Theatre and 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…

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…

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

Reel-to-Real: The Movies Musical aims for a spectacular show of the best of the genre

Show promises intense live multi-media entertainment

27 Jul 2010

Producer Simone Genatt Haft is utterly convincing in selling Reel-to-Real, the show she and business partner Marc Routh are bringing to this year’s Fringe, and it sounds like she has every reason to be. ‘This is probably the most intense live…

An overview of the 2010 Edinburgh Festivals and their directors

What to expect from Edinburgh in August

15 Jul 2010

Nowhere does a festival quite like Edinburgh, and even with the film folk having long moved out of August, there is more than plenty going on for lovers of art, literature, comedy, theatre, kids entertainment, music, dance and military displays. The…

LGBT highlights from Edinburgh Fringe 2010

14 Jul 2010

The List’s LGBT section is about to take a well-earned break (returning in September, folks), but before we head off on our holidays, there’s just time to let you know about some of the gay-friendly stuff that’s appearing at a Fringe Festival near you…

Sweeney Todd

28 May 2010

In too many of its retellings, the story of the demon barber of Fleet Street is a juvenile gore-fest that is all gothic thrill and little substance. Not so here. Stephen Sondheim’s majestic through-composed musical takes its cue from a stage adaptation…

Hairspray

6 May 2010

The excitement is palpable even before the curtain rises. Hairspray rushes into Glasgow on a juggernaut of advance excitement thanks to the hugely popular, award-winning Broadway and West End productions and the subsequent film adaptation. The Clyde…

Dundee Rep bring Stephen Sondheim Sweeney Todd's musical to the stage

4 May 2010

There’s little heroism to be found in a tale of murder and cannibalism, but Stephen Sondheim’s 1979 musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at least attempts to find some rationale for the actions of the titular killer in tragedy and…

Les Misérables

29 Apr 2010

To become the longest running West End musical of all time, you have to be doing something right. But given the vast amount of performers who have sung their hearts out in Les Misérables over the years, it seems fair to attribute the show’s global…

Hairspray

15 Apr 2010

The London production may have closed its doors for the last time at the end of March, but the award-winning musical adaptation of John Waters’ crazy, camp masterpiece is taking to the road for a UK tour that includes a couple of Scottish stop-offs.

Preview Musical: Raspberry

22 Mar 2010

Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 31 Mar–Sat 3 Apr, then touring The life of singer-songwriter Ian Dury is as fascinating as the uncompromising songs he recorded with influential new wave band, the Blockheads. To date Dury’s story has inspired a musical (Hit…

Children's Classic Concerts: Crash, Bang, Wallop 2

19 Mar 2010

Maybe it’s because they’re percussionists by trade, but Owen and Olly have a tendency to really hit the spot. Since taking over as presenters at Children’s Classic Concerts in 2008, Owen Gunnell and Oliver Cox have put together one exciting line-up…

Scottish Dance Theatre: NQR & The Life and Times of Girl A

19 Mar 2010

If it seems a little noisy in Dundee at the moment, it’s because there’s some serious groundbreaking going on there. Under the forward-thinking eye of artistic director Janet Smith, Scottish Dance Theatre (SDT) is producing work which forces us to alter…

Backbeat

18 Feb 2010

Iain Softley’s 1994 film Backbeat charted the pre-stardom career of The Beatles, focusing on the relationship between John Lennon, his best friend and fellow art student Stuart Sutcliffe, who succumbed to a brain tumour aged 22, and Sutcliffe’s lover…

The Sound of Music

26 Jan 2010

There is a moment, quite near the end of this mostly jolly musical, when Nazi Germany comes to Edinburgh. The hairs stand up on the back of your neck, and it’s almost possible to imagine what life under the swastika was really like. Other than that…

The Sound of Music

6 Jan 2010

For decades, the swansong of legendary musical writing partnership Rodgers and Hammerstein was associated with the 1965 Academy Award-winning film adaptation, in particular the iconic image of Julie Andrews spinning around on a Salzburg…

We Will Rock You

19 Nov 2009

Regardless of how unsure or cynical you may be walking into this musical, by the time the eponymous song comes around, if your hands aren’t clapping and your voice isn’t belting out ‘we will, we will rock you!’, then check your pulse, for you may well…

We Will Rock You

Steve Cramer sets his reservations to one side to make a positive case for the Queen musical

15 Oct 2009

It’s a very queer place indeed on the other side of the looking glass. Within weeks of the Conservative Party staking a claim to be the defenders of the poor and downtrodden, along comes a classic catalogue McMusical, which sets out its stall as the…

Chess in Concert

Video footage of the Abba/Tim Rice musical

27 Aug 2009

Filmed performance of the blokes from Abba and Tim Rice’s musical about the sex lives of chess players. (It’s actually slightly more complicated than that, but who cares really?) Filmed at the Royal Albert Hall in 2008 with a full orchestra and chorus…

Il Ritorno d’Ulisse

Ulysses the opera brought to life by giant puppets

14 Aug 2009

In parallel with Scotland’s big Homecoming theme of 2009, South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company make their Edinburgh debut with a puppet and animation interpretation of Monteverdi’s opera about Homer’s Ulysses returning from war to his homeland.

