Elton John: It’s A Little Bit Funny

What 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 […]

Day 4: The Marvelous Wonderettes

Roger Bean’s musical The Marvelous Wonderettes has had a long life in America; commissioned in 1998, its first run came a year later at the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, where it then returned in 2001 in a longer form. Since then it has been produced in Los Angeles (2006) and Off Broadway (2008 and 2016), but it’s taken […]

Challenge Week 2019: Mind The Musicals

I really started something with all those Sunny Challenge Weeks… Since Sunny Afternoon closed I’ve also managed to do a Globe Challenge Week and a slightly more generic one last year – so for 2019, the Mind the Blog challenge weeks are back, and (hopefully) better than ever! My current plan is to devise three […]

After The Ball

Upstairs at the Gatehouse plays host to Time Productions, as they bring their latest play After The Ball to the stage for a limited run. The play moves backwards and forwards between 1914 and either 1971 or 1973 (the programme disagrees from the author’s notes to the production information page), following a family through world wars, political […]

Never Mind The Blog… Here’s March 2018

First off, you’ll notice that (unlike February) I’ve had a little bit of time to raise the logo stakes slightly – so it’s slowly getting there… Lots of different things opening across the country this month. In London there are a lot of fringe & Off West End productions coming for you, such as Glass […]

Favourite shows of 2017

Any number of shows could have been included in this post; frankly it’s ludicrous that I decided to stick with my whole top 12 idea… As I’ve seen about 90 more individual shows than last year, it’s almost a question of picking some of the shows out of a hat to be able to split […]

Paper Hearts

Currently playing in Highgate’s Upstairs at the Gatehouse, Paper Hearts is the brainchild of Liam O’Rafferty and is a brand new British musical that celebrates writing and books. It premièred at Waterloo East Theatre, followed by a run at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe with a string of rave reviews, and will soon embark on a tour to Hamburg. […]

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

Jersey Boys may have walked like a man from the West End, but luckily London has a natural successor in Breaking Up is Hard to Do. Featuring a choice pick of Neil Sedaka’s back catalogue, it transports Upstairs at the Gatehouse to Catskills in New York for a whirlwind romantic comedy musical that will make […]

Remedial Remedies

After featuring in Falling Pennies’ first ‘On The Night‘ event in April, James Hartnell’s Remedial Remedies now has a short run Upstairs at the Gatehouse as a full-length production. Four schoolboys are on the verge of re-taking their English Literature exam, somewhat begrudgingly for all bar one, but as it starts to dawn on them […]