Mayflower Theatre, Southampton; Hall For Cornwall, Truro; Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham; Glasgow Theatre Royal; and finally the Edinburgh Festival Theatre in June 2024.

‘IT WILL MAKE YOU BELIEVE IN THEATRE. A TRIUMPH.’

SUNDAY TIMES

Life of Pi, which concluded its West End run on 15 January 2023, first opened to critical acclaim at the Crucible theatre in Sheffield in 2019. International commitments for the show include its North American Premiere at the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University where it ran from 4 December 2022 to 29 January 2023, followed by its Broadway premiere at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater where it opened on 9 March 2024. A European tour will follow the tour of the UK and Ireland and there are plans underway for a tour of Australia and Asia.

‘THE PUPPETRY IS OUT OF THIS WORLD’

DAILY MAIL

The production is directed by Max Webster, Set and Costume Designer is Tim Hatley, the Puppet Designers are Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell, the Puppet and Movement Director is Finn Caldwell, the Video Designer is Andrzej Goulding, the Lighting Designer is Tim Lutkin, theSound Designer is Carolyn Downing, the Composer is Andrew T Mackay, Dramaturgy is by Jack Bradley, the Casting Director is Polly Jerrold, the Associate Director is Leigh Toney, the Associate Puppetry and Movement Director is Scarlet Wilderink, the Associate Set Designer is Ross Edwards, the Associate Puppet Designer is Caroline Bowman,  the Costume Supervisor is Sabrina Cuniberto and the Props Supervisor is Ryan O’Conner.  

Based on one of the best-loved works of fiction – winner of the Man Booker Prize, selling over fifteen million copies worldwide – Life of Pi is a breath-taking new theatrical adaptation of an epic journey of endurance and hope.

After a cargo ship sinks in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, there are five survivors stranded on a single lifeboat – a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan, a sixteen-year-old boy and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. Time is against them, nature is harsh, who will survive?

Award-winning writer Yann Martel’s works include The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios (1993), Self (1996), We Ate the Children Last (2004), Beatrice and Virgil (2010) – a New York Times Bestseller and a Financial Times Best Book, 101 Letters to a Prime Minister (2012) – a collection of letters to the prime minister of Canada; and The High Mountains of Portugal (2016).  

‘EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS PRODUCTION IS AMAZING.’

OBSERVER

Life of Pi is produced by Simon Friend in association with Playing Field and Tulchin/Bartner.

PRETTY WOMAN THE MUSICAL ANNOUNCES EXTENDED DATES AT STOCKTON GLOBE

COMING TO STOCKTON GLOBE THURS 14TH DECEMBER – SAT 30TH DECEMBER 2023

PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL will stay on for an extra week of shows in Teesside making it the longest-running musical in the newly restored Stockton Globe since re-opening in 2021. The new dates, announced today, will see the smash-hit Hollywood rom-com run over the Christmas period and will be a must for Teessiders to catch across the festive season at renowned live entertainment venue, Stockton Globe.

Earlier this year producers of PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL announced  that the show would embark on a UK and Ireland Tour after a successful west end stint at the Savoy Theatre, London.

Arriving to Stockton Globe from Thursday 14th December – Saturday 30th December 2023, PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL is guaranteed to lift your spirts and light up your heart. The story is set in California, in the late 80s when Vivian meets Edward and her life is changed forever. Be swept up in their romance in this dazzlingly theatrical take on a love story for the ages – and get to know these iconic characters in a whole new way

Featured in the musical is Roy Orbison and Bill Dee’s international smash hit song ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’ which inspired one of the most beloved romantic comedy films of all time. PRETTY WOMAN the film (produced by Arnon Milchan – New Regency Productions) was an international smash hit when it was released in 1990.

PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL has scenic design by David Rockwell, costumes by Tom Rogers from the original Broadway designs by Gregg Barnes, lighting design by Kenneth Posner and Philip S. Rosenberg, sound design by John Shivers, hair design by Josh Marquette, and music supervision, arrangements and orchestrations by Will Van Dyke. 101 Productions, Ltd are the Global General Management Consultant.

PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL is produced by Ambassador Theatre Group Productions, Paula Wagner, Nice Productions, LPO, New Regency Productions, Gavin Kalin Productions, Kilimanjaro Theatricals/Joshua Andrews, Hunter Arnold, Caiola Productions & Co., Roy Furman, Edward Walson, deRoy Kierstead and Stage Entertainment.

The new dates added today will run from Thursday 14th December to Saturday 30th December. Tickets are available to purchase for all dates via www.stocktonglobe.co.uk

TOM STOPPARD’S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED LEOPOLDSTADT

WINS THE TONY AWARD FOR BEST NEW PLAY

MARKING A 4^TH WIN FOR BEST NEW PLAY FOR

SONIA FRIEDMAN PRODUCTIONS IN PAST FIVE YEARS

At the ceremony yesterday evening at United Palace in New York, Tom Stoppard’s critically acclaimed Leopoldstadt won the Tony Award for Best New Play. This marks the fourth time in the last five years that Sonia Friedman Productions have produced the winning Best New Play – previous winners are Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne, John Tiffany and J. K. Rowling, The Ferryman by Jez Butterworth, and The Inheritance by Mathew Lopez, marking a record for the London based producer. These same plays won the Olivier Award for Best New Play across four consecutive years from 2017 to 2020.

The production won an additional three Tony Awards – Best Director of a Play for Patrick Marber, Best Featured Actor in a Play for Brandon Uranowitz, and Best Costume Design of a Play for Brigitte Reiffenstuel.

Patrick Marber’s production of Leopoldstadt is currently running at Broadway’s Longacre Theatre, and was this year’s most Tony Award nominated play. In the US, the run has also won two Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Play, three Outer Critics’ Circle Awards including Best New Broadway Play, two Drama League Awards, and the New York Critics’ Circle Award for Best Foreign Play. For its sell-out critically acclaimed run at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London’s West End, the production garnered two Olivier Awards, including for Best New Play.

Sonia Friedman said today, “Tom Stoppard’s masterpiece Leopoldstadt has been a huge labour of love for all of us at SFP – a cast of 38, and a production history that spanned the pandemic, seeing the sell-out London production shut down in 2020, and then be one of the first productions leading the way back to live performance in the West End, before transferring to Broadway. To work with the greatest living playwright Tom Stoppard, is the privilege of a lifetime.

“This play has been in my life for several years and I thank you Tom for entrusting me with your personal masterwork about family, identity, loss, endurance, and survival – your urgent story from the past is so powerfully relevant today AND DEEPLY NEEDED. Your astonishing achievement is testament to the power of LIVE theatre to open hearts and change minds!

“Thank you to Patrick Marber for your inspiring direction and to the creative team, associates and of course to the entire cast and crew – your commitment, talent and dedication over the past 9 months or so (and for some the past 4 years) has made this all possible.

“New writing is at the heart of what we do at SFP – collaborating with writers at the very top of their game, and bringing that work into the West End and Broadway to make quality writing accessible to everyone. To have our work recognised in this way over multiple years is testament to the dedication and brilliance not only of the writers, but also creatives, actors, all those backstage, and team at SFP, and we couldn’t be more thrilled.”

SFP’s productions also won Best Scenic Design of a Musical for Beowulf Boritt for New York, New York at last night’s ceremony from a total of 17 nominations; and the company’s production of Funny Girl with Lea Michele also performed.

SONIA FRIEDMAN PRODUCTIONS (SFP) is an international production company responsible for some of the most successful theatre productions around the world. Since 1990, SFP has developed, initiated, and produced over 185 new productions and together the company has won 61 Olivier Awards, 39 Tonys and 3 BAFTAs. In 2019, Sonia Friedman CBE was awarded ‘Producer of the Year’ at the Stage Awards for a record-breaking fourth time. In 2018, Friedman was also featured in TIME 100, a list of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. In 2017, she took the number one spot in ‘The Stage 100’, becoming the first number one in the history of the compilation not to own or operate West End theatres and the first solo woman for almost 20 years.

Current productions include: The Book of Mormon, West End; Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, West End, Broadway, Melbourne, Hamburg and Tokyo; Patriots, West End; Dr Semmelweis, West End; Funny Girl, Broadway; New York, New York, Broadway. 

