GIG REVIEW: Sophie Ellis Bextor at the London Palladium

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Wednesday 30 March, tour runs until 6 March 2023

SETLIST: Take Me Home; Disco Inferno; Wild Forever; Over and Over; All Night Long; Hypnotised; Mixed Up World; Young Blood; There Are Worse Things I Could Do; Love Is a Camera; Dancing Queen; Get Over You; Lady; Groovejet; Sing It Back; Crying At The Discoteque; Like A Prayer; Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer); Murder On The Dancefloor; Our House; My Favourite Things

It’s hard to imagine this Kitchen Disco Tour being quite so successful if Sophie Ellis Bextor hadn’t broadcast shows live from her home on social media featuring her family during the Covid lockdowns.

  • Read on for reasons including how to see clips from the highlights of this show
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PREVIEW/PREDICTIONS: Eurovision Song Contest semi 1 starring Subwoolfer, Kalush Orchestra & Zdob si Zdub

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By Aline Mahrud and Neil Durham

WHEN? Tuesday 10 May 2022

WHERE? PalaOlimpico, Turin, Italy

HOW DO I WATCH? BBC3 8pm (UK time)

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sees the former thrown out of this 66th Contest while the latter are now favourites to win the whole thing.

  • Read on for reasons including who we think the 10 qualifiers for the final will be from this semi
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THEATRE REVIEW: Maria Friedman and Friends: Legacy at Menier Chocolate Factory

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Sunday 20 March 2022, booking to 17 April 2022

RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including 20-minute Interval)

There’s a lovely moment towards the end of this celebration of songwriters Stephen Sondheim, Marvin Hamlisch and Michel Legrand when its star Friedman, who worked with them all, encourages the audience to sing with the cast.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is a heartfelt, joyous and celebratory warm hug of a show
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GIG REVIEW: Warmduscher at The Boileroom, Guildford

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By Carron Stacey, A Humdrum Mum

WHEN?: Tuesday 22 March 2022

Two years waiting to see them, but if we had seen them pre-lockdown, we wouldn’t have the “thing of beauty”, as Marc Riley on 6Music calls it, that is Wild Flowers (from the forthcoming album To the Hotspot due for a July release).

  • Read on for reasons including why A Humdrum Mum is going to see them again in a fortnight
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Tomorrow’s Yesterdays by Little Boots (March 2022)

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2

TRACKLIST: Love The Beginning; Silver Balloons; Landline; Back To Mine; Crying On The Inside; Heavenly; Deborah; Out (Out); Want You Back; Nothing Ever Changes; Tomorrow’s Yesterdays

Basking in these 11 tracks, Little Boots’ – real name Victoria Hesketh – love for all kinds of pop music becomes clear and even she has admitted in recent interviews that working with ABBA influenced this album leaving her thinking: ‘What would Benny do?’

  • Read on for reasons including where to see Boots perform this year
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THEATRE REVIEW: The Human Voice starring Ruth Wilson at the Harold Pinter Theatre

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Saturday 20 March (matinee), runs to 9 April 2022 RUNTIME: 70 minutes without interval

Wilson is on the phone and onstage in a rectangular box behind see-through glass in her 1st West End role since her Hedda Gabler at the National was Olivier Award-nominated in 2017.

  • Read on for reasons including how there are only 31 performances in this short run
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GIG REVIEW: Regressive Left at Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea

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By Carron Stacey, A Humdrum Mum

WHEN?: Sunday 13 March 2022

Described by their own local paper as “electro art-rock”, Regressive Left surprised me as a support band that I wanted to review separately rather than tagging along with BODEGA, who they are touring with this month.

  • Read on for reasons including how Regressive Left’s female drummer is an inspiration
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Q&A: Bridgerton cast starring Nicola Coughlan, Adjoa Andoh, Golda Rosheuvel, Ruth Gemmell, Luke Thompson, Martins Imhangbe & Bessie Carter

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WHERE?: Kiln Theatre, Kilburn hosted by Jim Carter

WHEN?: Sunday 13 March, ahead of the 25 March dropping of season 2 on Netflix

Asked about the appeal of this show to its worldwide audience of 85 million, Rosheuvel who plays Queen Charlotte (pictured 5th from left) talks about the ensemble feel of a large cast with a theatrical background.

  • Read on for reasons including everything we know about series 2 available from Friday 25 March 2022
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THEATRE REVIEW: To Kill A Mockingbird starring Rafe Spall & Pamela Nomvete at the Gielgud Theatre

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 12 March, opens 31 March, runs to 13 August 2022

RUNTIME: 180 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

‘We can’t go on like this,’ repeats Rafe Spall’s lawyer Atticus Finch during this hard-hitting rewriting of Harper Lee’s classic 1960 novel for the stage by Aaron (The West Wing) Sorkin.

  • Read on for reasons including how this 5th preview audience all rose to their feet at the show’s conclusion
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