UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

What do our stage stars remember most fondly from 2013? In this first part of our yearly round-up from some of our favourite performers, see what they say!...

Christmas (almost) endeth the year. Time to reflect? Well, of course! It's what one does. And what better venue to do it in than in a pub on Richmond Green with my nearest and dearest, where we shared our varying theatrical highlights and lowlights of the year....

The UK editor-in-chief reflects on the ups and downs of West End theatre in 2013. So, another busy year in the West End - and a busy year for BWW:UK. I've been the editor-in-chief of BWW:UK for nearly five years now, working closely with our US newdesk (and dealing with that inconvenient time differ...

All the tears! All the stars! as Lea Salonga and Michael Ball headline a moving Do You Hear The People Sing? in Shanghai....

Gary Naylor sees a revival of the show that made the company's name....

After premiering at the Edinburgh festival six years ago, Adam Long's clever romp through the life and work of Charles Dickens has been revived for Leicester Square's Arts Theatre's delightful 2013 Christmas Show....

Susie McKenna bites the bullet and gives a Puss in Boots that stays loyal to its complicated French story but still incorporates all the traditions of its madcap English format. It's a packed show, coming in at just over two and a half hours - fortunately the pace doesn't let up and the audience goe...

Gary Naylor sees a panto that lives up, or down, to its title....

Join Mouse on an adventurous journey through the deep, dark wood in Tall Stories' magical, musical adaptation of The Gruffalo, based the award-winning picture book by Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson MBE and Axel Scheffler....

Gary Naylor sees a funny and poignant play about love, intimacy and electricity....

Gary Naylor sees a convincing recreation of Britain's favourite double act...

There was plenty of stardust scattered about in the foyer at the opening of the new, magnificently appointed Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Theatre at Chiswick's Arts Educational Schools, Chiswick. There's TV's Claire Balding. And there's multi-award winning actor Robert Lindsay. And there's theatri...

Matthew Macfadyen and Stephen Mangan are the latest actors to try their hands at the eponymous roles in JEEVES AND WOOSTER IN PERFECT NONSENSE at the cosy Duke of York's Theatre....

A summary of the best and worst Scottish theatre of 2013....

Towards the end of Keeler (at the Charing Cross Theatre until 14th December) old newspaper photos flash on the big screen behind the stage and it all becomes clear....

Was Lee Harvey Oswald a lone gunman as he took aim at JFK from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository on November 22nd 1963, or was he the scapegoat for a cover-up by the FBI, CIA or a Mafia conspiracy?...

Kander and Ebb have an unrivalled ability to tackle a dark subject without making it maudlin. THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, one of the final collaborations of this prolific pair, is no exception. Taking the form of a minstrel show, The Scottsboro Boys tells the shameful story of nine boys arrested from a tra...

One has to admire the bravery of anyone who's willing to launch a brand-new musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre. Despite the successes of Hairspray and Rock of Ages, people seem to enjoy whispering about the 'curse of the Shaftesbury' due to its string of flops, and it seems to me that a fair number ...

Gary Naylor revisits an old friend of sorts - both the man and the show....

It's probably fair to say I didn't approach this screening from the most objective of standpoints: having seen the West End production of 'Merrily We Roll Along' four times, and having wanted to fit a few more trips in before it closed, I was already very much on board with the general critical cons...

Gary Naylor sees a show pushed just a bit too far....

The glorious Trevor Ashley brought Liza, drag and drama to the Lyric for one night only....

A dark comedy about a dying breed....

Miranda Sings is a very modern creation indeed. The comic alter ego of performer Colleen Ballinger, one of a growing number who can legitimately cite 'YouTuber' as their career, 'Miranda' has accrued millions of video views over the past five years. Her popularity seems to be growing too, if this we...

Gary Naylor sees a play about a flawed poet and one of the women he loved....