Forthcoming productions include: Stranger Things: The First Shadow (a co-production with Netflix), West End; Merrily We Roll Along, Broadway and The Shark is Broken, Broadway.

Previous theatre productions include: Leopoldstadt, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Toronto, San Francisco), Mean Girls (US tour), The Secret Life of Bees, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Piano Lesson, Merrily We Roll Along, Dreamgirls (West End & UK tour), The Book of Mormon (UK & Europe tour), The Shark is Broken, Eureka Day, Jerusalem, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, The 47th, The Human Voice, The Shark is Broken, Leopoldstadt, Anna X, Walden and J’Ouvert as part of the Re:Emerge season, The Comeback, Uncle Vanya, Mean Girls, Fiddler on the Roof, Rosmersholm, The Ferryman, The Inheritance, Summer and Smoke, The Jungle, All About Eve, Consent, The Birthday Party, Ink, Hamlet starring Andrew Scott, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Travesties, The Glass Menagerie, Nice Fish, A Christmas Carol, The Haunting of Hill House, Funny Girl, Farinelli and the King, Orestia, Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch, 1984, Sunny Afternoon, Bend It Like Beckham, The Nether, The River, Electra, King Charles III, Shakespeare in Love, Ghosts, Mojo, Chimerica, Merrily We Roll Along, Old Times, Twelfth Night and Richard III, A Chorus of Disapproval, The Sunshine Boys, Hay Fever, Absent Friends, Top Girls, Betrayal, Much Ado About Nothing, Clybourne Park, The Children’s Hour, A Flea In Her Ear, La Bête, All My Sons, Private Lives, Jerusalem, A Little Night Music, Legally Blonde, Othello, Arcadia, The Mountaintop, The Norman Conquests, A View From the Bridge, Dancing at Lughnasa, Maria Friedman Re-Arranged, La Cage aux Folles, No Man’s Land, The Seagull, Under the Blue Sky, That Face, Dealer’s Choice, Hergé’s Adventures on Tintin, In Celebration,  Boeing-Boeing, The Dumb Waiter, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Love Song, Faith Healer, Bent, Eh Joe, Donkeys’ Years, Otherwise Engaged, In Celebration, Shoot the Crow, As You Like It, The Home Place, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, By the Bog of Cats, The Woman in White, Guantanamo: ‘Honour Bound to Defend Freedom’, Endgame, Jumpers, See You Next Tuesday, Hitchcock Blonde, Absolutely! {Perhaps}, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Ragtime, Macbeth, What the Night is For, Afterplay, Up for Grabs, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Noises Off, On an Average Day, A Servant to Two Masters, Port Authority, Spoonface Steinberg and Speed-The-Plow.

TV productions include: Wolf Hall, Uncle Vanya, J’Ouvert (BBC), Walden and Anna X (Sky Arts) (Co-Producer), The Dresser, King Lear (Exec Producer), Dennis Kelly’s Together (BBC) (Producer). For cinema, Uncle Vanya and Walden. SFP’s productions of Hamlet, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, All About Eve and Leopoldstadt have been filmed for cinema release by NT Live, with All About Eve, Hamlet and Leopoldstadt featuring on NT at Home and Hamlet on Amazon’s Great British Theatre series.

Twitter: @SFP_London

Instagram: sfpofficial

Wilton’s Music Hall – until 1 July 2023

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

5*****

Sasha Regan’s magnificently silly production of The Mikado is an absolute triumph.

An English schoolboys’ camping trip becomes the fictional land of Titipu when the campfire is lit, the schoolmasters have retired and the boys can play. Regan has anglicised the problematic characters – the wandering minstrel becoming second trombone Bertie Hugh, Yum-Yum is now Miss Violet Plumb – allowing the schoolboys’ jolly japes and the nonsensical traditions of Titipu to be enjoyed with a breath of fresh air.

