theatre
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WBOS Love Never Dies: Just Stunning
The little known sequel to Phantom of the Opera was given a rare revival in Wolverhampton tonight, and shows why it might just be Lloyd Webber’s lost masterpiece. The West Bromwich Operatic Society breathed wonderful new life into the story at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, which reveals where the phantom disappeared to in the aftermath of the Paris fire at the Opera House, with the action now transferred to bright, and yet still unworldly surroundings of Coney Island. This is where the phantom has been living, hidden, in his created vaudeville theatre Phantasma. The return of his one true love Christine to New York, to perform at the request of…
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Life Of PI: An Awe-Inspiring Spectacle
The spectacular Life of Pi continued its UK tour last night with its press night at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, and once again proved why this is a play that must be seen to be believed, such is the brilliance of its puppetry, its staging and the central performance by Divesh Subaskaran. The much loved novel by Yann Martel is brought to life in a riot of colour and beauty, but it is the very human story of loss and endurance at its centre that lingers long after you leave the theatre. We first meet Pi in a Mexican hospital in 1978, where he reveals his story to accident investigator…
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The Motive And The Cue – Live From The National Theatre
Many cinemas are now showing National Theatre productions on the big screen, and last week, The Light Cinema in Walsall showed a new play, The Motive and the Cue, written by Jack Thorne and directed by Sam Mendes. This premiered on 21 April 2023 at the National Theatre in London, and is now having sporadic filmed showings at selected cinemas around the country. The film of the play portrays the behind the scenes history of the 1964 Broadway modern-dress production of William Shakespeare ‘s Hamlet which starred Richard Burton as the title character in a production directed by Sir John Gielgud . The history of this play was fraught due…
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Emma Rice’s Bluebeard – Bold, Brave And Brilliant
A new show opened at The Rep Birmingham last night that was stylish, shocking and utterly spellbinding. Emma Rice’s retelling of Bluebeard was described by The Guardian as a ‘fairy tale’ but for me it is more like a horror story told in the style of a Wiemar Republic cabaret, complete with seductive songs and performances. This is a show that has it all, a murderous central story, a charismatic villain, beautiful heroines in red shoes, magic tricks and a kick ass nuns. But it also has a modern day story to run alongside the Bluebeard legend, a tale of a talented singer who never made it home after a…
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Bette And Joan At The Oldbury Rep
If you loved the classic book, ‘Bette and Joan, the Divine Feud‘* by Shaun Considine, and adored the TV series *which starred Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange, then the stage play Bette and Joan by Anton Burge, that was staged last week at the Oldbury Rep would definitely have been right up your street. A two header, starring two of the brightest stars in Midland Repertory theatre, Carol Deakin and Sue Portsmouth, this is the funny, often rude, yet sad and poignant story of two legendary stars, now the wrong side of 40, filming a story that is destined to be an iconic, camp, classic, ‘Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?’…