Primary School Musical

Singing to save the school

10 Aug 2009

Faced with the potential closure of his children’s primary school, Angus Reid did all the usual things: went to meetings, met the Council and Scottish Parliament, wrote a musical. The last one on that list may seem a strange response, but as Reid says…

Frog

Amphibian tale that puts a spring in your step

10 Aug 2009

Pity poor Max. He’s moving house in the morning, and is terrified of leaving behind his friends, his school and his teacher. The only thing his mother can do to reassure him is read from his favourite picture books – all about a kindly, inquisitive frog…

Mercy Madonna of Malawi

African adoption musical

10 Aug 2009

Like all the shows at The World this year, getting the Malawians to Edinburgh has been a huge undertaking. Joining a myriad of other performers, hailing from Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Cuba and Brazil, the Africans inject a lively dose of their native culture…

Giraffes Can't Dance

Uplifting story for little ones

30 Jul 2009

With so many shows to choose from on the Fringe, parents have to be canny about what they take their young charges to. In recent years, the wise money has been spent on a ticket to see Blunderbus Theatre Company. Specialising in musical tales for…

Ice Cream Man and the Jelly Incident

Fun with food for kids

30 Jul 2009

Writer Jonny Berliner certainly knows how to create an attention-grabbing show title. After the huge success of Dude! Where’s my Teddy Bear? – which went from Edinburgh sell-out in 2003/4 to runs at festivals nationwide, including Glastonbury…

Singin’ in the Rain - Long to rain over us

25 Jun 2009

Anna Millar looks forward to some old-school hoofing in Singin’ in the Rain

Quadrophenia

28 May 2009

The stage musical adaptation of the film of the landmark album by The Who, about a bloody Bank Holiday weekend battle between the Mods and the Rockers in Brighton at the height of their 1960s rivalry, is told from the point of view of teenage rebel…

Wuthering Heights

16 Apr 2009

‘Out on the winding, windy moors,’ sang Kate Bush in her 1978 homage to Emily Brontë’s romantic classic, Wuthering Heights. Those lyrics may need a re-think now that British Asian theatre company Tamasha has got its hands on the novel. Gone are the…

Cabaret

2 Apr 2009

MUSICAL Kander and Ebb’s signature musical beautifully harnesses source material by Christopher Isherwood to recreate the exhilarating debauchery of Weimar Berlin, shot through with punchy reminders of the Nazis’ rise to power. This award-winning…

SpongeBob SquarePants

5 Mar 2009

STAGE ADAPTATION Lifting one of the most popular animated TV programmes of all time from the small screen to the stage is no mean feat. When that programme takes place underwater, things get even tougher. Since it first aired in 1999, SpongeBob…

Jolson & Co – The Musical

19 Feb 2009

He may spend every Christmas wearing false boobs and saggy tights, but there’s much more to Allan Stewart than pantomime dame. The singer/actor will show another side to his considerable talent when he portrays Al Jolson, one of the world’s first…

Fame

22 Jan 2009

MUSICAL Running through the list of musical numbers in the programme your heart slowly starts to sink. Clearly the creators of this stage version of Fame couldn’t afford the copyright to songs from either the film or TV versions. What, no…

Fame

8 Jan 2009

Pull on your leotard and button down your Oxfords as the Playhouse goes back to the 80s with a stage version of the Oscar-winning film that launched a million pairs of legwarmers. This early blueprint for High School Musical stars X Factor finalist…

The Witches of Eastwick

27 Nov 2008

MUSICAL The compelling formula of Desperate Housewives and Sex and the City can be traced to US writer John Updike’s 1984 novel, The Witches of Eastwick, in which three frustrated women invoke cosmic powers to summon their ideal man. They are…

West Side Story

27 Nov 2008

MUSICAL It’s a popular misconception that West Side Story started life as a film. In fact, the 1961 celluloid version followed four years after the Broadway show – giving them a little time to move things around and get it completely right. Fifty…

