Why the 3rd Hurts album will be their best
Do you like Hurts? Their 3rd album Surrender is out 9/10. monstagigz was in the audience for the 1st show for this album 16/6 Scala.
Do you like Hurts? Their 3rd album Surrender is out 9/10. monstagigz was in the audience for the 1st show for this album 16/6 Scala.
monstagigz last saw Stephen Wight in the West End in The Ladykillers in 2011 but we love him more for his turn in BBC3’s Bluestone 42. Tonight he couldn’t be further from either performances and is the spitting image of Alexander McQueen. Don’t buy tickets for McQueen to see Wight unless you’re prepared to have him transform in front of your eyes, as the best actors do. It’s a mesmeric performance, brave to be there from the moment the audience enters the auditorium but ultimately the best reason to see this. Astonishing.
Antici ….. pation’s running high for the return of Richard O’Brien as The Narrator in the musical he wrote, The Rocky Horror Show. It runs 11-26/9 at the Playhouse Theatre with a show broadcast to cinemas 17/9 in aid of Amnesty International starring Stephen Fry, Mel Giedroyc, Emma Bunton and Anthony Head. The regular cast includes the brilliant David Bedella (Jerry Springer – The Opera) and tours nationwide after this run.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: BFI
WHEN: 20/8 opens 28/8
Writer/director Andrew Haigh (Greek Pete, Weekend, Looking) tells us the BFI is his favourite cinema and that he used to work here as an usher.
WORTH A LOOK: ****/*****
WHEN: 21/8 and 22/8
WHERE: Adelphi Theatre and Old Vic
We had the pleasure of being in the front row for the closing night of High Society at the end of Kevin Spacey’s 11-year-run as artistic director of the Old Vic on Saturday night.
5. Kim Wilde
The 30,000 tickets for 80s festival Rewind South at Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, 21-23/8 sold out this month. We’ve picked our favourites from the 27 acts performing and in at number 5 is the turn no train journey would be complete without. This YouTube clip of Kim Wilde returning home from a party performing Kids In America and Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree went viral. Performing on Saturday we hope she also plays You Came and You Keep Me Hangin’ On. Train optional.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHERE: Donmar Warehouse
WHEN: 17/8 runs to 26/9
Four women in one room: waiting for the return of a dictator in the opulence of a presidential palace. A photojournalist, a translator, the dictator’s wife and her best friend are all wondering why he is so late.
Who is the nation’s favourite actress? We’d answer Sheridan Smith and tickets for her starring role in Funny Girl at the Menier Chocolate Factory go on sale today.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHERE: Almeida Theatre
WHEN: 15/8 runs to 19/9
‘Another night at the Almeida – and still no set,’ observes a neighbouring theatregoer to a friend as the (metaphorical) curtain is about to rise.
5. The soundtrack
A confession: we’ve loved the soundtrack since we bought it after Kinky Boots, which is in previews at the Adelphi Theatre from 21/8, won six Tonys in 2013. Hold Me In Your Heart (You Tube clip above) is the showstopper Whitney should’ve recorded. But there’s so much more to the soundtrack than that.