Author: mrmonstagigz

THEATRE REVIEW: Mrs Warren’s Profession starring Imelda Staunton & Bessie Carter at Garrick Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Monday 12 May, opens 22 May and runs through 16 August 2025 RUNTIME: 100 minutes (no interval)

5-time Olivier Award winner Imelda Staunton (Hello, Dolly!, London Palladium) may be the reason for your interest in this revival but it’s her real-life daughter Bessie Carter (Dear Octopus, National Theatre) who gives a star-making turn here.

  • Read on for reasons including why this story is shocking for how old yet still relevant it is today
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THEATRE REVIEW: A Stan Is Born! starring Alexis Sakellaris at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham (review ticket)

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 10 May (matinee) with occasional shows running through 29 May 2025 RUNTIME: 60 minutes (no interval)

In a week when our thoughts are dominated by Saturday’s 69th Eurovision Song Contest and whether 1988 victor Celine Dion will appear live there, it felt like the perfect time to see this autobiographical musical introduction to a performer whose best work we feel we’ve yet to see.

  • Read on for reasons including how Sakellaris may well be worth stanning in the not-too-distant future
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THEATRE REVIEW: Shucked at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre starring Sophie McShera, Georgina Onuorah & Ben Joyce

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 10 May, opens 19 May and runs through 14 June 2025 RUNTIME: 140 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Fans of the country-inspired hits by acts including Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter will find a great deal to enjoy here in this Tony-winning musical about a woman trying to save her community when the corn that protects it starts dying.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is the best new musical of the year so far
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SONG OF THE WEEK: What Was That by Lorde (week beginning Friday 9 May 2025)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

Lorde wears ‘smoke like a wedding veil’ and navigates the aftermath of a break-up in this synth pop track reminding of the strength of her sophomore LP Melodrama.

  • Read on for reasons including how new album Virgin is shaping up to be special
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THEATRE REVIEW: Marie and Rosetta starring Beverley Knight at Rose Theatre, Kingston

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Saturday 3 May 2025, opens 9 May and runs through 24 May 2025 before transferring RUNTIME: 100 minutes (no interval) Update: Transfers to @SohoPlace 28 February through 11 April 2026 Tickets

Sometimes in our search for the new we forget the power of stories from the past and so it is that despite being hugely influential Sister Rosetta Tharpe became forgotten even in her own lifetime.

  • Read on for reasons including where else to see this unusual story of an unsung hero
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: A Complicated Woman by Self Esteem (May 2025)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

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

Tracklist: I Do And I Don’t Care; Focus Is Power; Mother; The Curse; Logic, Bitch; Cheers To Me; If Not Now, It’s Soon; In Plain Sight; Lies; 69; What Now; The Deep Blue Okay

There’s a thematic through-line to this album with the final track’s title being referenced in its opening song as Self Esteem sings: ‘We’re not chasing happiness anymore, girls. We’re chasing nothing, the great big still, the deep blue okay – and we’re okay today.’

  • Read on for reasons including how Madonna was in the audience for Self Esteem
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PREDICTIONS/PREVIEW: Eurovision Song Contest 2025 Final starring Erika Vikman, KAJ, Claude, Remember Monday & Melody

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WHEN?: 8pm (UK time) 17 May 2025

WHERE?: St Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland

HOW DO I WATCH?: BBC1 in the UK SVT Also eurovision.tv

2025 appears very much to be the year of Finland but will it be the country’s Erika Vikman (pictured) who triumphs or the Finns singing a sauna song for favourites Sweden?

  • Read on for reasons including how we predict the finalists will perform on 17 May
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SONG OF THE MONTH: Spike Island by Pulp (May 2025)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

We last saw Pulp live at Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo in July 2023 and wrote: ‘We absolutely yearn for new material as good as those songs like Common People which soundtracked and shaped our adulthood’.

  • Read on for reasons including how to see Pulp live at London’s The 02 this summer
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THEATRE REVIEW: Here We Are at the National Theatre starring Jesse Tyler Ferguson & Jane Krakowski

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN? Friday 25 April, opens 8 May and runs through 28 June 2025 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (with a 20-minute interval)

Sondheim, musical theatre’s Shakespeare, died in 2021 and when news emerged of this final new musical hopes were high that he might have saved his best for last.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is a reminder of Sondheim’s clever wordplay that this electric cast give a 5* performance of
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