‘For the first time in forever’   The snow stopped falling, Sven stopped running, the ice melted and Olaf stopped giving out warm hugs, all on 8 th  September 2024 when Disney’s ‘Frozen the Musical’ closed up shop, the winter of Arendale making way for the summer of ancient Greece as Disney’s ‘Hercules’ swept in to take over. It was a surprise, for many, when it was announced that ‘Frozen’ with its ever-growing fan base, world famous musical numbers and globally adored charac

‘It’s time to begin, now count me in’   If the last line of the show’s introduction isn’t enough to indicate what is about to happen, the neon shades of blue and pink and the energy that bounces in the show’s opening moments should throw you head first into the silliness and jukebox fun that is ‘Here and Now’, a musical putting the song stylings of Steps into the spotlight and milking it for all it is worth.   Set in Better Best Bargains, a seaside supermarket, ‘Here and Now’

My ideal has always been to love some one of the name of Ernest. High society, eligible bachelors, different identities for the town and the country, all wrapped up in flowers, flamboyancy and fun. Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Ernest came powering on all cylinders to the National Theatre in 2024, with more flair, more fashion and more love is love than ever before, and after a second run at the Noel Coward Theatre more recently, this production now lands right in our

Old age is something that comes to all of us, no matter how you choose to look at it. You may want to grow old gracefully, or disgracefully, age like fine wine, think of it as 'don't grow up, its a trap', or 'growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional', or you may in fact cling to the idea of hope of being forever young. However you choose to look at aging, it is all explored with comedy, music and heart in 'Forever Young' written by Erik Gedeon, directed by Martin Berr

What do burnout, Sexy KFC, and your homophobic Aunt Sharon have in common? Well, up and coming musical theatre comedienne Tammy Woodburn is determined to find out as her potential new manager challenges her to be more honest on stage. Using original songs, stand up, and painfully awkward family conversations (hello Aunt Sharon), she finds the line between truth and the punchline in SMILE, a sharp one-women musical comedy about burnout, identity and the pressure to always keep

And take extra care with strangers Even flowers have their dangers And though scary is exciting Nice is different than good. What springs to mind when you think of fairy tales? Be honest here, but I can't imagine that it's dark and at times twisted worlds of the Brothers Grimm, but instead brightly coloured dreamscapes of princesses, talking animals and happily ever afters. The disney-fied versions, if you will. And that's okay, but that isn't what I am going to be talking ab

When you think of the famous playwright Noel Coward, it may be 'Private Lives', 'Hayfever' or 'Blithe Spirit' that spring to mind, or you may take a different approach and think instead of the quirky and quaint theatre that is named after him, but either way, it is probably not 'The Rat Trap'. His very first play, written in 1918 and first staged in 1926, is an exploration of marriage, careers, relationships and ego, that has only been seen twice before in London since its pr

We all know the story of Ariel, perhaps better known as The Little Mermaid, and her wish to walk on land with the humans and to be with the handsome Prince Eric, but how well do we know the story of Ursula, the sea witch who made her wish come true, at a cost of course? Enter Unfortunate, the Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch, a loud proud big and bold musical that explores her tale from her school days through to tricking the young princess into giving up her voice. But p

As someone who lives with that 'Eat, Sleep, Theatre, Repeat' state of mind, you can guarantee that the vast majority of songs on my playlists come from the land of musical theatre and we all have our favourites. But, of course, we can't all like the same things, and each of us have those songs that we just believe to be criminally underrated, at the bottom of some people's list whilst they might be at the top of ours. So, here we go. Here are mine top 5, in no particular orde

A beautiful, enthralling, heartwarming and, at times, heartbreaking story combined gorgeous sweeping toe tapping songs, performed by a multi-talented multi-rolling, multi musical instrument playing cast, all wrapped up in a message of embracing the life that you have and making the most of every second. It was the show that swept in, made a bold statement and won pretty much everyone over, so why is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button already gone from our beloved west end, a

