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I had the pleasure of attending the press night for the latest revival of Brayson & Rice’s highly anticipated “From Here to Eternity” at the Charing Cross Theatre. It has been brought to the stage by Aria Entertainment, Bill Kenwright and Heartaches Limited. From Here to Eternity returns to London for the first time in a new limited-time production. It is fair to say it’s undoubtedly worthy of its anticipation.
With the powerful storyline focusing on the days leading up to the Pearl Harbour attack in 1941, the show takes you on a journey through the lives and traumas of the US army’s G - Corp. I couldn’t think of a better time for such a story to be revived; with a focus on both queer treatment and the mental challenges faced in war, themes which seem as prevalent as ever to address in our current society.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Review by Roni Hughes.
If you’ve never seen the movie adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption then you may well have been living under a rock and boy, have you been missing out. Based on the Stephen King novel Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, the movie starring Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins has become something of a cult classic and sits firmly at the top of IMDB’s list of Top 200 movies of all time.
No surprise then that it feels as though this production has a lot to live up to. Spoiler alert - it does.
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| Photo: Manuel Harlan/GSC/Nippon TV |
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
This is one of the best productions you'll ever see in your lifetime.
The RSC delivers a stunning stage adaptation from one of the world's most famous animation studios, Studio Ghibli. The production smashed box office records, selling over 30,000 tickets on its first day of pre-sales back in May. My Neighbor Totoro has been reworked for the stage by Tom Morton-Smith with the composer of the original film Joe Hisaishi enabling this show to soar.
A gloomy and wet Halloween night means that audiences arriving at the Birmingham Hippodrome are all the more appreciative of the glitz and warmth awaiting Strictly Ballroom. After a 15-minute delay on the start of the show, we’re finally allowed the take our seats while cheesy 80’s dance is piped into the auditorium. This is the first time Strictly Ballroom has toured the UK, postponed by the pandemic following productions in Leeds and the West End respectively.
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A superb cast and innovative staging do everything they can to liven up a mid-20th century musical with still-resonant themes, but dated dialogue and showtunes. By Natasha.
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| Photo: Manuel Harlan |
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| Photo credit: Ellie Kurttz |
The Commitments, based on the book by Roddy Doyle and directed by Andrew Linnie (former Commitment member from the London West End Run) brought me many surprises. I had not seen the show in its last tour or when it was in London and I hadn’t even seen the 1990s film of the same name but I really enjoyed my evening at the theatre.
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| Photo credit: Johan Persson |
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| Photo Credit: Ellie Kurttz |
You know it’s an amazing piece of musical theatre when you immediately book to go again as you leave! With a straightforward yet nuanced narrative, a profusion of exceptional songs and supremely talented performers, the current UK tour production Beautiful - The Carole King Musical is not to be missed.
It’s not giving anything away to say that Beautiful tells the life of singer/songwriter Carole King’s journey from schoolgirl composer to Carnegie Hall performer. As well as its inevitable focus on King, however, the production also fleshes out a biography into a USA pop history spectacle, packed to the rafters with musical hits.
The music speaks for itself - sublime pop songs from the 1960s that are simultaneously fresh and familiar, with elegant composition and sweeping melodies. Cleverly juxtaposing the composer/lyricist partnership of King and Gerry Goffin with that of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil is a fantastic dramatic device that also ensures that the tunes never stop. We hurtle through Take Good Care of My Baby, Who Put the Bomp?, Will You Love Me Tomorrow?, The Locomotion, You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feelin’ and many more.
The music is wonderfully combined with the drama, each seamlessly intertwining with the other, whether in the Hit Parade numbers being brought to life during their composition, or using a cacophony of instrumentation to echo a character’s personal difficulties. Although the music is not designed to illustrate or progress the plot, the songs are often well-placed, such as You've Got a Friend which is used to tremendous effect. This ensures that the show is emotive in all the right places. A tearjerker at times, but ultimately feel good.
The live music with its lush harmonics may well be the heart of the show, but the actors and musicians who bring it to life are truly the stars. All the cast are fantastic, although Seren Sandham-Davies’ luminous Cynthia Weil and Amena El-Kindy’s touring debut as Little Eva stand out. My favourite portrayal, however, is Cutler’s magnificent interpretation of Carole King. She is so good that she seems to effortlessly slip into the role and simply become another person, as easily as stepping into a pair of the comfy, blue jeans the character sometimes wears. It is almost unbelievable how well she inhabits the role, giving a consummate dramatic and musical masterclass, with a sensational voice that conveys, by turns, lilting country, throaty rock, perfect pop, and constant soul. Her well-honed interactions with Tom Milner (another accomplished performer) as Gerry Goffin ensure that the audience engages with their characters, wanting to know what happens next rather than merely being entertained by a jukebox of hits.
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| Photo credit: Pamela Raith |
Are You As Nervous As I Am?, which opened at the Greenwich theatre, is a brand new British musical that shows us the Journey of two sisters, Peggy & Janet, forced apart by their abusive mother. The show mainly focuses on Peggy Starr, a famous singer, and the re-connection of the two sisters as they both face the struggles of adulthood and lightly touch on some more serious issues such as abuse and alcoholism, of which could have been explored further.
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| Photo credit: Pamela Raith |
A piece of theatre that has always inspired me due to its exceptional and impossible writing is Michael Frayn's Noises Off; the way Frayn created a setting where we see the action go from on to off stage, set over the same timeframe in the form of the first act of a show, is how I imagine Henry Shields took inspiration from when writing Good Luck, Studio. There are subtle hints that we can compare between the two, and both excel in ramping up tension and emotion as stakes are raised, with the genre of farce explored in its purest form.
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| Credit: Johan Persson |
This new show is produced by Theatre Royal Bath and Kenny Wax in collaboration with Birmingham Rep Theatre and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. Now on a new UK tour until February 2023, you can be swept away by the joy of seeing young talent undertaking the demanding roles of some of the most iconic characters in musical theatre.
Sean Holmes directs this new touring production alongside Drew McOnie's zestful choreography. McOnie's style really amphs up the energy in this show with many enjoyable musical numbers intertwined into this production. Well-known songs such as 'So You Wanna Be A Boxer' and 'Bad Guys' are stand out examples of McOnie's spectacular work.
The overall aesthetic of Bugsy Malone is great. Jon Bausor delivers 1920's New York-esque with a backstage styled set that comes to life with many introductions of props coming down to help move this fast-paced story along.
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| Credit: Johan Persson |
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| Credit: Johan Persson |
This young cast are notably awe-inspiring for younger members of the audience. Team Knuckles Amar Blackman (Bugsy), Avive Williams (Blousey), Charlie Burns (Fat Sam), Taziva-Faye Katsande (Talluah), Ellis Sutherland (Fizzy), Ava Hope Smith (Lena/Babyface) and Rayhaan Kufuor-Gray (Dandy Dan) were our leading actors of the evening. They each delivered a enjoyable performance but putting them with a far more experienced ensemble cast made the finished production slightly disjointed. There were a lot of issues with the sound and projection of the young cast which made it really difficult to latch onto what was happening. If you know the story, you are safe but if this is about inviting new audiences in to see shows like this then there's work that needs to be done there. I didn't particularly enjoy their accent style as well, it didn't feel natural.
There is no doubt that Bugsy Malone has the potential to be a fantastic show. It is extremely energetic and has moments of true joy, but there is a bit of a way to go for me to give it more than 3 stars unfortunately.
If you'd like to see Bugsy Malone for yourself, tickets to the tour are available here.
I also review the Curve's inhouse production of Bugsy Malone in 2016. You can read that here.
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