The bonkers plot revolves around the young lovers Bertie Hugh (Declan Egan) and Miss Violet Plumb (Sam Kipling) and the obstacles to their happiness including the engagement of Violet to her guardian Mr Cocoa (David McKechnie), the pursuit of Bertie by Kitty Shaw (Christopher Hewitt) and his abandoning his royal role to flee Kitty and find Violet. There’s also the small matter of death sentences to be reckoned with. Having escaped being beheaded for the crime of flirting by becoming the Lord High Executioner, Mr Cocoa hasn’t yet carried out his duties, bringing him back to the attention of The Mikado (Lewis Kennedy).

Designer Ryan Dawson Laight has captured the heady twilight atmosphere for the boys’ larks, and the simple set works wonders, with the lone tent used imaginatively to great comedic effect. Adam Haigh’s choreography is crisp and tongue in cheek, perfectly suiting the lyrics and plot.

As ever, the cast switch between male and female roles with slight costume adjustments and beautifully judged changes in pose and gestures. The ensemble work is glorious, and the voices harmonise and blend beautifully. Declan Egan plays Bertie Hugh as an archetypal decent chap from a Bertie Wooster story, looking slightly bewildered by events in a thoroughly charming performance with stunning vocals. Sam Kipling’s soprano is as glorious as ever, and his comedic touches are a delight. The other two little maids, Richard Russell Edwards and Owen Clayton, are a hoot with their clowning and physical comedy. Lewis Kennedy’s entrance as The Mikado is hilarious, and he nails this ridiculous character brilliantly. David McKechnie has the audience in stiches with the slightest eye roll as Mr Cocoa, and his “wooing” of Kitty is a highlight of the show.

The laughs come thick and fast, the musicality is sublime, and the atmosphere is joyous. Sasha Regan has hit the sweet spot again with this camp, clever and charming production of Gilbert and Sullivan.

UK tour dates:

3 – 8 July Theatre Royal Winchester

10 – 15 July Theatre Royal Bath

20 – 22 July Hall For Cornwall, Truro

24 – 29 July Arts Theatre, Cambridge

Festival Theatre, Edinburgh – until 17^th June 2023

 REVIEWED BY RACHEL FARRIER 

5*****

This Scottish Opera production of Bizet’s Carmen, sung in English and directed by John Fulljames, is innovative and captivating from the moment the curtain is raised – the set itself, and the framing of the tale as a murder investigation, lets the audience know the tragic ending from the outset. This is an audacious conceit, but one that works to brilliant effect. 

The Opera opens with a distinctly Glaswegian detective (played perfectly by Carmen Pieraccini) sifting through articles of evidence for the investigation into (spoiler alert) Carmen’s tragic death, as she interviews her prime suspect, Don José.  The entire Opera unfolds through this lens, with the detective effectively playing the role of a chorus as she stands to one side to observe the story unfolding, periodically asking probing questions and making observations that articulate those in the minds of the audience. The genius projection design by Will Duke and set design by Sarah Beaton,  sees the contents of the evidence table projected across the full back of the set throughout the show, and the story is revealed as much by the additions to the table, and their re-shuffling, as is provided by action and story-telling before us. 

The Lithuanian Soprano Justina Gringytė is a mesmerising Carmen, holding her surrounding characters and the audience spell-bound as she struts across the stage whilst seducing and abandoning a succession of men with a knowing frivolity and heartlessness that descends into a morbid certainty of her impending fate. The pairing of this Carmen with Phillip Rhodes’ Escamillo (the Toreador) is electric, and the power, intensity and effortless range of both voices is seen at its finest in their scenes together. 

Alok Kumar brilliantly portrays Don José as both a heart-broken wretch and (by modern standards) sinister obsessive and his voice has a richness of tone which belies the misery on his face. The ragged disbelief and intensity with which he tries to justify his actions in the face of the unsentimental questioning by the detective is by turns sympathetic and disturbing. 

The highly enjoyable 70s-styled pairing of Colin Murray as Dancaïre and Osian Wyn Bowen as Remendado brought some welcome light relief as the intensity and passion of the Opera mounted. It was, however, Hy-Yoon Lee as Micaëla, the spurned childhood sweetheart of Don José who managed to steal the show last night – although she has only brief scenes on stage, her soaring arias were a spine-tingling perfection which was rewarded with the loudest cheer of the night from the seemingly full-capacity audience at the curtain call. 

