THEATRE REVIEW

THEATRE REVIEW: Frozen starring Samantha Barks and Stephanie McKeon at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 29 August, opens 8 September, booking to 26 June 2022 RUNNING TIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

This theatre version of the beloved 2013 Disney computer-animated film boasts a series of visual tricks that are so impressive that we’ve never seen anything like them achieved onstage before.

  • Read on for reasons including how stars Barks and McKeon provide a believable frisson as sisters Anna and Elsa
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THEATRE REVIEW: Cinderella starring Carrie Hope Fletcher at Gillian Lynne Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Matinee Sunday 22 August 2021, opening Wednesday 25 August, booking to 29 May 2022 UPDATE: We had the pleasure of catching understudy Georgina Onuorah’s Cinderella at the matinee on Sunday 29 August. Her Cinderella may not have Hope Fletcher’s star power yet but it was an individual, thrilling performance very much in keeping with the part. A 5* debut in a 5* show.

The absolute triumph of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella is allowing Oscar winner Emerald Fennell to run riot with the story and the casting of Carrie Hope Fletcher in the titular role.

  • * Read on for reasons including how to see Cinderella now the show has extended its run to May 2022
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THEATRE REVIEW: Bagdad Cafe starring Sandra Marvin & Le Gateau Chocolat at the Old Vic

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

RUNTIME: 90 minutes (no interval)

WHEN?: Thursday 29 July, booking to 21 August 2021

We’re here because director Emma Rice has given us so many memorable theatrical moments and deep-voiced star Le Gateau Chocolat is a performer we’ve loved in cabaret but never on a West End stage like this one.

  • Read on for reasons including why the Old Vic is the most Covid-cautious of all the theatre venues we’ve visited recently
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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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