Forty years ago, the Cornish village of Mousehole was shook to the core when eight volunteer lifeboat men from the town took to sea in the lifeboat ‘The Solomon Browne’ in attempts to rescue a stricken ship broken down in a late December storm, never to be seen again. The Penlee lifeboat disaster of 1981 is talked about and remembered to this day, with the Christmas lights dimmed in the village every year as a sign of respect to the sixteen who died on that horrible night; th

Pantomime is big business for the theatre industry, and a special part of the festive season for many families. And after the last couple of years of enforced closures, regulations and last-minute cancellations, panto came back this season with all guns blazing, with bigger sets, bigger costumes and all the theatrical magic that we have all been missing so much. Up and down the country, classic fairy tales have been given the pantomime twist with dames, dancing, and dastardly

For my 60th Birthday in 2021 I booked a trip to watch Les Miserables with a friend. It’s rare that I book an expensive seat as I go to...

If you had asked us back in March 2020, when theatres were first forced to close to the coronavirus pandemic, that we would still be facing restrictions, cancellations, and ongoing difficulties nearly 2 years later, we wouldn’t have believed you but anyway, here we are. Theatre is fighting back but still being forced to jump through countless hoops in order to make art happen, but nevertheless theatre is happening up and down the country against all the odds. Exeter based the

“It’s Delightful, it’s Delicious, it’s DeLovely” – the Barbican’s revival of Anything Goes surely takes the prize as the show of 2021. Written and set in the early 1930s, Cole Porter’s Anything Goes is a story of madcap antics aboard the SS American, on a voyage from New York to London. Packed with hilarity, romance, and mistaken identity, it sits in a league of its own as one of the bubbliest and most brilliantly buoyant shows I’ve ever seen- live or pre-recorded. It’s a

Theatre is a forever changing, forever evolving thing and the same can be the said to the ever-rotating carousel of shows that come in and out of the West End. Shows open, shows close, things change. New shows open and old shows become nothing but distant memories that you hold dear and revisit whenever you listen to the cast recording. But in more recent years, it is slowly but surely becoming more popular for shows to be filmed, a brilliant way of capturing a moment in thea

It’s hard to believe that we are only a few months away from having to mark the anniversary of two years since theatres were forced to close their doors due to the coronavirus pandemic. I guess that we can talk about it in hindsight now, how naïve we were back then to think that it would only be a few weeks before life went back to normal. Here we are, in the final days of 2021, with life still far from normal. As we stand, theatres are currently allowed to be open again at f

Pantomimes are a staple of the British theatre industry, and after the last couple of years, a trip to the theatre for a couple of hours of laughter and entertainment is exactly what many families up and down the country need. Theatre may be struggling against the enforced closures and absences caused by the Omicron variant, but those who can continue to clown, continue to bring fairy tales to life on our beloved stages, continuing the tradition of pantomime. The London Palla

After everything that we have been through over the last couple of years, and by the looks of it, will continue to go through for some time to come, you would be forgiven for thinking that laughter is in short supply, but hilarity is still out there to be had and Mischief Theatre are providing it by the bucketload with their new West End production of ‘Magic Goes Wrong’. Having originally opened at the Vaudeville in December 2019, and with this original version of the show du

After yet another challenging year for theatre, blighted by more enforced closures, social distancing, government-imposed isolation...

In December 2013 Disney’s released a brand new, family friendly adaptation of the classic fairy-tale, The Snow Queen . Filled with talking snowmen and a legendary score, Frozen was set to become the franchises highest grossing animated film of all time. A record which was only beaten in 2019 by its sequel, Frozen 2 . It’s not surprising to see that the animated classic was quickly adapted for the stage, and made it’s Broadway debut in 2018. The show was then due to transfer t

When describing Tick…Tick…Boom! , I echo the words that broke the post-show silence of RENT ’s first preview: “Thank you, Jonathan Larson!” Written as a semi-autobiographical ‘rock monologue’ and faithfully adapted for the screen, Tick…Tick…Boom! marks both the directorial debut of Lin-Manuel Miranda ( Hamilton, In The Heights ) and, hopefully, a turning point in the creation of modern movie musicals. In the run up to his 30th birthday, Jonathan Larson is in the throes of s

Inspired by the 1980 movie of the same title, ‘9 to 5’ is a pure girl power musical that thrilled audiences during its West End run before the pain in the neck that is covid came along and cut the London run and the previous UK Tour short. But now its back and hitting the road again in a new fresh tour, bringing sass, attitude and comedy by the bucket loud to audiences up and down the country. ‘9-5’ tells the story of three office workers, supervisor Violet (Louise Redknapp),

Since I first heard the soundtrack on Spotify a few years ago, I have been an enormous fan of Six the Musical, and have been to see the...

Let me take you back to a different time, long before the age of social media and iPhones, long before Covid made such a massive impact on our lives. It’s 1952, Winston Churchill is prime minister, Stalin is the head of Russia, television shuts off at 10.20pm every day and most essential food is rationed. 5 years on from premiering as a short radio play entitled ‘Three Blind Mice’, Agatha Christie’s ‘The Mousetrap’ opened on 25th November at London’s Ambassadors Theatre follo

When it comes to theatre, the argument between new work and revivals, and what should open where and when, has been ongoing for many years and will long continue to be argued. Sometimes it can feel like our beloved venues are being flooded with revivals, repeats of things that we have seen before, giving new work no chance to make it. But personally, I don’t see it that way. To me, it doesn’t matter if the show is new or not, any show is better than a venue remaining empty an

With a plethora of theatre vouchers collected during the lockdown periods, our reviewer Debbie was finally able to put them to good use...

If the last 18 months or so of enforced closures and social distancing has taught us anything, it is that theatre does not have to be confined to a stage. Theatre, as an artform, can be performed practically anywhere, can be constructed to be enjoyed in various ways and as it turns out, you don’t need to be in a theatre to enjoy a show. ‘Bluff,’ a new musical with a book by Matthew Cavendish (Groan Ups, Mischief Movie Night In, The Play That Goes Wrong) and music and lyrics b

Diana is a new biopic musical which centres around the life of Princess Diana, the late Duchess of Wales. After being released on Netflix...

Actor Jake Ferretti has starred in a number of productions, playing the role of Tom Buchanan in 'The Great Gatsby', Josh in 'Toast' and Josh Harper in 'The Understudy'. He is currently touring the UK playing the iconic role of Sherlock Holmes and other roles in Original Theatre Company and Octagon Theatre Bolton's comedy production of 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'. This hilarious production has received rave reviews, with the British Theatre Guide stating that it is ‘Just w