Midsummer

13 Nov 2008

ROMCOM WITH SONGS Ah, the romcom: an often-derided form in cinema, easily discarded as lightweight. In the decidedly heavyweight world of the theatre, it’s unmentionable. Sometimes, though, it’s necessary to make art out of the sheer joy to be found…

Snow business: The Snow Queen

13 Nov 2008

Over the last few years, Andy Arnold’s Arches has established a tradition of putting on beautiful, immersive versions of classic children’s stories for 3-8-year-olds who might find themselves a wee bit lost in traditional panto. However, when Arnold…

Dame on: Pantomimes in Scotland 2008

13 Nov 2008

There’s been something of a shift in the pantomime world over the last few years. Traditional pantos – innuendo-laden fairy tales replete with dame and a couple of faces off the telly – are still going strong, but increasingly, theatres have begun to…

12 Days of Christmas: Festive hitlist

13 Nov 2008

The Low Christmas Concert Malcolm Middleton doesn’t have the monopoly on miserablist Christmas anthems, you know. This lot have been at it since 1999, and are back on the gloomy festive trail to promote new menace-laden single, ‘Santa is Coming Over’.

Off to see the wizard

13 Nov 2008

‘They’re big shoes to step into, aren’t they?’ says Helen McAlpine, about the specially-customised ruby slippers she’ll be wearing onstage in the Citizens’ Theatre’s Wizard of Oz. She’s not talking about her shoe size, either – as Dorothy Gale, McAlpine…

West Side Story

30 Oct 2008

From Charles-Francois Gounod’s 19th century opera to Baz Lurhmann’s gun-toting 1996 film, there’s been no shortage of momentous adaptations of Shakespeare’s love epic. But of all the play’s modern reworkings, West Side Story continues to be one of the…

Mary Poppins

16 Oct 2008

MUSICAL There are several factors that separate Mary Poppins from the average musical, but the main one is there are no weak links. No stars bussed in purely to put bums on seats, dragging down the standard with weak vocals. No second division set…

Last word: Chesney Hawkes

16 Oct 2008

The boyish pop charmer has come a long way since he topped the charts with ‘The One and Only’. Here, the Manilow-inspired father of three explains his love of raw fish and transatlantic upgrades.

Mary Poppins

2 Oct 2008

At least one commentator has compared Sarah Palin, the American vice-presidential hopeful, to everyone’s favourite nanny. ‘This election isn’t about the issues any more,’ wrote Steven Wells in The Guardian recently. ‘It’s about America’s strange desire…

Can’t Smile Without You

2 Oct 2008

OK, we’ve had the ABBA musical, the Queen musical, the Pet Shop Boys musical, the Rod Stewart musical and the Madness musical. So, what the theatre world really needs now is a stage extravaganza inspired by the life and work of that…

Mary Poppins

18 Sep 2008

MUSICAL In 1964, when Mary Poppins opened at the cinema, it immediately amassed an army of fans. One woman, however, was distinctly unimpressed by the all-singing, all-dancing Disney adaptation – the novel’s author, PL Travers. Thirty years later…

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

4 Sep 2008

It's been 54 years since Seven Brides for Seven Brothers set a new bar for Hollywood big screen productions, but, as a new national tour of the musical suggests, it's still undergoing numerous theatrical reincarnations. What exactly is it about this…

Flashdance

4 Sep 2008

It's time to pull on those off-the-shoulder crop tops and leg-warmers and return to the 80s as this West End version of the popular film about welder Alex, who dreams of enrolling at the Shipley Dance Academy, arrives north of the border. The production…

The Musical of Musicals, The Musical!

Solidly performed Sondheim send-up a safe bet

18 Aug 2008

Essentially a send-up of musicals by Sondheim and Rodgers & Hammerstein among others, The Musical of Musicals is unlikely to be appreciated (or its references understood) by non-aficionados. This said, it is solidly performed and often amusing, the…

High School Musical

7 Aug 2008

For those who have been confined to an attic bedroom courtesy of their wicked stepmother for the past few years, High School Musical is a bit like a modern-day version of Grease, only with a feistier heroine who doesn’t have to squeeze into leather, get…

Shopping & trucking - The Great American Trailer Park Musical

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

When a show is dubbed as a cross between Desperate Housewives and South Park, it’s going to get noticed. Emma Lennox hears some trash talk from those behind The Great American Trailer Park Musical

Our House

3 Jul 2008

MUSICAL Theatre Royal, Glasgow, until Sat 5 Jul; Playhouse, Edinburgh, Mon 7–Sat 12 Jul Following in the footsteps of popular jukebox musicals Mamma Mia! and We Will Rock You, comes this effort from writer Tim Firth (Calendar Girls), featuring the…

