View Post

WONDERLAND – Touring

In Musicals, Opinion, Reviews, Touring by Emma ClarendonLeave a Comment

When you first sit down and take in this bizarre but wonderfully performed musical you might think that you literally have gone mad in your own mind with the number of characters passing through and yet by the end you realise it actually made perfect sense. So maybe we are all a bit mad after all.

Pure Imagination: Leslie Bricusse on searching for the perfect song

In Cabaret, Features, London theatre, Musicals, Opinion by Terri PaddockLeave a Comment

How well do you know the work of composer-lyricist Leslie Bricusse? How many songs can you name by this living legend… apart from “Pure Imagination” (and the “Oompa Loompa” theme) from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. How about, for starters, Bond classics “Goldfinger” and “You Only Live Twice”, “If I Ruled the World”, “What Kind of Fool Am I?”, “The Candy Man”, “This Is the Moment”, “Can You Read My Mind?” (from Superman), “My Old Man’s a Dustman”, “The Pink Panther” and “Talk to the Animals” (from Doctor Doolittle)? And that really is, only for starters.

View Post

PURE IMAGINATION – St James Theatre

In Cabaret, Musicals, Reviews by Johnny FoxLeave a Comment

This was a glamorous night (yes, I know that’s by Ivor Novello): Joan Collins, Petula Clark, Richard Fleeshman, Michael Feinstein, Gloria Hunniford, Nanette Newman, Hayley Mills and Una Stubbs. And that was just the audience – plus Carol Thatcher and Jeffrey Archer for some hideous reason, although it was a great pleasure to see Gyles Brandreth buying their interval drinks because they weren’t on the guest list.

PURE IMAGINATION – St James Theatre

In London theatre, Reviews by Jonathan BazLeave a Comment

Who can take a set list? Sprinkle it with class……
… as through two hours a delicious cast of 5 chart a course through nigh on 60 of the songs of lyricist Leslie Bricusse. Unashamedly a ‘juke-box musical’, the show marks producer Danielle Tarento’s first foray into that genre, with a combination of both song snatches and entire numbers as Bricusse’s remarkable body of work is referenced and respected.

View Post

Review: Sunset Boulevard (Playhouse Theatre)

In Musicals, Reviews by Johnny FoxLeave a Comment

There’s something about Craig Revel Horwood I just don’t like. It may be the introduction of confectionery into a surname that insults my diabetic sensibilities. Perhaps other theatre directors could consider the benefits of an injection of chocolate? Would Nicholas Malteser Hytner, or Trevor Minstrel Nunn be any more successful? It may be the botoxed […]

The post Review: Sunset Boulevard (Playhouse Theatre) appeared first on JohnnyFox.