AWARDS: MONSTAS: Our best album of 2021 so far

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We awarded 14 monstas for the best pop, theatre, TV and film of 2020 in December – and here we look at the cream of 2021 so far and what’s to come. Previous winners in this category are 2020: SAWAYAMA by Rina Sawayama, 2019: Sucker Punch by Sigrid, 2018: Wild, Wild Wonderland by Saara Aalto, 2017: Melodrama by Lorde, 2016: Joanne by Lady Gaga and 2015: How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful by Florence and the Machine.

  • Read on for our top 5 best albums of 2021 so far and how to see each act live
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SONG OF THE WEEK: More Joy by Duran Duran feat Chai (week beginning 10 August 2021)

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****

The Birmingham 80s super group team up with Chai, a four-strong, all-women, Japanese rock band from Nagoya, for their best single since Ordinary World in 1993.

  • Read on for reasons including how to see Duran Duran at a London gig in 2022
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THEATRE REVIEW: Bagdad Cafe starring Sandra Marvin & Le Gateau Chocolat at the Old Vic

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WORTH A LOOK?: ***

RUNTIME: 90 minutes (no interval)

WHEN?: Thursday 29 July, booking to 21 August 2021

We’re here because director Emma Rice has given us so many memorable theatrical moments and deep-voiced star Le Gateau Chocolat is a performer we’ve loved in cabaret but never on a West End stage like this one.

  • Read on for reasons including why the Old Vic is the most Covid-cautious of all the theatre venues we’ve visited recently
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THEATRE REVIEW: Carousel starring Declan Bennett, Carly Bawden & Joanna Riding at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

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WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2

WHEN?: Monday 2 August 2021, opens 9 August, booking until 25 September 2021

RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

Song You’ll Never Walk Alone features here and has transcended its origins to be a favourite on the football terraces as well as last year topping the charts as a riposte to coronavirus.

  • Read on for reasons including how Riding makes a triumphant return to a show she won an Olivier for in 1993
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THEATRE REVIEW: Constellations starring Russell Tovey & Omari Douglas at Vaudeville Theatre

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

RUNTIME: 75 minutes (no interval)

WHEN: matinee and evening Sunday 1 August 2021, booking to 12 September 2021

‘Is someone’s alarm going off?’ We’re watching a play and can hear an iPhone alarm going off and, while pleased it’s not ours, Russell Tovey is distracted by it and has come out of character to find out more.

  • Read on for reasons including how Tovey and Douglas’ pairing compares with Atim and Jeremiah’s
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THEATRE REVIEW: Anna X starring Emma Corrin & Nabhaan Rizwan at the Harold Pinter Theatre

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****

RUNTIME: 75 minutes (no interval)

WHEN?: Matinee Saturday 31 July, runs to 4 August 2021

On 19 September Emma Corrin will discover whether she has won an Emmy to add to her Golden Globe for her portrayal of Princess Diana in The Crown.

  • Read on for reasons including how Anna X is an impressive piece of new writing imaginatively staged
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THEATRE REVIEW: Be More Chill starring Scott Folan, Miracle Chance, Blake Patrick Anderson & Renee Lamb at Shaftesbury Theatre

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****

RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

WHEN?: Matinee Thursday 29 July, booking to 5 September 2021

When Covid-19 closed theatres in March 2020 this production was booking at the Other Palace until May and we said in our February review that: ‘This preview received a rapturous standing ovation, a sign that Be More Chill looks set to be with us when the weather warms up – and perhaps even longer should the West End melt to its charms.’

  • Read on for reasons including what this West End transfer looks and feels like in a post-lockdown world
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THEATRE REVIEW: Heathers The Musical starring Christina Bennington, Jordan Luke Gage & Jodie Steele at Theatre Royal Haymarket

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

WHEN?: Matinee Wednesday 28 July 2021, booking to 11 September 2021

RUNTIME: 150 minutes (with a 20-minute interval)

We were at a preview of this production at the Other Palace over 3 years ago and we’re back because we’ve enjoyed its 2 new leads in Bat Out Of Hell (Dominion, Christina Bennington) and & Juliet (Shaftesbury Theatre, Jordan Luke Gage).

  • Read on for reasons including how the vociferous audience is so powerful it is like having an extra Heather onstage
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THEATRE REVIEW: My Night With Reg starring Paul Keating, Stephen K. Amos and Gerard McCarthy at Turbine Theatre

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Tuesday 27 July 2021, running to 21 August 2021 UPDATE: Run extended to 11 September 2021

RUNTIME: 135 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

Written in 1994, the same year as film Four Weddings and a Funeral, comedy My Night With Reg could easily have been re-titled ‘two funerals and a housewarming’.

  • Read on for reasons including why this awards-laden classic can stand shoulder to shoulder with The Boys In The Band
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THEATRE REVIEW: Hamlet starring Sir Ian McKellen at Theatre Royal Windsor

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WORTH A LOOK?: ***

RUNTIME: 165 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

WHEN?: Monday 26 July 2021, booking to Saturday 25 September 2021

The concept of age-blind casting can have undergone no truer test than here with the 82-year-old McKellen playing the titular role of a character often thought to have been aged about 30.

  • Read on for reasons including why you shouldn’t choose onstage seating if you see this production in Windsor
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