The Wizard of Oz has had a strange relationship with the theatre. Of all the retellings of L. Frank Baum’s classic children’s novel, the 1939 MGM starring Judy Garland is undoubtedly the best-known and as such, all adaptations will be compared to it. Despite its seemingly large potential, the wondrous world of Oz has often felt stagnant in the theatre and versions have only managed short runs…

Every Pantomime reflects its local community and in many, a style emerges which embeds itself in each new production. Berwick Kaler in York, Andy Ford In the Southwest, Kevin Johns in Swansea, Matt Slack in Birmingham and Elaine C Smith in Glasgow each has a distinctive style that is recognisable as “their show” and brings back the audience each year to celebrate Christmas. The Lyric Hammersmith…

Nativity! The Musical is back once more for the festive period and this year is gracing its presence in the second city, at the Birmingham Rep. An utterly joyous, thrilling and camp as Christmas production that excels in every way.Based on Debbie Isitt’s 2009 hit Christmas film of the same name, the story follows the saga of St Bernadette’s primary school and their attempt to stage a 5-star…

Cinderella is a classic children’s pantomime tale that has delighted audiences for decades. It is the epitome of the Pantomime genre with a comic Buttons, an earnest Dandini distributing invitations, the magic of the transformation into a ball gown and Shetland ponies pulling a carriage. You meddle with the stock characterisations as your peril which was obviously the starting point for the writer…

‘LOVE GODDESS The Rita Hayworth Musical’ at The Cockpit is a show with admirable intentions and ultimately, a loving tribute to Rita Hayworth, one of the formidable stars of the Hollywood golden age. The passion and heartfelt for her story are undeniably present in the cast of five multi-disciplined performers, but, unfortunately, it fails to push any boundaries to make this anything more than a…

The story of Rapunzel, the beautiful woman with golden hair who is locked in a tower is best known as one of the Brothers Grimm’s 1812 fairy tales and for its famous line “let down your hair” to give access to her room. Annie Siddons has developed the story into a full-blown Christmas children's entertainment aimed at primary school kids but with a few elements for their parents too by giving an…

Deborah Moggach’s book These Foolish things inspired a surprise hit 2012 film starring Judi Dench and Maggie Smith and a 2016-2020 TV series featuring Wayne Sleep, Paul Nicholas, and Selina Scott. Both benefited from placing these familiar faces in the actual setting of an Indian Hotel and showing their experiences in the wonderful culture around it. She has now adapted her book for the stage for…

At the heart of Leicester Square’s annual festive wonderful you will find a company of the very best of circus, comedy and cabaret, the cast of La Clique! Making their return to the West End, the show is headlining London’s Spiegeltent in Leicester Square from November 2022 until January 2023.As a huge fan of all things cabaret, I was thrilled to be invited along to the Press Night for the show on…