THEATRE REVIEW: The Phlebotomist starring Jade Anouka & Rory Fleck Byrne at Hampstead Theatre

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

WHERE? Hampstead Theatre RUNTIME: 2 hours and 15 minutes (with 20-minute interval)

WHEN? 22/3, opens 25/3, runs to 20/4/19

Theatre’s 34th Olivier Awards will be presented at the Royal Albert Hall on 7 April and this new play is shortlisted for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre.

  • Read on for reasons including what beat The Phlebotomist to our Best New Play monsta

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THEATRE REVIEW: Vulvarine: A New Musical at VAULT Festival

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHERE?: VAULT Festival RUNTIME: 75 minutes

WHEN?: 17/3 (matinee) (press review ticket), touring the UK until 12/7/19

Welcome to the world’s first superhero musical set in High Wycombe.

  • Read on for reasons including where to catch this treat as it tours the UK

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THEATRE REVIEW: Shipwreck starring Fisayo Akinade, Raquel Cassidy & Tara Fitzgerald at the Almeida Theatre

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHERE? Almeida Theatre

WHEN? 15/3 runs to 30/3/19 RUNTIME: 3 hours (including a 20-minute interval)

Can political plays ever be about now? Was Shakespeare liberated by the censorship which dominated his writing or did its influence transform the Bard’s work into something truly universal?

  • Read on for reasons including how this work is like the best of James Graham

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ALBUM REVIEW: The Song Diaries by Sophie Ellis-Bextor

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

OUT: 15/3/19

TRACKLIST: Groovejet; Take Me Home; Murder On The Dancefloor; Move This Mountain; Music Gets The Best Of Me; Mixed Up World; Catch You; Me And My Imagination; Today the Sun’s On Us; Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer); Bittersweet; Not Giving Up On Love; Youngblood; Love Is A Camera; Wild Forever; A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed; Love Is You; Take Me Home; Murder On the Dancefloor

The use of orchestras in pop brings to mind for us some of music’s most thrilling moments from yesteryear: ABC’s Lexicon Of Love album, Left To My Own Devices by Pet Shop Boys or the first two LPs by My Life Story.

  • Read on for reasons including where you can see Sophie’s orchestra on tour in the UK this year

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THEATRE REVIEW: The Price starring David Suchet at the Wyndham’s Theatre

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE? Wyndham’s Theatre RUNTIME: 2 hours and 40 minutes (with 20-minute interval)

WHEN? 9/3, runs to 27/4/19

The effect of the Great Depression on America in the 1930s is a familiar theme running throughout the work of Arthur Miller and major revivals of his work are due at both the Old Vic, already currently staging The American Clock, and the Young Vic.

  • Read on for reasons including whether The Price is worth its 3 Olivier Award nominations

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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Sucker Punch by Sigrid (March 2019)

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

OUT: 8/3/19

TRACKLIST: Sucker Punch;  Mine Right Now; Basic; Strangers; Don’t Feel Like Crying; Level Up; Sight Of You; In Vain; Don’t Kill My Vibe; Business Dinners; Never Mine; Dynamite

We 1st saw Sigrid live last year at the 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire and it was album closer Dynamite which most stood out.

  • Read on for reasons including where to see Sigrid on tour in the UK in 2019

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THEATRE REVIEW: Dangerous Giant Animals at the VAULT Festival

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHERE? Vaults Festival RUNTIME: 60 minutes (no interval)

WHEN? 10/3/19 (press review ticket)

‘We saw that you recently reviewed Cost of Living at the Hampstead. Our show deals with similar themes – disability, carers, family – and we wondered if you might be interested in reviewing?’

  • Read on for reasons including how to find out whether Dangerous Giant Animals is playing near you

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THEATRE REVIEW: Betrayal starring Tom Hiddleston & Zawe Ashton at the Harold Pinter Theatre

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHERE? Harold Pinter Theatre RUNTIME: 90 minutes (no interval)

WHEN? 8/3, opens 13/3, runs to 1/6/19 STOP PRESS: now extended to 8/6

A female voice sings a slowed-down and stripped back version of, we think, Depeche Mode’s Enjoy The Silence at several moments during this methodical revival and it’s the best in-joke of an understated evening.

  • Read on for reasons including how the audience is queuing around the block to see Tom Hiddleston at the stage door

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PREDICTIONS: Melodifestivalen Final starring Wiktoria & Lina Hedlund 9 March 2019

WHEN?: Saturday 9 March 2019 (7pm UK time) on SVT (link to watch below)

We think there are 2 potential Eurovision Song Contest winners in tonight’s Swedish final but will Melodifestivalen viewers pick either 1 of them?

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

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PREDICTIONS: Andra Chansen starring Anna Bergendahl, Lisa Ajax & Nano

WHEN?: 7pm (UK time) 2/3/19 on SVT (link at the bottom of the page below)

WHERE: Nyköping

Anna Bergendahl (pictured) is Melodifestivalen’s least successful winner and so her appearance in Andra Chansen seems inevitable but will her redemption be realised by making it through to the 9 March final in Stockholm?

  • Read on for reasons including how we’re calling the 4 Andra Chansen duels this year

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