The Assembled Parties - Review

Hampstead Theatre, London

****

Written by Richard Greenberg

Directed by Blanche McIntyre

Tracy-Ann Oberman

Rooted firmly in late 20th century New York City, The Assembled Parties offers two glimpses of a Jewish family gathered to celebrate Christmas. Firstly in 1980 and then, after the interval, 20 years later.

Tracy-Ann Oberman as Faye and Jennifer Westfeldt as her sister in law Julie share the respective matriarchal honours amidst a clan that is riven with both tragedy and dysfunctionality. 

While the entire narrative plays out in the two apartments that have been Julie's evolving homes through the years, it is both women who sensitively deliver roles of fragile complexity. Oberman's presence however electrifies the drama. Faye is gifted the lioness's share of the more acerbic one-liners, presenting the rare treat of a Dorothy Parker-like wit that has been infused with the humour of the Borscht Belt. Oberman's timing and nuanced delivery is en-pointe throughout, creating a bittersweet combination of caustic compassion.

It is the fractured relationships between parents and children that drives Richard Greenberg’s story and if the overall piece feels a tad long at 2 1/2 hours, it leads towards a finale that is surprisingly satisfying and uplifting. Alongside the two leads there is fine work from Alexander Marks and Sam Marks playing a clutch of younger men caught up in the family's issues.

Blanche McIntyre directs with understanding. This is a rare chance to see a play that in 2013 captivated Broadway.

Runs until 22nd November

Photo credit: Helen Murray

Wyld Woman: The Legend of Shy Girl - Review

Southwark Playhouse, London

***

Written by Isabel Renner

Directed by Cameron King

Isabel Renner

In a non-stop 70 minute whirlwind of a solo performance, Isabel Renner brings the New York angst of a single, virginal woman to the Little Space at London’s Southwark Playhouse.

Whether the play is an accurate depiction of the female psyche is not for me to say. As Renner explores her character’s frenetic anxieties, skipping backwards and forwards across the fourth wall as she does so, it is not easy to determine if her script is a brilliant study on the vulnerabilities of post-modern femininity, or more simply a sensationally sexualised and frequently tawdry self-indulgence.

Renner’s acting is top-notch. It’s hard to say the same about her writing.

Runs until 15th November

Photo credit: Charlie Lyne

Jaws : The Exhibition

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Los Angeles

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Robert Shaw as Quint during production of Jaws (1975)
Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC

Walking around the West Hollywood district of Los Angeles, one could easily be mistaken into thinking that Jaws had only just opened. With its posters and banners adorning nearly every lamppost and billboard it appears as though as much marketing spend is being splashed on Spielberg’s classic picture as on the latest smash hit of 2025.

Today’s razzamatazz however is not so much about the film as about the the Academy’s exhibition that is all about the movie. For the first time in its history, the Academy Museum is mounting an an event centred solely on one motion picture in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the film’s opening.

(When the movie celebrated its "40th anniversary", I interviewed Carl Gottlieb) 

50 years is a long time to look back on. If one were to rewind 50 years back from 1975, back in 1925 Tinseltown was still producing silent movies. Think of Harold Lloyd in Safety Last (1924) and then remember that the first truly celebrated ‘talkie’ The Jazz Singer was not to be released until 1927 and you start to get some context of the significance of this 50-year milestone. 

Director Steven Spielberg was not widely known outside of Hollywood in 1973/74, when the movie was first conceived. It was a combination of his vision and passion to translate Peter Benchley’s bestselling novel, together with the visionary confidence of hardened producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown who had secured the movie rights even before the book was published, that saw the movie take shape.

Jaws (1975) production clapperboard
Courtesy of The Amblin Hearth Archive

As a piece of cinema, Jaws is close to perfection. With a screenplay penned by Carl Gottlieb and Benchley himself - both men have neat cameo appearances in the movie too - the script is a beautifully crafted examination of the human condition, set to a backdrop of thrilling tension and sometimes horror. That the odd moment of perfectly timed humour is also added to the mix only adds to the movie’s pedigree. If Hamlet is considered to be perhaps the finest stage play ever written, then Jaws ranks alongside Shakespeare's masterpiece as its cinematic equivalent. 

As a pre-teenager (just) I queued excitedly in December 1975 to catch the movie on its Boxing Day release in the UK. Since then (and latterly with my sons) I have watched it countless times in the cinema, in IMAX, as well as on smaller screens too. So my sense of anticipation, expectation and excitement on entering the Academy’s 4th floor exhibition hall this week was as pumped as Richard Dreyfuss’s Matt Hooper on catching his first glimpse of the shark in the movie.

I was not disappointed. My expectations were not just exceeded, rather, and much like the shark’s final moments in the movie, they were blown to bits. In a stunning array of exhibits, the Academy’s curating team have deconstructed the movie, virtually scene-by-scene, explaining both the story’s narrative and the technological accomplishments of Spielberg and his gifted cast and crew.

