Strictly Ballroom Bradford Alhambra
Our winter love affair with ballroom dancing through the TV series Strictly Come Dancing seems destined to make this show a box office hit. Indeed, if this opening night audience is anything to go by, tickets are going to be at a premium, and the cast certainly deserve it. They turned up for a night in the spangled world of the dance floor and were not disappointed.
The show is based on Baz Luhrmann’s 1992 film of the same name, itself…
Belly Laughing Fun Menopause The Musical 2
Rewind to ten years ago; who would’ve thought that we would be sitting in a theatre amongst hundreds of middle-aged women (and a few brave men!) watching a musical about the menopause?! This play dealt with a traditionally taboo subject with the sensitivity of a sledge hammer……and the York audience absolutely loved it!
There were belly laughing moments from start to finish.
The story tells of 4 women from different walks of life heading…
Mikron Theatre To Premiere 'A Force To Be Reckoned With'
Mikron Theatre to premiere new Amanda Whittington play about the pioneering women of Britain’s Police force
Mikron Theatre is thrilled to announce that it will be premiering playwright Amanda Whittington’s new play ‘A Force To Be Reckoned With’ which explores the story of the pioneering women of the British Police force.
The new play will open at Marsden Mechanics Hall on 13th May and then tour nationally by canal, river and road until 21st October including a performance at the Greater Manchester…
South African Dance And Rhythms In Bradford
The opportunity to experience a new dance piece rarely comes around, let alone one that is rooted so deeply in African traditions. Dada Masilo’s enthralling The Sacrifice was therefore something not to be missed. Brought to the UK for a short 14 date visit as part of a worldwide tour by The Dance Consortium, how privileged we are to have this amazing company visit Bradford.
The Company of The Sacrifice
Based on the ballet The Rite of Spring, The Sacrifice uses…
Nothing Is But What Is Not - A New Version Of Macbeth
This new production of Macbeth fuses live performance with striking video technology.
We entered a new, threatening, Dog eat Dog world, a cosmopolitan city, constructed with 70 to 30 percent division between original text and new text with hints of the Russian, Italian and Japanese language.
“A daring, neon noir thriller where Shakespeare’s original language collides with startling new scenes, stunning visuals and a powder-keg intensity. ” The visuals are indeed stunning; there are disclaimers but do be aware that…
Powerful Henry V Production – A Winner In So Many Ways
It is one of the most thought-provoking productions of Henry V I have seen for many a year and it kept me gripped from start to finish.
The Shakespearean classic, a joint production by Leeds Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe and Headlong with Royal & Derngate, Northampton, turns the Bard’s play on its head and, thanks to director, Holly Race Roughan, puts a totally fresh perspective on the timeworn text.
Traditionally quite jingoistic, certainly in Henry’s ‘Once more unto the breach…..” speech, this time…
Charlie And Stan
Actions speak louder than words, and boy did this show shout out “ Genius!”
An idea by Irene Cotton grew, and blossomed into this masterpiece of Physical Theatre, presented by Told By An Idiot Theatre Company.
Written and directed by Paul Hunter, inspired by real life events, this was a hilarious and moving homage to Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel, two…
Macbeth With A New Twist
A new production of Macbeth due to tour the north from February 21, is one that fuses live performance with striking video technology by the acclaimed imitating the dog and, as Group Editor Andrew Palmer found out, this innovative approach to Shakespeare’s exploration of power, ambition, violence and love is impressively inventive
I am stunned! Entering the Courtyard Theatre at Leeds Playhouse on my way to the Green Room I am amazed at the technical wizardry that has engulfed the…
Ellen Kent: Opera From The Front Line
President Putin had better watch out! Woe betide anyone who trifles with Ellen Kent’s plan to bring the Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv over to the UK to perform a trio of operas, a majority of which will take place across the north of England.
However, this upbeat award-winning 73-year-old; ahem, I can hear those polite coughs, but it is fine, Ellen is proud to tell me her age and to be honest she looks much younger but exhausted by…
Sleeping Beauty – A Beauty Of A Pantomime
Mention Blackpool pantomime and one name synonymous with the Grand Theatre production is Steve Royle.
Royle has been performing Blackpool pantomime for over a decade. From the moment he stepped on stage as Silly Billy, he captivated the audience young and old with precision comic timing.
