WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: Aldwych Theatre
WHEN: 7/1 (matinee), runs to 22/7
Carole King can lay claim to the title of the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century with more than 100 US hits to her name between 1955 and 1999.
This solo star and former member of bands Alcazar and Barbados has tried, and failed, to represent Sweden eight times in the Eurovision Song Contest. The Eurofest club night at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern has boasted Melodifestivalen stars including Linda Bengtzing and Shirley Clamp. On 13/1 it throws open its doors to Carlsson. Tickets
WHERE: BFI
WHEN: 5/1
It’s 40 years since Mike Leigh’s Abigail’s Party pricked a nation’s consciousness through a cheesy-pineapple skewer, we’re here with the Oscar-nominated director and much of the cast to celebrate the TV career of its star, Alison Steadman.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHERE: Donmar
WHEN: 31/12 (matinee), runs to 18/2/17
We almost saw lead Gemma Arterton in Nell Gwynn, her film 100 Streets was one of our favourites of 2016 and so we pulled out as many stops as possible to see her star in Josie Rourke’s Saint Joan at the Donmar.
Sir Ian has long been one of our favourite actors and when he shared our BFI Shakespeare Q&A with him on his Facebook page in April our traffic went into meltdown. Pictorial evidence above.
2016’s Best Musical
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: Indigo2
WHEN: 23/12
SETLIST: Everybody Wants To Rule The World; Wide Boy; Don Quixote; Wings; Call Me; Faithful; The One and Only; Crazy; Dancing Girls; When a Heart Beats; The Riddle; I Want to Hear It From You; Don’t Look Down; Black and Gold; Would I Lie To You?; Wouldn’t It Be Good; We Close Our Eyes; I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me; King of Wishful Thinking; Sex On Fire.
We email the Indigo2 in advance of this gig to find out when the support act’s on because we don’t want to miss them, whether they’re Go West or Nik Kershaw.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE?: Eventim Apollo
WHEN: 16/12
There can be few gigs quite like this annual event curated by Professor Brian Cox and Robin Ince, from Radio 4’s Infinite Monkey Cage, which we’ve seen for the last three years.
It’s almost Christmas and what would the festive season be without some recognition of the best of 2016? Over the next fortnight we’ll shortlist five nominees in each of 12 categories for our Oscars, or monstas if you will, of 2016.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: London Palladium
WHEN: 10/12 (matinee), runs to 15/1/17
Julian Clary plays Dandini, Prince Charming’s ‘right-hand man’ who has ‘handled many balls’.