Concept illustration by production designer Joe Alves
Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC

The exhibition’s displays are both imaginative and informative. Aside from a breathtaking presentation of props and costumes that have been wonderfully preserved over the last 5 decades, a number of ingeniously presented looping projections present some of the movie’s key moments. Chrissie’s death, the attack on Alex Kintner (which, through Spielberg’s vision, brilliantly included so much of the Mayor’s despicable behaviour in the few minutes immediately prior to the young lad’s demise), Quint’s USS Indianapolis monologue are all there to be savoured. There is even “that” scene with Ben Gardner’s severed head, looping in a discrete corner of the exhibition hall -  complete with the prosthetic head that was created for the moment displayed alongside!

Director Steven Spielberg and editor Verna Fields during production of Jaws (1975)
Courtesy of Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

The explanatory texts that accompany each exhibit are fascinating. Who even knew that that head scene was only added to the picture after the first preview audiences had seen an early cut? It was on seeing the muted audience reaction that Spielberg knew he needed to add a “jump-scare”. With principal photography having long concluded – and the budget exhausted - the scene was shot in the backyard swimming pool belonging to Verna Fields, the movie’s Oscar winning editor. Not only that, Speilberg funded the costs of that scene out of his own pocket!

The exhibition has some interactive moments too: explore the pneumatic workings of Bruce the shark; try your hand at that famous dolly-zoom shot before going on to see (carefully preserved within a clear viewing case) the massive Panavision anamorphic zoom lens that Director of Photography Bill Butler actually used to create that shot.

Roy Scheider as Martin Brody and Lorraine Gary as Ellen Brody in a scene from Jaws (1975)
Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC

Cast and crew during production of Jaws (1975)
Courtesy of Universal Studios Licensing LLC

The details on display at the exhibition ensure that it will appeal equally to students of cinema as well as to fans of the movie, or of Spielberg's work, or just those who enjoy a good story that is brilliantly told.   

Exhibitions of this outstanding quality and detail are as rare as an attack by a great white shark off the New England coast. If you are able to find your way to LA in the next nine months, then a trip to the Academy Museum is essential. 

Jaws : The Exhibition. It's the head, the tail, the whole damn thing.

Runs until 26th July 2026

Jaws: The Exhibition is organized by Senior Exhibitions Curator Jenny He and Assistant Curator Emily Rauber Rodriguez, with Curatorial Assistant Alexandra James Salichs

My thanks to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures for allowing me to access their image collection 

Director Steven Spielberg, kneeling with camera, during production of Jaws (1975). Others unidentified
Courtesy of Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Don't Look Now - Review

New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich

***

 

Adapted by Nell Leyshon

From the story by Daphne du Maurier

Directed by Douglas Rintoul

Evie Marlow

Don’t Look Now is a tough story to translate to the stage. It is a tale of the rawest emotional cruelty, as we find leading characters John and Laura trying to come to terms with the recent loss of their five year-old daughter Christine to meningitis. That the story is set in Venice, against a backdrop of psychic phenomena and a serial killer on the loose, only adds to the challenges facing the show’s creative team.

Daphne du Maurier crafted her yarn perfectly, paying perfect respect to John and Laura’s unimaginable grief. In a compellingly scary tale, she wove the returning spirit of Christine into her parents’ Venetian stay via two sisters, one a blind medium, whose paths frequently and coincidentally collide with the grieving couple’s in the city’s restaurants and cathedrals.

Perhaps the biggest horror story of the night is Nell Leyshon's creaking adaptation. For while the script bears a resemblance to the du Maurier's original in its plotline, the dialogue on offer is a disappointment. The incredibly sensitive subject of the loss of a child is tackled addressed with far less care than is merited. To condense the work of a genius into a one-act 100minute thriller requires writing and acting skills of the highest quality. Sadly, Douglas Rintoul directs a cliched take on the original which, for all his cast’s good intentions, barely rises beyond melodrama.

Mark Jackson and Sophie Robinson play the bereaved parents, as Alex Bulmer plays the medium and Olivia Carruthers her sister. All put in solid performances, together with the excellent young Evie Marlow whose Christine is spookily fun. But for any story’s suspense to truly work, let alone a horror story, its first requirement has to be to suspend our disbelief. Sadly such suspension is patchy at best and while the story’s bloody climax offers a moderately satisfying dose of gore, it’s a long time to wait for a slashed splash of stage blood.

There’s a modicum of Halloween horror to be enjoyed in Don’t Look Now. Just don’t look to set your expectations too high and you won’t be disappointed.

