A confession. When the Steel Magnolias film was first released, I skipped an afternoon from school to go and watch it. Like most young girls of the time, I was obsessed with Julia Roberts and her incredible hair, but totally fell in love with the rest of the formidable ladies the film features, and the actresses that played them. Fast forward 30 plus years, and it is still one of my favourite films with the ability to make me laugh out loud, and then cry a river. So I was truly looking forward to the stage version of the classic which had its press night at The Alexandra last night,…

Well, Sir Ian McKellen and John Bishop are the double act that I didn’t know I needed in my life, but boy I absolutely did. Last night they bought their version of the classic panto Mother Goose to the Wolverhampton Grand, and literally bought the house down with the fabulous, hilarious show. Vying just on the right side of naughty, with double entendres a plenty, Mother Goose is a reminder of the true power of the classic panto as entertainment that delights the whole family. It is an absolute hoot and frankly unmissable. Mother Goose is the sometimes forgotten classic panto, the story of the goose that laid the golden…

Strictly Ballroom is one of the most beloved, iconic films of recent years. A quirky love story in the world of Australian ballroom dancing, it had a little known cast and, at that time, a little known director, the soon to be massive Baz Luhrmann. It became a smash hit, with audiences delighted by its raucous Aussie sense of humour, and its great big heart. Now, in a new musical directed by the other Strictly’s Craig Revel Horwood, it is a smash hit once again, one that had its opening night at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre last night, and had the audience on their feet for a rousing standing ovation.…