Park Theatre presents in association with Nicholson Green Productions:

Cast Announced for Tony [The Tony Blair Rock Opera] at Park Theatre

• Charlie Baker takes the titular role of Tony Blair, with Gordon Brown being played by Gary Trainor
• The world premiere of Harry Hill and Steve Brown’s satirical rock opera about the former Labour leader

Book by Harry Hill | Music and lyrics by Steve Brown | Directed by Peter Rowe

Park200, 1 June – 9 July 2022

Twitter: @ParkTheatre | facebook: ParkTheatreLondon | Instagram: ParkTheatreLondon | www.parktheatre.co.uk

Comedian and singer Charlie Baker has been announced as the titular role in Tony [The Tony Blair Rock Opera]. Baker has exercised his comedy chops on shows The Last Leg, Harry Hill’s Tea Time, Comedy Central at the Comedy Store, The Great British Bake-Off: An Extra Slice, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Edinburgh Comedy Fest Live, The Dog Ate My Homework and Channel 4’s Comedy Gala. He has been as a team captain on the Channel 4 panel show A Short History Of Everything Else, became a regular guest on Richard Bacon’s Beer & Pizza Club, and won Let’s Dance For Comic Relief in 2011. As an actor Charlie has also appeared in The IT Crowd, EastEnders, Doctors, Doctor Who and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

Gordon Brown is played by Gary Trainor, who opened the lead role of Dewey Finn in School of Rock on the West End, and then toured in the USA; was a member of the original London cast of Carol King musical Beautiful; and was last seen at Park Theatre in 2018 as Nathan Rothschild in Rothschild & Sons.

Also appearing in the production, Howard Samuels plays Peter Mandelson, Rosie Strobel appears as John Prescott, Madison Swan as Princess Diana, Holly Sumpton as Cherie Blair, Kaye Brown as Robin Cook, Adam Price completes the named cast as Neil Kinnock, with Marisa Harris as ensemble and understudy.

Stand-up comedian and TV legend Harry Hill and his long-time collaborator Steve Brown present the world premiere of the rock opera the world has been crying out for: a reckless reappraisal of the life of former Ugly Rumours front man and Britain’s first pop Prime Minister Tony Blair. The story of how one man went from peace-loving, long-haired hippy and would-be pop star to warmongering multimillionaire in just a couple of decades. It’s Yes, Minister meets The Rocky Horror Show!, a hilarious tragedy of political intrigue, religion, power, and romance that plays fast and loose with the facts, complete with songs such as ‘Macro Economics’ and the haunting ballad ‘I Never Done Anything Wrong’. Peter Rowe directs.

Running Time: 2hrs 10 mins (including interval) | Suitable for ages 14+

Company information

Book by Harry Hill                                            Music and lyrics by Steve Brown               Directed by Peter Rowe

Choreography by Francesca Jaynes          Set and costume design by Libby Watson

Sound design by Andre T

Cast

Charlie Baker – Tony Blair

Gary Trainor – Gordon Brown

Howard Samuels – Peter Mandelson

Rosie Strobel – John Prescott

Madison Swan – Princess Diana

Holly Sumpton – Cherie Blair

Kaye Brown – Robin Cook

Adam Price – Neil Kinnock

Marisa Harris – Ensemble cast and understudy

Listings information

Park200, Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, Finsbury Park, London N4 3JP

1 June – 9 July

Previews: 1 & 2 June £18.50

Mon – Sat evening 7.30pm, Thurs and Sat matinees 3pm

Audio described Sat 25 June 3pm, captioned Sat 3 July 3pm

£32.50 –  £18.50, concessions £18.50 – 16.50, Park Up 1 – 7 June £10

www.parktheatre.co.uk | 020 7870 6876*

* Telephone booking fee: 10% capped at £2.50 per ticket

GARY BARLOW

A DIFFERENT STAGE

NEW SHOWS ANNOUNCED

GARY’S ACCLAIMED ONE MAN SHOW HEADING TO

GRAND OPERA HOUSE YORK,

Friday 10 and Saturday 11 June 2022

TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY 29 APRIL AT 9:30AM  HERE

www.adifferentstage.show

★★★★★ A brave and beautiful retelling of his whole life story…a seriously emotional experience – Manchester Evening News

