By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN?: Saturday 31 May 2025, booking through 28 February 2026 RUNTIME: 130 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
The Broadway production of this musical starring its original British cast is up for 4 Tonys on Sunday (9 June 2025) and to celebrate we made our 3rd visit to this show.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
Lead singer Brett Anderson describes Suede’s new album Antidepressants as ‘broken music for broken people’ and this lead single wears its goth-flavoured punk influences defiantly.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ***
WHEN?: Saturday 24 May, runs through 14 June 2025 RUNTIME: 120 minutes (includes a 20 minute interval)
At 6pm on Monday 23 May 1988 4 lesbians protesting against Section 28 invaded a BBC studio as Sue Lawley and Nicholas Witchell started presenting the Six O’Clock News.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: **** RUNTIME: 110 minutes (with interval)
WHEN?: Saturday 24 May (matinee), runs through 14 June 2025
Russell is a singing student with cropped bleached blond hair who returns to his north-east home in the 80s where his single mother calls the local priest to exorcise her son’s demons.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN? Saturday 19 April (matinee), runs through 20 April 2025 Tickets for autumn gigs
Setlist: I Do And I Don’t Care; Mother; Lies; 69; You Forever; Logic Bitch; Prioritise Pleasure; Fucking Wizardry; The Curse; In Plain Sight; What Now; Cheers To Me; If Not Now, It’s Soon; Focus Is Power; I Do This All The Time; The Deep Blue Okay
Self Esteem urges us to keep our cameraphones on, ignore the ‘dusty old pervert vibes’ of this esteemed West End theatre and to get up out of our seats and dance if we want to.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN? Sunday 6 April, runs through 7 April 2025 Update: New gigs at this venue in June Details
This is the 200-capacity east London venue where we saw our 1st post-pandemic gig and our best show of 2024 but we never dared dream we’d see the 1st concert in a quarter of a century by 1 of our favourite bands here.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHEN?: Sunday 23 March, tour runs through August 2025 Tickets
Setlist: Big In The Suburbs; Knock And Run; Soak Up The Culture; Shopping; Country Cousins; Life Is A Motorway; It’s Not Like This In France; Me And Your Mates
Debut album Big In The Suburbs has been in the world for less than 72 hours and we hear 3 songs from it tonight that we’ve not heard Welly play live before.
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2
Tracklist: Big In The Suburbs; Home For The Weekend; Knock And Run; Deere John; Soak Up The Culture; Shopping; Cul-De-Sac; Pampas Grass; The Roundabout Racehorse; Under Milk Wood; Family Photos; Country Cousins; It’s Not Like This In France; Life Is A Motorway
Under Milk Wood is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas where the narrator invites the audience to listen to the dreams and innermost thoughts of the inhabitants of the fictional small Welsh fishing town, Llareggub.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2
New musical Why Am I So Single? ran at the Garrick Theatre in London’s West End from 27 August 2024 through 19 January 2025 and this cast recording is a welcome way to remind its audience of its merits until its inevitable triumphant return to the stage.
Bailey (film Wicked and COCK, Ambassadors) stars in this Shakespeare directed by Nicholas Hytner (Giant, Royal Court and transferring to the Harold Pinter Theatre) at the Bridge Theatre. Runs 10 February through 10 May 2025 Tickets Our review
