THEATRE REVIEW: Robinson Crusoe (written by &) starring Andrew Pollard at Greenwich Theatre

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WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHERE? Greenwich Theatre RUN TIME: 2 hours 15 minutes (including interval)

WHEN?: 30/11 (press ticket) runs to 13/1/19

Broadway said an enthusiastic ‘Hello Dolly’ to Bette Midler this year and we feel exactly the same about Andrew Pollard who returns to the Greenwich Theatre pantomime in 2018 as Delores ‘Dolly’ Crusoe (centre above), mother of the titular hero.

  • Read on for reasons including how Alice Cooper brought the house down at this press night

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THEATRE REVIEW: True West starring Kit Harington & Johnny Flynn

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE? Vaudeville Theatre RUN TIME: 2 hours (including interval)

WHEN?: 24/11, press night 3/12, runs to 23/2/19

Game of Thrones star Kit Harington last appeared on a West End stage two-and-a-half years ago and we wrote then how a very young audience whooped with delight at his performance.

  • Read on for reasons including why it is Johnny Flynn who you will remember most after this

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GIG REVIEW: Florence And The Machine at The O2

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WORTH A LOOK?: *****

SETLIST: June; Hunger; Between Two Lungs; Only If For A Night; Queen Of Peace; South London Forever; Patricia; Dog Days Are Over; 100 Years; Ship To Wreck; The End Of Love; Cosmic Love; Delilah: What Kind Of Man; Big God; Shake It Out

WHEN?: 21/11/18, tour runs to 29/6/19

Florence namechecks Greenwich, New Cross, Peckham and Camberwell as places she grew up ahead of new song South London Forever during this emotional hometown gig.

  • Read on for reasons including how a sky full of pink ticker tape fell on the audience throughout the encore

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GIG REVIEW: Christine And The Queens at Eventim Apollo

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WORTH A LOOK?: ***

SETLIST: Comme Si; Girlfriend; Le G; Science Fiction; Make Some Sense; Les Paradis Perdus; iT; Feel So Good; Tilted; 5 Dollars; What’s Her Face; Here; the Stranger; Goya! Soda!; Damn; Nuit 17 a 52; Doesn’t Matter; The Walker; Saint Claude; Intranquillite

WHEN?: 20/11/18, tour runs until 10/3/19

The most striking thing about Christine And The Queens in the flesh is how Héloïse Letissier sings and moves so in sync with her half dozen-strong troupe of athletic dancers.

  • Read on for reasons including why they’re a band we think we should love more than we actually do

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PREVIEW: 9 reasons why we can’t wait for December

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

  1. Julian Clary & Dawn French star in Snow White at the Palladium

This is only the 3rd year of the Olivier Award-winning annual family pantomime at the Palladium but already it’s a staple in our Christmas must-do list – and we’re bringing the relations. Clary has found his niche and here’s what we thought about his show stopping turn in its 2016 and 2017 incarnation. Former Vicar Of Dibley French should make an interesting comic foil. Runs 8/12 through 13/1/19. Tickets

  • Read on for reasons including Take That, Rocky Horror Show, Claire Richards and the monstas

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REHEARSED READING & Q&A: Bull In A China Shop starring Fiona Shaw, Jade Anouka & Leah Harvey at the National

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WHERE? Dorfman Theatre, National

RUN TIME: 75 minutes (without interval)

WHEN?: 17/11/18

Author Bryna Turner explains the conflict at the heart of her play is between a revolutionary, the old guard and someone seeking to make progress, and its star Fiona Shaw adds 1 word – ‘Brexit’.

  • Read on for reasons including how this play forms part of the Courage Everywhere season at the National

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GIG REVIEW: Culture Club, Belinda Carlisle, Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey at the SSE Arena

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****

TTTB SETLIST: We Are Detective; Love On Your Side; Science Fiction: You Take Me Up; Lies; Lay Your Hands On Me; Doctor! Doctor!; Hold Me Now

WHEN?: 14/11/18, tour runs to 8/12/18

He may have been 3rd on the bill but Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey won a deserved acapella audience singalong of the chorus to 1983 classic Hold Me Now after his all-women band had finished it.

  • Read on for reasons including reviews of Belinda Carlisle and Culture Club

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THEATRE REVIEW: All We Ever Wanted Was Everything at the Bush Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE? Bush Theatre RUN TIME: 75 minutes no interval

WHEN?: (press ticket) 13/11, runs to 24/11/18

One of the reasons we love the Bush Theatre in Shepherd’s Bush, south-west London, is that it champions new writing that both challenges but also seems rooted in reality.

  • Read on for reasons including how this work attracts the working classes and those who feel alienated by the word ‘theatre”

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