Runs until 25th October then on tour

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan

Punch - Review

 Apollo Theatre, London

****

Written by James Graham

Directed by Adam Penford

David Shields

First seen at the Nottingham Playhouse last year and followed by a brief run at the Young Vic, Punch arrives in the West End, examining the story of Jacob Dunne, a man who was to kill James Hodgkinson with one punch in an assault that had no murderous intent. Subsequently convicted and jailed for manslaughter, Jacob was to go on and forge a remarkably compassionate connection with James’s parents Joan and David through the little-used channel of restorative justice. James Graham has taken this real-life episode of some of the highest manifestations of the human condition and woven it into a punchy 2 1/2 hour narrative.

The play’s original cast have been maintained in a superb display of ensemble acting. Leading the show is David Shields as Jacob, onstage almost throughout the play and delivering a towering performance of Jacob’s journey. The five other members of the company assume multiple roles throughout, with standout work coming from Julie Hesmondhalgh and Tony Hirst as Joan and David. Hesmondhalgh in particular offering a masterclass in the controlled rage of grief.

The evening however is an occasion of two halves, with act one a relentlessly staccato burst of expositional scenes describing Jacob, Joan and David’s lives in the build-up to the punch and in the aftermath of the fatal blow. It is not until after the interval that the writing starts to soar in his portrayal of the dynamic between Jacob and Joan & David. In the penultimate scenes the detailed dramatic tension between the three is sensational.

Anna Fleischle's stark brutalist set is immaculately lit by Robbie Butler, contributing to a production of immensely moving theatre.

Runs until 29th November

Photo credit: Marc Brenner

Ghost Stories - Review

Peacock Theatre, London

****

Written Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman

Directed by Jeremy Dyson, Andy Nyman and Sean Holmes

Clive Mantle

Some 15 years after its Lyric Hammersmith premiere and like a hardy stage perennial, Ghost Stories returns for a Halloween inspired seasonal six-week run at London's Peacock Theatre. Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson’s play is an exquisitely crafted piece of hokum in which, from the opening blackout through to the evening’s finale, literally nothing is what it seems.

In a tight one-act drama that chillingly fills 90 minutes, Nyman & Dyson shoehorn a handful of gruesome vignettes, each of which is perfectly performed. No spoilers in this review, save to say that the magic of the show’s ghostliness lies in its ingeniously created suspense. Each spooky yarn builds towards a jump scare that sees all of the intended frights landing with pinpoint precision.

Truly an ensemble piece, the main cast of Jonathan Guy Lewis, David Cardy, Preston (son of Andy) Nyman and Clive Mantle make the narrative flow with spot-on timing and immaculately nuanced acting. A nod too to Lloyd McDonagh whose modest role makes the nightmares truly come to life.

Like any good ghostly yarn, the show makes outstanding use of light, darkness, haze and illusion. Jon Bausor’s set design, James Farncombe’s lighting Nick Manning’s haunting sound design and Scott Penrose’s eye-boggling special effects all contributing to make the terror seem real.

A cracking night at the theatre, Ghost Stories is the scariest fun in town.

Runs until 8th November

Photo credit: Hugo Glendinning

Hamlet - Review

National Theatre, London

****

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Robert Hastie

Hiran Abeysekera

Robert Hastie’s take on Hamlet is an exciting night at the theatre. Set on Ben Stones’s bold palatial staging that makes full use of the Lyttleton Theatre’s towering flys, Hastie mines the humour in this most famous of Shakespeare’s tragedies, making the narrative refreshingly accessible while staying true (for the most part) to the original text.

Hiran Abeysekera plays the Prince of Denmark, with a delivery that’s confident and wisely nuanced. At times perhaps his speech is too fast with moments of the verse’s beauty sometimes garbled. But Abeysekera’s authenticity shines through and he can be rightly proud of his impish energetic Hamlet. The final act’s fencing bout (brilliantly fight designed by Kate Waters) against Tom Glenister’s Laertes is exhausting to watch - so heaven knows what a physical challenge it must be to Abeysekera. Great theatre though, with Hastie splashing lashings of stage blood whenever the story gets gory.

Francesca Mills as Ophelia is enchanting. At first a provocative coquette, her descent into madness makes for harrowing drama and genuine pathos. Alistair Petrie as Claudius brings a patrician wickedness to the role and if Hastie has made the role of one of the Bard’s most brutal baddies slightly too melodramatic, it only adds to the evening's murderous mayhem. Other class acts in the company include Geoffrey Streatfield’s prattling Polonius (who is also gifted a hilariously bloody demise in the Closet scene) and Ryan Ellsworth who takes on the honours of the Ghost, Player King and First Gravedigger magnificently. If there is one scene where Hastie’s editing has been too severe, it is in the cutting of the Ghost’s brief speech in the Closet scene. Those six lines add a particular heft to the narrative.

Richard Taylor’s music adds to the occasion, as Hastie’s Hamlet offers up a noble stab at this massive tale. An evening of classy classic drama that will be enjoyed by both Shakespearean cognoscenti and novices alike.

