Month: May 2021

THEATRE REVIEW: Looking For Me Friend: The Music Of Victoria Wood

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE?: Cabaret Lounge, Above The Stag

WHEN?: Saturday 29 May 2021 (matinee)

Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV aired on BBC2 on Friday nights at 9 and for Paulus, tonight’s star and host, the beloved episodes offered an opportunity to bond and laugh with his mother and sister in their Kent home.

  • Read on for reasons including where and how to see this show later this year and what Sherlock and League Of Gentlemen star Mark Gatiss was doing in this audience
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PREVIEW: 9 reasons why we can’t wait for June 2021 starring Constellations

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

  1. Constellations starring Sheila Atim

We saw the original production of Nick Payne’s awards-garlanded two-hander in the West End starring Rafe Spall and Sally Hawkins in 2012. It was little surprise that this tale of a couple meeting with repeat scenes and meditations on multiple universes should also find Broadway acclaim with Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson and now it is ripe for return with original director Michael Longhurst. Opening on 18 June 2021 at the Vaudeville Theatre with Atim (Othello, Globe)) and Ivanno Jeremiah, couples will also include Russell Tovey (Angels In America, National Theatre) and Omari Douglas (Channel 4’s It’s A Sin). Tickets

  • Read on for reasons including In The Heights, Hairspray, Cinderella and Be More Chill
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FILM REVIEW: Ammonite starring Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan, Fiona Shaw & Gemma Craven

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE?: Greenwich Picturehouse

WHEN?: Saturday 22 May (matinee)

RUNTIME: 120 minutes

Writer/director Francis Lee’s last film was the monsta-winning God’s Own Country and although the subject matter here is a world apart the themes of same sex love and the differences between the classes are still very much present and correct

  • Read on for reasons including how this features members of the monsta-winning God’s Own Country cast
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SONG OF THE MONTH: Please by Jessie Ware (May 2021)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2

RELEASED: 28 April 2021

One of the gifts of lockdown for us has been the time it has allowed us to listen to a wider range of music and as a result we are delighted to have finally succumbed to the charms of Jessie Ware and a little embarrassed it took us 4 albums to do so.

  • Read on for reasons including how to see Ware on tour in the UK in 2021
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THEATRE REVIEW: ABBA Mania at Shaftesbury Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2

WHEN?: Friday 21 May, runs to 6 June 2021

RUNTIME: 120 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

It’s the night before the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest but how best to spend it in the West End when theatres have re-opened with social distancing and the audience wearing masks for the first time since December?

  • Read on for reasons including ticket details for how to see this ABBA greatest hits show in the West End until June 2021
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THEATRE REVIEW: Drag Queens Of Pop starring The Vivienne, Veronica Green, Tia Kofi & Shania Pain at the Vaudeville Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Last night Wednesday 19 May 2021

RUNTIME: 120 minutes (including 15-minute interval)

This is the 1st West End show we’ve seen since December and the 1st time we’ve been part of an audience that danced at the encore to a fab production in a long, long time.

  • Read on for reasons including what your chances are of seeing this show again in the West End or on tour
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PREVIEW/PREDICTIONS: Eurovision Song Contest final starring Elena Tsagrinou, The Roop, James Newman & Blas Cantó 

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WHEN?: Saturday 22 May 2021

WHERE?: Ahoy Rotterdam

HOW TO WATCH?: 8pm UK time BBC1

The 1st 2021 semi final took place on Tuesday night and we now have 10 entries including Cyprus’ Elena Tsagrinou (pictured above) to add to the pre-qualified finalists – but what results will they earn on the all important Saturday night?

  • Read on for reasons including our predictions for where each final entry will finish
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THEATRE REVIEW: You Are Here starring Wendi Peters at Southwark Playhouse

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE?: Southwark Playhouse RUNTIME: 90 minutes (no interval)

WHEN?: Monday 17 May 2021, press night 20 May 2021, runs to 12 June 2021

It’s the 1st night that theatres can reopen since the 2nd lockdown closed stages in December and before the show we are asked to keep masks on (unless we’re eating or drinking), there are Perspex screens between groups in the audience and we are advised to not give a standing ovation at the end but to clap loudly.

  • Read on for reasons including where you might have seen Wendi Peters before and which of the show’s songs are its stand-outs
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SONG OF THE WEEK: Look What You’ve Done by Tia Kofi and Cahill (week beginning 14 May 2021)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

RELEASED: Friday 7 May 2021

The 2nd single by the Clapham drag queen after her respectable showing in RuPaul’s Drag Race UK and this collaboration with Cahill finds Kofi on surer footing rather than her 1st, much darker effort.

  • Read on for reasons including where to see Kofi with fellow Drag Queens Of Pop in the West End next week
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Discovery (Live In Rio 1994) by Pet Shop Boys (May 2021)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

RELEASED: Friday 30 April 2021

TRACKLIST: Tonight Is Forever; I Wouldn’t Normally Do This Kind Of Thing; Always On My Mind; Domino Dancing; To Speak Is A Sin; One In A Million/Mr Vain; Paninaro; Rent; Suburbia; King’s Cross; So Hard; Left To My Own Devices/Rhythm Of The Night; Absolutely Fabulous; Liberation; West End Girls; Can You Forgive Her?; Girls And Boys; It’s A Sin/I Will Survive; Go West; Being Boring

This tour of Australia and South America was Pet Shop Boys’ 1st not to arrive in the UK which is a shame because despite being less of a spectacle than their previous 2 productions it’s far more fun.

  • Read on for reasons including what Pet Shop Boys are working on next
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