This is a sublime, clever and completely fresh production of Carmen, get along if you can get your hands on a ticket. 

Chichester Festival Theatre – until 24 June 2023

Reviewed by Lorna Hancock

5*****

Thirteen people have attempted to assassinate the US President, four succeeded. This gripping comedy musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by John Weidman leads us on a journey through American history featuring nine of the assassins.

To be completely honest, I had no idea what to expect with this show, but it certainly didn’t disappoint. We were drawn into the fantasy as soon as we entered the building, we walked through and took our seats in a buzzing American convention. However the show rapidly took a very dark twist. The way the show is set is surprisingly effective taking a modern ‘CNN’ news slant at looking at historic events, and the direction switched between the two flawlessly. Whilst reflecting on the idea that the assassins were all linked by influencing each other, and following an alternative ‘American Dream’ to be part of history.

I studied American history at GCSE (quite some time ago now) and looking at these events through the assassins viewpoint was extremely thought-provoking and a very interesting take. 

As I have come to expect with productions at the festival theatre the ingenuity of the staging was extremely powerful. It would be hard not to be completely submerged in the action. The effects used during assassinations and executions were subtle but very effective in creating illusions without being offensive.

The portrayal of all of the assassins were marvellously done. To mention a few, Danny Mac played a believable yet strangely likeable John Wilkes Booth, that actually left me feeling sorry for him for a moment. Harry Hepple’s Charles Guiteau had a wonderful likeness to Ron Moody’s Fagin as a lighthearted, lovable rogue. Sam Oladeinde touched everyones hearts with a very compelling representation of Leon Czolgosz and Amy Booth-Steel was absolutely hilarious as Sara Jane Moore. All of the cast had very strong vocals, with some beautiful harmonies throughout effectively choreographed musical numbers.

It is difficult to explain the magical effect this performance had on it’s audience. Everyone appeared to be completely mesmerised by such an interesting perspective on American History, through the eyes of the assassins.

The Other Palace Studio – until 18 June 2023

4****

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

This fascinating new musical by Stephanie Martin and Calista Kazuko Georget shines a light on the passion, creativity and revolutionary spirit of six real women in Berlin between the wars.

The shifting tide of political and social tolerance, away from freedom and hedonism to much darker times, and the devastating effect on the lives of people who will never fit, or refuse to fit into “acceptable” norms, becomes ever starker as each character comes into focus for a brief snapshot of their life. Performed as a series of vignettes between songs, the musical has a wonderfully subversive cabaret atmosphere, as if the dreaded sound of jackboots and hammering on the door of the studio could come at any moment. We do not get to know each character well – and prior knowledge of these remarkable women is not really necessary (although you will probably be looking them up when you leave the theatre). Each actor has a title embroidered on their costume – the writer, the socialist etc – reinforcing the message that violence, suppression and prejudice was suffered by so many “undesirables” but never diminishing the lives of these women and their fates.

Rosie Yadid is brilliantly subversive and wild as dada Valeska Gert, Ashley Goh impresses as drag king Claire Waldoff, Danielle Steers is slick and powerful as madam Kitty Schmidt, Michal Horowicz has the least showy character, but portrays the political hope and fervour of Rosa Luxemburg impeccably. Maya Kristal Tenenbaum captures the pain of separation and fleeing her home beautifully as writer Gabrielle Tergit. Iz Hesketh was ill on press night, but the amazing superswing Charlotte Clitherow nailed the emotional impact of Anita Berber’s last song/dance, even on book. The cast’s ensemble work is great fun, with marvellous vocals and fantastic movement on this tiny stage.

Co-directors Rafaella Marcus and Karoline Gable have crafted a unique and timely show. Calista Kazuko Georget’s songs evoke a seedy cabaret in great style and Stephanie Martin’s book keeps the cabaret/ Weimar essence strong, with dialogue that could seem clunky in other productions completely on brand here. The racism and misogyny of Weimar Germany is shown through conversations with leather jacketed male characters, a wonderfully laconic encounter with Tergit’s mother and grandmother about marriage and children, and scenes with children playing that show the evolution of hate as they repeat and act out the words of their parents.

