Author: mrmonstagigz

ALBUM REVIEW: Chaleur Humaine by Christine & the Queens

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

OUT: now

TRACKLIST: iT; Saint Claude; Tilted; No Harm Is Done; Science Fiction; Paradis Perdue; Half Ladies; Jonathan; Narcissus Is Back; Safe and Holy; Night 52; Here.

Breakout hit Tilted is A-Listed at Radio 1 and B-Listed at Radio 2 as we type. But it was quite possibly BBC1’s Graham Norton Show where you first encountered arguably the song of the summer.

  • Read on for how it was monstagigz’ mum who first brought them to our attention

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ALBUM/THEATRE REVIEW: Funny Girl (Savoy Theatre cast recording)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

OUT: 5/8

Musical soundtracks can be a risk when the show is removed from the showbusiness equation and the listener is left with the business audio end.

  • Read on for details of our first look at Sheridan Smith in the Savoy version of this show

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THEATRE REVIEW: Yerma starring Billie Piper

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE: Young Vic

WHEN: 29/7, runs to 24/9

Has Billie Piper won an Olivier Award for best actress? We ask because this performance as the protagonist in Simon Stone’s adaptation of Lorca’s classic about a woman destroyed by her childlessness may well bear fruit for her where The Effect failed in 2012.

  • Read on for why this is a Pokemon Go reference from being so utterly of its time

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THEATRE REVIEW: Chekhov all-dayer featuring Platonov, Ivanov and The Seagull

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE: National Theatre

WHEN: 30/7, runs to 14/10

Our last same-day multi-play event like this featured four Shakespeare plays by the Royal Shakespeare Company starring David Tennant at the Barbican over a January weekend.

  • Read on for our thoughts on stars James McArdle, Nina Sosanya (pictured above), and Anna Chancellor

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PREVIEW: Looking – the movie

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Sky Atlantic 2/8 10.15pm

After two seasons featuring 18 episodes HBO pulled the plug on this drama about a group of gay men and their fag hag in San Francisco masterminded by 45 Years writer/director Andrew Haigh.

  • Read on for a preview but no spoilers of the 90-minute movie conclusion to the show 

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PREVIEW: 9 reasons why we can’t wait for August

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

  1. Sheridan Smith returns to Funny Girl and releases soundtrack

Sheri actually made her triumphant return last month but we’re seeing her in it for the 3rd time the day after the soundtrack is released 5/8. It won 2015’s monstas for best musical and actress. Picture via Facebook courtesy Funny Girl UK. Tickets.

  • Read on for reasons including X Factor, Billie Piper and Trapped

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LIVE REVIEW: Pet Shop Boys

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHERE: Royal Opera House

WHEN: 22/7 runs to 23/7

SETLIST: Inner Sanctum; West End Girls; The Pop Kids; In The Night; Burn; Love Is A Bourgeois Construct; New York City Boy; Se A Vida E; Twentysomething; Love Comes Quickly; Love Etc; The Dictator Decides; Inside A Dream; Winner; Home and Dry; Vocal; The Sodom and Gomorrah Show; It’s A Sin; Left To My Own Devices; Go West; Domino Dancing; Always On My Mind; The Pop Kids (reprise)

We’ve seen Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe at London venues as diverse as The 02, the old Wembley Arena, Clapham Common, Trafalgar Square and the Savoy Theatre.

  • Read on for details of the Pet Shop Boys new Super tour

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THEATRE REVIEW: The Bodyguard starring Carole Stennett

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHERE: Dominion Theatre

WHEN: 18/7, press night 21/7 runs to 7/1/17

We first saw this Whitney Houston jukebox musical starring X Factor winner Alexandra Burke in 2014 at the Adelphi Theatre.

  • Read on for details of understudy Carole Stennett’s performance deputising for Beverley Knight

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