music

PREVIEW: 9 reasons why we can’t wait for February 2026 starring Cynthia Erivo as Dracula

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

  1. Cynthia Erivo is Dracula

Erivo won our 2024 Best TV/Film Actress monsta for Wicked and recently starred in its sequel which was our 2025 Best Film. Here she is the sole focus of attention in a 1-woman Dracula directed by Kip Williams (The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Theatre Royal Haymarket) which runs at the Noel Coward Theatre 4 February through 30 May 2026. Tickets The 1st 3 preview performances have now been cancelled.

  • Read on for reasons including Suede on tour, Fl02, Wuthering Heights and Broken Glass
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PREVIEW: Melodifestivalen Heat 5 2026 starring Sanna Nielsen, Bladë & AleXa

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By Aline Mahrud

WHERE? Gärdehov, Sundsvall WHEN? Saturday 28 February 2026 WHERE TO WATCH? SVT

Nielsen is the 2nd former Melodifestivalen winner competing in its 66th year and finished 3rd in Copenhagen in 2014 singing the gorgeous Undo.

  • Read on for reasons including more detail about this show’s 6 acts
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THEATRE REVIEW: Beautiful Little Fool starring David Hunter, Hannah Corneau & Lauren Ward at Southwark Playhouse (The Large)

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN? Friday 16 January, opens 22 January and runs through 28 February 2026 RUNTIME: 100 minutes (no interval)

Corneau (pictured centre above) has written the music and lyrics for this look at the life of Zelda Fitzgerald and her husband F. Scott, who wrote classic novel The Great Gatsby, through the eyes of their daughter.

  • Read on for reasons including how Corneau has great potential and may well go on to write and star in something quite exceptional next
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PREVIEW: Melodifestivalen Heat 2 2026 starring Robin Bengtsson, Arwin, Brandsta City Släckers, Felicia & Laila Adèle

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

WHERE? Scandinavium, Gothenburg WHEN? Saturday 7 February 2026 WHERE TO WATCH? SVT

There are 2 returning winners to the 66th Melodifestivalen this year and the 1st is Robin Bengtsson who won MF in 2017 finishing 5th in Kyiv, Ukraine with I Can’t Go On.

  • Read on for reasons including more detail about this show’s 6 acts
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Everybody Scream by Florence And The Machine (December 2025)

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WORTH A LOOK?: ****

Tracklist: Everybody Scream; One Of The Greats; Witch Dance; Sympathy Magic; Perfume And Milk; Buckle; Kraken; The Old Religion; Drink Deep; Music By Men; You Can Have It All; And Love

‘The closest I came to making life was the closest I came to death,’ says lead singer Florence Welch. ‘And I felt like I had stepped through this door, and it was just full of women, screaming.’

  • Read on for reasons including how this can lay claim to Welch’s most personal album to date
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AWARDS SHORTLIST: MONSTAS: Best New Play of 2025

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

It’s been quite the year, it’s almost Christmas and what would the festive season be without some recognition of the best of 2025? Over the next week we’ll shortlist five nominees in each of 17 categories for our Oscars, or monstas if you will, of 2025.

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THEATRE REVIEW: Fallen Angels starring Janie Dee at the Menier Chocolate Factory

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK? ****

WHEN? Saturday 22 November (matinee), opens 2 December and runs through 21 February 2026 RUNTIME 120 minutes (including interval)

This Noel Coward comedy about 2 married women admitting to premarital sex and contemplating adultery was 1st performed in London 100 years ago with the theatre censor initially recommending it shouldn’t be staged because the morals of the female leads ‘would cause too great a scandal’.

  • Read on for reasons including how this production is as frivolous, light and intoxicating as the champagne bubbles that its leading ladies savour so enthusiastically here
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: LUX by Rosalía (November 2025)

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WORTH A LOOK?: *****

Tracklist: Sexo, Violencia y Llantas; Reliquia; Divinize; Porcelana; Mio Cristo Piange Diamanti; Berghain; La Perla; Mudo Nuevo; De Madruga; Dios Es Un Stalker; La Yugular; Sauvignon Blanc; La Rumba Del Perdon; Memoria; Magnolias

Music is the original international tongue and Rosalía’s use here of 13 languages appears to be an attempt to maximise its appeal.

  • Read on for reasons including how the need for repeat listening is required to appreciate the ambition, breadth of ideas and astonishing realisation of them here
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THEATRE REVIEW: Paddington The Musical at the Savoy Theatre

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK? ****

WHEN? Friday 14 November, opens 1 December and runs through 25 October 2026 RUNTIME: 165 minutes (with a 20-minute interval)

They say the devil has the best tunes and this new musical’s showstopper is reserved for its taxidermist villainess – Pretty Little Dead Things (listen below).

  • Read on for reasons including how it’s the strength of the songs that made us enjoy this show so much more than we expected
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GIG REVIEW: ABC at Sheffield City Hall

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By Andrew Mosley

WHEN?: Friday 7 November, tour runs through 10 July 2026

It’s bouncing off the bumps of Yorkshire’s country roads in Richard Gostling’s VW Beatle while When Smokey Sings blasts from the cheap radio. It’s cringing in the pub as Phil Robinson quotes lyrics from the band’s songs as chat-up lines to what he sees as potential girlfriends.

  • Read on for reasons including the joys of being a New Romantic in a tough northern industrial city
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