Fury and Elysium is an excitingly quirky and vibrant new musical with a powerful message – I can’t wait to see how it develops further

Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs – until 17th June 2023

Reviewed by Ben Jolly

5*****

The aptly titled, all of it was previously seen at the Royal Court back in February 2020, written by Alistair McDowall and starring Kate O’Flynn in the one woman play where we witness an entire life in 45 minutes; from birth to death, the story of baby to old lady (and everything in between… “Driving to work”) is presented to us in a highly stylised poetic form.

With the same title, the piece has been expanded upon with two more monologues that were written specifically for O’Flynn during 2020. Despite the fact that from first glance the three parts of the play do not feel connected in any way shape or form, there are subtle moments that with a keen eye and ear you can understand the connective narration tying the pieces together as one. As McDowall puts it, “Plays often emerge when you realise two things you’d thought separate are actually one and the same.”

The first poem of the night is Northleigh, 1940 and we open with an eerie, other worldly and yet strikingly beautiful sight, created by designer Merle Hensel and with lighting by Elliot Griggs. The opening feels like the playwright is parodying their own material with the heightened fantastical language that is largely attributed to their previous body of work, McDowall creates a sense of fear and thrill; and within the first two minutes we understand that the rule book has well and truly been thrown out of the window for tonight!

Kate O’Flynn hits the ground running in her solo venture. She performs with such command of the language and has the ability to grab the audience’s attention with just the slightest nuance. Her palatable presence parades the stage and she owns the night with her humour and raw delivery. O’Flynn is mesmerising.

We delve further into this naturally unnatural world with the even more off the wall piece, In Stereo in which, through the impressive use of video design by Lewis den Hertog and sound artist/composer Melanie Wilson create a completely disturbing and haunting universe. With an overindulgence of the senses, we at times don’t know where to look or which voice to tune into and thus are bombarded to the point of sheer frustration – a thrilling time indeed!

For the denouement, we come full circle and back to experience all of it. Vicky Featherstone has taken the helm to direct for the second time, succeeding Sam Pritchard who directed the first two poems of the night. There is an initial sense of discomfort with a complete change in set, lighting, sound and performance by O’Flynn, we’re in yet another world, another part of McDowall’s mind and we are taken on the journey of someone else’s lifetime.

It is here when the pieces of the puzzle come together and we start to see the bigger picture. It’s such a harrowing notion to conceive that a life can be summed up in a mere 45-minute monologue, and yet after this short time it feels as though we have known this woman her whole life. Can we all be summed up this simply and neatly? Are our lives really taken up so much with the mundane tasks…? “Driving to work”… I don’t believe that this is all McDowall is trying to say, but the third and final poem does bring up the question… is that all of it?

FLOWERS FOR MRS HARRIS

LONDON PREMIERE OF CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED MUSICAL TO PLAY AT RIVERSIDE STUDIOS THIS AUTUMN

WITH JENNA RUSSELL AS ‘MRS HARRIS’

30 SEPTEMBER – 26 NOVEMBER
TICKETS ON SALE NOW HERE

Olivier-Award winning stage legend Jenna Russell will star as ‘Ada Harris’ in the London premiere of the musical FLOWERS FOR MRS HARRIS this autumn, directed by Bronagh Lagan (Cruise – West End, Rags – Park Theatre, Little Women – Hope Mill Theatre) playing a limited 9-week at the Riverside Studios from 30 September to 26 November, with a press night on 5 October.

Based on the novel by Paul Gallico and adapted for the stage by Richard Taylor (The Go-Between) and Rachel Wagstaff (The Mirror Crack’d), Flowers for Mrs Harris is a celebration of kindness, friendship and carrying on in the face of grief.  This will be the first London production of the critically acclaimed musical since its premiere in Sheffield in 2016, which was followed by a highly successful run at the Chichester Festival Theatre.

For Ada Harris, day-to-day life is spent cleaning houses. But one day when she is working for a wealthy client in Belgravia, she happens upon a Dior dress that takes her breath away.

In that magical moment, Ada has an epiphany and sets off on a journey that will change her life… From the cobbled streets of post-war London to the magical avenues of Paris and beyond, Ada transforms the lives of everyone she meets along the way, but can she let go of her past and finally let her own life blossom?

