reviews

THEATRE REVIEW: Rachel Zegler and Ben Platt in The Last Five Years at the London Palladium

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

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

WHEN? Tuesday 25 March and runs through 29 March 2026 RUNTIME: 90 minutes (no interval)

Zegler (EVITA, London Palladium) plays struggling actress Cathy in this 25th anniversary concert performance of a musical opposite Ben Platt’s Jamie who is becoming a successful author.

  • Read on for reasons including how Zegler and Platt give thrilling performances in this unusual concert staging
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THEATRE REVIEW: Avenue Q at Shaftesbury Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN? Saturday 21 March (matinee), opens 16 April and runs through August 29 2026 RUNTIME: 140 minutes (with a 20-minute interval)

With song titles like It Sucks To Be Me, If You Were Gay and Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist, this 3-time Tony Award winner is very much an adult take on Sesame Street with puppets.

  • Read on for reasons including how Avenue Q has lots of irreverent laughs and more fun-filled songs than you could shake a stick (puppet) at
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THEATRE REVIEW: A Mirrored Monet: The Musical starring Dean John-Wilson at Charing Cross Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN? Tuesday 17 March, opens 24 March and runs through 9 May 2026 RUNTIME: 140 minutes (including 20-minute interval)

The best thing about this musical of the life of French painter and founder of the Impressionists Monet is when his wife contemplates their relationship in 11pm number There Are No Stars.

  • Read on for reasons including whether Monet’s story benefitted from musical form and why the songs weren’t better
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FILM OF THE MONTH: The History Of Sound starring Paul Mescal & Josh O’Connor (January 2026)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN? Tuesday 6 January, released in the UK Friday 23 January 2026 RUNTIME: 128 minutes

It’s the gift of Paul Mescal’s singer Lionel to ‘see’ sound that compels him to seek out Josh O’Connor’s musician David as the latter sits at a piano playing a rare folk song familiar to both men.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is a melancholic, quietly understated film which will eventually be regarded as a classic
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THEATRE REVIEW: Woman In Mind starring Sheridan Smith & Romesh Ranganathan at Duke Of York’s Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK? ***1/2

WHEN? Friday 12 December, opens 6 January and runs through 28 February 2026 and then to Sunderland Empire and Glasgow Theatre Royal RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Patsy Cline’s Crazy and Jamiroquai‘s Virtual Insanity play immediately before curtain up to establish the mood as we enter the mind of Susan played by national treasure Sheridan Smith (Opening Night, Gielgud Theatre).

  • Read on for reasons including how Smith brings the warmth and humanity she is renowned for to some still topical material
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THEATRE REVIEW: The Weir starring Brendan Gleeson at the Harold Pinter Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK? *****

WHEN? Tuesday 11 November, runs through 6 December 2025 RUNTIME: 100 minutes (no interval)

Conor McPherson (The Brightening Air, Old Vic) adapts The Hunger Games which opens this week in London and this won the Best New Play Olivier in 1999.

  • Read on for reasons including how Gleeson is spellbinding especially because he allows others to shine
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THEATRE REVIEW: Here And Now starring Rebecca Lock, Blake Patrick Anderson, River Medway & Finty Williams at New Victoria Theatre, Woking

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN? Tuesday 14 October, tour runs through 16 May 2026 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

We catch this musical realisation of the Steps songbook shortly before the departure this week of its leading lady Rebecca Lock (Heathers, Other Palace) to musical Freaky Friday in Manchester.

  • Read on for reasons including how you’d be a deeper shade of blue if you missed out
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THEATRE REVIEW: Rocky Horror Show starring Jason Donovan at Teatre Coliseum, Barcelona

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN? Sunday 2 November 2025, European tour includes the UK and runs through 1 August 2026 RUNTIME: 120 minutes (with 20-minute interval)

It’s Halloween weekend and almost 2 years to the day after we last saw this musical at this very venue as we return to it with Jason Donovan (Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, London Palladium) this time playing the lead.

  • Read on for reasons including how Donovan’s charismatic performance is the delightful showbiz bow on a gift of a show
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THEATRE REVIEW: The Importance Of Being Earnest starring Stephen Fry & Olly Alexander at the Noel Coward Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN? Saturday 28 September 2025, runs through 10 January 2026 RUNTIME: 165 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Stephen Fry returns to the West End stage as Lady Bracknell for the 1st time since being nominated for a Tony for his Malvolio in 2012’s Twelfth Night and appearing as The Narrator in the Rocky Horror Show in 2015.

  • Read on for reasons including how if you’re having half as much fun as they are onstage, you’ll be having 1 of the best nights of your life
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ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Little Dreaming by Cian Ducrot (August 2025)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

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

Tracklist: It’s Cian Bitch; Who’s Making You Feel It?; Little Dreaming; Unfair; What About Love?; Shalalala; Rock Bottom; Kiss And Tell; The Book Of Love; Hallelujah; Break My Heart; No Way To Live; God Only Knows; My Best Friend; Your Eyes; See It To Believe It

Authenticity is the key to Ducrot’s success and while we’ve enjoyed the radio friendliness of the singles released ahead of this 2nd album it’s the rawness of the emotion exposed within this long player that continues to fascinate us about his work.

  • Read on for reasons including the part Hurts frontman Theo Hutchcraft played in creating this album
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