There was a distinctly yellow and blue feel to the Wolverhampton Grand last night, as ‘The SpongeBob Musical’ arrived in town for a week long run. Based on the much loved animated Nickelodeon series, the musical promises so much and delivers on all counts. Working as a family friendly musical that makes rye nods to everything from global warming to the Covid 19 pandemic, SpongeBob is a musical that has a whole lot of heart. I liked it a lot. The action takes place under the sea in Bikini Bottom, a happy place where everyone lives in harmony, with the exception of Sheldon J Plankton, who is constantly trying…

The Rock of Ages farewell tour reached Wolverhampton last night, and, once again, it proved to be an absolute wow! The musical that is a tribute to fright wigs, spandex, and music that can only be described as ROCK! has been one of the best nights you can have without being drunk for years, and now, in it’s farewell tour, we have one of the most iconic Dennis Dupree’s back in the cast, with Kevin Kennedy once again returning as the King of the Sunset Strip. I have seen Rock of Ages on numerous occasions, and have to say this is one of the great fun musicals of our times.…

Judy is the perfect 1950’s housewife. She devotes her whole life to her home and perfect hubby Johnny, keeping their 1950’s dream home spic and span, with dinner on the table and Johnny’s slippers warming in front of the fire for when he gets home from work. They seem to have it all, and are a model couple to their friends Fran and Marcus. But there is a fly in the ointment of this perfect life, it’s not the 1950’s, but the 2020’s, and Judy and Johnny’s perfect life is about to unravel, as the very modern worries of paying the mortgage, work promotions, mobile phones and the ‘me-too’ movement…

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a much loved film with a lot to say on the subject of growing old – the loneliness, the lose of a partner and of financial stability, and just the general fear of being past your usefulness. But it turns all these things on their heads when the protagonists of the story decide to go to India to revitalise their twilight years, turning the December of their lives into the time of their lives. Now, in a brilliant stage adaptation by Deborah Moggach, who wrote the original novel the film was based on, theatre audiences at the Wolverhampton Grand being treated to a wonderful…

Last night saw the press night for the much anticipated ‘Of Mice and Men‘ at the Birmingham Rep Theatre. This classic tale of friendship during the Great Depression is directed by Iqbal Khan and it is, quite simply, incredible,with brilliantly intense performances by the whole cast, and themes of poverty, oppression, racism and sexism that are still totally relevant today. This is a superb piece of theatre that is, frankly unmissable. George and Lennie are long term friends, a friendship that is often tested to the max. Lennie is a big hulk of a man but is mentally impaired in terms of his learning, which often leads to serious problems…