theatre

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

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

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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THEATRE REVIEW: Jamie Lloyd’s Evita starring Rachel Zegler at the London Palladium

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN? Saturday 14 June, opens 27 June and runs through 6 September 2025 RUNTIME: 150 minutes (with a 20-minute interval)

Zegler may be best known currently as a film star (West Side Story and more recently Snow White) but that is all about to change as she is absolutely sensational in this debut London stage role.

  • Read on for reasons including why this is London’s must-see musical of the moment
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THEATRE REVIEW: Operation Mincemeat new UK cast at the Fortune Theatre, London

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 31 May 2025, booking through 28 February 2026 RUNTIME: 130 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

The Broadway production of this musical starring its original British cast is up for 4 Tonys on Sunday (9 June 2025) and to celebrate we made our 3rd visit to this show.

  • Read on for reasons including how we couldn’t recommend this new musical more highly
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THEATRE REVIEW: After The Act at the Royal Court Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 24 May, runs through 14 June 2025 RUNTIME: 120 minutes (includes a 20 minute interval)

At 6pm on Monday 23 May 1988 4 lesbians protesting against Section 28 invaded a BBC studio as Sue Lawley and Nicholas Witchell started presenting the Six O’Clock News.

  • Read on for reasons including how we wouldn’t recommend this as a musical but politically it’s a diverting watch
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THEATRE REVIEW: Mrs Warren’s Profession starring Imelda Staunton & Bessie Carter at Garrick Theatre

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Monday 12 May, opens 22 May and runs through 16 August 2025 RUNTIME: 100 minutes (no interval)

5-time Olivier Award winner Imelda Staunton (Hello, Dolly!, London Palladium) may be the reason for your interest in this revival but it’s her real-life daughter Bessie Carter (Dear Octopus, National Theatre) who gives a star-making turn here.

  • Read on for reasons including why this story is shocking for how old yet still relevant it is today
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