Charlotte Downes - Page 2

Kate Budgen's production of The Importance of Being Earnest at The Watermill Theatre is laugh-a-minute funny. The audience are chuckling out loud throughout and it's a lovely experience to be a part of that collective joy.

Mariah Carey's Caution World Tour kicked off its European leg in Dublin last week. It's spending three nights at London's Royal Albert Hall before taking off to France, Spain, Denmark, Germany and Holland.

Michael Ball is touring his new album 'Coming Home To You', which he proudly announces is his first number one selling album for 27 years. From the opening song, people were on their feet dancing. The atmosphere in the Palladium is excellent as his fans are so adoring!

Curve Productions, at Rose Theatre in Kingston, have teamed up with the National Circus Training Academy to create a magical adaptation of Dr Seuss' The Cat in the Hat.

New York. August 1965. Young men in America are being called up to fight in Vietnam and the burning of draft cards has just been made illegal.

Christopher Marlowe's Edward II is one of the earliest English history plays, and tells the story of the title character, his infatuation with his favourites and the dissent of his disapproving peers. It is a tragedy, replete with violence, gore and death.

James Barr's Thirst Trap is an outrageously funny exploration of modern dating. Following a four-star run at the Edinburgh Fringe last year, the two London dates have been extended to four at Above the Stag in Vauxhall.

The titular character in Batavia Productions' In Conversation with Graham Norton is a small framed photograph from Norton's BBC Radio 2 show, which has been signed. He doesn't say much. The photograph is placed on top of an eighties style wireless by the lead and only character, Mark, played by Jay Parsons. Mark has been inspired by Saturday morning feature, "Grill Graham" to talk through his problems and his worries, his hopes and his dreams, with someone who earns a living through talking to people about their lives and helping them with their issues.

London's newest West End Cabaret venue, The Space @ Studio 88, welcomes Giovanni Spano to sing to an intimate audience of devoted fans, one of whom has seen him at least 600 times. The compact venue and his family's presence around the front table, chipping in whenever they could, made it feel like Gio giving a concert in the family living room and we were privileged to be party to it. He was close enough to sit on the audience's laps and, at one point, he actually did.

Fresh off the Bat Out of Hell rollercoaster, Christina Bennington plays her first solo concerts to a full house at The Crazy Coqs. This 'deep dive into all parts of [her] voice,' as Bennington described it, treats fans to 16 songs of varied styles and characters which beautifully showcase her range as a performer.

The Purple Room, Palm Springs, 1971. The Crazy Coqs is transformed as Sinatra: Raw takes up residency, following its success at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Presented by James Seabright, and starring Richard Shelton, the show simulates Sinatra's final intimate performance in the room where the Rat Pack was born. It is bitter sweet, as the disillusioned Frank relives the low points of his life, still seething from rejections nearly thirty years old, but his tales of woe are punctuated with the songs we know, and love and we see the character take refuge in the music and come alive.

Immersion Theatre's Seussical is a joyous celebration of all things Dr Seuss. It hinges on the story of Horton Hears a Who!, but also features favourites such as The Cat in the Hat in an Emcee-esque role and cameos from The Grinch and the classic Green Eggs and Ham.