TOMMY – Touring

In London theatre, Musicals, Opinion, Reviews, Touring by Jonathan BazLeave a Comment

Ramps On The Moon’s production of Tommy, directed by Kerry Michael, is a truly wonderful production. As the rock opera created by The Who is famously about a “deaf, dumb and blind kid”, so does this work build upon a cast, at least half of whom triumph in their performance over a range of disabilities.

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Piss off, you miserable bastard! – My review of Dismaland

In Features, London theatre, Regional theatre, Reviews by Jonathan BazLeave a Comment

Those words in the title above were the parting shot from the sales assistant as I exited through Dismaland’s gift shop, having dutifully paused to pick up catalogue and t-shirt. Whilst her valedictory message was (I hope) insincere (though I fear those who know me well may say the cap fits perfectly), it summed up the spirit of the faux-misery that Banksy’s Bemusement Park strives to achieve.

Rock operas: How much does American Idiot owe to Tommy?

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

Birth-wise, more than three decades separate The Who’s Tommy and Green Day’s American Idiot, but location-wise, the distance is only three short train stops, from London’s Charing Cross to Greenwich. That is, for the next few weeks in any case. It’s a happy coincidence that these two “rock operas” based on groundbreaking “concept albums” are both […]

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TOMMY – Greenwich Theatre

In London theatre, Musicals, Reviews by Jonathan BazLeave a Comment

Amidst the present day plethora of so called “juke box” musicals, in which bands’ and singers’ back catalogues are ruthlessly plundered to provide musical highlights for a show that is either autobiographical or worse still, downright anodyne in its narrative, it is an absolute joy for London to be re-united with Tommy.

TOMMY – Greenwich Theatre

In London theatre, Musicals, Reviews by Jonathan BazLeave a Comment

Amidst the present day plethora of so called “juke box” musicals, in which bands’ and singers’ back catalogues are ruthlessly plundered to provide musical highlights for a show that is either autobiographical or worse still, downright anodyne in its narrative, it is an absolute joy for London to be re-united with Tommy.