★★★★ Gary Barlow…proves himself a master of solo performance – The Scotsman

★★★★★ Barlow holds his audience rapt throughout…[he’s] a candidly open and honest storyteller – Edinburgh Evening News

Acclaimed singer, songwriter, composer and producer, Gary Barlow today announces a host of new dates for A Different Stage, his theatrical one man stage show telling his story, in his words. A Different Stagepremiered at The Brindley, the award-winning theatre in Runcorn, Cheshire, in February to a rapturous reception from his delighted fans. He has since played to sell-out audiences in Salford, Liverpool and Edinburgh and has announced his West End debut at the London’s Duke of York’s Theatre in August. Today Gary confirmed a brand new run of shows which will see him perform a further 24 dates in 7 cities around the UK.

Tickets are on sale Friday 29th April at 9:30am HERE.

Created by Gary and his long-time friend and collaborator Tim Firth, A Different Stage sees Gary narrate the journey of his life alongside the music from his incredible discography. In a project unlike anything he’s ever done before, Gary will take the audience behind the curtain, with nothing off limits in this special performance.

Gary said: “Now I’ve done shows where it has just been me and a keyboard. I’ve done shows where I sit and talk to people. I’ve done shows where I’ve performed as part of a group. But this one, well, it’s like all of those, but none of them. When I walk out this time, it’s going to be a very different stage altogether.”

Gary Barlow is one of Britain’s most successful songwriters and record producers. As part of the group Take That, he has won eight BRIT Awards and sold over 45 million records. Aside from his achievements with Take That, he has also co-written and produced music for other renowned artists including Dame Shirley Bassey, Sir Elton John and Robbie Williams.

In more recent years, Gary has also turned his attention to the world of theatre, composing the score for the hugely successful production of ‘Finding Neverland’; working alongside Tim Firth on  ‘Calendar Girls The Musical’; and collaborating with Tim and his Take That bandmates on ‘The Band’, a record-breaking stage musical currently being adapted into a feature film.

BUDDY RETURNS TO THE DOMINION!

ELF THE MUSICAL OPENS IN LONDON’S WEST END ON 24 NOVEMBER 2022

FOR A STRICTLY LIMITED 8-WEEK SEASON

FROM 14 NOVEMBER 2022

TICKETS ON SALE 10:00AM THURSDAY 28 APRIL 2022

ELF the smash hit musical returns to London in a new production at the Dominion Theatre for a strictly limited 8-week season, previewing from 14 November and opening 24 November 2022, with the season finishing on 7 January 2023.

Based on the beloved 2003 New Line Cinema hit starring Will Ferrell, ELF features a book by Tony Award-winners Thomas Meehan (Annie, The Producers, Hairspray) and Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone), with songs by Tony Award nominees Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin (The Wedding Singer).

The new production will be directed by Philip Wm. McKinley, with original set and costume design by Tim Goodchild, choreography by Liam Steel, lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe and sound by Gareth Owen.  Casting will be by Grindrod Burton Casting.

ELF is the funny and charming tale of Buddy, who mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts as a baby and is transported back to the North Pole and raised as an elf! Unaware that he is actually human, Buddy’s enormous size and poor toy-making abilities finally cause him to face the truth and realise he’ll never belong in the North Pole. With Santa’s permission, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York to find his birth father, discover his true identity and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas.

Casting is to be announced.

ELF the Musical is produced by Temple Live Entertainment.

