WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHERE? Noel Coward Theatre RUNTIME: 65 minutes (no interval)
WHEN? 20/8, opens 28/8 and runs to 14/9/19
No Time To Die is revealed as the tile of the new Bond film Waller-Bridge co-wrote moments before she takes to the West End stage to kill off the character with which she made her name.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE? Gielgud Theatre RUNTIME: 170 minutes (including 20-minute interval)
WHEN? 17/8 and runs to 30/11/19
This year’s BBC adaptation of Les Miserables was song-free and here that idea is very much reversed with the focus on the score of the behemoth musical with the labyrinthine plot far less well explained.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
OUT: now
This is the stand-out tune from the 6-song cabaret MUSIK starring character Billie Trix played by Frances Barber from 2001 Pet Shop Boys musical Closer To Heaven.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHERE? Donmar Warehouse RUNTIME: 165 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
WHEN? 16/8, opens 22/8 and runs to 5/10/19
The stage is so cluttered that at a suitably dramatic moment lead Monica Dolan turns on her heels, loses her balance, falls off the stage and ends up in an unsuspecting audience member’s lap.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHERE? Almeida Theatre RUNTIME: 170 minutes (with 20-minute interval)
WHEN? 12/8, opens 20/8 and runs to 28/9/19
Welcome to writer/director Robert Icke’s final production as Associate Director at this venue in a remarkable run which has seen 3 West End transfers at 5 attempts.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE? Kiln Theatre RUNTIME: 120 minutes (including 20-minute interval)
WHEN? 3/8, runs to 7/9/19
It’s our 1st visit to north London’s refurbished Kiln Theatre and we’re in the centre of the front row to see Olivier Award-winning Sharon D. Clarke’s (pictured above) turn in this musical set in a rundown Chicago hotel in 1938 and concentrating on the lives of 3 women.
We awarded 14 monstas for the best pop, theatre, TV and film of 2018 in December – and here we look at the cream of 2019 so far and what’s to come. Eugenius, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Groundhog Day are previous winners in this category.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2
WHERE? Royal Festival Hall
WHEN? 9/8/19
SETLIST: Intro: Take Me To Your Heart/Never Gonna Cry Again/The Walk/The City Never Sleeps; Love Is A Stranger; I Love You Like A Ball And Chain; I Need A Man; You Have Placed A Chill; I Saved The World Today; Who’s That Girl?; There Must Be An Angel; Miracle Of Love; When Tomorrow Comes; Baby’s Gonna Cry; Thorn In My Side; Here Comes The Rain Again; When The Day Goes Down; I’ve Got A Life; It’s Alright; Missionary Man; Would I Lie To You?; Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves; Sweet Dreams
We’re sitting in the front row next to a fan wearing a Eurythmics tour T-shirt from 1989 and we think the only time we ever saw the band live was probably around then at the old Wembley Arena.
We awarded 14 monstas for the best pop, theatre, TV and film of 2018 in December – and here we look at the cream of 2019 so far and what’s to come. The Inheritance, The Ferryman and Oddshaped Balls are previous winners in this category.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHERE? Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre RUNTIME: 130 minutes (plus 20-minute interval)
WHEN? 2/8, opens 8/8, runs to 21/9/19
It’s apt that in the week where UK girl group musical Six announces its Broadway transfer, that the latest actress to play Evita should have the voice of Anna Kendrick and the moves of Cheryl Cole.