The Show Must Go On . . . Musicals and More

3 Jul 2008

This unique gala concert will have fans of stage musicals drooling in anticipation. The show features selections from some of the best-known stage hits of the last 50 years, from classics such as My Fair Lady, Les Miserables and Cats to recent box…

Evita

5 Jun 2008

It won’t be easy, you’ll think it strange... Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice’s musical trawl through the rise to sainthood of Eva Perón, is back on the road with a brand new national tour. Since the musical’s original incarnation as a concept album…

Eurobeat – Almost Eurovision

10 Apr 2008

MUSICAL King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 22–Sat 26 Apr The Eurovision Song Contest has always been a beast of wild contradictions. The annual competition is regular derided for its middle-of-the-road compositions, political voting and the never-ending…

Mamma Mia!

10 Apr 2008

MUSICAL SECC, Glasgow, until Sat 27 Apr Truly global phenomena are becoming something of a cliché: there’s a McDonald’s on every street corner, a Nestlé product in every home, and a production of Mamma Mia! running in every country in the world…

Mamma Mia!

27 Mar 2008

MUSICAL SECC, Glasgow, Tue 1–Sat 27 Apr Last time I saw Mamma Mia! I was sitting directly behind Fish out of Marillion. I mention this not to name drop. If I was that shallow, I’d point out that Bridget McConnell, Glasgow’s culture supremo, and her…

Zorro: The Musical

27 Mar 2008

MUSICAL King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 25–Sat 29 Mar The renewed interest in superheroes that has taken place in recent years might owe something to the uncertain world we currently inhabit, but the enduring figure of the masked superhero owes a debt to…

Disney's High School Musical

28 Feb 2008

MUSICAL Playhouse, Edinburgh, until Sat 1 Mar If the cast-iron chastity, remarkable level of racial harmony and general abstemiousness of the teenagers represented in this stage version of the hit Disney Channel film don’t seem to ring true of the…

Blonde Bombshells of 1943

31 Jan 2008

REVIVAL Because it’s based on recreated and imagined history, the peculiar emotion of nostalgia is something anyone, even people who weren’t there, can indulge in. Alan Plater’s World War Two-set Blonde Bombshells of 1943, originally devised by…

Clarinda

31 Jan 2008

MUSICAL If all the plays about Robert Burns produced over the last two decades were laid end to end, they’d surely build a bridge to Belgium, yet there’s still an appetite for such pieces at this time of year. And why not - there’s no shortage of…

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

17 Jan 2008

MUSICAL Playhouse, Edinburgh, until Sat 19 Jan Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s enduring piece of theatrical bubblegum may have started life as a modest school production, but the atmosphere in the packed Playhouse auditorium is as feverish as a…

White Christmas

15 Nov 2007

MUSICAL Edinburgh Playhouse, Mon 19 Nov–Sat 8 Dec For 13 years he was JR’s arch enemy, but these days Ken Kercheval is more likely to have a song, rather than hate, in his heart. As Scotch-drinking oilman Cliff Barnes in Dallas, Kercheval became a…

The Producers

15 Nov 2007

MUSICAL King’s Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 17 November It’s a rule of thumb that celebrities cast in touring musicals to pull in floating punters will require some degree of propping up by the singing/dancing pros in the company. Certainly…

Miss Bollywood

15 Nov 2007

MUSICAL Let’s be honest, the prognosis isn’t good. But we at The List never pre-judge a show before its arrival. All the same, Shilpa Shetty’s musical star vehicle, intended, no doubt, to cash in on the storm of publicity that exploded around her…

Blood Brothers

18 Oct 2007

MUSICAL Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sat 27 Oct There’s no flying car, singing animals or pyrotechnics, yet Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers, which explores class, poverty and unemployment, remains one of our longest running musicals. Just…

Debbie Does Dallas - The Musical

23 Aug 2007

There’s a very fine line between a send-up of a ropey cultural item and something that’s just plain ropey. Almost from its shrill opening bars it becomes crystal clear that Debbie Does Dallas – The Musical has crossed the line. The fundamental…

Take That

9 Aug 2007

Faced with the prospect of Never Forget, ‘a new musical based on the songs of Take That’, you’d be forgiven for thinking ‘Mamma Mia, here we go again...’

The Proclaimers

The Sunshine Boys

9 Apr 2007

After 20 years in the entertainment business, The Proclaimers, otherwise known as Craig and Charlie Reid, have a special place in the Scottish psyche. Their songs, from the joyous exuberance of ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 miles)’, to the celebratory yet quietly…