Runs until 22nd November

Photo credit: Sam Taylor

The Importance of Being Earnest - Review

Noel Coward Theatre, London

**

Written by Oscar Wilde

Directed by Max Webster

Stephen Fry

When it opened at the National Theatre late last year, Max Webster’s take on The Importance of Being Earnest was a work of theatrical quality and imagination, delivered by a company that dripped in expertise and experience. Now, transplanted across the river for a 3-month West End residency, the original’s acting genius is replaced by stunt casting and celebrity that takes an inspirational concept, reducing it to poorly performed moments of silliness.

Topping the bill for the evening is Stephen Fry, best known for his screen achievements rather than a career on the boards. In an unexplained gender-swap, Fry replaces (the previously excellent) Sharon D Clarke as Lady Bracknell. In what should be one of the most exquisite roles in the canon for women over 50, Fry gives a hammy performance that other than showcasing his distinctly recognisable voice delivering some of the most famous lines in English literature outside of Shakespeare, adds nothing to Lady B whatsoever. He is of course a big star and will no doubt draw in the punters - but they’ll be disappointed to find the actor delivers little more than a pound-shop Julian Clary.

The evenings other star name is Olly Alexander as Algernon Moncrieff. Alexander focusses on silliness over dramatic heft and while the role is undoubtedly complex, one feels that he barely skims its potential. Likewise Nathan Stewart-Jarrett who seems to concentrate more on the mania of Jack Worthing rather than his character’s depths.

Kitty Hawthorne and Jessica Whitehurst are respectively Gwendolen and Cecily, two parts that again, inexplicably, Webster has chosen to play through channels of over-acted histrionics. The physical comedy of Hayley Carmichael, doubling up as the faithful retainers Lane and Merriman has faint echoes of Tom Eden’s genius as Alfie in One Man Two Guvnors - but its little more than that, as Carmichael’s work descends into repetitive cliché. In a rare moment of class, Hugh Dennis as the Rev'd Canon Chasuble is brilliant.

The scenery is tired. Back at the Lyttleton, Rae Smith’s original designs were sensational. Here, the grassy banks of the Hertfordshire garden scenes are shockingly frayed, while actors waiting offstage for their cue are clearly visible in the wings.

This is a poorly executed transfer and other than the stunt casting, it is hard to see why the National and their co-producers have staged it. Perhaps they could resist everything except temptation?

Runs until 10th January 2026

Photo credit: Marc Brenner

Thunderbirds - Review

Trapped In The Sky

Terror In New York City

****

Written by Gerry & Sylvia Anderson and Alan Fennell

Directed by Alan Pattillo, David Elliott and David Lane

Some 60 years after Thunderbirds was first broadcast, and now immaculately restored, two 50-minute episodes are being screened in cinemas across the UK. For the cognoscenti out there, the episodes being shown are Trapped In The Sky and Terror in New York City.

Created back in the day when computers were the preserve of only the very largest corporations and CGI wasn’t even a twinkle in a director’s eye, these British sci-fi epic episodes were filmed in glorious Supermarionation and Videcolor, with full practical effects deployed.

The puppet characters and their unseen voicing artistes were to become national treasures, inspiring the nations young (and in some cases, not-so-young) with their tales of derring-do as International Rescue, from its tropical hideaway island, launched its vehicles to save the world, week after week, from dastardly infernal treachery.

The brains behind the series were the supertalented Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, who assembled some of the country's finest photographers and special effects creatives to film each thrilling tale. Their voiceover artistes were unforgettable too.

The Andersons were shrewd enough to know that if their series was to reach the American market, the Tracy family – who founded, funded and operated International Rescue – needed to be Yanks. Fair enough, but as a British production the series also boasted a glamorous London Agent in the form of the stunning (for a puppet that is) blonde and glamorous Lady Penelope. Lady P’s pink Rolls Royce, registration FAB 1 of course was driven by Parker, her faithful retainer, and where Her Ladyship bore the trappings of aristocracy, Parker was depicted as wonderfully working-class, with an impeccable sense of loyalty. Sylvia Anderson herself voiced Lady Penelope, with the inimitable David Graham voicing Parker. Both were geniuses of vocal expression. Overhead, in the various Thunderbird spacecraft of the Thunderbird fleet, the American (but UK resident) Shane Rimmer was to notably voice Scott Tracy, as well as other members of the Tracy clan.

The cultural markings of the show are iconic. The stories, spectacularly and painstakingly filmed, were all heavy on cliff-hanging melodrama. References to class, and to smoking, that may have a more modern Woke audience clutching their pearls in dismay, abound! 

Who would have thought that not only would Gerry and Sylvia Anderson have shown the world the future of space travel with their range of rocket-powered craft, but that 60 years on, their cinematic brilliance would also offer that same world a 50-minute trip back in time?

FAB!

