Musicals

Oliver! set for run at Edinburgh Playhouse

Cameron Mackintosh-produced epic featuring original Lionel Bart score

23 May 2012

‘Cameron Mackintosh doesn’t do small,’ announces Brian Conley, his warm grin a lifetime away from the Fagin character he depicts in the Scots impressario’s successful revival of Oliver! TV star Conley’s acclaimed turns in Jolson and Hairspray suggest a…

Brian Conley to play Fagin in Oliver!

The new Cameron Mackintosh production is stopping at Edinburgh's Playhouse

15 May 2012

‘Cameron Mackintosh doesn’t do small,’ announces Brian Conley, his warm grin a lifetime away from the Fagin character he depicts in the Scots impressario’s successful revival of Oliver!. TV star Conley’s acclaimed turns in Jolson and Hairspray suggest a…

Five things you might not know about Spamalot

Eric Idle and John Du Prez's Monty Python-inspired musical tours UK

27 Feb 2012

1 The multi award-winning musical production from Eric Idle and John Du Prez, Spamalot was ‘lovingly ripped off from the motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail.’ I guess Idle can do whatever he wants but an eyebrow was raised by the inclusion of…

Andrew Lloyd-Webber quits BBC

TV Gossip

6 Jan 2012

Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber has quit the BBC to film a new show for ITV. The musicals supremo will head up the judging panel in a search to find an actor to play Judas in a touring production of rock opera 'Jesus Christ Superstar' and has joined the…

The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon discusses theatre production Swallows and Amazons

The musical is to be directed by War Horse's Tom Morris

6 Jan 2012

‘I don’t think of myself as much of a collaborator...’ muses Neil Hannon. A chuckle follows, the irony of his statement kicking in. When he’s not being frontman to The Divine Comedy, the Northern Irish pop star has written music for Father Ted and…

The King and I

This stylish production of the musical classic can't disguise the script's patronising tone

6 Jan 2012

Like most of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s quintet of hit musicals, the deceptively light surface action in The King and I struggles to keep the lid on the problematic themes rumbling away underneath. Where the culture clash between prim, feisty governess…

Top Hat

Loving tribute to the Fred'n'Ginger classic, starring Tom Chambers and Summer Strallen

24 Nov 2011

According to legend, screen hoofer Fred Astaire was such a perfectionist that, during the 40th take of a scene from Swing Time (1936), his partner Ginger Rogers’ feet started to bleed through her satin slippers. In this stage adaptation of one of…

Sister Act

Stage version of Whoopi Goldberg screen success hits all the right notes

3 Nov 2011

Sequined nuns’ habits, groovy soul tunes and a string of holy jokes characterise Sister Act, the musical. Though it’s produced by the film’s original star, Whoopi Goldberg, the stage version contains no songs from the film and follows a revised script.

Batman! Holy Spoof Musical Batstravaganza!

Amateurish and unnecessary spoof of a spoof

24 Aug 2011

Is it possible to spoof something that was already somewhat spoofy originally? In the 1960s, Adam West played his Batman with bat-tongue firmly in cheek, so what made this particular version of the Caped Crusader seem ripe for pastiche to the folks at…

Toulouse-Lautrec: The Musical

Japanese one-man show dedicated but lacking in pace and musical gravitas

8 Aug 2011

Toulouse Lautrec’s life was a colourful one, worthy of musical exploration, and this Japanese company’s dedication is admirable, in a one-man show, helmed by Japanese performer/songwriter Jun Sawaki. But while Sawaki undoubtedly offers his all to the…

Spring Awakening

Frank Wedekind's controversial play given the music treatment by theatre company Sell a Door

27 May 2011

Frank Wedekind’s original German language play caused a stir throughout the early 1900s due to its hard-hitting themes and liberal attitudes towards the problems teenagers face growing up. The 2006 rock musical adaptation doesn’t stray far from this…

Easter Revelry event at Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle hosts a weekend of family events this Easter

21 Apr 2011

The Easter Revelry event at Edinburgh Castle takes place on Sat 23 - Mon 25 April, and includes historically-themed activities that'll appeal to all the family. Kramis the wizard will perform magic tricks to amuse and amaze you, while Sir Hugo Sofboiled…

Blood Brothers – review

X Factor alumnus Niki Evans a revelation in Willy Russell favourite

17 Mar 2011

Willy Russell’s long-running and popular musical about class, superstition and the nature/nurture debate has featured a host of sparkling chanteuses in the central role of Mrs Johnstone, notably Barbara Dixon, Carole King and four of the Nolan sisters.

