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…

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…

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…

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…

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

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…