THEATRE REVIEW

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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THEATRE REVIEW: Romeo and Juliet starring Alfred Enoch at Shakespeare’s Globe

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: via livestream 10 July 2021, runs to 17 October 2021

RUNTIME?: 110 minutes (no interval)

There’s a screen above the stage which alternates statements and statistics to highlight the mental health issues raised in this tragedy but also how young people are affected today.

  • Read on for reasons including how this livestream was bedevilled with problems
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THEATRE REVIEW: Bach & Sons starring Simon Russell Beale at the Bridge Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Friday 25 June, opens 29 June and booking to 11 September 2021

RUNTIME: 150 minutes with 20-minute interval

It’s easy to forget the power of theatre to move its audience and that thought is foremost in our mind as we leave this venue fellow theatregoers clearly wiping tears from their eyes.

  • Read on for reasons including why a gay audience will find a resonance in the story of Frederick The Great here
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THEATRE REVIEW: Duncan and Tim’s Big Camp Show at Above The Stag

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Matinee Sunday 6 June 2021

WHERE?: Above The Stag

Duncan James was the lead singer with boy band Blue and here he sings a selection of songs from his career in a show compered by fellow performer Tim McArthur.

  • Read on for reasons including how James was cast in his dream musical theatre role after coming out as gay
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THEATRE REVIEW: Looking For Me Friend: The Music Of Victoria Wood

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE?: Cabaret Lounge, Above The Stag

WHEN?: Saturday 29 May 2021 (matinee)

Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV aired on BBC2 on Friday nights at 9 and for Paulus, tonight’s star and host, the beloved episodes offered an opportunity to bond and laugh with his mother and sister in their Kent home.

  • Read on for reasons including where and how to see this show later this year and what Sherlock and League Of Gentlemen star Mark Gatiss was doing in this audience
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THEATRE REVIEW: ABBA Mania at Shaftesbury Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2

WHEN?: Friday 21 May, runs to 6 June 2021

RUNTIME: 120 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

It’s the night before the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest but how best to spend it in the West End when theatres have re-opened with social distancing and the audience wearing masks for the first time since December?

  • Read on for reasons including ticket details for how to see this ABBA greatest hits show in the West End until June 2021
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THEATRE REVIEW: Drag Queens Of Pop starring The Vivienne, Veronica Green, Tia Kofi & Shania Pain at the Vaudeville Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Last night Wednesday 19 May 2021

RUNTIME: 120 minutes (including 15-minute interval)

This is the 1st West End show we’ve seen since December and the 1st time we’ve been part of an audience that danced at the encore to a fab production in a long, long time.

  • Read on for reasons including what your chances are of seeing this show again in the West End or on tour
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THEATRE REVIEW: You Are Here starring Wendi Peters at Southwark Playhouse

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE?: Southwark Playhouse RUNTIME: 90 minutes (no interval)

WHEN?: Monday 17 May 2021, press night 20 May 2021, runs to 12 June 2021

It’s the 1st night that theatres can reopen since the 2nd lockdown closed stages in December and before the show we are asked to keep masks on (unless we’re eating or drinking), there are Perspex screens between groups in the audience and we are advised to not give a standing ovation at the end but to clap loudly.

  • Read on for reasons including where you might have seen Wendi Peters before and which of the show’s songs are its stand-outs
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