Screening in cinemas from 20th September

The Code - Review

Southwark Playhouse, London

*****

Written by Michael McKeever

Directed by Christopher Renshaw

Tracie Bennett

Michael McKeever’s The Code opens at the Southwark Playhouse in an evening of stunning drama. In a tight 90-minute one act piece set in the 1950s, the titular code is the puritanical Production Code drawn up by the major film studios and which sought to drive out homosexuality from the movie industry. Lob in a backdrop of McCarthyism and McKeever paints a grim and toxic picture of Hollywood.

The drama’s two protagonists are the actor Billy Haines (played by John Partridge) and the agent Henry Wilson (Nick Blakeley). Haines had famously fallen from the very heights of stardom for his refusal to accept the Code and walk away his long term gay relationship. Willson however defined the very depths of Hollywood’s hypocritical toxicity - hiding his homosexuality and publicly complying with the Code. In an ingeniously and cruelly scripted arc, we see Willson preying on Chad (Solomon Davy), a handsome young wannabe male actor who is deviously and heartbreakingly manipulated by the agent.

McKeever’s masterstroke in this fictional piece is to create a triumvirate of leading voices, drawing Hollywood star Tallulah Bankhead (Tracie Bennett) into the narrative. At times Haines’s sparring partner, other times a Greek chorus, Bankhead’s presence makes the narrative crackle with a riveting intensity. The dialogue throughout is piercingly sharp, with Bennett on her finest form delivering acid drops of perceptive irony that add frequent moments of perfectly formed comedy, and at times where one least expects to laugh. Partridge too brings a compelling authenticity to the nobly principled Haines, while Blakeley’s despicable Willson is chillingly convincing.

Christopher Renshaw’s direction is meticulous – with each of the quartet precisely drilled in the timing and nuance of their performances. Ethan Cheek’s designs for both stage and costume are exquisite. Bennett’s gown is wondrous, while the men’s black patent shoes that complement their tuxedos are to die for!

The Code is as much a history lesson as an evening’s entertainment. Boldly and brilliantly staged, this production deserves a West End transfer.

Runs until 11th October

Photo credit: Danny Kaan

The Producers - Review

Garrick Theatre, London

****

Music and lyrics by Mel Brooks
Book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan

Directed by Patrick Marber

Andy Nyman

The two stars of this Menier Chocolate Factory revival of The Producers are Andy Nyman’s stunning take on Max Bialystock and Mel Brooks’s timeless script and libretto which, no matter how many times one may have seen the show or the movie(s), delivers gags that never grow old.

Bestriding the stage like a (diminutive) Colossus, Nyman looks the part. Capturing the impresario’s scheming slobbery, Nyman's is possibly the finest Bialystock to have played on a London stage. He nails the sharp self-deprecating irony to a tee, and what’s more he can hold a note too. Nyman’s flawless singing leads to a glorious delivery of his 11 o’clock number, Betrayed.

As Leo Bloom, the haplessly inadequate accountant sent to balance the producer’s books, Marc Antolin brings musical theatre expertise to the role but lacks an authenticity. With a performance that’s technically sound (the boy can surely sing and dance), there’s something missing in the chemistry of his improbable pairing with the monstrous Bialystock.

The show’s featured roles are all a blast of sheer theatrical hilarity. Joanna Woodward’s Ulla is every inch the blonde Swedish bombshell, Trevor Ashley’s Roger Debris is a work of camp genius, while Harry Morrison’s Nazi playwright Franz Liebling is gloriously overplayed to perfection.

Lorin Latarro’s choreography is another treat, with an array of styles from pastiche Jewish traditional through to Broadway-infused tap numbers. The economy of the show’s staging however, that may have worked cutely well and garnered the audience's sympathy in the extremely confined Menier space, seems a little understated on its transfer into the West End.

An interesting observation on the show is that both Andy Nyman and Zero Mostel (who created Max Bialystock in the first (1967) movie) have trodden similar paths en route to playing Brooks's outlandish producer. Mostel had created Tevye on Broadway in the 1964 premiere of Fiddler on the Roof, a role that Nyman was to assume (again at the Menier) nearly 60 years later. Who knows? Perhaps there is an understanding of the very essence of larger than life Jewish characterisation that an acting journey from the shtetl to the Great White Way provides? Either way, it works!

This revival of The Producers, the West End’s first in 20 years, makes for a great evening of irreverent musical comedy. Brooks’s gags are relentless, perfectly pitched, and guaranteed to offend (almost) everyone.

Booking until 21st February 2026

Photo credit: Manuel Harlan

The Unfair Advantage - Review

SohoPlace, London

****

Harry Milas

In an intriguing hour-long show and to a crowd of only 35, Harry Milas demonstrates his extraordinary abilities in both magic and, to be frank, cheating at cards.

The audience have all signed NDAs before the show begins – but once it gets going Milas offers a jaw-dropping display of false deals, riffle shuffles, and a card-counting stunt that sees him perfectly memorise the order of a fully shuffled deck of cards. It comes as no surprise to learn that Milas has been hired by casinos to advise them on the security of their gaming tables.

