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West Side Story is the toast of Birmingham
It is quite rightly considered to be the greatest musical of them all, and last night ‘West Side Story’ at the New Alexandra Theatre mesmerised Birmingham with a production of power and intensity. A VIP audience was treated to a performance that had it all, a standout leading man, songs that made the heart both soar and ache in equal measure, dance that combined the most thrilling aspects of ballet and salsa in exhilarating form, and a ending that was tragic, and yet hopeful. West Side Story is a theatrical experience that shocked with its modernism and violence in the late 1950s, but has a story that still resonates today,…
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West Side Story is coming to The New Alexandra Theatre
It is probably the best musical of all, and certainly one that changed the nature of them, bringing the musical kicking and screaming into the 20th Century. And now it has embarked on a nationwide tour, and will be hitting Birmingham next week. Yes, it could only be the Jerome Robbins and Leonard Bernstein masterpiece, ‘West Side Story’, the show that transferred the doomed romance of Romeo and Juliet to the brutal gangs of New York. This new production of “WEST SIDE STORY” features the entire original Jerome Robbins choreography, and has already played to sell-out audiences around the world. It will now be coming to Birmingham’s New Alexandra Theatre…
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Review – Let it Be at the New Alexandra Theatre
For as long as I can remember, I have been a fan of The Beatles. As a child I had one of those ‘first’ record players (I know there are some people reading this right now thinking what’s a record player – grrr). These were the portable ones with a lid and a carry handle and it went everywhere with me. I used to plunder mom and dad’s record collection, and loved ‘From me to you’, ‘Hello Goodbye’ and ‘Get Back’ on that instantly recognisable Apple record label. For me, The Beatles are the standard that all other bands aspire to, their music is what the word ‘classic’ was invented…
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Reviewed – Tonight’s the Night at New Alexandra Theatre
The Rod Stewart musical Tonight’s the Night rocked into Birmingham on Monday night for a week long run at New Alexandra Theatre, and proved to be loud, raucous and most definitely crowd pleasing fun. The story, by Ben Elton, revolves around the plight of young Stuart, a (let’s be honest) harmless nerd with an almighty crush on the sweet Mary. Lacking in all the departments that he thinks attracts the ladies, he makes a pact with the (she) devil to swap his soul for that of his idol, that legendary rocker and undoubted ladies man, Rod Stewart. This works initially and he gets his girl, but having the soul of…
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Ghost floats into the New Alexandra Theatre
Do a quick straw poll to find the most heartbreaking, most romantic film of all time, and the chances are Ghost will be mentioned. The supernatural romance tugged a million heartstrings, tempted women everywhere to cut their hair a la the achingly gorgeous Demi Moore, and reinforced the fact that Patrick Swayze was the heart-throb of his generation. It also spawned a rather fantastic musical directed by the Tony award winning Matthew Warchus, with music and lyrics by Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics and Glen Ballard. This December, just in time for Christmas, Ghost The Musical will arrive in Birmingham, at the New Alexandra Theatre, promising to be a wonderful…
