Category Theatre

Slick, sassy and superbly performed, Alexandra Burke excels in The Bodyguard

Few people can handle the power ballad classic I Will Always Love You like Whitney Houston, but Alexandra Burke is certainly one of them.

The three-time Brit nominee and X-Factor winner steals the show as Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard, belting out hit after hit in the award-winning musical.

Based on the smash-hit 1992 film starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, The Bodyguard tells the story of superstar Rachel Ma...

INTO THE WOODS L-R Michaela Bennison (stepsister) & Gemma Page (stepmother) Photo: Jonathan Keenan

Matthew Xia delivers a musical Christmas cracker at Manchester’s Royal Exchange with INTO THE WOODS

“Into the woods, into the woods!” And into the woods we certainly went!

Setting the scene for Sonheim’s amalgamation of fairy tales is Tony Award winning stage and costume designer Jenny Tiramani who has turned Manchester’s Royal Exchange round stage into a magical forest, both outside and inside...

Smart, stylish and scintillatingly witty, Opera North’s production of KISS ME KATE is not to be missed

This review was originally written for The Reviews Hub

Following their five-star production of Carousel in 2012, Opera North returns to the world of Broadway with a brand new production of hit musical Kiss Me, Kate.

Written by Samuel and Bella Spewack, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, Kiss Me, Kate revolves around the tangled love lives of theatre actor/producer Fred Graham and his leadi...

Gwen Dickey stars in new soul music spectacular Soul Legends

This review was originally written for The Reviews Hub

If Soul Legends is anything to go by, Salford just can’t get enough of that sweet soul music.

Created by the producers of Magic of Motown, Soul Legends is a two hour music spectacular which promises more soul classics than any other production...

Fiona Jane Weston pays tribute to Dame Angela Lansbury in new one-woman show

Like many film and theatre fans, I have grown up watching Dame Angela Lansbury. From AUNTIE MAME to MURDER SHE WROTE, Lansbury has graced our stage and screens for over 60 years. No surprise then that Fiona Jane Weston decided to make this remarkable woman the focus of her new one-woman show.

Coinciding with Dame Angela Lansbury’s 90th birthday, LOOKING FOR LANSBURY is a celebratory investigation into the life and work...

Photo Image: Jonathan Keenan

Arthur Miller’s THE CRUCIBLE is brought to life in new production directed by Caroline Steinbeis at Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre

2015 is the centenary year of playwright Arthur Miller’s birth and director Caroline Steinbeis has brought his Broadway production of THE CRUCIBLE to Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre.

Written in 1953 by Miller as an indirect and ingeniously shrewd way to speak out against McCarthyism and the anti-Communist enquiries in America,...

This review was originally written for The Public Reviews

When Annie first burst onto Broadway in 1977, the brassy American musical won over hearts of theatre goers across the world with a record six-year run at the Alvin Theatre, scooping a Tony Award for Best Musical. Over 38 years later, the award-winning musical is continuing to thrill audiences in a stunning new production on tour in the UK starring Craig Revel Horwood as the tyrannical Miss Hannigan.

Set in 1930s New York during The Great...

This review was originally written for The Public Reviews

42 years after he shot to fame with his hit single The Show Must Go On, British singer-songwriter and 70s music legend Leo Sayer returns to the UK for a rare and much anticipated tour in support of his latest album Restless Years.

With 16 hit albums and 26 hit singles to his name, Leo Sayer is one of the most successful acts the UK has ever produced. Best known for his army of hits including One Man Band (1974), Long Tall Glasses (1974),...

Fiona Jane Weston pays tribute to showbiz legend Dame Angela Lansbury in new show

Stage and screen legend Dame Angela Lansbury turns 90 years old on 16th October and there is no better way to celebrate the life and work of this remarkable woman than with a show.

Written by Fiona Jane Weston and Patrick Lambe, Looking for Lansbury looks back at the life of stage and screen icon Dame Angela Lansbury. From Auntie Mame to Murder She Wrote, Dame Angela Lansbury has graced our screens for over 60 yea...

We Just Keep Going starts its three week run at the Hen & Chickens Theatre in Islington this week, starring Elle van Knoll, Hilary Tones, Sam Parks and Scott Westwood.

Written and produced by Elle van Knoll, We Just Keep Going is a touching play about love, family and the fraught relationship between mother and daughter. Watching her daughter Ruby (Elle van Knoll) grow into a young adult, Susan (Hilary Tones) must find a way to forge their fragile relationship before it’s too late...