WORTH A LOOK?: ****
OUT: Friday 2 April 2021
Of all the drag queens in season 2 of BBC Three’s hit TV series Drag Race UK, it was Veronica Green who had the most rollercoaster ride.
WHEN?: 8pm UK time Thursday 20 May 2021
WHERE?: Ahoy Rotterdam
A dozen of the 17 acts competing in this 2nd semi would have been in contention in 2020 and read on for details of the 7 we think will progress to the final.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN?: 9pm Sunday 4 April 2021
WHERE?: Sky Arts
RUNTIME: 90 minutes
When the National Theatre announced that Josh O’Connor and Jessie Buckley were set to star in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet at the venue in summer 2020, it was set to be 1 of the season’s highlights.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
OUT: 25 February 2021
Visage is a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race and played the role of teacher Miss Hedge in West End musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie before new bandmate Faye Tozer and so perhaps it should come as little surprise that she fits so flawlessly into Lisa Scott-Lee’s shoes.
WHEN?: Tuesday 18 May 2021
WHERE?: Rotterdam Ahoy
The failure of Belarus to submit an entry complying with the Eurovision Song Contest’s rules mean this semi has 1 song less than semi 2 yet we think this 1 will be tougher to qualify from than its counterpart.
WHEN?: Thursday 25 March 2021
We interview Dr Robert, lead singer of the Blow Monkeys, as the band prepares to release a new album and tickets for a tour to celebrate their 40th anniversary have gone on sale.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2
OUT: 5 March 2021
TRACKLIST: Love Me Land; Talk About Love feat Young Thug; Need Someone; Right Here; WOW; Poster Girl; I Need Love; Look What You’ve Done; Ruin My Life; Stick With You; FFF; What Happens Here
We last saw Larsson live headlining at London’s Eventim Apollo in October 2017 and it is with a little surprise then that it has taken more than three-and-half years since to release this next album proper.
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).
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.
It’s not easy being a band with a 40-year history that wants to write new material when the fans are familiar with hits as glorious as Digging Your Scene, It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way and Wait. The trick is to write material as memorable as the songs that broke you and the Blow Monkeys played a blinder with Time Storm, a song of the week for us last year. The follow-up More Than A Miracle out 16/4/21 is in a similar vein, doesn’t disappoint and sits well with the best of the band’s back catalogue. Album Journey To You follows in September. Tickets are on sale for UK dates in October including a London gig at 229. Read our interview with Dr Robert on this site in April.
