Incident at Vichy, Finborough Theatre, London ★★★★½

Reviewed for The Reviews Hub: With the state of current political events, and right wing ideologies gaining strength and power both sides of the Atlantic, it is perhaps inevitable that our live theatre is responding with material heavily influenced by themes of fascism in World War II. Into that category falls Incident at Vichy, a…

The Life, Southwark Playhouse, London ★★★★

Reviewed for Musical Theatre Review: There are many musicals that deal with society’s underclass, and its criminal element. The Life is one such piece: with music by Cy Coleman (Sweet Charity, City of Angels) and lyrics by Ira Gasman (who co-wrote the original book with David Newman), this 20-year-old Broadway musical deals with prostitutes and…

Thoroughly Modern Millie, Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury ★★★

Reviewed for The Reviews Hub: Based on the 1967 movie devised as a Julie Andrews vehicle, the 2002 Broadway production of Thoroughly Modern Millie, which is revived here, expands upon the original film’s appropriation of 1920s music by grabbing and adapting songs and styles from many other places. No other musical could claim a speakeasy…

Interview: The Life director Michael Blakemore

Originally published on Musical Theatre Review: Opening this week, The Life at Southwark Playhouse is a revival of a musical which has not been seen since its original Broadway production 20 years ago. For this anniversary revival, the show’s original director Michael Blakemore has returned to the show. With music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by…

Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury ★★★

Originally reviewed for The Reviews Hub: Alan Janes’ Buddy, the granddaddy of jukebox biography musicals, opened in October 1989. Which means that, at the spritely age of 27, this musical is now five years older than its protagonist was at his death in 1959. And truth be told, that age is beginning to show, particularly at…

Ellen Kent Opera: Nabucco, Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury ★★★

Originally reviewed for The Reviews Hub: Giuseppe Verdi’s Nabucco, telling the story of the persecution of Israelites by the Babylonians, has over the decades come to be treated as an allegory for contemporary oppression in Europe. The work’s most famous choral tune, Va, pensiero, better known as the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, has resonated from…