Author: mrmonstagigz

THEATRE REVIEW: Carousel starring Declan Bennett, Carly Bawden & Joanna Riding at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2

WHEN?: Monday 2 August 2021, opens 9 August, booking until 25 September 2021

RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

Song You’ll Never Walk Alone features here and has transcended its origins to be a favourite on the football terraces as well as last year topping the charts as a riposte to coronavirus.

  • Read on for reasons including how Riding makes a triumphant return to a show she won an Olivier for in 1993
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THEATRE REVIEW: Constellations starring Russell Tovey & Omari Douglas at Vaudeville Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

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

RUNTIME: 75 minutes (no interval)

WHEN: matinee and evening Sunday 1 August 2021, booking to 12 September 2021

‘Is someone’s alarm going off?’ We’re watching a play and can hear an iPhone alarm going off and, while pleased it’s not ours, Russell Tovey is distracted by it and has come out of character to find out more.

  • Read on for reasons including how Tovey and Douglas’ pairing compares with Atim and Jeremiah’s
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THEATRE REVIEW: Anna X starring Emma Corrin & Nabhaan Rizwan at the Harold Pinter Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

RUNTIME: 75 minutes (no interval)

WHEN?: Matinee Saturday 31 July, runs to 4 August 2021

On 19 September Emma Corrin will discover whether she has won an Emmy to add to her Golden Globe for her portrayal of Princess Diana in The Crown.

  • Read on for reasons including how Anna X is an impressive piece of new writing imaginatively staged
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THEATRE REVIEW: Be More Chill starring Scott Folan, Miracle Chance, Blake Patrick Anderson & Renee Lamb at Shaftesbury Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

WHEN?: Matinee Thursday 29 July, booking to 5 September 2021

When Covid-19 closed theatres in March 2020 this production was booking at the Other Palace until May and we said in our February review that: ‘This preview received a rapturous standing ovation, a sign that Be More Chill looks set to be with us when the weather warms up – and perhaps even longer should the West End melt to its charms.’

  • Read on for reasons including what this West End transfer looks and feels like in a post-lockdown world
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THEATRE REVIEW: Heathers The Musical starring Christina Bennington, Jordan Luke Gage & Jodie Steele at Theatre Royal Haymarket

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

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

WHEN?: Matinee Wednesday 28 July 2021, booking to 11 September 2021

RUNTIME: 150 minutes (with a 20-minute interval)

We were at a preview of this production at the Other Palace over 3 years ago and we’re back because we’ve enjoyed its 2 new leads in Bat Out Of Hell (Dominion, Christina Bennington) and & Juliet (Shaftesbury Theatre, Jordan Luke Gage).

  • Read on for reasons including how the vociferous audience is so powerful it is like having an extra Heather onstage
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THEATRE REVIEW: My Night With Reg starring Paul Keating, Stephen K. Amos and Gerard McCarthy at Turbine Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Tuesday 27 July 2021, running to 21 August 2021 UPDATE: Run extended to 11 September 2021

RUNTIME: 135 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

Written in 1994, the same year as film Four Weddings and a Funeral, comedy My Night With Reg could easily have been re-titled ‘two funerals and a housewarming’.

  • Read on for reasons including why this awards-laden classic can stand shoulder to shoulder with The Boys In The Band
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THEATRE REVIEW: Hamlet starring Sir Ian McKellen at Theatre Royal Windsor

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

RUNTIME: 165 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

WHEN?: Monday 26 July 2021, booking to Saturday 25 September 2021

The concept of age-blind casting can have undergone no truer test than here with the 82-year-old McKellen playing the titular role of a character often thought to have been aged about 30.

  • Read on for reasons including why you shouldn’t choose onstage seating if you see this production in Windsor
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THEATRE REVIEW: Anything Goes starring Sutton Foster, Robert Lindsay, Gary Wilmot & Felicity Kendal at the Barbican

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: matinee Sunday 25 July 2021, opens 4 August, runs to 17 October

RUNTIME: 145 minutes (including a 20-minute matinee)

Sutton Foster won a Tony for her portrayal of nightclub singer Reno Sweeney in the 2011 Broadway production and there are 2 moments here at this 3rd preview where she spurs the enthusiastic audience into mid-show standing ovations.

  • Read on for reasons including how Foster’s chemistry with Lindsay as public enemy Moonface Martin is a delight
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PREVIEW: 9 reasons why we can’t wait for August 2021 starring Culture Club

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

  1. Culture Club and Bananarama play Kenwood House

This is shaping up to be 1 of our 1st gigs proper since Madonna at the Palladium pre-lockdowns in February 2020 and we couldn’t be more thrilled. The occasion is Heritage Live and the setting is north London’s beautiful Kenwood House. We’ve seen Rufus Wainwright here before and we know we’re in for something special because Culture Club and Bananarama always deliver live. Tickets

  • Read on for reasons including new albums from Lorde and Will Young and the Victorious festival
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SONG OF THE WEEK: I Wanna Be Your Slave by Måneskin (week beginning Friday 23 July 2021)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

If winning May’s Eurovision Song Contest in front of 183 million viewers wasn’t enough, Italy’s Måneskin had a top 20 hit with the victorious Zitti e buoni in the UK – and then followed it with 2 top 10 successes.

  • Read on for reasons including how London’s live music gig scene was key to the band’s success
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