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice - review

Dundee Rep take on Jim Cartwright's play steps out of original's shadow

8 Mar 2011

Jim Cartwright’s 1992 play about a painfully shy girl who seeks refuge in – and displays an uncanny talent for mimicking – the voices of the great musical divas loved by her father, was created as a vehicle for the unique talents of actress Jane…

Stage musical The Secret Garden stars Siobhan Redmond

Cross-generational appeal of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novel makes for ideal festive show

23 Nov 2010

It’s a century since the publication of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, but this seminal work of children’s literature has only grown in stature through time. The tale of Mary, an orphaned girl who seeks refuge in a blooming hidden garden…

The Bookie is playwright Douglas Maxwell’s first musical

Let down by complex plot despite suitably murky atmosphere

4 Oct 2010

Playwright Douglas Maxwell’s first musical is unlikely to threaten the market dominance of Stephen Sondheim or Rodgers and Hammerstein or even Andrew Lloyd Webber any time soon. Aly Macrae’s songs, which range from catchy to unmemorable, punctuate the…

Spamalot musical comes to Edinburgh Playhouse

Monty Python's King Arthur comedy

29 Sep 2010

If ever a man was able to look on the bright side of life it is Eric Idle. Whether jumping out of cakes in a tutu for Prince Charles in a comical re-enactment of Swan Lake, or dressing up in wings, mocking the outfit worn by Emma Thompson in Angels in…

The Bookie

22 Sep 2010

‘It’s my first one,’ says playwright Douglas Maxwell of his new production, The Bookie. ‘My Fisher-Price “My First Musical”, it’s a proper learning curve.’ In a script that gives a Scottish flavour to Vegas-style razzle dazzle, a big time casino tycoon…

Big Society: The Musical

27 Aug 2010

It’s actually rather heartening, in the current climate, to watch a London-based company not only tackling the ConDem government’s agenda of cuts head-on, but also managing to set an entire musical in a working class district of Newcastle without…

I’m Still Here . . .

Ably flitting between genres

25 Aug 2010

The West End pro takes a saunter through hits from Sondheim to Mika and Queen to ‘Moon River’ with a connecting thread of drama. His voice holds up well, ably flitting between genres, but a worrying ironic tone starts to creep in until during ‘MacArthur…

Frances Ruffelle: Beneath the Dress

Cheeky, sexy and surprising cabaret-esque show

23 Aug 2010

Given Ruffelle’s showbiz background – she’s the daughter of London theatre school founder Sylvia Young and a Tony Award-winning star of West End and Broadway musicals such as Les Misérables and Chicago – it’s unsurprising that her cabaret-esque Fringe…

Showstopper: The Improvised Musical

Our Fringe reviewer explains what it’s like to be part of the show.

19 Aug 2010

As a critic, I favour stealth and subtlety. Get in quickly, do not sit in the front row or anywhere else where the cast can see your notebook, and sneak out the back during the curtain call. I certainly don’t usually sit on stage, with the director…

Five Guys Named Moe

Feel-good musical that’s a cut above

19 Aug 2010

It’s not often that such a highly-polished, well produced show of this nature makes it into the Fringe line-up. More at home in the West End or Broadway, Five Guys Named Moe has been entertaining the crowds since 1990 – and it ain’t about to stop now…

Reel-to-Real: The Movies Musical

Less chat more dancin’ and singin’ please

14 Aug 2010

Much has been made of Reel-to-Real’s impressive technical credentials, which allows live performers to perform iconic song-and-dance numbers against a backdrop of footage from classic film musicals. In fact the background projections, while cleverly…

The Wire's Clarke Peters in Fringe run of Five Guys Named Moe

The Wire's Lester Freamon stars in the musical he wrote

3 Aug 2010

Clarke Peters, best known for his role in US cop show The Wire, talks to Kelly Apter about taking time out to appear in the hit musical he wrote himself