Our most read content of 2024 was this preview review of the West End debut of Alien star Weaver in Jamie Lloyd’s take on Shakespeare’s The Tempest which runs at Theatre Royal Drury Lane until 1 February 2025. Tickets
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHEN?: Sunday 21 July, tour runs through 28 July 2024
SETLIST: Agnus Dei; Montauk; Millbrook; Sanssouci; He Loved; Peaceful Afternoon; The Art Teacher; Old Song; Early Morning Madness; Gay Messiah; Ready For Battle; So Long, Marianne; Poses; Dinner At Eight; Cigarettes And Chocolate Milk; Going To A Town; Hallelujah; La Complainte De La Butte
Tomorrow is Wainwright’s 51st birthday and the only gift he asks from us is our forgiveness that he’s not playing the song Barcelona from his debut album.
Staunton won our Best Theatre Actress monsta for Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? at the Harold Pinter Theatre in 2017 and here stars at the London Palladium in the titular role in this classic 1964 musical about a matchmaker who travels to New York. The starry cast includes Jenna Russell (STEVE, Seven Dials Playhouse), Tyrone Huntley (The View UpStairs, Soho Theatre) and Harry Hepple (Boy Meets Girl Q&A, BFI). Runs 6 July through 14 September 2024. Tickets Our 1st preview review
By Neil Durham
WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2
WHEN?: Monday 11 March 2024, opens 26 March and runs through 27 July 2024 RUNTIME: 160 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)
Hats off to Sheridan Smith (Shirley Valentine, Duke Of York’s Theatre) for fully embracing the role of the leading lady who turns up drunk for her opening night because that must feel uncomfortably close to home.
Smith (Shirley Valentine, Duke Of York’s Theatre) stars in this new musical directed by Ivo van Hove (A Little Life, Harold Pinter Theatre) based on the John Cassavetes film with music and lyrics by Rufus Wainwright. Runs at the Gielgud Theatre 6 March through 27 July 2024. Tickets Our review
Ronan is an Irish/American actress who starred opposite Kate Winslet and James McArdle (Angels In America, National Theatre) in film Ammonite earlier this year. She’s been shortlisted for an Oscar 4 times (including for 3 of our favourite films Brooklyn, Lady Bird and Little Women) and makes her London stage debut this month at the Almeida opposite McArdle again in The Tragedy Of Macbeth which runs 1 October to 20 November 2021. Review Tickets
Box sets and binge watching have highlighted how much brilliant TV there currently is but this series, written, co-directed and starring Michaela Coel has actually benefitted from a dripfeed release of 2 30-minute episodes per week. Give it a chance because we really weren’t sure about it until episodes 5 and 6 (aired in the UK Monday 22/6 and Tuesday 23/6/20) which drew on some rather complicated strands and pulled them tight to devastating effect. There’s 6 episodes to go and all are aired on the next 3 Mondays and Tuesdays on BBC1 and available at BBC iPlayer. We should’ve known it would be good because we last saw Coel dancing on stage at one of our favourite gigs.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
WHERE: Royal Opera House
WHEN: 22/7 runs to 23/7
SETLIST: Inner Sanctum; West End Girls; The Pop Kids; In The Night; Burn; Love Is A Bourgeois Construct; New York City Boy; Se A Vida E; Twentysomething; Love Comes Quickly; Love Etc; The Dictator Decides; Inside A Dream; Winner; Home and Dry; Vocal; The Sodom and Gomorrah Show; It’s A Sin; Left To My Own Devices; Go West; Domino Dancing; Always On My Mind; The Pop Kids (reprise)
We’ve seen Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe at London venues as diverse as The 02, the old Wembley Arena, Clapham Common, Trafalgar Square and the Savoy Theatre.
