WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2
WHEN?: Saturday 11 September, opens 18 September, runs to 30 October 2021
RUNTIME: 90 minutes (no interval)
Playwright Bess Wohl penned this play last summer during the pandemic while staying outside New York as Donald Trump’s presidential re-election campaign kicked into gear.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2
WHEN: Saturday 4 September, (matinee), runs to 3 October 2021
The reason we’re here is because the music and lyrics for Pippin were written by Stephen Schwartz who is behind musical Wicked which re-opens in the West End at London’s Victoria Apollo Theatre on 15 September 2021.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.’
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).