As pantomimes go, Blackpool runs just over 2 ½ hours – longer than other pantos I have seen this season, though it was so fast-paced one never knew what was coming next and,…
Horrible Histories Presents Horrible Christmas
Panto season has arrived. Regardless of our age, we all love breaking down the fourth wall and shouting 'boooooo' as loudly as we can. Heck, a year shouldn't pass by without having at least once yelled 'he's behind you!' Yet, doing so doesn't need to be done in the format of a traditional panto - not when they Horrible Histories offer the opportunity to transport yourself through Christmas moments past and present.
Arriving at Birmingham's Symphony Hall with my eldest child,…
Michael Starke On White Christmas At Liverpool Empire
As the Irving Berlin musical White Christmas arrives in Liverpool, Michael Starke tells us about the show and what the audience can expect
For anyone new to White Christmas, what is the musical all about?
It's a stage adaptation of the famous movie which originally featured Bing Crosby. I play a character called General Henry Waverly.
Anyone who is familiar with White Christmas will discover our adaptation is slightly different from the film version.
We have a great cast including Lorna Luft who…
Stick Man A Tree-Mendous Production
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Theatre Correspondent, John Kitching took his granddaughter to see Stick Man at Leeds Playhouse and both had a mesmerising, fun-filled time at a tree-mendous production
Sitting with my granddaughter before the show started, I was a little unsure what to expect but I have to say the excitement of the young audience carried me into one of the most enchanting afternoons I have had for a long while. A cast of three kept the audience (mainly under 6…
Books: Unseen Ayckbourn By Simon Murgatroyd
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Sir Alan Ayckbourn, is arguably the country’s greatest living playwright. He is certainly the most prolific - and the majority of his plays received their premiere in Scarborough. Originally, this was in the Library Theatre, the first professional in-the-round company, which he joined in 1957 as an actor and stage manager, and from 1996 in the Stephen Joseph Theatre (SJT).
... is a marvellous miscellany of Ayckbourn’s out-takes, paths not taken, reappraisals and rejections. Both a scholarly work of reference and…
HMS Pinafore At York's Theatre Royal
I have tried over the years not to like Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, disparaged as they often are with the prefix "light", but they have a sneaky way of creeping into your subconscious and popping out in unfocussed moments. So it was as I was driving home from York Opera's production of HMS Pinafore at York's Theatre Royal. Between moments of trying to see the A59 on a disgustingly rainy night I caught myself humming "I am the Captain of…
Spike - Celebrating The Genius Of The Goon Show
When the Goon Show arrived on BBC radio in 1951 it was a breath of fresh air after all the variety shows that had gone before. Suddenly three young rebels had arrived on the scene to shake things up.
Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe introduced listeners to a crazy and often madcap world with sound effects and a satire that was unheard of.
Spike, the latest touring play from Private Eye editor Ian Hislop and co-writer Nick Newman shine a…
The Original Cornish Buoy Band
Our correspondent John Kitching reviews the Fisherman's Friends - The Musical.
Who would have thought that a film about a group of working fishermen from Port Isaac who meet up in their local pub to sing sea shanties would be a success, but that's just what happened in 2019. Fast forward to 2022 and it's now a critically acclaimed stage musical.
I didn't really know what to expect of the show having never seen the film, but I was pleasantly shocked by…
Peter Pan A Magical Evening For All
Peter Pan is Be Amazing Arts’ third production at Eden Camp and promises "a magical evening for all the family and is sure to kick start your winter season with a festive sparkles" says writer and director Roxanna Klimaszewska.
Following the build of Eden Camp’s brand new Heritage Hall, the team at Be Amazing Arts jumped at the opportunity to build inside a custom made theatre, with the result of J. M Barrie’s classic being brought to life in Yorkshire during…
Disco Fever Takes Over The Alhambra
John Kitching has been booging at Bradford's Alhambra
If you go down to Bradford Alhambra to see Saturday Night Fever this week you may want to make sure you pack your boogie shoes as the theatre is transformed into a 1970’s New York disco. Judging by the audience reaction on the opening night they would all like to be up on the dance floor strutting their moves.
Based on the iconic 1977 film of the same name Saturday Night Fever follows…
Absurd Person Singular Fifty Years On
A major Alan Ayckbourn story broken by guest writer, Andrew Liddle
Fifty years after Alan Ayckbourn’s ground-breaking play Absurd Person Singular had its world premiere at Scarborough’s Library Theatre, an exciting discovery has been made about its origins.
Sir Alan’s most famous play, a comic masterpiece of social climbing in 1970s’ suburbia, a potent…
Guy Fawkes A Rip Roaring Play
{13}All credit to Charlie Kilpatrick for his rehearsal photography and trailer, and the infectious enthusiasm for Director Gemma Fairlie and her selected cast on social media, all of whom succeeded in making us feel we’d be missing out if we didn’t come to see David Reed’s hilarious new take on one of the most notorious tales of all time.