The NDA prevents any spoilers being gven here – except for the one proviso. Milas makes it clear he has no special powers or abilities. Rather, he has dedicated himself for years in honing and sharpening his abilities. His card genius lies in an ingenious combination of sleight of hand, dexterity and most of all, his coolly deployed brain power.

Stunning entertainment!

Runs until 11th October

Carousel - Review

Birmingham City Academy, Birmingham

*****

Music by Richard Rodgers 
Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Based on Ferenc Molnar's play Liliom as adapted by Benjamin F Glazer
Directed by Alexandra Spencer-Jones

NYMT's Carousel

In the most inspired and gorgeous of site-specific settings, the National Youth Music Theatre’s (NYMT) production of Carousel is presented on, and around, an actual fairground carousel! With the audience seated in three tented enclosures around a thrust stage, this traditional, historic, steam-powered fairground attraction creates a stunning backdrop to the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic musical.

For all sorts of reasons Carousel is a mountain of a musical to be scaled, with its dark and complex themes presenting a challenge to any theatrical company, let alone a cast where the performers’ ages range from 10 through to their early 20s . Along with a handful of some of the most exquisite songs in the canon and some gorgeous love stories, the show also offers troubling takes on suicide, loss and, when presented to a 21st century audience, an uncomfortable perspective on domestic violence.

Josephine Shaw and Amie Shipley get the vocal work off to a fine start as Julie Jordan and Carrie Pipperidge respectively. Shipley is gifted most of the show’s (rare) comedic moments that she masters with assured timing and a delightful delivery. Shaw’s delivery of Julie Jordan however is heartbreaking in its excellence. Her soprano voice is as strong as it is fine, and as the narrative evolves she brings an astounding maturity and heartbreaking pathos to her performance that belies her age. Shaw's delivery of What’s The Use of Wond’rin? was a tear-filled joy to listen to. Billy Bigelow is played by Maximus Mawle who alongside his strong baritone voice, also captures his ultimately honest love for Julie. As Mawle’s Bigelow looks down from heaven on the pain of his daughter Louise’s life, his acting is top-notch. Daniel Langford completes the quartet of leading lovers with an assured performance of herring tycoon, Enoch Snow.

There are other notables in this fine young company. Sean Cosgrove’s Jigger Craigin is an absolute delight, with Cosgrove nailing his character’s despicableness with wit, confidence, braggadocio and a superb singing voice. Athena Florence Mensah as Nettie Fowler gets her vocal chops around You’ll Never Walk Alone with equal splendour. 

The Ballet sequence is always a focal point of Carousel and in this iteration Marianna Micallef as Louis smashes the role sensationally. Her dance routine that lasts a jaw-dropping 15 minutes is stunning as, with minimal dialogue, she tells of Louise’s troubled life through exquisitely choreographed movement. And on the subject of dance, a massive nod to choreographer Adam Haigh. Not just in Ballet, but his company routine in Blow High, Blow Low was bold, ambitious and breathtakingly successful.

Alexandra Spencer-Jones has directed the show with perception throughout, a particularly neat touch being the deployment of a cohort of the company’s younger members as the show’s heavenly troupe.

NYMT’s orchestras always impress, but under Flynn Sturgeon’s baton, Carousel’s 30-strong ensemble make marvellous work of the score. With a heavy strings presence, the music is a lush delight and from the opening bars of the Carousel Waltz there is not a note out of place. It is a rare treat these days to enjoy such a lavishly orchestrated musical.

And finally, a mention to the carousel itself, a gloriously integral component of Libby Todd’s design work for the show. The carousel’s revolve is used sparingly throughout the piece, such that when it does start to turn, the impact is phenomenal. As a gentle revolve is started half way through Micallef’s Ballet, the effect is stunning, and when it slowly turns in the show’s finale to transport the celestial characters back to heaven, just wow!

Only on until tonight, Carousel maintains NYMT’s long established standard of first-class musical theatre!

Runs until 30th August 

Guys & Dolls - Review

Frinton Summer Theatre, Frinton-on-Sea

*****

Music and lyrics by Frank Loesser

Book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows

Based on a story & characters of Damon Runyon

Directed by Janie Dee

Fabian Soto Pacheco and Lenny Turner

In perhaps the country’s most charming setting, a seaside big top perched on the cliffs of Frinton-on-Sea, Janie Dee has helmed perhaps the most equally charming production of Guys & Dolls to have been seen in quite a while.

This Frinton Summer Theatre musical will only run for two weeks and so of necessity is modestly budgeted. Dee however, and in her first rodeo as director of a fully-staged show too, has carefully crafted the Broadway classic to focus on the individuals rather than the spectacular. Many of the cast are sensibly doubled up in different roles and Dee shifts the opening number Runyonland, which would typically depict New York’s hustle and bustle, to a calmer but imaginative balletic prologue delivered by three local child performers.

