In Anything Goes at the Barbican there are celebrity gangsters and torch-singers, big stock-exchange money and big energy, jazzy lapdancers and a touching belief that poor old England is best represented by a silly-ass in tweeds who doesn’t understand words like smooch.
NEWS: Sasquatch exists! How I Found & Captured Bigfoot During Lockdown premieres at Camden Fringe
Does Bigfoot exist? In north London? Simon Stanley-Ward, musician turned explorer, presents his findings to the scientific community in How I Found and Captured Bigfoot During Lockdown at the Etcetera Theatre as part of Camden Fringe.
‘A night of numerous show-stopping moments’: Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – London Palladium
When you book to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, you are guaranteed not only a joyful night out at the London Palladium but also a time-travel ticket to your childhood.
‘Witty, poignant, playful’: JOHN & JEN – Southwark Playhouse
While John & Jen can sometimes veer into the sentimental, it does try to bring in numerous issues in modern America, and particularly succeeds in bringing to life the special bond between siblings.
‘Great depth & range emotionally’: I COULD USE A DRINK – Garrick Theatre ★★★★
Drew Gasparani’s song cycle I Could Use a Drink at the Garrick Theatre has some genuinely lovely songs, but seems to lose its way slightly in the second act.
‘Succeeds both luridly & absolutely’: Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – London Palladium
The 2019 summer revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat returned to the London Palladium in a joyous, celebratory evening.
‘Filled with playfulness & joy’: Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – London Palladium ★★★★
The lively return of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is filled with exuberant joy that makes it impossible to resist.
‘A special show for a special time’: COME FROM AWAY – Phoenix Theatre
Based on the true story of how the inhabitants of the small town of Gander, Newfoundland, coped with the diversion of numerous planes from American airspace on 9/11, Come From Away at the Phoenix Theatre is full of hope and joy, and the atmosphere is electric right from the off.
NEWS: World premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella is set for 25 August 2021
The Really Useful Group has announced, after a period of enforced closure, the world premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella will be on 25 August 2021.
‘You are here, at the start of a moment’: Welcoming back Come From Away
‘You are here, at the start of a moment’. Those words in Come From Away never felt more true. Four hundred and 95 days after last being in a West End theatre, 495 days after last seeing a musical, 495 days without theatre. And ‘You are here…’
‘Not just great entertainment but also incredibly relatable’: FROM HERE – Chiswick Playhouse
The impossible “five years” question is posed to each of the characters in Ben Barrow and Lucy Ireland’s excellent new musical From Here – and each has a different answer.
‘Happens to hit some nicely topical nerves’: GIN CRAZE – Royal & Derngate, Northampton
Hats off to James Dacre’s Royal & Derngate for bravely slapping on brand new musical Gin Craze in the very week Lloyd Webber and four other London shows got abruptly pinged-off by test ’n’ trace (more like trick-or-treat, frankly: isolation blackmail).
NEWS: Adam J Bernard, Tarinn Callender, Matt Henry & Tosh Wanogho-Maud join The Drifters Girl cast
Adam J Bernard, Tarinn Callender, Matt Henry and Tosh Wanogho-Maud will play The Drifters in brand new musical The Drifters Girl, also starring Beverley Knight, which tells the remarkable story of one of the world’s greatest vocal groups and the woman who made them. The show begins performances at Newcastle Theatre Royal on 9 October 2021, playing until 23 October, before transferring to London’s Garrick Theatre on 4 November (press night is 25 November).
NEWS: Queer musical Fabulett 1933, set in Weimar Berlin, launches at Camden Fringe
Fabulett 1933, a new queer one-person musical set in Weimar Berlin, gets its postponed premiere at Camden Fringe, running at London’s Canal Cafe Theatre from 8 to 14 August 2021.
‘Filled with live music, laughter & just a few surprises’: WHAT THE LADYBIRD HEARD – Palace Theatre
With the summer holidays just around the corner, the stage adaptation of the Julia Donaldson and Lydia Monks’ picture book What the Ladybird Heard has just flown into the West End for a summer stint ahead of a UK tour.
‘Freedom Day has turned into closure day’: A cry for help or a bid for headlines?
The press performance of Cinderella on Monday got cancelled, and so did last night’s “gala opening”; Andrew Lloyd Webber has now threatened to pull the plug on the entire show…. or has he?
‘There’s an appealing openness to much of the music’: DORIAN: A ROCK MUSICAL – Stream.Theatre (Online review)
A strong lead performance from Bart Lambert impresses in this streaming Oscar Wilde adaptation, but Dorian A Rock Musical lacks a real sense of identity.
Streaming now: Mark Farrelly celebrates the legendary Quentin Crisp in Naked Hope
Quentin: Crisp, written and performed by Mark Farrelly and directed by Linda Marlowe, is now available globally via Stream Theatre until Sunday 1 August 2021.
NEWS: Alfie Boe leads a cast of West End, Broadway & music stars at the Picnic Proms Summer Concert Series
Alfie Boe, Sir Willard White, Aled Jones, Tenors Unlimited and Queen Symphonic will headline Picnic Proms Summer Concert Series, a three-day series of concerts featuring musical theatre legends, orchestral icons, a symphonic spectacular and spellbinding silent firework displays.
NEWS: Camden Fringe returns with 267 shows across 21 London venues
The Camden Fringe is back this August after an enforced year off because due to Covid. The festival of theatre and comedy, which was established in 2006, runs from 2 to 29 August 2021 across 21 London venues, with 15 shows available to view online.