WORTH A LOOK?: ****
Last night Danish pop band Alphabeat played their final gig in Greve as lead singer Stine Bramsen relaunches her solo career with this authentic pop gem that reminds these ears of a more muscular attempt at something as stellar as Adele’s Rolling In The Deep.
The West End’s Playhouse Theatre is being repurposed as the Kit Kat Club to stage director Rebecca Frecknall’s (Summer And Smoke, Almeida and West End) vision of this musical and movie classic with film stars Redmayne and Buckley (Romeo and Juliet, Sky Arts). Runs from 15 November 2021 and is currently booking to 16 April 2022. Tickets
WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2
WHEN?: Wednesday 6 October (matinee), runs to 23 October 2021 RUNTIME: 20 minutes
Bassett is 1 of our favourite actresses and we last saw her onstage in author Caryl Churchill’s considerably longer Escaped Alone at this very venue 5 years ago.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
Danish/Icelandic duo EYJAA – Sara and Brynja – aren’t happy but have produced a chorus that is to die for: ”5am hurt is a habit, too late for happy thoughts, feeling a day’s worth of damage and here comes The Wrecking Crew. F*ck trying to make sense of sadness before it makes sense of me, love is as simple as madness and here comes The Wrecking Crew.’
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN?: Friday 9 October, touring until 27 August 2022
SETLIST: Celebrate (The Day After You); OK Have It Your Way; One More Time; Crying For The Moon; More Than A Miracle; It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way; Choice; It Pays To Belong; Out With Her; Dust At Her Feet; Said Too Much; Time Storm; Digging Your Scene; Wait; The Wild River; Earthbound; Touching Distance; Superfly; Man From Russia; You Don’t Own Me
‘It doesn’t mean a thing if you can’t make it sing,’ observed the dearly departed Curtis Mayfield on tonight’s opening song and, while we’re massively missing his input, as well as Sylvia Tella’s vocals on her hit duet with the band and some of the sharpest backing vocals of the 80s, this is still a joy of a gig to behold.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2
WHEN?: Tuesday 5 October, runs to 23 October 2021 RUNTIME: 85 minutes (no interval)
We are at the home of new writers and author Dexter Flanders gives us Daniel played by Michael Fatogun (pictured below) whose girlfriend is pregnant with their child while he is confused by his relationship with friend Leon.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
It begins like Destiny’s Child sampling Stevie Nicks on Bootylicious and builds with, we’re guessing, a list of qualities wanted from a new lover: ‘Faith. Love. Spirit. Heart.’
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN?: Monday 4 October, runs to 20 November 2021 extended to 27 November 2021 with livestream option
RUNTIME: 190 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
Prolonged handwashing is forthright in our consciousness post-Covid and perhaps, like Chekhov’s gun, it should have come as little surprise that the onstage tap in this dreamlike, almost modern-day production should play such a pivotal role.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2
WHEN?: Sunday 3 October 2021, opens 20 October, booking to 3 April 2022 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
The biggest compliment we can pay this jukebox musical is that it worked its audience up at only this 3rd preview into such a frenzy that 2 songs before the finish everyone was up on their feet, dancing and singing along.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2
WHEN?: Saturday 2 October 2021
SETLIST: The Sweetest Girl; Day Late And A Dollar Short; The Boom Boom Bap; Oh Patti; Skank Bloc Bologna; Trentavious White; The Word Girl; Small Talk; Absolute; A Little Knowledge; Don’t Work That Hard; Perfect Way; Lover To Fall; Wood Beez; Hypnotize; At Last I Am Free
Good things come to those who wait and so it is with Scritti Politti frontman Green Gartside who explains during this show that panic attacks meant he couldn’t take to a stage for 20 years.
