Theatre Review: BERT’S HOUSE – Salford Arts Theatre, Salford

Scott Bradley and Gemma Boaden in BERT’S HOUSE. Photo Credit: Rebecca Cockcroft

Funny, witty and guaranteed to give you a laugh, BERT’S HOUSE is a masterclass of crossed wires and comedy gold.

5 out of 5 stars

Life is not going well for Bert. He’s a run-down bed and breakfast owner of a run-down guest house in a run-down seaside town. The estate agents are circling and things could not get much worse...

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Theatre Review: Pretty Woman: The Musical – Palace Theatre, Manchester

Elly Jay and Oliver Savile in PRETTY WOMAN UK Tour. Photo Credit: Marc Brenner

With standout performances and a feel-good vibe, PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL brings a refreshing take but is unlikely to rival musical theatre classics.

3 out of 5 stars

Another hit movie has been made into a modern-day musical. Following in the footsteps of DIRTY DANCING, GHOST and BACK TO THE FUTURE, PRETTY WOMAN, the 1990 smash-hit rom-com, takes to Manchester’s Palace Theatre as a musical for the first time.

Audiences are whisked...

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Theatre Review: DROP THE DEAD DONKEY: THE REAWAKENING! – The Lowry, Salford

Despite the odd rhythmic dip, DROP THE DEAD DONKEY: THE REAWAKENING! has lost none of its acerbic wit.

3.5 out of 5 stars

In the 1990s the internet was still a different place. News media, although adopting the 24-hour format, was still regarded as more or less reliable. Or was it?

DROP THE DEAD DONKEY, which ran from 1990 to 1998, provided a satirical take on the world of news and, more specifically, GlobeLink News, the shambolic and angst-ridden comic creation of Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin...

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Theatre Review: Ellen Kent: Madama Butterfly – Opera House, Manchester

Elena Dee carries Ellen Kent’s pressure-filled production of Madama Butterfly with a charged performance that shoulders every scene of Puccini’s iconic 1904 opera.

4 out of 5 stars

Disowned by her family for rejecting her community and religion, Cio-Cio-San also known as Butterfly, envisions a better life as a devoted wife to an American naval officer through an arranged marriage.

The Opera House audience is transported into the 15-year-old Butterfly’s world as the geisha is swallowed by an elaborate set d...

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Theatre Review: LIFE OF PI – The Lowry, Salford

LIFE OF PI UK Tour 2023. Photo Credit: Johan Persson

Full of technical brilliance and masterful puppetry, LIFE OF PI is a beautiful spectacle.

4 out of 5 stars

Lolita Chakrabarti’s adaptation of Yann Martel’s best-selling book, LIFE OF PI, bursts onto The Lowry’s Lyric stage. Directed by Max Webster and full of technical brilliance and masterful puppetry, the show is a beautiful spectacle.

Piscine ‘Pi’ Patel (Tanvi Virmani –The Crown Jewels (West End and Tour); The Tempest (Bath Theatre Royal)) is the onl...

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Theatre Review: THE SNOW QUEEN – Waterside Arts, Sale

THE SNOW QUEEN at Waterside Arts. Photo Credit: Jason Lock Photography

Charming, heartwarming and magical, THE SNOW QUEEN is a blusteringly delightful watch for all the family.

4 out of 5 stars

Charming, heartwarming, and undoubtedly magical, family theatre company Wrongsemble’s THE SNOW QUEEN is a delight to watch.

Festive fun for all the family, THE SNOW QUEEN tells the story of the young and disheartened Lumi...

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Theatre Review: EDWARD SCISSORHANDS by MATTHEW BOURNE’S NEW ADVENTURES – The Lowry, Salford

Matthew Bourne’s EDWARD SCISSORHANDS. Photo Credit: Johan Persson

Stripping the story back to movement and music alone, Matthew Bourne’s EDWARD SCISSORHANDS is a visual spectacle brimming with potential.

3.5 out of 5 stars

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, Matthew Bourne’s retelling of the Tim Burton classic, returns to The Lowry just before Christmas to bring some wonderous wintery magic to the Lowry stage...

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Theatre Review: PRISM – Waterside Arts, Sale

PRISM mixes music, lights and thematic projections to deliver not just a performance, but an experience.

4 out of 5 stars

This year, Sale Waterside Arts is offering a family-friendly winter festival to kick off its festive period. PRISM is a community-led three-day event comprising a light projection trail complimented by Sentinel – a work conceived and performed by Richard Evans.

The light trail itself consists of ever-changing coloured bauble projections, which have all been created from ideas submitted by t...

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Theatre Review: HAMILTON – Palace Theatre, Manchester

DeAngelo Jones, Shaq Taylor, Billy Nevers & KM Drew Boateng in HAMILTON UK TOUR. Photo Credit: Danny Kaan

With its inventive choreography, outstanding cast, and catchy hip-hop score, HAMILTON is both a revolution AND a revelation.

5 out of 5 stars

HAMILTON, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s story of the forgotten founding father finally comes to Manchester’s Palace Theatre – and it is absolutely worth the wait. 

With direction by Thomas Kail and choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler, the show is a masterpiece from start ...

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Theatre Review: I SHOULD BE SO LUCKY – Opera House, Manchester

The cast of I SHOULD BE SO LUCKY UK Tour. Photo Credit: Marc Brenner

Feel-good, funny, and bursting with energy, I SHOULD BE SO LUCKY hits all the right notes.

4.5 out of 5 stars

With more than 100 UK top-40 hits to their name, it’s surprising that it’s taken this long for a musical based on the music of Stock Aitken Waterman to hit the stage. Finally, the beloved hit factory songs that we all know, and love, have been brought to life in an all-new, feel-good musical.

I SHOULD BE SO LUCKY follows young couple, ...

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