THEATRE REVIEW

THEATRE REVIEW: PIAF starring Elena Roger at Teatro Liceo Buenos Aires, Argentina

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Thursday 14 September 2023 RUNNING TIME: 100 minutes (no interval)

Roger gives a five-star performance of a three-star play in which she is the uncanny embodiment of the French singer who performed in cabaret and chanson styles and was the country’s most popular singer in the 1940s.

  • Read on for reasons including how we joined the enthusiastic standing ovation for this performance and production
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THEATRE REVIEW: Vanya starring Andrew Scott at the Duke Of York’s Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2 RUNTIME: 110 minutes (no interval)

WHEN?: Saturday 30 September, booking through 21 October 2023

Andrew Scott (Present Laughter, Old Vic) is 1 of this country’s finest actors but this intricate, multi-character Chekhov drama is ill-suited to a 1-man show.

  • Read on for reasons including how this was a valiant effort but not our favourite Vanya
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THEATRE REVIEW: Cabaret starring Jake Shears & Rebecca Lucy Taylor at The Kit Kat Club

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***** RUNTIME: 170 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

WHEN?: Saturday 30 September 2023 (matinee), booking through 28 September 2024

You may know Rebecca Lucy Taylor as indie pop star Self Esteem, this is her West End debut and she is, as her character Sally Bowles might put it, deliciously divine.

  • Read on for reasons including why Shears and Self Esteem make this electric production filthy gorgeous
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THEATRE REVIEW: Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends starring Bernadette Peters & Lea Salonga at the Gielgud Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 23 September (matinee), opens 3 October runs through 6 January 2024 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval) UPDATE: Transfers to the Samuel J Friedman Theatre on Broadway from 25 March 2025

We’re sitting on the end of the 3rd row for the 3rd preview at this sold out 986-capacity venue and watch a single tear slide down the cheek of Bernadette Peters during a very moving Send In The Clowns.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is more fun than the BBC spectacular on which it is based
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THEATRE REVIEW: Gals Aloud at the Lyric Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2

WHEN?: Saturday 16 September 2023

It’s almost 4 years to the day since we first saw drag Girls Aloud tribute act, named Gals Aloud, at the Underbelly Festival shortly before the Gals leader Cheryl Hole was due to appear on the 1st season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.

  • Read on for reasons including why the Gals deserve a longer West End run or regional tour
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THEATRE REVIEW: Pygmalion starring Patsy Ferran & Bertie Carvel at the Old Vic

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Saturday 16 September (matinee), opens 19 September runs through 28 October 2023 RUNTIME: 135 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Ferran and Carvel are 2 of this country’s finest actors and here they combine in a very familiar, London-set production of this classic without songs to produce something quite unexpected.

  • Read on for reasons including why this is the funniest and sharpest Pygmalion we’ve ever seen
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THEATRE REVIEW: Tootsie starring Nicolás Vázquez at Teatro Lola Membrives, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Sunday 10 September (150 minutes no interval), booking through 8 October 2023

The theatrical version of beloved 1982 film Tootsie won Tonys for Best Book and Best Leading Actor In A Musical in 2019 and has long been rumoured for a West End transfer but would it be vamos Tootsie vamos?

  • Read on for reasons including how Tootsie would need work if it is to transfer to London
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THEATRE REVIEW: A Mirror starring Jonny Lee Miller, Tanya Johnson & Micheal Ward at the Almeida

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: **** RUNTIME: 120 minutes (without interval) UPDATE: This production transfers to the Trafalgar Theatre for 13 weeks from 22 January 2024 Tickets

WHEN?: Saturday 19 August, opens 23 August and runs through 23 September 2023

You join us at the wedding of Leyla and Joel as this play-within-a-play-within-a-play about the power of creating a narrative to perpetuate power begins.

  • Read on for reasons including how the audience were asked to behave as if at a wedding during this production
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THEATRE REVIEW: Next To Normal starring Caissie Levy at the Donmar Warehouse

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: **** RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

WHEN?: Monday 14 August, opens 22 August and runs through 7 October 2023 UPDATE: Transferring to London’s West End in June 2024 Details

Think Dear Evan Hansen but where the mental health focus is on a middle-aged mother spiralling out of control rather than a struggling teen.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is hard-hitting and well-performed material which is already finding its audience
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THEATRE REVIEW: Groundhog Day starring Andy Karl at the Old Vic

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2 RUNTIME: 155 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

WHEN?: Saturday 12 August, runs through 19 August 2023 RUNTIME: 155 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Pre-Covid we told Old Vic Artistic Director Matthew Warchus after Groundhog Day‘s initial run that it was ahead of its time when he revealed his plan for its return.

  • Read on for reasons including how we think this show has the legs for a West End run after its old Vic bow
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