The game is afoot once more, as Blackeyed Theatre have adapted the Sherlock Holmes story The Valley of Fear into a brand new stage show. This production is currently touring the country, and follows on from the events of The Sign of Four – with Luke Barton and Joseph Derrington reprising the roles of Holmes and […]
Read More Sherlock Holmes: The Valley of FearWhat would you do if you go the chance to meet your all-time hero? That’s exactly what crossed Martin Kaye’s mind as he was effectively Elton John’s neighbour when the pair found themselves performing in Las Vegas a few years ago – Kaye as Jerry Lee Lewis in Million Dollar Quartet and John in The […]
Read More Elton John: It’s A Little Bit FunnyOver the past few years, audience behaviour has probably been the biggest gripe to regular theatregoers (I refuse to continue to use the elitist label ‘theatre etiquette’), but a new contender stealthily emerged during 2019: stunt casting. It’s not like it’s a new thing at all; most big tours will employ a ‘face’ as a […]
Read More Day 3: “All the men and women merely players”Fame began life as a film in 1980, and has since spawned a spin-off TV series, sequels of various kinds, a modern big screen remake, and a stage musical. The most recent production of the show has been touring the UK and has now extended its stay in London, moving from the Peacock Theatre to […]
Read More Fame the MusicalIt looks like it’s going to be a bit of a bumper year for musicals, both in London and across the country. The usual big hitters are still around, including the new production of Les Misérables which has recently begun performances at the Sondheim Theatre (formerly Queen’s Theatre), and a few imports will be making their […]
Read More Day 1: Musical choices for 2020What I’d usually do here is say I’m aiming to be sensible again, but that clearly doesn’t work – at the most it lasts about one or two months and then anything goes… So I’ll just say that I’ll think carefully about my reviewing commitments, and then everything else can sort itself out organically. What […]
Read More Coming up in 2020…Even though I’ve become quite tired this year, and have tried to keep some sort of balance in there, I couldn’t resist nipping out of London every five minutes to see what was going on in theatres across the country. I even managed to start my 2019 theatregoing with a trip to Paris, courtesy of […]
Read More Mind the Blog ‘on tour’ 2019‘Tis the season, and all that, so it’s hardly surprising that another version of A Christmas Carol is now doing the rounds. European Arts Company are currently touring a one-man production, making use of the very same performance script as a certain Mr Charles Dickens used back in the 19th century. It’s interesting to discover […]
Read More A Christmas Carol (European Arts Company)Imagine a world where all music is processed and sounds like it’s been spat out by an X Factor reject – instrument-playing bands are non-existent, and ‘real’ music is dead. That’s the premise of Ben Elton’s jukebox musical using the songs from Queen’s back catalogue, which has recently just kicked off a lengthy UK & […]
Read More We Will Rock YouIf you put Paris and Peckham together, what do you get? Your immediate thoughts would probably head straight to the side of Del Boy’s three-wheeled “yellow peril” (New York-Paris-Peckham) – until now, that is… Jeremy Sams’ English translation of Le Prénom (a French staple by Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patellière) has swapped Paris for […]
Read More What’s In A Name?
Mind the blog 