THEATRE REVIEW: Anything Goes starring Sutton Foster, Robert Lindsay, Gary Wilmot & Felicity Kendal at the Barbican

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: matinee Sunday 25 July 2021, opens 4 August, runs to 17 October

RUNTIME: 145 minutes (including a 20-minute matinee)

Sutton Foster won a Tony for her portrayal of nightclub singer Reno Sweeney in the 2011 Broadway production and there are 2 moments here at this 3rd preview where she spurs the enthusiastic audience into mid-show standing ovations.

  • Read on for reasons including how Foster’s chemistry with Lindsay as public enemy Moonface Martin is a delight
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PREVIEW: 9 reasons why we can’t wait for August 2021 starring Culture Club

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  1. Culture Club and Bananarama play Kenwood House

This is shaping up to be 1 of our 1st gigs proper since Madonna at the Palladium pre-lockdowns in February 2020 and we couldn’t be more thrilled. The occasion is Heritage Live and the setting is north London’s beautiful Kenwood House. We’ve seen Rufus Wainwright here before and we know we’re in for something special because Culture Club and Bananarama always deliver live. Tickets

  • Read on for reasons including new albums from Lorde and Will Young and the Victorious festival
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SONG OF THE WEEK: I Wanna Be Your Slave by Måneskin (week beginning Friday 23 July 2021)

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****

If winning May’s Eurovision Song Contest in front of 183 million viewers wasn’t enough, Italy’s Måneskin had a top 20 hit with the victorious Zitti e buoni in the UK – and then followed it with 2 top 10 successes.

  • Read on for reasons including how London’s live music gig scene was key to the band’s success
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THEATRE REVIEW: Romeo and Juliet starring Alfred Enoch at Shakespeare’s Globe

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: via livestream 10 July 2021, runs to 17 October 2021

RUNTIME?: 110 minutes (no interval)

There’s a screen above the stage which alternates statements and statistics to highlight the mental health issues raised in this tragedy but also how young people are affected today.

  • Read on for reasons including how this livestream was bedevilled with problems
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ALBUM OF THE WEEK: Boy From Michigan by John Grant (week beginning 16 July 2021)

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****

TRACKLIST: Boy From Michigan; County Fair; The Rusty Bull; The Cruise Room; Mike And Julie; Best In Me; Rhetorical Figure; Just So You Know; Dandy Star; Your Portfolio; The Only Baby; Billy

We’re reminded of the close of 2 of our favourite albums of the 90s – Pulp‘s His’n’Hers and REM’s Automatic For The People – by the tenderness and tunefulness of final track here, Billy.

  • Read on for reasons including how to see Grant on tour in London and across the UK soon
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella (Original Album Cast Recording) starring Carrie Hope Fletcher (July 2021)

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****

TRACKLIST: Buns ‘N’ Roses; It Has To Be Her; Bad Cinderella; So Long; Unfair; Unbreakable; Hunks’ Song; Man’s Man; So Long (Reprise); Only you, Lonely You; The Queen’s Boudoir; I Know You; I Know You (Reprise); The Village Square; Unfair (Reprise); The Godmother’s Shop; Beauty Has A Price; Fanfare; The Cinderella Waltz; The Ball; I Know I Have A Heart; Act 2 Scene 2; I Am No Longer Me; Moment Of Triumph; What Were You Thinking?; Far Too Late; Ego Has A Price (Reprise); The Wedding Fanfare; The Wedding March; The Ceremony; The Vanquishing; Man’s Man (Reprise); Cinderella’s Solilioquy; The Wedding Party; Finale; Marry For Love; Only You, Lonely You

With former Killing Eve showrunner Emerald Fennell at the helm in the year she won an Oscar for Promising Young Woman this Cinderella was always likely to be a radical reinterpretation of the beloved fairy tale – and so it proves.

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SONG OF THE WEEK: Danmark’s Dynamite by Alphabeat (8 July 2021)

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****

Songs for national football teams are a tricky thing to get right but this anthem to Denmark’s Euros 2020 team is as good as England’s Three Lions from a quarter of a century ago.

  • Read on for reasons including why you should check out Alphabeat’s last album Don’t Know What’s Cool Anymore
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AWARDS: MONSTAS: Our best song 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 Redemption by Hurts, 2019: C U Next Tuesday by Shakespears Sister, 2018: Make Me Feel by Janelle Monae , 2017: New Rules by Dua Lipa, 2016: Can’t Stop The Feeling by Justin Timberlake, 2015: Goodbye To Yesterday by Elina Born and Stig Rästa

  • Read on for our top 8 best songs of 2021 so far and how to see each act live
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SONG OF THE MONTH: Solar Power by Lorde (July 2021)

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

RELEASED: Friday 11 June 2021

This is 24-year-old New Zealander Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor’s 1st new song in 4 years and we’re quite enjoying the similarities to Primal Scream’s 1990 classic Loaded.

  • Read on for reasons including everything we know about the August release of Lorde’s next album and her upcoming UK tour
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PREVIEW: 9 reasons why we can’t wait for July 2021 starring Anything Goes

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

  1. Anything Goes at the Barbican

Sutton Foster replaces Megan Mullally (Will and Grace) in this revival of the classic Cole Porter musical set on a cruise ship starring also Robert Lindsay, Felicity Kendal (Lettice and Lovage, Menier) and Gary Wilmot (Pantoland at the Palladium) at the Barbican. Runs 23 July through 17 October. Tickets

  • Read on for reasons including Carousel, Romeo and Juliet and Sir Ian McKellen’s Hamlet
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