Producer Ollie Hancock said, “Never before have I seen something on stage which has moved me with such force and relentless power. Richard and Rachel’s beautiful writing had such a profound effect on me that I left the theatre tear-streaked, striving to be a better person and to produce work which was just as impactful. I’m delighted to be bringing this gorgeous musical about the power of kindness to London for the first time in the creative hub that is Riverside Studios, especially with theatrical royalty Jenna Russell, who has wowed audiences on both sides of the Atlantic, in this extraordinary British musical!”

Jenna Russell said, “Ada Harris is a dream role in an exceptional piece by Rachel Wagstaff and Richard Taylor. I’m thrilled to be part of this amazing team, bringing “Flowers For Mrs Harris” to the Riverside Studios. Reading the play had a profound effect on me, and I can’t wait to see how that translates to a live experience, for the actors and audience alike.”

Jenna Russell’s extensive stage credits include, ‘Mill’ in Further Than The Furthest Thing at the Young Vic, ‘Susan’ in Woman In Mind at Chichester Festival Theatre, ‘Marie Lloyd’ in Marie, Marie, Hold On Tight at Wilton’s Music Hall, ‘Carrie’ in Steve at Seven Dials Playhouse, ‘Piaf’ in Piaf at Nottingham Playhouse and Leeds Playhouse, Celebrating Sondheim at Chichester Festival Theatre, ‘Susan’ in Title Of Show (filmed at London Coliseum and streamed), ‘Francesca’ in The Bridges of Madison County at the Menier Chocolate Factory, ‘Helen’ in Fun Home at the Young Vic, ‘Mephistopheles’ in Dr Faustus starring opposite Kit Harington at The Duke of York’s Theatre and ‘Little Edie’ in Grey Gardens at Southwark Theatre with Sheila Hancock. Jenna’s TV credits include: Gentleman Jack, Midsomer Murders, Call the Midwife, The Paradise, Holby City and Doctor Who. Jenna also played the leading roles of ‘Michelle Fowler’ in Eastenders, ‘Deborah’ in Born and Bred (4 series), ‘Maggie’ in On The Up (3 series), ‘Bernadette’ in Picking Up The Pieces (1 series) and ‘Petra’ in Minder (1 series). Films include The Death and Life of John F Donovan and Mortdecai. Jenna also sings the theme tune for BBC cult TV series Red Dwarf.

Bronagh Lagan’s Olivier nominated production of Cruise by Jack Holden was the first new play to open the West End after the pandemic. Cruise returned to the West End last year for a sold out run at the Apollo Theatre. She also directed a film version of the show in Shoreditch Town Hall’s Ditch which won an ONCOMM award for Best Recorded Show. Bronagh’s production of Rags, the musical by Charles Strouse and Stephen Schwartz at the Park Theatre received nine Off-West End Award nominations, including Best Director and Best Production. Bronagh worked closely with Stephen Schwartz in reimagining the script for an actor-musician production and curated a cast album of her production of Rags which is available on iTunes and Spotify. Bronagh directed the world premiere of Broken Wings, the musical first performed at Theatre Royal Haymarket and then at Dubai Opera House and now is on a Middle Eastern Tour. She directed new Persian musical RUMI at the ENO starring Ramin Karimloo; the UK Regional touring production of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice starring Christina Bianco; and  the European premiere of Little Women – The Musical, which is available on Broadway HD. Bronagh recently directed the world premiere of A-Typical Rainbow which was nominated for a Visionary Arts Award and Animal by Jon Bradfield which recently ended a run at the Park Theatre and has received 5 Off West End nominations.

Flowers for Mrs Harris is based on the novel by Paul Gallico, a musical by Richard Taylor and Rachel Wagstaff, book by Rachel Wagstaff, music and lyrics by Richard Taylor. It will be directed by Bronagh Lagan, with new orchestrations by Jason Carr, and with Jonathan Gill as Musical Director. Casting is by Jane Deitch. Further casting and creative team will be announced.

Flowers for Mrs Harris is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals.

www.concordtheatricals.co.uk