Michael Ball

9 reasons why we can’t wait for June 2023 starring A Strange Loop

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  1. A Strange Loop at the Barbican

The winner of 2 2022 Tonys is written by Michael R. Jackson and is the story of Usher, a black queer man writing a musical about a black queer man writing a musical. Starring Kyle Ramar Freeman and Jason Pennycooke (Hamilton, Victoria Palace) it runs at the Barbican 17 June through 9 September 2023. Tickets Review

  • Read on for reasons including Rebecca Frecknall’s Romeo and Juliet, James Graham’s Dear England and Glastonbury Festival
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THEATRE REVIEW: Hairspray starring Michael Ball, Marisha Wallace, Les Dennis & Rita Simons at The Coliseum

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WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 18 September 2021, runs to 29 September 2021

RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

We loved John Waters‘ 1988 film on which this musical is based but it is a show which has surpassed its origins and there is a moment tonight when rising star Marisha Wallace sings I Know Where I’ve Been that brings the house down.

  • Read on for reasons including why Michael Ball’s number with Les Dennis reminded of Morecambe and Wise at their best
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PREVIEW: 9 reasons why we can’t wait for June 2021 starring Constellations

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

  1. Constellations starring Sheila Atim

We saw the original production of Nick Payne’s awards-garlanded two-hander in the West End starring Rafe Spall and Sally Hawkins in 2012. It was little surprise that this tale of a couple meeting with repeat scenes and meditations on multiple universes should also find Broadway acclaim with Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson and now it is ripe for return with original director Michael Longhurst. Opening on 18 June 2021 at the Vaudeville Theatre with Atim (Othello, Globe)) and Ivanno Jeremiah, couples will also include Russell Tovey (Angels In America, National Theatre) and Omari Douglas (Channel 4’s It’s A Sin). Tickets

  • Read on for reasons including In The Heights, Hairspray, Cinderella and Be More Chill
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GIG REVIEW: Marisha Wallace via Leave A Light On

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE? Livestreaming via Leave A Light On courtesy the Theatre Cafe

WHEN: 4/4/20

‘You will be OK, you will get through this – stay positive.’ Wallace, star of Dreamgirls and Waitress, is drawing on her own personal experience to give hope during the coronavirus lockdown.

  • Read on for reasons including how to see Wallace next in the West End in Hairspray

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TOP 6: Best read monstagigz content of 2019 starring Sheridan Smith

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

  1. When Sheridan Smith stole the show in Joseph at the Palladium 

Thank you to our tens of thousands of readers who drove up our traffic by more than 12 per cent in 2019 and welcome to a top six of the most popular content of the year.

Sheridan Smith won our Best Theatre Actress monsta in 2015 and here stole the show in Lloyd Webber’s Palladium revival of one of his biggest hits. We said in our review: ‘We know we’re in safe hands when the always reliable Sheridan Smith channels Eric Morecambe from behind a fake moustache, confiding to the audience: ‘It’s still me.’ It was such a success that it returns to the Palladium for a second run next summer. Tickets

  • Read on for reasons including what Carrie Hope Fletcher did next and the return of Dame Maggie Smith

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THEATRE REVIEW: Les Miserables: The Staged Concert starring Alfie Boe, Michael Ball, Carrie Hope Fletcher & Matt Lucas

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE? Gielgud Theatre RUNTIME: 170 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

WHEN? 17/8 and runs to 30/11/19

STOP PRESS: This production returns at the Sondheim Theatre for 6 weeks from 5/12/20 Tickets

This year’s BBC adaptation of Les Miserables was song-free and here that idea is very much reversed with the focus on the score of the behemoth musical with the labyrinthine plot far less well explained.

  • Read on for reasons including which songs in the score work especially well

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PREVIEW: 9 reasons why we can’t wait for August 2019 starring Fleabag

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

  1. Fleabag takes the stage

Author Phoebe Waller-Bridge won our 2016 Best TV/Film actress monsta for her work on the 1st TV series (5 reasons to watch here) of this show and the original play on which it is based comes to the West End’s Wyndham’s Theatre 20/8 through 14/9/19. Tickets

  • Read on for reasons including Michael Ball, Alfie Boe, Carrie Hope-Fletcher & Shura

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THEATRE REVIEW: Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

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WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN: 15/2 (matinee), runs to 25/2

WHERE: Sheffield Crucible Theatre

UPDATE 21/6: JAMIE TRANSFERS TO THE APOLLO IN LONDON’S WEST END IN NOVEMBER: Tickets

We’re big fans of band The Feeling and frontman Dan Gillespie Sells has written the score for this new pop musical which we predict will transfer easily into London’s competitive West End.

  • Read on for reasons including the true story behind Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

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