What goes up must come down, and when it comes to Cornley Drama Society when can go right must go wrong. Mischief Comedy have made a name for themselves as the masters of funny, and their flagship show 'The Play That Goes Wrong' has called the Duchess Theatre it's home for the past eleven years, filling the space with laughter, chaos and calamitous silliness eight times a week, with this double role-ing play within a play proving to be a masterclass of all things slapstick hi

Spandex, knee high boots, nineties fashion, fourth wall breaks, chorus members appearing from nowhere, and oodles upon oodles of ABBA. I could only be talking about one thing and that, of course, is Mamma Mia, the all singing all dancing spectacular that has been delighting audiences with its bouncy carefree lightheartedness for nearly 27 years. Sophie (Ellie kingdon) is getting married and upon finding her mother Donna's (played at this performance by Emma Odell) diary, she

Having just recently finished their second London run, this time at the Shaftesbury Theatre, Just For One Day The Live Aid Musical may have turned off the lights and put away the hand held microphones for now. But, worry not,  it won’t be long until the music starts again and we are once again whipped into a frenzy of song fuelled nostalgia and rallying calls to action as the production prepares to head out on its first UK tour.  The tour kicks off in Leicester in March next

Please Note - As the current cast only began performances on Monday 2nd February, the photographs in this review feature the previous cast. Written by the creators of South Park. That should act as your warning really, as South Park is known for being loud, naughty, and rude, pushing satire to the extreme and running with it as they say the things that others wouldn't dare to. So knowing all of that, you should walk into their popular musical The Book of Mormon, which has bee

A sailing from New York to London, with a stowaway, a nightclub singer, a gangster pretending to be a minister and a romance on the rocks, it could sound like the beginning of a bad joke but no, this is Anything Goes, a musical that combines the book writing of Guy Bolton and P.G Woodhouse with the music of Cole Porter, here performed by Exeter Footlights, the musical theatre society of the University of Exeter in their on campus theatre, the Northcott. Anything Goes tells th

Sunday 23rd March 1997, a brand new crime drama premiered on television starring John Nettles and Daniel Casey as two police detectives in the quaint English countryside. Those detectives; Barnaby and Troy. The show; Midsomer Murders. The pilot episode, The Killings at Badger's Drift became the highest rated single drama of 1997, and say they say, the rest is history. Nearly 29 years on, Midsomer Murders remains incredibly popular and is perhaps the epitome of cosy crime thes

Happy international Swing Day, and no I am not talking about seats on ropes that you find in the playground and how that one person would always say that they once swung on it all the way around. No, I am talking about the often hidden heroes that are swings in the theatre industry, those talented performers ready to jump on stage in a different role at a moments notice and how we would be completely lost without them. Whilst the word Understudy (or Thunderstudy if you are lo

The story of a war time secret mission, absolute ear worm musical numbers, cheeky clever comedy, 5 performers and countless characters, and that's Operation Mincemeat in a nutshell. A nutshell decorated with 88 five star reviews and a dash of critical acclaim, of course. Having opened Off West End in 2019, playing at the New Diorama Theatre, Southwark Playhouse and Riverside Studio, this musical comedy has called the cosy (putting it nicely) Fortune Theatre home since 2023 bo

Ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma marmalade. Ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma marmalade. Yes, dear reader of my theatrical ramblings, that has been stuck in my head on a pretty much continuous loop since Friday, the day on which I finally got to see one of the worlds most famous bears, Mr Paddington Brown himself. As a long time fan of this little bear from deepest darkest Peru, the excitement levels for this one were sky high, even more so when the way in which he would be portrayed on stage w

First published in 1936, the children’s novel ‘Ballet Shoes’ has enjoyed two screen adaptations, but it wasn’t until 2024 that the classic tale of found family, childhood, performance and dreams made its way to the stage, calling the National Theatre home for a highly successful run. So successful in fact that it returned for another run over the festive period in the Olivier auditorium, much to the delight of theatre goers as this production charms all and raises smiles from