Writer David also played the lead role Guy Fawkes, and was perfect for the part; I was particularly enamoured with his deep,…
The Cher Show: This Must Be What Candy Floss Tastes Like
The Cher Show: A New Musical hits the Bradford Alhambra this week (26 - 29 October 2022) and it packs in more Cher songs than you even knew you knew. As the show's publicity machine so accurately says: "It's a roller-coaster ride through Cher's life as Goddess warrior of pop turned Hollywood royalty, from a young kid with big dreams, to the dizzying heights of global stardom".
The production makes clever use of three performers with belting voices to illustrate three…
Orpheus. An Extraordinary Reimagining Of Monteverdi's Classic Opera
At least four years in the making and drawing on the talents of many dozens of people, the long-term South Asian Arts and Opera North collaboration has finally emerged. Like a butterfly blossoming from a chrysalis and, after a long gestation where the component parts dissolve into each other to make something entirely new, this collaboration has produced a thing of great beauty.
Based on Monteverdi’s late Renaissance/early Baroque opera Orpheus, with a libretto by Alessandro Striggio, the opera draws on…
Susie Blake Chats About Her Role As Miss Marple In the Mirror Crack’d
In the last of our interviews, Susie Blake, best known for playing the Continuity Announcer in Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV, as well as her regular roles of Bev Unwin in ITV’s Coronation Street and Hillary Nicholson in BBC’s Mrs Brown’s Boys, chats about her role as Miss Marple in Agatha Christie's The Mirror Crack'd.
Was Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple always on your wish list of roles to play?
Yes, since the 1960s when I saw Margaret Rutherford playing her.…
Noughts & Crosses A Play For Our Time
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Group Editor Andrew Palmer chats to the director and some of the cast who are touring the North with The Pilot Theatre production of Noughts & Crosses which was seen by over 30,000 people on tour with 40% of the audience being aged under 20. It went on to win Pilot Theatre the award for Excellence in Touring at the 2019 UK Theatre Awards.
Ambling across York University campus on an extremely hot day, I eventually find the Dixon Drama Studio…
Sondheim Would Be Smiling On Leeds
Like a good wine, James Brining’s production of Sondheim’s A Little Night Music has matured beautifully in the 12 months since I last saw this gloriously naughty musical at Leeds Playhouse.
Then, it was rich in character, sets and nuance, however, this time, it is as if the director has wrung every last ounce of potential out of the late master’s creation: it was the same show but, somehow, different.
Dialogue delivery was seamless – as was Opera North’s magnificent orchestra –…
A Mesmerising Riot Act
Our roving theatre reviewers Emilie Moon and Claire Haddleton had a riotous time in the STUDIO at York Theatre Royal
Alexis Gregory’s Riot Act was nothing short of outstanding. We were lucky enough to catch this show in the intimate Studio theatre at the York Theatre Royal, sitting just metres from the actor himself. The stage was bare except for one chair with two changes of clothes on it, a spotlight and Alexis. We had absolutely no idea what to…
Fantastically Great Women WHO Changed The World
Whilst this is a show that everyone would enjoy whatever their background, age or gender, this show should be a ‘must see’ on every school curriculum.
‘Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World’ shadows an eleven-year-old Jade, who fears she has been forgotten about and has been left behind whilst on her school trip to a local gallery. Jade takes refuge in the Gallery of Greatness where she is unwittingly drawn into a series of exciting adventures each led by…
Mikron Theatre's Wild And Wonderful World Of Weather
In a bright and breezy new play by Mikron newcomer Lindsay Roden, the uber-talented and always hard working cast of just four treat us to a whirlwind history of the weather / climate change and all things meteorological.
For those who don't know Mikron (where have you been?), they are a delightfully small and permanently touring force of nature. Whisking in an out of unlikely venues - mine was the Wetherby Whaler in Guiseley - Mikron spend much of their Summer…
Sensitive, Hilarious & Emotional – Poet’s Take On Dementia
Playwright, Frances Poet, has a wonderful ear for northern dialogue that translates beautifully to her latest play, Maggie May: a caring, humorous and emotionally heart-wrenching take on dementia.
My dad suffered from the same affliction but, despite the perceived tragedy of this ‘disease’, we once found ourselves rolling in the aisles at ‘Jimmy’s’ hospital after he dramatically shouted ‘duck’; we all did. “My God,” he said, “that train just missed you!” Seconds later, ‘normality’ returned!
And that is dementia, so beautifully articulated…