Dee’s cast are magnificent, with her four leads’ passion infusing the show with energy and expertise. Lenny Turner and Isabella Gervais play Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown, delivering a chemistry, yea chemistry, between them that is simply sensational. Both vocally stunning with Gervais’ soprano proving exquisite in its fidelity. Gervais also delivers some imaginative and impressive work on an aerial hoop in the Havana scenes. Turner’s Sky is the best to have been seen in years. Not just in his mellifluous tone, but also in his capturing the very essence of Masterson’s cool.

Fabian Soto Pacheco nails Nathan Detroit’s wry New York shtick to a tee. In a thoughtful tweak to the original, and recognising that Frank Loesser’s libretto virtually excludes Nathan Detroit from any singing responsibilities, Dee has changed a couple of lyrics to include him in the title number. Josephina Ortiz Lewis grows into becoming Miss Adelaide - a role that is one of the most complex in musical comedy - with her humour and irony landing perfectly as the show builds to its fairytale ending.

Other notables in the company are Jack McCann’s Nicely Nicely Johnson who dutifully delivers an encore-worthy Sit Down You’re Rocking The Boat, Clive Brill’s genial Arvide Abernathy and Alfie Wickham who neatly delivers the modest roles of Joey Biltmore (in particular) and Scranton Slim with panache.

Tracy Collier not only plays General Cartwright but is also Dee’s choreographer and there is both ambition and flair in her take on the two big dance scenes, firstly in the Cuban nightclub and then in the Crapshooters’ Ballet.

Neil Somerville directs his six piece band delightfully, with a nice touch to the evening’s musicality being provided by Pippa D. Collins’s massed choirs adding vocal heft to the occasion. Sorcha Corchoran’s stage designs use the tented setting perfectly.

A newcomer to directing she may be, but as one of the UK's finest leading ladies Janie Dee is steeped in musical theatre genius. In her programme notes Dee pays a neat tribute to Sir Richard Eyre’s groundbreaking and award-winning production of Guys & Dolls in 1982 at the National Theatre. She is right to do so. Hers is the first Guys & Dolls since then that comes close to replicating Eyre’s masterpiece in unlocking the pathos, humanity and hilarity of Damon Runyon’s stories. 

Find your way to Frinton. It’s a probable twelve to seven that you’ll have a fantastic night at the theatre!

Runs until 6th September

Photo credit: Christian Davies

Brigadoon - Review

Open Air Theatre, London

****

Music by Frederick Loewe

Book & Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner

In a new adaptation by Rona Munro

Directed & choreographed by Drew McOnie

Chrissy Brooke as villager Maggie Anderson

Written in the 1940s, Lerner & Loewe’s Brigadoon is a love letter to Scotland. In Rona Munro’s new adaptation, Tommy (Louis Gaunt) and Jeff (Cavan Clarke) are the crew of a US Air Force bomber that has crashed into the Scottish hills on its return from a bombing run over Germany in the Second World War.

It’s a tale of enchantment, conceived and written by Alan Jay Lerner, that sees the American airmen stumble across the magical village of Brigadoon that only appears through the Highland mists once very 100 years. Munro has sought to give the narrative an edgy contemporary message, but thankfully her tweakings pale into insignificance when set against a show whose core imagery is as much of a Scottish cliché as a tin of Walker’s Shortbread or a dram of a fine Scotch whisky. Back in the day, the Broadway audiences must have found it charming!

But you know what? For all of Munro's meddling, this is still a delightfully whimsical fairytale. There’s a love story that emerges (no spoilers here) along with a gorgeous treatment of some of Lerner & Loewe’s lesser known smash hits. The Heather on the Hill and Almost Like Being In Love are perhaps the show’s most famous numbers - both handled fabulously at Regents Park by Gaunt and Georgina Onuorah as the Brigadoonian Fiona. It is Nic Myers as Meg however who steals the show with her sensational take on The Love of My Life in the first act and My Mother’s Wedding Day after the interval.

Some of the cast’s Scottish accents need some work, but credit to the producers for casting a fair few authentic Scots in the show, not least the always wonderful Norman Bowman who plays Brigadoon’s patriarchal figure Archie Beaton.

Drew McOnie directs and choreographs with an array of swirling Scottish routines that are a delight. Basia Bińkowska has fashioned an intriguing stage design that cleverly suggests Scotland’s hills and streams.

There's an impressive kickstart to the evening as with an impressive backing of drums, pipers David Colvin and Robin Mackenzie skirl through the audience, setting the scene and the tone for a magical night of theatre.

Runs until 20th September

Photo credit: Mark Senior

Good Night, Oscar - Review

Barbican Theatre, London

*****

Written by Doug Wright

Directed by Lisa Peterson

Sean Hayes

Sean Hayes of Will & Grace fame is Oscar Levant in Doug Wright’s scorching new play, Good Night, Oscar. Usually, one might raise an eyebrow at ‘yet another’ American star flown in to tread the boards in London. Hayes however breaks the mould and at the Barbican Theatre, delivers a platinum-plated performance.

