THEATRE REVIEW: & Juliet starring Keala Settle at the Shaftesbury Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

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

WHEN? matinee Saturday 2 April, booking until 24 September 2022 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

Settle (pictued above right with Miriam-Teak Lee) sang the Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe-winning This Is Me in Pasek and Paul‘s film The Greatest Showman and here makes her West End debut memorably.

  • Read on for reasons including why Settle’s casting is the F**kin’ Perfect reason to see this show
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THEATRE REVIEW: The 47th starring Bertie Carvel at the Old Vic

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By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 2 April, opens 9 April, booking to Saturday 28 May 2022

RUNTIME: 157 minutes (including 15-minute interval)

‘Chameleon’ is the word best used to describe actor Bertie Carvel, the winner of 2 Oliviers and a Tony for roles including Rupert Murdoch in Ink.

  • Read on for reasons including how The 47th shares its Shakespearean style with King Charles III
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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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