WHEN?: BBC2 8/2/19 7.30pm
WHERE: Media City, Salford
This year’s UK Eurovision selection has an interesting twist: 3 songs will each be performed by 2 different artists with the winner in each duel competing against each other in the final round.
WHEN?: 7pm (UK time) 2/2/19 on SVT (link at the bottom of the page below)
WHERE: Gothenburg
Only a fool would predict the outcome of Saturday’s #GreatestShowOnEarth Melodifestivalen Heat 1 on the basis of the snippets available (see below) – but we’re going to have a go.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHERE?: Finborough Theatre RUN TIME: 90 minutes (no interval)
WHEN?: Last night 26/1/19
In April Sheila Atim (pictured above) won the Best Supporting Actress in a Musical Olivier and tonight we’re in the front row at this 50-seater theatre above a pub to see her in a production of a new play she has also composed the music for.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE?: Hampstead Theatre RUN TIME: 110 minutes (no interval)
WHEN?: 25/1, press night 31/1, booking to 2/3/19
Author Martyna Majok is a Polish-American playwright familiar with homelessness, grief and working multiple jobs to pay her way and weaves those subjects seamlessly together here in her play which won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Our 1st live Melodifestivalen experience was in Stockholm’s Globen 15 years ago when Ann-Louise Hanson joined Towa Carson and Siw Malmkvist to compete with earworm C’est La Vie (pictured right above and immediately below).
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE?: Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith RUN TIME: 120 minutes (without interval)
WHEN?: 21/1, press night 24/1, booking to 16/2/19
Former pop stars have co-written our favourite new musicals of the last 2 years (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Eugenius) and so we approached this collaboration between Doctor Who writer Matt Jones and Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke with much excitement.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
RUN TIME: 132 minutes
WHEN?: Released in the UK 25/1/19
Christian Bale reportedly gained 40 pounds rendering him almost unrecognisable to play former US Vice President Dick Cheney and for us this transformation and quiet, authoritative performance makes him the main rival to Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) for this year’s Best Actor Oscar.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2
WHERE?: Arts Theatre RUN TIME: 75 minutes
WHEN?: 17/1/19 (matinee) booking to 5/1/20
It couldn’t be more timely for this musical about the 6 wives of Henry VIII to be returning to the West End as tales of Queen Anne, Mary Queen Of Scots and Elizabeth I dominate cinemas.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
RUN TIME: 125 minutes
WHEN?: Released in the UK 18/1/19
Screenwriter Beau Willimon told us when he was working on Netflix’s House Of Cards that ‘power is what really interests me’ and it is the fascinating dynamic between rivals here, the titular Mary and Elizabeth I that dominates.
Anderson was unforgettable in Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire at the Young Vic in 2014 and James was unmissable on film in 2018 for work including Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again. Runs at the Noel Coward Theatre from 2/2 to 11/5/19. Tickets
