This seasonal favourite returns for its fourth outing starring Julian Clary, Paul O’Grady, Gary Wilmot, Nigel Havers, Paul Zerdin and new face Matt Baker. Tempted? Read our 2016, 2017 and 2018 reviews. Runs 7/12 to 12/1/20. Tickets
WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2
WHERE? Eventim Apollo
WHEN? 4/11, tour runs to 18/11/19
SETLIST: Handmade Heaven; Hollywood; Primadonna; Enjoy Your Life; I Am Not A Robot; To Be Human; Superstar; From; Orange Trees; Teen Idle; Believe In Love; Bubblegum Bitch; Emotional Machine; I’m Not Hungry Anymore; No More Suckers; Karma; Oh No; Baby: End Of the Earth; How To Be A Heartbreaker
We last saw Marina at a Q&A in London in April where she talked about her artistic freedom and so we’re not entirely surprised when at the close of tonight’s gig she drops a bombshell.
McAvoy won our inaugural Best Theatre Actor monsta in 2015 for The Ruling Class and reunites with director Jamie Lloyd for this take on Cyrano de Bergerac running at the Playhouse 27/11 through 29/2/20. Tickets McAvoy also stars in BBC1’s His Dark Materials from 3/11/19 and you can read our Q&A with cast and author.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE? Eventim Apollo
WHEN? 17/10, tour runs to 9/11/19
SETLIST: Europop; Queuejumper; Generation Sex; Commuter Love; Office Politics; Norman and Norma; Come Home Billy Bird; The Synthesizer Service Centre Super Summer Sale; Infernal Machines; You’ll Never Work In This Town Again; I’m A Stranger Here; At The Indie Disco; I Like; National Express; The Life And Soul Of The Party; A Feather In Your Cap; A Lady Of A Certain Age; Absent Friends; When The Working Day Is Done; Something For The Weekend; Philip And Steve’s Furniture Removal Company; Your Daddy’s Car; Songs Of Love; Tonight We Fly
‘Sometimes I get a little nervous about London. I make myself less nervous by basically assuming that you’re … Nottingham,’ says Divine Comedy frontman Neil Hannon endearingly to audience cheers. ‘Excellent playing along.’
This unlikely reunion may have been over a quarter of a century in the making but Siobhan Fahey and Marcella Detroit have released three excellent, different yet complementary singles this year already, winning both our Song and Albums of the month. The 14-date UK reunion tour kicks off rather appropriately on Halloween and we join the band at the Palladium on Bonfire Night. Tickets
2018’s Best Theatre Actress
It’s almost Christmas and what would the festive season be without some recognition of the best of 2018? Over the next month we’ll shortlist five nominees in each of 14 categories for our Oscars, or monstas if you will, of 2018.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHERE? Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith
WHEN?: 7/12, last night of the current tour
SETLIST: Paralyzed; Erase/Rewind; Explode; Starter; Hanging Around; Higher; Marvel Hill; My Favourite Game; Do You Believe; Junk Of The Hearts; Nil; Live And Learn; For What It’s Worth; And Then You Kissed Me; Don’t Blame Your Daughter (Diamonds); You’re The Storm; I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need To Be Nicer; Communication; Iron Man; Carnival; Lovefool; 03.45: No Sleep
We last saw Sweden’s The Cardigans in Bristol in 1996 as Lovefool hit number 2 after featuring in Baz Luhrmann’s film Romeo + Juliet and years before the Gran Turismo album, which is played in its entirety here.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
SETLIST: Comme Si; Girlfriend; Le G; Science Fiction; Make Some Sense; Les Paradis Perdus; iT; Feel So Good; Tilted; 5 Dollars; What’s Her Face; Here; the Stranger; Goya! Soda!; Damn; Nuit 17 a 52; Doesn’t Matter; The Walker; Saint Claude; Intranquillite
WHEN?: 20/11/18, tour runs until 10/3/19
The most striking thing about Christine And The Queens in the flesh is how Héloïse Letissier sings and moves so in sync with her half dozen-strong troupe of athletic dancers.
The Tony Award-winning Best Musical written by The Greatest Showman‘s Pasek and Paul arrives in the West End in autumn next year at the Noel Coward Theatre. We’ll be reviewing the show’s Broadway production this week (we’re on Broadway, baby!) for clues about what to expect in London. We’re already big fans of the soundtrack with our favourite song below. Sign up for notifications about the UK production. Broadway tickets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzepC14EcuA
