Author: mrmonstagigz

THEATRE REVIEW: Shoe Lady starring Katherine Parkinson at the Royal Court

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHERE? Royal Court (Jerwood Theatre Downstairs) RUNTIME: 65 minutes (no interval)

WHEN? 14/2 (matinee), runs to 21/3/20

Author E V Crowe is a graduate of the Royal Court Young Writers Programme ‘super group’ and here tells the story of working mother Viv who loses a shoe on her way to work as an estate agent as her life begins to unravel.

  • Read on for reasons including how The IT Crowd‘s Parkinson needs to be at her most engaging here

Read More

THEATRE REVIEW: Waiter There’s A Murder In My Soup at Studio 5ive, the Troubadour, Wembley Park Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE? Studio 5ive, the Troubadour, Wembley Park Theatre RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including three breaks for three courses)

WHEN? 8/3, booking to 29/3/20

Immersive theatre is all the rage and here award-winning Fat Rascal Theatre serve up three courses around a murder mystery dining experience.

  • Read on for reasons including how Robyn Grant is a camp comedy star in the making 

Read More

GIG REVIEW: The Orielles at Chalk, Brighton

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

BY: Carron Stacey

WHERE? Chalk, Brighton (touring in the US through March)

WHEN? 2/3/20

We were eagerly awaiting the trip along the south coast to watch this cosmic pop outfit from Halifax as we’d missed them at Victorious Festival two years ago.

  • Read on for reasons including why The Orielles are the love child of Orange Juice and Altered Images

Read More

PREDICTIONS: Melodifestivalen Finalen starring Dotter, Anna Bergendahl & Hanna Ferm (7 March 2020)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WHEN?: 7/3/20

HOW TO WATCH: Outside Sweden SVTPlay from Stockholm Friends Arena

Will it be Dotter (pictured above) for Rotterdam in Eurovision 2020? Sweden hasn’t selected a female soloist to represent it at Eurovision since Sanna Nielsen and Undo in 2014 and we think this is the year it will.

  • Read on for our predictions about how we think the 12 Melodifestivalen finalists would fare at Eurovision

Read More

PREVIEW: 9 reasons we can’t wait for March 2020 starring City Of Angels

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

  1. Girls Aloud’s Nicola Roberts makes West End debut in City Of Angels

We saw this Donmar production in its original home six years ago and the Cy Coleman/David Zippel musical evoking old Hollywood and film noir has a cast to die for. It includes the West End debut of former Girls Aloud member Nicola Roberts (and winner of ITV’s The Masked Singer) as well as Vanessa Williams, Rosalie Craig, Hadley Fraser and Theo James. Plays at the Garrick from 5/3 to 5/9. Tickets 

  • Read on for reasons including the new Jamie Lloyd starring Game Of Thrones Emilia Clark and Fat Rascal

Read More

GIG REVIEW: David Baddiel Trolls: Not the Dolls at Portsmouth Guildhall

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Carron Stacey

WHERE?: Portsmouth Guildhall 22/2/20

Never, to my shame, having seen David Baddiel live, this was a Christmas present for Mr Humdrum which, on the morning of the show, almost didn’t transpire when he claimed I’d only bought one ticket. He had, in fact, failed to turn over the print-out.

  • Read on for reasons including why we need more comedy in our lives

Read More

THEATRE REVIEW: Pretty Woman: The Musical starring Danny Mac & Aimie Atkinson

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHERE? Piccadilly Theatre RUNTIME: 135 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

WHEN? 17/2, press night 1/3 booking to 2/1/21

Perhaps the biggest surprises here are that it’s taken quite so long for the 1990 film romcom to reach the stage and that its music and lyrics would be co-written by middle-of-the-road rocker Bryan Adams.

  • Read on for reasons why Mac and Atkinson make an unlikely but endearing couple

Read More

PREDICTIONS: Heat 4 Melodifestivalen 2020 starring Hanna Ferm

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WHEN?: 7pm (UK time) 22/2/20

WHERE?: Malmö Arena, Malmö

Whisper it but we think a woman might win Melodifestivalen this year for the first time since Sanna Nielsen sang Undo in 2014.

  • Read on for reasons including why a woman soloist is going to win this year’s Melodifestivalen

Read More

THEATRE REVIEW: A Number starring Roger Allam & Colin Morgan at the Bridge Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE? Bridge Theatre RUNTIME: 60 minutes (no interval)

WHEN? 14/2, press night 19/2 runs to 14/3/20

Colin Morgan plays three very different characters in this Caryl Churchill revival, two of whom are clones of the other.

  • Read on for reasons including how this compares with Far Away the Donmar’s Churchill revival

Read More

GIG REVIEW: Dubioza Kolektiv at Wedgwood Rooms, Portsmouth

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Carron Stacey

WHERE? Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth

WHEN? 13/2/20

This seemingly crazed swarm of football strip-attired Bosnian bees pumped out a stunning set of rap, rock, ska and funk, pollenating the slightly small (but perfectly formed) audience with their nectar of positivity in a hive of energy.

  • Read on for reasons including how an early incarnation had to practise in the dark due to a lack of electricity during the Bosnian War

Read More