Website: elflondon.com

Instagram: @elfmusicalLDN

Facebook: @elfmusicalLDN

Twitter: @elfmusicalLDN

Tik Tok: @elfmusicalLDN

LISTINGS INFORMATION

ELF the Musical

14 November 2022 to 7 January 2023

Dominion Theatre

268-269 Tottenham Court Road

London W1T 7AQ

Box Office:  0345 200 7982

Performances: Monday to Saturday at 7.30pm, Thursday & Saturday at 2.30pm

Running Time:  2 hours 25 minutes (including interval)

& JULIET ANNOUNCES
SPECIAL “SING-ALONG” PERFORMANCE

Performance confirmed for Monday 6 June at 7.30pm Shaftesbury Theatre, London

www.andjulietthemusical.co.uk

The producers of & Juliet – the West End’s joyous and fun-loving new musical – are thrilled to announce today that there will be a special sing-along performance of the acclaimed show at the Shaftesbury Theatre on Monday 6 June 2022 at 19.30. Tickets will go on sale at 10.30 on Wednesday 27 April.

The musical, which has recently extended its booking period through until 24 September 2022, contains many of the biggest and most anthemic songs of the last 30 years, including Baby One More Time, Everybody (Backstreet’s Back), Love Me Like You Do, Confident, It’s My Life, Can’t Feel My Face and the roof-raising Roar.

This special performance, complete with screens displaying the lyrics to every song, will be an opportunity for theatre goers and fans of the show to let their hair down and sing-along to the sound- track of their lives.

& Juliet soars with the music of Max Martin, the acclaimed songwriter of some of pop’s most iconic songs and recorded by artists including Backstreet Boys, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Katy Perry and Ariana Grande, all brilliantly arranged for the musical by Tony® and Grammy Award-winning orchestrator Bill Sherman.

Luke Sheppard, the director of the production, said: “During our hugely successful run at the Shaftesbury Theatre, we’ve been reminded again and again that audiences love the songs of & Juliet. We wanted to create a special occasion where everyone is welcome to join in and have as much fun singing our songs as the actors do every night – when normally we ask the audience to leave the performing to them! A key message of the show is celebrating inclusivity through the magic of theatre, and our hope is that this event continues to open up this show to new audiences as well as those who want to experience the show in a unique way.”

Miriam-Teak Lee – who was awarded the Olivier Award for Best Actress in 2020 for her performance as Juliet – leads a cast including Cassidy Janson, who also won an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Anne Hathaway, Oliver Tompsett as William Shakespeare, Tim Mahendran as Francois and Alex Thomas-Smith as May.

They are joined by new cast members – the internationally renowned star of the global smash-hit movie The Greatest Showman, Keala Settle as Angelique the Nurse, Julius D’Silva as the amorous Frenchman Lance and Tom Francis as Romeo.

The new ensemble includes Ebony Clarke, Bessy Ewa, Collette Guitart, Cassandra Lee, Nathan Louis-Fernand, Zara MacIntosh, Carl Man, Christian Maynard, Rachel Moran, Owen Saward, Aaron Shales, Benjamin Terry and Suki Wong, who join Ivan De Freitas, Rhian Duncan, Alex Tranter, Sophie Usher and Rhys Wilkinson who continue with the show.

Brought to life by an award-winning creative team in an explosive fusion of styles, & Juliet is directed by Luke Sheppard with a book by David West Read (Schitt’s Creek), electrifying choreography from Jennifer Weber, stunning set design from Soutra Gilmour and costume design by Paloma Young.

Max Martin and Tim Headington present & Juliet, which is produced by Martin Dodd, Tim Headington, Max Martin, Jenny Petersson and Theresa Steele Page.

The Alexandra, Birmingham – until Saturday 30th April 2022

Reviewed by Amarjeet Singh

4****

Catch Me If You Can is a slick and surprisingly funny thriller which is based on a French play by Robert Thomas. This adaptation is written by Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert and directed by Bob Thornton. With a small but superb cast, this play pulls of a rip-roaring romp with a deeply thrilling plot containing more twists than the winding roads of the Catskills, which is where the ominous story opens.

Away in an Alpine style honeymoon cabin, several days after the disappearance of his wife Elizabeth, Daniel Corben is visited by a local priest, who brings home Daniel’s wife. Daniel, however, is convinced that this woman is an imposter, but no one seems to believe him, and he doesn’t seem to be able to prove he is telling the truth. Things start to take a sinister turn for the worst and Daniel not only has to protect his sanity but also his life.

