Is He Musical

 Review by: Paul Towers, 23 February 2022

Is He Musical by  Jude Taylor

An MP Theatricals production

At Curve: 23 Feb as part of DMU Pride

 “Gay life in the 1930’s”

 

It’s 1933 and, between wars, the bright young things are partying. Tucked away in secret locations the gay sub culture of London has its own parties.

Laurence (Barry O’Reilly) and Wilfred (Teddy Hinde) meet up at the Trocadero away from prying eyes. Wilfred is an old hand on the gay scene and is a footman to a lord; Laurence is a wet-behind-the-ears son of a wealthy family and looking for a mentor to steer him through his initiation into gay life. Inevitably they fall out over a man but their friendship endures.

Laurence is a musician and makes a living working in West End shows while Wilfred’s footman is the sexual plaything of his employer.

This is an original musical by Jude Taylor and was work-shopped at Curve in June 2021 and is now back as a fully fledged musical.

The stage is set with a bar and a lounge while there is an onstage trio of musicians, including MD Francesca Fenech, along with a handy screen.

Is He Musical is at The Other Palace, London 25-26^th February

 

MP Theatricals : https://tinyurl.com/y7uj4kre

Curve https://www.curveonline.co.uk/
http://ptheatre.blogspot.co.uk/

 

How to live a jellicle life

 

Review by: Paul Towers, 16 February 2022

how to live a jellicle life: life lessons from the 2019 hit movie musical ‘cats’

An Awkward Production

At Upstairs at The Globe 16-17 February 2022

 “Linus Karp’s acclaimed homage to the film Cats”

 Leicester Comedy Festival is back and for 3 weeks the city and surrounding area is alive with laughter.

I headed in to a new venue to me, The Globe on Silver Street, to see Linus Karp’s acclaimed homage to the film Cats.

Upstairs there is a bijou performance space that holds an audience of just 40 which makes any performance very intimate.

With two sold out runs which were interrupted by the dreaded Covid, Karp is now back with an updated show with uptodate references and is touring the whole of the UK.

This is an hilariously irreverent tribute to ‘the  2019 hit movie musical ‘cats’', as Linus insists on calling the critically mauled movie, is huge fun.

Delivered in Linus Karp’s cutely idiosyncratic Swedish accent it is sometimes hard to know if he is being serious or ironic. Whatever, we laughed anyway.

With an anarchic PowerPoint presentation causing chaos this is an entertaining and sometimes educational hour for both aficionados of the film and complete newbies.

How to live a jellicle life is on at Upstairs at The Globe again on Thursday 17^th Feb. Go see it and be jellicle!

 Book tickets at: linktr.ee/jellicle

Leicester Comedy Festival: https://comedy-festival.co.uk/

https://www.theglobeleicester.com/
http://ptheatre.blogspot.co.uk/

 

Bedknobs and broomsticks

Review by: Paul Towers, 10/2/2022

Disney’s Bedknobs and Broomsticks

A Michael Harrison presentation

Directed by Candice Edmunds and Jamie Harrison

Original music and lyrics Richard & Robert Sherman

New music and lyrics Neil Bartram

At Curve: 9 –13 February 2022

 “Bobbing along until Saturday”

 I must have seen the Disney film, released in 1971, on TV at some point but the only thing I can remember is Angela Lansbury singing Bobbing Along on a flying bed. Thankfully that little memory is still in the current touring stage version although the song is given mainly to the children.

So I went into the theatre with a fairly open mind and no unrealistic expectations. Which is probably a good thing as the first 5 minutes or so was baffling. It involved a simplistic scene setting dance with village hall style scenery which turned out to be at odds with the rest of the production. The purpose was to place the action at the outbreak of World War 2 with the parents of the children being killed in an air raid and the three siblings being evacuated to the country. This could have been done in a much more straightforward way and smacked of directorial self indulgence.

However once the children were ensconced in their safe house and the mysterious Eglantine Price (here played with great gusto by understudy Emma Thornett and channelling Mary Poppins at times) the story started to make sense.

The production relies a great deal on the children and their abilities.  Robin Simoes Da Silva (playing Charlie) was perfect as the older sibling while understudy Sam Lapton was an outrageous Emelius Browne, the failed magician. The other standout character was Mrs Hobday (Jacqui Dubois), the local post lady.

It is telling that included in the list of production staff is a Covid Manager. Sadly a sign of the times and, with such a large cast, a vital necessity if the show is not to be cancelled at short notice.

All in all this is a worthwhile production but don’t expect the full Disney treatment. This is a touring show that has to be economically viable. That said the flying of both the broomstick and the bed are very realistic and vast amounts of black light work keeps the magic flowing.

There is obviously a very complicated technical get-in for this show which is why in most venues it only stays for 4 days.

Tonight’s show was sold out but there are a few tickets left for the rest of the week and  is ideal for children of all ages

Bedknobs and Broomsticks is at Curve til Saturday 13^th February and then continues touring.

 

https://www.bedknobsonstage.com/tour-dates

Curve https://www.curveonline.co.uk/

http://ptheatre.blogspot.co.uk/