The resplendent partnership of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman – which produced Disney hits Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid – first took root with this 1982 Off-Broadway musical, based on a low-budget Sixties film, about a man seeking love and fortune via a … Continue reading
There’s an explosion of spirit and – yes – “cheer face” at Southwark Playhouse, hosting the long-awaited UK premiere of this 2011 musical; last year’s planned national tour was sadly postponed. But Ewan Jones’s dynamic British Theatre Academy production, with its … Continue reading
On my August MoveTo Town and Country Arts page: Exhibition Michael Jackson’s influence on artists explored at the National Portrait Gallery Film The super-family is back in Incredibles 2 Theatre A golden revival of The King and I at London Palladium Commuter corner Seek out new … Continue reading
Classic Spring’s year-long season ends with Wilde gone wild: a free love riot that yanks the queer subtext into text, with everyone from masters and servants to, er, the long-lost brothers sharing snogs and cigarettes. The famous passive aggressive tea … Continue reading
The first thing we see is Anna Fleischle’s Fifties-tastic giant doll’s-house set: each period-perfect room bathed in a different twinkling hue, flowers painted onto the brick wall, and jaunty music setting the tone. But Katherine Parkinson’s Judy is able to open the … Continue reading
Gerard Alessandrini is not throwing away his shot. The creator of satirical revue Forbidden Broadway realised that the unprecedented success of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical warranted a standalone show, and thus Spamilton was born. A 2016 Off-Broadway hit, the affectionate spoof now follows Hamilton over the pond. Read my … Continue reading
Through one family and one company, Italian playwright Stefano Massini tackles big topics: the development of Western capitalism, the immigrant experience, the American Dream. But this isn’t just any family – it’s the Lehman Brothers, the collapse of whose banking … Continue reading
On my July MoveTo Town and Country Arts page: Exhibition Grayson Perry curates a colourful and inclusive Royal Academy Summer Exhibition Film Girl power in the all-female reboot Ocean’s 8 Theatre Brian Friel’s Translations at the National Theatre is a tender epic Commuter corner Anuradha Roy’s All … Continue reading
