UK / WEST END THEATER REVIEWS

The Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer turned into a gig venue on September 13th for Concrete Lates x Fabric. The lights were low, the crowd was very cool, and the “iconic electronic music institution Fabric” was celebrated for the role it's played in the dance music scene over the last 25 years. ...

Zoë Coombs Marr: Every Single Thing in My Whole Entire Life certainly has a fascinating hook -  the show description claims that it will be a “tell-all, personal storytelling comedy show.” Unfortunately, audiences actually learn very little about Coombs Marr’s life....

At once intimate and expansive, The Real Ones follows the friendship of Zaid and Neelam from age nineteen to thirty-six. Once kindred spirits, moving in sync, they fall out of step when the harsh reality of adult life sends them in different directions. Waleed Akhtar (Olivier winner for The P Word) ...

Another helping of Shakespeare, in this otherwise rather Eastern European-themed Prom. The BBC National Orchestra of Wales was guided through the evening’s events by Principal Guest Conductor Jaime Martín, who seemed to relish every moment of his appearance on the Royal Albert Hall stage, and br...

With a Jazz Age theme and plenty of cabaret, cocktails and close-up magic, London’s latest slab of immersive fun Rhythm & Ruse opens at The Vaults....

The Seventies were a time for cheesy pineapple, bellbottom jeans, Elton John, and ABBA. Written in 1977, Mike Leigh’s darkly comic picture of the English middle class turns out to be an evergreen classic. Revived some ten miles from the story’s real-life setting, this is Nadia Fall’s last show...

Almost thirty years since they last performed, London City Ballet are making a return to their former home at Sadler's Wells this week. Artistic director Christopher Marney has assembled a small company of talented dancers and in this Resurgence programme, a mixture of classic pieces half-forgotte...

From the writers of SIX, comes a brand-new British musical where the lonely little lives of two BFFs are transformed into an all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza about dates, mates, and celebrating love in all its forms....

Have you ever invited a guest to your own party and then seen them totally upstage you? If so, spare some sympathy for Kirill Richter who presented his new work The Sands Of Time alongside the National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan for one night only at the London Coliseum....

When Ali heads to the bright lights of New York in search of her mother, she finds herself drawn into a dazzling underground world where the beat of the music and the heat of the dance moves will change her life forever. Among this unlikely family of misfits, dreamers and schemers, Ali will unwittin...

Is it serendipity or a testament to good writing? A day after the government mandate two thousand prisoners to enjoy an early release a new production of Our Country’s Good premieres: a play about deported British convicts forging a new life in newly colonised Australia couldn’t be timelier....

I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again…but what The Coronet Theatre is doing feels new, relevant and exciting. Currently on show is The Belt - Past & Future by Korea's Ambiguous Dance Company. The work is The Coronet's first-ever site-specific event, and I think it's an absolute corke...

Kim’s Convenience is a tight hug of a show. There’s enough here for plenty of laughter and a little bit of heartstring-pulling. It’s not trying to be the next breakthrough or radical piece, and therefore, in its form, it’s great. If you’re looking for some warmth as the weather grows colde...

Featuring a press night appearance from creator Richard O’Brien and Jason Donovan as the suspender-donning scientist Frank N. Furter, The Rocky Horror Show returns to the West End. The raucous homage to the films and music of the 1950s as seen through a pansexual lens lays a claim to being the UK�...

I’m still not sure I’ve completely digested Ugly Sisters – maybe I never will. What I do know, however, is this: It is a show our families need. It is a show our industry needs. It is a show our country needs. Thank you, Laurie Ward and Charli Cowgill, I feel a little more confident in our fut...

Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss' new show Why Am I So Single? is billed as 'A big fancy musical'. Bright, bold and funny, it is unashamedly focused on the Gen-Z experience, but gets lost with indulgent in-jokes, repetition and an over-long running time....

“What angel wakes me from my flowery bed?” More often than not, when Shakespeare is adapted into different formats, the text is largely lost but the story remains - not so in this case. Benjamin Britten and his partner Peter Pears opted to go without a librettist, instead taking Shakespeare’s ...

There’s potential for Come Dine With Me: The Musical to become a Michelin-starred delight, and its Edinburgh Fringe production has the foundations for it. The cast are all great, the writing has its laughs and the songs are catchy. It just needs more time to simmer and extra spice to give it that ...

Gina Beck is a tremendous new Sarah Brown in London's must-see musical revival...

Possessing a booming yet silky tenor voice and a natural charm, it’s clear why Panaro’s career has been so successful. Even when accustomed to performing in thousand-seater theatres and working with heavyweights like Barbra Streisand and Elton John, his humbleness shines in this concert as he re...

Leigh’s husband was arrested for inappropriate sexual conduct with a minor. A teacher once loved by students and parents alike, he’s now out of prison and facing the casualties of his violent fall from grace. Playwright Carey Crim explores the effects of these serious allegations on the ones who...

The climax to the Proms' Choral Day could only be George Frideric Handel's majestic Messiah. This 1789 arrangement by Mozart was performed by The Academy of St Martin in the Fields, joined by an incredible six (yes six) choirs, conducted by an ebullient John Butt....

Heavily reliant on strong vocals...

“Visionary British composer Oliver Leith makes music that brings people together” seems like a very good place to start. Judging by the massive crowd at Bold Tendencies on September 7 he does just that....

It's not often one comes across theatre that's transformative; but when you do, you know. Case in point: ZooNation’s The Mad Hatter's Tea Party....