Why is this happening? What is the truth? With the help of a detective, a sandwich maker and a moose, all is revealed…or is it?

Catch Me If You Can, in a word, is brilliant. It’s a well thought out and clever story that keeps you guessing up until its gripping climax. There is such great synergy between the cast leads, Patrick Duffy, Linda Purl and Gray O’Brien who work seamlessly together to deliver excellent performances which lift the production to another level. The writing punches, the humour is on point and importantly, the pace and movement of the piece is timed so you can keep up with the sleuthing.

Catch Me If You Can is compelling, engaging and genuinely funny. If you’re looking for some real, old-school entertainment in the truest sense of the word, I would urge you to catch it if you can.

Forum Theatre, Malvern – 24th April 2022

Reviewed by Courie Amado Juneau

5*****

Since Covid had most of us sitting in our nowhere lands making all our nowhere plans, I’ve been eagerly anticipating this rescheduled show. It’s been a long, long, long time but we’ve finally got to get back to rock and roll music. Given the pedigree of The Bootleg Beatles (in its 43rd year) playing history’s most celebrated songbook a splendid time was guaranteed for all. In anticipation, I was praying hey dudes, just make me glad, take some fab songs and make life better – well they certainly please pleased me!

The lights dimmed, the video screen set the scene with some classic contemporary newsreel and music footage, the boys let fly with “She Loves You” and for the next couple of hours the hits never let up! It was also lovely to hear some genuinely surprising additions to a live Beatles set such as “Another Girl” (from the “Help!” Soundtrack), “Hey Bulldog” and “I Me Mine”.

The attention to detail was awe inspiring with the clothes, guitars, accents, mannerisms (John’s “going mad” at Shea Stadium for instance or Paul’s stuttering, breathless song introductions) all astonishingly accurate. It was like watching newsreel footage of the actual Fabs, but live in front of you. George’s guitar solos were especially impressive; playing them more faithfully than the original did live!

They also totally nailed the irreverent humour – whether recreating the skits of the originals (the live at Blackpool post “Yesterday” bouquet gag) or in adding new layers of modern humour in the same vein (John’s jokey “phase one, in which Doris gets her oats” becoming “…in which Boris gets a fine”.

With a little help from their friends in the orchestra, the band could also regale us with songs such as “Lady Madonna” and “Strawberry Fields Forever” with authentic sonic precision and pay fitting homage to George Martin, the fifth Beatle always present in spirit. Special mention also to Max (I hope I heard that right, there was a lot of cheering and clapping during the introductions) adding percussion and various keyboard parts like Billy Preston’s fine additions or Martin’s piano on “In My Life” being particular highlights.

By the encore we were all on our feet and singing like it was the Last Night of the Proms with “All You Need Is Love” and “Give Peace A Chance” proof positive of how relevant the Beatles still are in these perilous times. Finally “Hey Jude” raised the roof, joyously shredding the last vestiges of my own vocal chords.

Total Guitar Magazine once called them “the toppermost of the copymost” and I couldn’t agree more (or put it better myself). Not only was it the closest thing to seeing the Beatles it actually was seeing (and experiencing) them. There was everything to enjoy about this evening’s entertainment. A total triumph which I couldn’t recommend highly enough to anyone who loves The Beatles, music in general or just a great night out. Life affirming perfection!

One Cartridge Place, London – booking until 4 December 2022

Reviewed by Alun Hood

4****

You never forget your first Punchdrunk. Felix Barrett and Maxine Doyle’s epoch-making shows have transformed expectations of what immersive, site-specific theatre can achieve, in terms of scale, production values, all-encompassing design and attention to detail, and audience engagement. To experience one – you can’t just watch a Punchdrunk production, not least because you’ll be on your feet and on the move pretty much the whole time – is to go on a complete sensory journey, one where you decide which story arcs and characters to watch and follow, which of the stunningly realised sets to explore, and to be utterly transported. With The Burnt City, their biggest show to date, they take on Greek myth, although the aesthetic is anachronistic: boho chic meets old school Hollywood glamour meets monochrome starkness: there’s not a floaty tunic in sight, although there is a fair bit of blood and gore.

