theatre

THEATRE REVIEW: Jack and the Beanstalk starring Victoria Scone at the King’s Head Theatre, Islington

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK? ***1/2

WHEN? Sunday 14 December (matinee), runs through 4 January 2026

This pantomime penned by the genius that is Andrew Pollard offers an ‘adults only’ option and we’re clearly at the wrong showing but there’s so much potential here that we can’t wait to return.

  • Read on for reasons including how author Pollard continues to show what 1 can achieve with a heart bigger than a budget
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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 Producers starring Andy Nyman & Marc Antolin at the Garrick Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN? Saturday 18 October, runs through 19 September 2026 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

We reviewed this revival of the Mel Brooks-written classic at the Menier Chocolate Factory last year and brought friends who’d never seen it to its West End transfer.

  • Read on for reasons including how Brooks virgins will be seduced by this marvellous musical comedy
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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: Mary Page Marlowe starring Susan Sarandon & Andrea Riseborough at the Old Vic

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN? Tuesday 29 September, opens 8 October and runs through 1 November 2025 RUNTIME: 90 minutes (no interval)

Oscar winner Susan Sarandon makes her London stage debut in a play which looks at a woman’s life across 7 decades and 11 scenes.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is never less than totally engrossing as we see the unvarnished portrayal of a woman’s difficult life
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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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THEATRE REVIEW: Brigadoon starring Louis Gaunt at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

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By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN? Monday 4 August, opens 11 August and runs through 20 September 2025 RUNTIME: 135 minutes (with a 20-minute interval)

This outdoor setting is the perfect venue for this updated musical of 2 crashed World War Two airmen who stumble across a Scottish Highlands village seemingly suspended in time and not on any map.

  • Read on for reasons including how this is a thoughtful re-imagination of a classic which deserves to be seen in this glorious outdoor venue
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LAST NIGHT: THEATRE REVIEW: The Fifth Step starring Jack Lowden & Martin Freeman @SohoPlace

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

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

WHEN? Saturday 26 July 2025 RUNTIME: 90 minutes (no interval)

Like all of the greatest actors, Jack Lowden (Measure For Measure, Donmar) is absolutely unrecognisable as Scottish incel Luka here compared with the role of flawed hero River Cartwright he is perhaps best known for in Apple TV’s fine Slow Horses.

  • Read on for reasons including how we laughed a lot at The Fifth Step and the dexterity of the wordplay is quite beautiful
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SONG OF THE WEEK: Don’t Cry For Me Argentina by Rachel Zegler (week beginning Friday 11 July 2025)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

It’s by no means la Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires but the London Palladium balcony performance given by Rachel Zegler at 9pm on show nights and 4pm on matinees to the hundreds of passers-by in the capital has, quite rightly, earned itself a single release.

  • Read on for reasons including why this is London’s must-see musical of the moment
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