THEATRE REVIEW

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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THEATRE REVIEW: Eurobeat starring Tia Kofi, Joanne Clifton, Scott Paige & Harriet Thorpe

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHERE?: Stream Theatre

WHEN?: Runs 30 April to 10 May 2021 RUNTIME: 75 minutes

The best reason to stream this star-studded version of a hit West End musical from yesteryear is that it will get you in the mood for this month’s Eurovision Song Contest.

  • Read on for reasons including how Kofi, Clifton, Paige and Thorpe all feature here
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THEATRE REVIEW: The Importance Of Being Earnest starring Gurjeet Singh, Mina Anwar & Divina de Campo

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

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

WHERE?: Online and available from 19 April to 4 May 2021

WHEN?: 24 April 2021

HOW?: Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield and Dukes Theatre, Lancaster production

RUNTIME: 73 minutes

Gurjeet Singh (pictured above) may be familiar from Channel 4’s school drama Ackley Bridge and here he plays struggling actor and vlogger Ernest/Jamil who is desperate to break into the world of acting success.

  • Read on for reasons including the connection between this and award-winning musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
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THEATRE REVIEW: Cruise starring Jack Holden

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

HOW TO WATCH: Stream Theatre 15-25 April 2021

RUNTIME: 90 minutes

The dearth of British writing about gay London life in the 80s when HIV and AIDS were so predominant was corrected by Channel 4’s magnificent It’s A Sin and is again addressed here in this 90-minute monologue with original music and songs.

  • Read on for reasons including how and where to see this in the West End from May 2021
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THEATRE REVIEW: Black Matter starring Giles Terera

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE?: Le Crazy Coqs, Soho, London

WHEN? Friday 26 March 2021, available to 31 March 2021

HOW TO WATCH?: via Fane Productions, tickets RUNTIME: 60 minutes

Terera won an Olivier Award in 2018 for Hamilton and we know all about his West End pedigree thanks to seeing him in shows as diverse as Rosmersholm (Duke Of York’s), Pure Imagination (Other Palace) and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (National Theatre).

  • Read on for reasons including how Terera stepped aside to enable 1 of the theatrical performances of last year
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THEATRE REVIEW: BKLYN – The Musical starring Marisha Wallace

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

HOW TO WATCH: Digitally until 4/4/21 at Stream Theatre, tickets

RUNTIME: 85 minutes (without interval)

One of the joys of lockdown has been watching Marisha Wallace’s star rise with her home gig, debut album and now this plum role in a little-known musical we were already familiar with.

  • Read on for reasons including what to expect if you stream this version of BKLYN – The Musical
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THEATRE REVIEW: The Picture Of Dorian Grey starring Fionn Whitehead, Alfred Enoch, Joanna Lumley, Russell Tovey & Stephen Fry

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2

WHERE?: Digital production 20 March 2021

HOW TO WATCH: Screening online 16-31 March 2021. UPDATE: Now available to 17 April 2021

You probably recognise Fionn Whitehead from Christopher Nolan’s Oscar-winning World War Two film Dunkirk but we last saw him onstage at the Old Vic in Queers.

  • Read on for reasons including how it is Enoch’s larger-than-life portrayal that you will remember most from this staged film
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