Part of the fun comes at the end, seeing the disorientation of audience members/participants removing their masks and readjusting to being back in the “real” world, as opposed to the elaborately curated one the Punchdrunk collective have manifested. For the uninitiated: everybody is provided with a rigid, bone-white mask for the duration, and the effect is curiously liberating while at the same time impeding peripheral vision and spatial awareness in ways that some may find discomfiting. Indeed, one of the enduring images I’ve taken away from each Punchdrunk show I’ve been to, is of distant flotillas of these pearlescent white masks moving at speed through the gloom as a host of audience members pursue their chosen character to a different part of the vast space and the next instalment of that particular plot strand.

Linear storytelling isn’t the point here, each gargantuan production being a distillation of it’s source material (their last big London project, 2014’s The Drowned Man, performed across multiple transformed floors of a disused Paddington post office was inspired by Buchner’s Woyzeck, while their ongoing NYC long runner Sleep No More is a riff on Macbeth, turning a dilapidated Manhattan warehouse into an elegant but demonically possessed 1930’s hotel) rather than a straightforward adaptation. As each show is virtually wordless (the Punchdrunk language is an intoxicating combination of atmosphere, music, mime and modern dance), it may be worth doing a bit of research on the background before you set out. I certainly found myself wishing I’d boned up on Greek drama, specifically Aeschylus’s Agamemnon and Euripides’s Hecuba which are the basis for The Burnt City, housed in Punchdrunk’s new HQ, a pair of former military arsenal buildings near the Thames.

Certain moments from the stories – Agamemnon’s sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia to appease the Gods of War, Clytemnestra’s revenge and her dalliance with Aegisthus – are fairly clear but there are times when it’s pretty impossible to work out what’s going on. Plus if you stay in one spot for too long you’ll experience the same sections more than once, as though on a loop. There’s a danger of FOMO setting in – it’s impossible to take the whole thing in on one visit – also a sense of ennui and disbelief that you’ve just spent minutes watching somebody make a cup of tea or a soldier climb a ladder in slo mo, or witnessed a plastic-clad pair cavort with what looks like offal. Whether or not that bothers you depends on the extent to which you surrender to the overall Punchdrunk vision. If it all takes itself very seriously, well, Greek Tragedy was never a barrel of laughs.

Technically, it is astounding: from Stephen Dobbie’s doomy, overwhelming score, drawing on everything from trance to Charleston to a lush Hans Zimmer-like orchestral swell, to David Israel Reynoso’s costume designs and the gorgeous, if occasionally too dim, lighting (by FragmentNine, Ben Donoghoe and Felix Barrett), everything pretty much takes the breath away. Maxine Doyle choreographs and her jagged, adrenalised creations for the humans in distress contrast tellingly with the fluid, other-worldly dynamism of the Fates, plus it’s an authentic thrill to experience dance at such close quarters. The cast are a sinewy, beautiful bunch, with presence and athleticism to spare, but they rotate parts so, unless you’re a clued-up regular, you don’t know who you’re watching in which role.
Designers Felix Barrett, Livi Vaughan and Beatrice Minns have divided the vast area into two very specific worlds. Greece is austerely, chillingly magnificent: on a mezzanine, Agamemnon’s Mycenae palace combines brutality and luxury while below a wide open space suggests a battlefield and wasteland, with massive wrought iron structures scattered about like the prows of abandoned ships, and the two levels are connected by an epic staircase, the like of which hasn’t seen so much action since Sunset Boulevard. By contrast, Troy is a funky, grungy, densely packed neon-edged city, full of weird but colourful shops, bars, hotels, and a kind of desperate, apocalyptic energy. There’s even a night club, complete with fully stocked bar, where a glorious Black diva belts out a version of New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’. There is an all-pervasive sense though, in the astonishingly detailed installations and tableaux vivants, of urban lives being abandoned in a panic, and of grim resignation from the humans left behind to face an oncoming storm of the Greek invasion, and it’s hard not to contextualise this with the current events in Ukraine.

