THEATRE REVIEW: Pretty Woman: The Musical starring Danny Mac & Aimie Atkinson

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHERE? Piccadilly Theatre RUNTIME: 135 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

WHEN? 17/2, press night 1/3 booking to 2/1/21

Perhaps the biggest surprises here are that it’s taken quite so long for the 1990 film romcom to reach the stage and that its music and lyrics would be co-written by middle-of-the-road rocker Bryan Adams.

  • Read on for reasons why Mac and Atkinson make an unlikely but endearing couple

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THEATRE REVIEW: A Number starring Roger Allam & Colin Morgan at the Bridge Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE? Bridge Theatre RUNTIME: 60 minutes (no interval)

WHEN? 14/2, press night 19/2 runs to 14/3/20

Colin Morgan plays three very different characters in this Caryl Churchill revival, two of whom are clones of the other.

  • Read on for reasons including how this compares with Far Away the Donmar’s Churchill revival

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GIG REVIEW: Dubioza Kolektiv at Wedgwood Rooms, Portsmouth

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Carron Stacey

WHERE? Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth

WHEN? 13/2/20

This seemingly crazed swarm of football strip-attired Bosnian bees pumped out a stunning set of rap, rock, ska and funk, pollenating the slightly small (but perfectly formed) audience with their nectar of positivity in a hive of energy.

  • Read on for reasons including how an early incarnation had to practise in the dark due to a lack of electricity during the Bosnian War

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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Hotspot by Pet Shop Boys (February 2020)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

OUT: now

TRACKLIST: Will-o-the-Wisp; You Are The One; Happy People; Dreamland; Hoping For A Miracle; I Don’t Wanna; Monkey Business; Only The Dark; Burning The Heather; Wedding In Berlin

It seems a very Pet Shop Boys moment that, as the UK leaves the EU, the duo’s ‘Berlin album’ enters this country’s chart at number three.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is the Boys’ best album for 14 years

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THEATRE REVIEW: Death of England starring Rafe Spall at the National Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHERE? Dorfman Theatre, National Theatre RUNTIME: 100 minutes (no interval)

WHEN? 1/2, press night 6/2 runs to 7/3/20

‘I fell off the stage for the first time – this is really difficult,’ reflects Spall during his standing ovation at the climax of this 2nd preview of an eventful and demanding 100-minute monologue.

  • Read on for reasons including the last time we saw an actor fall from the stage into an audience member’s lap

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THEATRE REVIEW: Endgame and Rough For Theatre II starring Daniel Radcliffe, Alan Cumming, Jane Horrocks & Karl Johnson

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE? Old Vic RUNTIME: 130 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

WHEN? 28/1/20, press night 5/2, runs to 28/3/20

Samuel Beckett’s bleak Endgame is preceded here by the author’s lighter short Rough For Theatre II in an attempt to sugar the pill for fans of Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe (pictured above right) who appears here.

  • Read on for reasons including more about the cast including Alan Cumming and Jane Horrocks

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