A gifted pianist and friend and contemporary of George Gershwin, Levant was to be acclaimed for his interpretation of the composer’s works. Not only that, but he was also endowed with the sharpest of wits becoming a master of brilliantly sharp and often cruel one-liners. He was also a deeply damaged depressive, with Doug Wright’s play boldly focusing on one fictional evening in 1958 when, while on a four-hour pass from the psychiatric wing of LA’s Mount Sinai Hospital, Levant was to make a guest appearance on NBC's Tonight show hosted by Jack Paar. It is a stroke of bold genius that’s up there with Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd-Webber writing a musical about the relatively unknown (in the UK at least) Eva Peron, that sees Wright having fashioned a blazing work of art in his script about the equally unknown Oscar Levant.

Wright’s writing is inspired - but it is Sean Hayes who lifts Good Night, Oscar into the pantheon of great modern plays. Hayes won the Tony in 2023 for his creation of the role on Broadway and his acting is sublime. As Levant battles his demons and propped up by countless medications, Hayes’s performance is unlikely to be matched on a London stage this year, capturing his character's rapier-like wit and musical gift, alongside the heartbreaking portrayal of his mental decline.

To only add to Hayes's excellence is his virtuoso piano-playing that sees him perform scinitllating extracts of Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue, live on stage. This is a level of craftsmanship rarely witnessed ever, if at all, and to be present in the auditorium as Hayes plays Oscar Levant, is quite simply one of the greatest privileges an audience member is ever likely to experience. 

The supporting roles may be eclipsed by Levant, but the acting craft on display throughout the company is equally classy. Another American import, Ben Rappaport plays Paar in a role that he too originated on Broadway a couple of years ago. Rosalie Craig similarly shines as Levant’s wife June, capturing pathos and resilience in her flawless delivery. Every character on stage is a perfectly fashioned gem with notable work from Richard Katz as studio head Bob Sarnoff and David Burnett as the embodiment of George Gershwin.

Lisa Peterson’s direction is a masterclass of textual understanding, matched only by Rachel Hauck’s stunning set designs that seamlessly segue from NBC’s offices, to Levant’s dressing room and ultimately the Tonight show’s TV studio, complete with grand piano.

World class drama that is likely to be the best play performed in London this year, Good Night, Oscar is unmissable.

Runs until 21st September

Photo credit: Johan Persson

Grease The Immersive Movie Musical - Review

Evolution, London

****

Based on Grease by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey

Directed by Matt Costain

Grease - The Immersive Movie Musical Finale

Battersea Park’s Evolution venue is transformed into Rydell High School for a glorious evening of summer loving in Grease - The Immersive Movie Musical.

Secret Cinema’s 2025 London production is a grand translation of the movie into a multi-media experience. The pre-show experience is a funfair in Evolution’s grounds themed on the movie's finale, before the doors open to reveal a vast space that has been stunningly designed by Tom Rogers capturing key scenes from the film in a meticulously created tribute. This is one of those shows where you can see where the producers’ cash has been spent - the staging is as lavish as it is fun and it truly is worth every penny spent on a ticket!

Matt Costain directs the show that sees the evening segue between the original movie and live musical theatre performance. The event also offers up the opportunity to reflect on what a brilliant piece of big-screen cinema Randal Kleiser’s 1978 movie really was. It wasn’t just the (30yo!) gorgeous Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta (24) singing and dancing spectacularly. The film was a brilliantly crafted, written, photographed and performed satirical commentary on the 1950s through a 1970s lens. And all delivered with perfectly corny pastiche and not a hint of CGI in sight!

In Battersea Park, the wit and humour that has gone into translating the film's scenes into simultaneously performed tableaux is inspired. All the moments are gems, but when cars are involved (think Greased Lighting , Sandy (sung at the Drive-In) and the big race at Thunder River) the effects are as ingenious as they are hilarious. There is room for audience participation too, in some of the bigger staged numbers, that only adds to the show's joy.

Liam Morris is stranded at the Drive-In

Costain’s cast are a blast. Liam Morris and Stephanie Costi are perfectly cast as Danny and Sandy, both capturing the style of their on-screen characters to a tee. A nod too to Leah Dane’s Cha Cha whose dance work in Born To Hand Jive is sensational.

The creatives alongside Costain are equally talented, with Jennifer Weber’s choreography, Susan Kulkarni and Martina Trottmann’s costumes and Howard Hudson’s as always outstanding lighting designs all adding to the evening’s magic.

With food and drink available throughout the evening the whole gig becomes more of a party than a show and with at least half of the audience having made the effort to dress up as Pink Ladies or T-Birds, what's not to love?

Grease - The Immersive Movie Musical is playing until September so head to London's very own Rydell High for.... Oh,  those summer nights!

Runs until 7th September

Photo Credits: DannyWithACamera and Matt Crockett