If I came away from The Burnt City impressed rather than moved, I am still, a day later, haunted by individual images: Iphigenia’s broken body splayed across the top of a gantry, a pile of bones in front of a makeshift altar, Agamemnon processing up the epic staircase in a never-ending blood red cloak, or the ghostly contortions of the nearly naked company processing back down it at the conclusion before exploding into a whirring, trance-like ritualistic circular dance as snow falls from above. Shatteringly powerful moments sit next to sections that are frustratingly elliptical. The best approach is to let it just wash over you…and wear comfy shoes. Punchdrunk are back, and it’s epic.

Grand Opera House York – until Saturday 30th April 2022.

Reviewed by Michelle Richardson

4****

Calendar Girls is based on a true story of middle-aged women, centring around the Women’s Institute, Yorkshire, grief, and friendship. After the husband of one of the members dies from cancer, a group of women decide to raise money for the local hospital and its family room. This endeavour proved to be such a success that a movie followed, before being adapted to stage, and now Gary Barlow and Tim Firth have turned it in to a musical. York Stage, under the direction of Nik Briggs, has bought the tale back to Yorkshire and the Grand Opera House in York.

Before I even start, I need to give a huge shout out to young Louie Theaker who stepped in to play Tommo with just an hours’ notice. He did a fabulous job and is a natural on stage, well done for putting a smile on all our faces.

Straight from the opening number, Yorkshire, where we have our first introduction to the cast, you just know you are going to be in for a treat. We are drawn into the gorgeous Yorkshire Dales and life of the ladies of the WI in the fictitious village of Knapley. The ladies all have one thing in common, the WI, with their meetings involving baking, lectures from the local community and knitting, real nail-biting stuff, though some members were quite naughty, rebelling against the traditional, quintessential British institution.

There’s a cake making competition with other WIs, where the best Victoria Sponge is what everyone wants to win. Chris (Julieann Smith) is a rubbish cook and enters an M&S shop bought one, which then goes on to win. Chis comes up with the idea to do a WI calendar, but not your traditional one, no, a nude one instead, to raise money. The husband, John (Mick Liversidge) of her best friend Annie (Jo Theaker) is struck down with cancer and the families room desperately needs a new sofa. After the initial shock, these madcap pair cajole and persuade other members of the organisation to join in, and we are taken on a journey of self-discovery.

The famed photo shoot is hilarious from start to finish. A somewhat embarrassed Lawrence (Finn East) has been roped in to stage the photos, tastefully of course, whilst averting his eyes, but are the buns big enough? This was done very tastefully with great props. Huge credit to the ladies here, yes, they took their clothes off.

Both Theaker and Smith, stalwarts of York Stage, have great chemistry together, your really believe they are best of friends, getting up to all sorts of mischief. Theaker has an amazing voice and really hits the heart strings, struggling through grief, with her portrayal, very powerful. Smith is another strong singer, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. She was a blast and very feisty.

The other ladies were the icing on the cake. Cora (Rosy Rowley) resplendent with her very curly hair and superb voice. Celia (Tracey Rea) great bust and comedic timing. Jessie (Sandy Nicolson) is full of warmth as the former headmistress, still revered by former pupils, I only wish I had a head like her. Ruth (Juliet Waters) and her baking, too timid to try and change, until her “Russian Friend” gets involved, her portrayal of letting her hair down was very funny.

The husbands gave solid performances as good old Yorkshire men but were very much supporting roles to the women. Sam Roberts as Danny, Izzie Norwood as Jenny, and Louie, as the teenagers, bought a wonderful comedic element to the production and I hope to see them performing on stage again. The whole ensemble were a joy to watch, bringing so much energy to the stage. Everyone should be proud of what they achieved on the stage.

