Louise Penn — Theater Critic

Some changes have inevitably been made by the new creative team, notably the removal of "The Battle of the Pekes and the Pollicles", and a different staging for "Macavity" and Grizabella's ascent to the Heavyside Layer. Happily, though, Rum Tum Tugger (Jaydon Vijn) is back to being sexy rock star rather than rapper, and all the better for it.  The other iconic characters - Jennyanydots (Charlotte Riby), Bustopher Jones (Elliot Broadfoot), Gus the Theatre Cat, crooked Macavity (Dianté Lodge), magical Mr Mistoffelees (Jet Yau) - are beautifully portrayed.  Jenny and Bustopher are light and fun, while Gary Wilmot brings pathos and pluck to the old timer, Macavity offers impressive dance moves - bar a stumble that looked accidental - and Mr Mistoffelees is appropriately, well, magical.

Beautiful Little Fool is one of those shows that doesn’t quite get to the heart of its characters, regardless of the inspiration. F Scott himself is extremely underwritten, and Michael Greif’s direction isn’t quite enough to rectify that.

This musical of 50 First Dates tones down a lot of the crude humour found in the film, and produces a very safe piece of entertainment. It's an accomplished work on the whole which should attract fans of the rom-com genre or feel-good musicals in general.

This musical of 50 First Dates tones down a lot of the crude humour found in the film, and produces a very safe piece of entertainment. It's an accomplished work on the whole which should attract fans of the rom-com genre or feel-good musicals in general.

Long Day's Journey Into Night is a good example of a play that needs to take time to grow, dropping little hints along the way of when this family could have been happy, could have captured a moment that didn't bring them to this crisis. It's a play which weighs its words and sees the story through each of the four character's eyes.

Did I like this show? As a devotee of the book, I appreciated what it was trying to do but didn’t feel the emotional engagement I expected. For those who don’t know the novel, this could be confusing despite its length (2 hr 15 plus interval). Does it work as a musical? While it is, thankfully, no Gone With The Wind, it is currently missing something despite some strong performances. It could do with quietly removing a number or two and is too bombastic for its venue.