ALBUM REVIEW: This Is Acting by Sia
WORTH A LOOK: ****
OUT: 29/1
40-year-old singer/songwriter Sia Furler has found great success writing for other people and this is a 12-song album of original songs intended for others.
THEATRE REVIEW: Matilda the Musical
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: Cambridge Theatre
WHEN: 28/1 booking to 29/5
Our £40 tickets for this were bought via the Society of London Theatre’s Get Into London Theatre promotion which runs to 12 February, meaning we received £16 off each.
PREVIEW: 9 reasons why we can’t wait for February
- Zawe Ashton stars in The Maids at Trafalgar Studios
Ashton was shortlisted for a 2015 monsta for best theatre actress for Splendour at the Donmar and headlines here with Orange Is The New Black‘s Uzo Aduba in Jean Genet’s tale of the help for Downton Abbey‘s Laura Carmichael. Performed by the Jamie Lloyd Company, we’re expecting something spiky and stylish. (Pic via Facebook courtesy Jamie Lloyd Company)
- Read on for reasons including Melodifestivalen, Hurts live and the Oscars
THEATRE REVIEW: Richard II, Henry IV (parts 1 & 2) & Henry V
WORTH A LOOK: *****
WHERE: Barbican
WHEN: 22/1
The Royal Shakespeare Company is marking the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death with this cycle of plays before an international tour.
ALBUM REVIEW: Night Thoughts by Suede
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
OUT: 22/1
TRACKLIST: When You Are Young; Outsiders; No Tomorrow; Pale Snow; I Don’t Know How To Reach You; What I’m Trying To Tell You; Tightrope; Learning To Be; Like Kids; I Can’t Give Her What She Wants; When You Were Young; The Fur & The Feathers.
Suede premiered their new album and film in November with concerts at Camden Roundhouse which won our monsta for 2015’s best gig. Read More
FILM REVIEW: The Big Short
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
Out in the UK: 22/1
A film about subprime loans and how a hedge fund manager (played by Christian Bale pictured) predicted the money market collapse directed by the brains behind Anchorman doesn’t sound especially Oscar-friendly.
LAST NIGHT THEATRE REVIEW: The Winter’s Tale
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHERE: Garrick Theatre
WHEN: Last night 16/1
At the end of a week where the nation mourned the loss of 69-year-olds David Bowie and Alan Rickman, it’s comforting to see Dame Judi Dench up on stage at 82.
THEATRE REVIEW: Les Misérables
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: Queen’s Theatre
WHEN: 6/1, runs to 10/16
Billed on its official website as the ‘world’s longest running musical’, is Les Misérables sprinting ahead, keeping pace or losing puff?
SINGLE OF THE MONTH: Lush Life by Zara Larsson
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
OUT: UK iTunes 15/1/16
You might remember this 18-year-old Swede as MNEK’s duet partner on the anthemic top 5 hit Never Forget You from late last year.
Q&A: Absolute Beginners featuring David Bowie, Patsy Kensit and Julien Temple
WHERE: BFI
WHEN: 22/9
Director Julien Temple has just seen his film Absolute Beginners (1986) on the big screen at the BFI and he is complaining it was shown out of focus and is an ‘abomination’.