Whilst the WI may appear to be very middle class, dominated by the more mature woman, you cannot fault the camaraderie and support that it offers. And not forgetting all the money it has raised for charity.

Once again, York Stage has hit the mark. This depiction was truly hilarious, a rollercoaster of emotions, truly uplifting. Make sure you go and see this heart-warming and heart wrenching show. It is a joy to watch, you will not be disappointed.

York Theatre Royal – Saturday 23rd April 2022

Review by Zoe Giles

5*****

To be honest I really didn’t think I would enjoy this show having: no script, no theme, no idea of songs etc. How wrong could I have been, we absolutely LOVED it. The evening starts with the audience shouting out ideas which are then voted on, and the loudest cheer is the main “Theme” for the evening with the other ideas fed in, our winner was a party hosted by Boris Johnson, with the addition of a bouncy castle and a holiday let in Matlock.

Next, we were asked to come up with a name for our play, the clear winner was “you’ve let us all downing street”

The final part of our improvised play was to which musicals we would like our play to be set, the audience came up with Jesus Christ Superstar, Rent, Annie get your Gun and Hamilton.

And, we were off on our adventure for the evening with the skills of these amazing improvisation actors who from the first moment had us in stitches and I knew we were in for a treat, there is no fancy set design just basic props set against a black background with red highlights and because the actors are so good, they didn’t need anything fancy to make us believe what they were doing we were so mesmerised by their performances nothing else was needed.

And so, we found ourselves at a “meeting” at Downing Street where cheese and wine were being served and the fun and games really started as they made up a script ,then a song to the suggested musicals, and time just raced by as the actors took on different roles and characters while feeding off each other and taking a lead from each other which was so impressive it was hard to believe that this was all being made up right before us. During the interval we were asked to tweet ideas for how the second act should begin and so we were treated to a march on downing street to the musical Les Misérables and with the sound of music a very close second, we were then treated to the

Vontrap children singing the Bing Bong song, which for me was the highlight of the evening you had to be there!

It’s no wonder they have been awarded an Oliver award and been invited back for a 13th year to the Edinburgh fringe festival, if you get the chance to see this show, I would strongly recommend you do I can’t obviously tell you what it will be about or the theme but what I can say is you’ll have a great time!!!!!

 FESTIVAL THEATRE, EDINBURGH – UNTIL 23rd  APRIL

 REVIEWED BY RACHEL FARRIER 

5*****

This is a visually stunning ballet production of the classic early twentieth century novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, staged by Northern Ballet and choreographed by David Nixon. I was intrigued (and perhaps a little sceptical) to see how the novel would translate into this format, but this production does it magnificently. 

The score, by Sir Richard Rodney Bennett and performed here by the Northern Ballet Sinfonia, is achingly beautiful and brilliantly incorporates the tone and style that we now associate with the 1920s. This is mirrored by the incorporation of ballroom dances (such as the Charleston) into the already stunning ballet choreography, and gorgeous costumes which convey the decadence of the monied classes of that era. 

The beautiful and clever set design and lighting underpin the production, in particular the use of large ‘windows’ across the stage which enable flashbacks and memories of the main characters to be conveyed, as well as creating an effective inside/outside.

The entire ensemble impressed with energy and accuracy, but the performances in particular from Saeka Sharai as Daisy Buchanan and Riku Ito as Jay Gatsby are simply outstanding, in particular the scenes in which they dance alone together. There is skill and precision to their performance of the beautiful choreography, but also some impressive acting – the audience feels the full range of emotions along with the characters as they swing from joyous and passionate to anxious and tragic. Harris Beattie also delivers a stand out performance as garage mechanic George Wilson – he conveys the frustration and heartbreak of his character with a rare physicality and energy. There is something spell binding about a seemingly stereotypical macho character dancing across the stage with a tender violence, using a tyre as a graceful prop. 

Whether you are a ballet aficionado or not, this is a captivating ballet with an outstanding ensemble, which will both entertain and move you.