From relatively humble beginnings in 1956, when only seven nations competed, the Eurovision Song Contest has grown into a juggernaut of entertainment. There’s a great sense of anticipation before each year’s fresh competition, as TV audiences burgeon. Some 160 million people from more than 150 countries were involved in voting for their favourite artist this…
American writer Edgar Allan Poe (19th January, 1809 – 7th October, 1849) cultivated mystery and the macabre. There is horror in his work. So, too, in the National Drama School’s What’s This?, devised by graduating actors, and focusing on mental health and torment. Six pieces, each featuring one of the six performers, were either derived…
Nearly 25 years after Gladiator, Ridley Scott has gone back to the well… and this time there are sharks in the Colosseum. In Gladiator II, Russell Crowe, who played Maximus in the original, is only seen in a couple of quick throwback scenes. But even with the focus squarely on his son, Lucius (Paul Mescal),…
Quite some undertaking … to turn the iconic novel My Brilliant Career, about a young girl/woman who doesn’t fit in, who charts her own path in life, into a musical. She is a strong-willed feminist, ahead of her time. She is someone with a vivid imagination who doesn’t know exactly what she wants, but what…
There’s Always Tomorrow is a bittersweet story about a family of six. The film is set in Rome in the mid-1940s, after the Liberation. But the war has left misery in its aftermath. The primary focus is on wife, Delia (played by Paola Cortellesi, who has co-written and directs the film). She and her family…
A Peter Pan origin story, Peter and the Starcatcher is a slapstick pantomime fantasy, infused with music, dance and puppetry. So, it is a bit of a liquorice all sorts, which tickles the funny bone most when the cast ad libs, as Colin Lane and Pete Helliar are so adept at doing. Look out for…
A light, lively and joyous family friendly production of Mozart’s final opera before his passing, The Magic Flute is a cavalcade of fun and treachery. For me, four characters turned the beloved opera into something special. Foremost among them was Andrew Moran’s quintessential, knockabout Aussie representation of the bird catcher, Papageno. From the moment he…
I am faced with a predicament that I can’t say I have confronted too many times after a few decades of reviewing. I have just seen a compelling piece of theatre, which I am about to highly recommend, but I will resist going into detail about the plot. I choose not to do so because…
From the opening words “oh, crap”, uttered by Sister Mary Lazarus, as played by the indomitable Rhonda Burchmore, we know Sister Act will be deliciously irreverent. In fact, it is a buoyant hoot, with some extraordinary musical performances and no shortage of colour and glitter. The show looks and sounds fabulous. What makes it so…
MARVELous The Show is an irreverent, R-rated, musical parody of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that has fans squealing with delight. It is risqué, comedic and delightfully silly and showcases familiar MARVEL costuming with a twist, rock and pop music, dance numbers, stunts, magic and aerial acts. It is a cross between cabaret and circus. A…
