Jackstage

 🌟 Camp Phoenix 🌟 8 February 2024  I  7:30pm  I  Lincoln Arts Centre  I  AD - PR Invite ★★★★★ After four years, the wildly innovative Zest Theatre make a triumphant return to the stage with their nationwide tour of Camp Phoenix, utilising the talents of local youth companies and professional performers. Having been very lucky to conduct an interview with some cast and crew (via Instagram), I had a approximate idea on the show's style. However totally removing any form of bias, nothing could have prepared me for the sheer honesty and sincerity this show displays. Such warm willingness to be open about life's challenges sent tons of goosebumps from beginning to end, and nearly even making me cry towards the finale! Everyone involved really captures the essence of what it means to be a young person in current climates; messages and morals that everyone can identify with. Camp Phoenix follows Zia as they enter a residential with newfound campmates, providing a vast range of chara

 🌟 Sister Act 🌟 1 February 2024  I  7:30pm  I  Curve Theatre, Leicester  I  AD - PR Invite ★★★★★ Sister Act: A Divine Musical Comedy opens its new UK tour stretch beginning at Leicester's Curve Theatre. I am beyond thrilled and thankful to have received an invite to review such a culturally monumental show! Made famous by the 1992 film, the stage adaptation features many original songs (Alan Menken), and they are funky and energetic bops! Even from the moment you enter the auditorium, you're greeted with a disco ball and 70s tunes to enhance the disco vibes. You'll have to strap me down to stop me from dancing! We follow music diva Deloris Van Cartier as her career hits a rut, after witnessing her boyfriend commit a heinous murder. Instructed to join the local convent, Delores transforms into Sister Mary Clarence... A woman of many profanities and extremely bright personality is bound to stand out! Landi Oshinowo is hilarious with this non-belonging, especially the confus

 🌟 The Woman In Black 🌟 31 January 2024  I  7:30pm  I  Grand Opera House, York ★★★★★ This landmark third visit to Eel Marsh house, home to the deceased Mrs. Jennet Humfrye, marks my 100th visit to the theatre, and also the 50th post to my Jackstage blog. Susan Hill's The Woman In Black consistently manages to enthral me almost five years after my previous visits. I have never been the bravest when it comes to the genre of horror, and the show still succeeds in setting my pulse racing, palms sweating and tensed up in my seat. It is extremely rare to see such thrilling shocks on stage, mostly due to the fact that it is so hard to perfect the suspense. Yet The Woman In Black is unquestionably a classic feat of how exactly you stage fear in its rawest form. One of my main concerns about this play touring is how well it would translate away from its home at London's Fortune Theatre. Though it really finds a way to embody York's Grand Opera House, a small and rickety old venue

 🌟 Calendar Girls 🌟 30 January 2024  I  7:30pm  I  Alhambra Theatre, Bradford  I  AD - PR Invite ★★★★ Calendar Girls sees the story of a Yorkshire Woman's Institute, comprised mostly of older ladies who pose for a nude calendar to fundraise after the loss of member Annie's husband. As a 19 year old male, it might sound that I'm not necessarily the target demographic for such a show. And to be honest, it wouldn't be one I'd typically book. However, I am very lucky to have received an invite from the fabulous Alhambra Theatre in Bradford to attend, and I found myself pleasantly surprised by what Calendar Girls stands to represent. The importance of human connection, and how insightful a different generation and gendered experiences can be, with lessons on friendship, love, loss, confidence and most of all resilience. Being from the north of England, there is such a cosiness in both the accents and general attitude, the heartiness of people supporting people. And I t

 🌟 The Wizard Of Oz 🌟 27 January 2024  I  2:30pm  I  Hull New Theatre ★★★★★ I have to be honest, and I feel like a terrible theatre kid for saying that I have never seen the 1939 film adaptation of The Wizard Of Oz, based off the L. Frank Baum original novel. I have seen clips from this fan favourite, and Nikolai Foster's direction is somewhat like a wild hallucination of colour and spectacle. However this is everything that draws me in to a musical. The production value is immensely impressive, with a hybrid multimedia design that revels in creative staging opportunities, enhancing the true magic of Oz. There's no place like... Hull when The Wizard Of Oz is here!! Returning to the style of multimedia, Douglas O'Connell's projection work breaks the traditional boundaries of what a stage musical can do, experimenting with such vivid imagery to bring the magic of the story to fruition. Set pieces (designed by Colin Richmond) are often fleeting, where combinations of lar

 🌟 Stranger Sings! A Parody Musical 🌟 13 January 2024 at 7:30pm at St George's Hall, Bradford ★★ Stranger Sings!, The Parody Musical of the hit Netflix series Stranger Things is out on the road after previously successful runs from London and beyond. With the genre of parody comes this expectation of exaggeration, though for me many moments felt senseless, struggling to get laugh out loud punches. Indeed, the show has its highlights which make me smile with it's childish stupidity of humour, yet a choppy structure and lack of originality didn't give me enough love for this production. In terms of discovering it's own independent show, this is something where the comedic stylings feel too forced at times. There are plenty of gags to keep Stranger Sings! afloat, but bouncing off some of the TV series' humour falls flat. Yes it is a safe hit for fans, but it's natural to crave uniqueness, and potential to find hilarity in the unexpected. Nor did the timings of th

 🌟 Evita 🌟 4 January 2024 at 7:30pm at the Curve Theatre, Leicester ★★★ Evita, the historical musical collaboration between Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, follows the late First Lady of Argentina Eva Perón, on a social climbing journey against the odds, to become one of the most popular female politicians internationally. Directed by Nikolai Foster, the Curve Theatre present a striking new adaptation, likened by many to Jamie Lloyd's Sunset Boulevard (which you can also find my review for!). However I will not be comparing the two shows, viewing Evita entirely as it's own respective show. This musical holds a lot of power, and I really felt this force, yet where Eva captures the hearts of the nation, I couldn't help but feel disconnected. Michael Taylor's set design is monumental, and it is hugely impressive to see a new wave of capabilities the Curve Theatre holds. Beyond the typical 'stage', the set has been entirely stripped back, where usual backstage a

 🌟 Pacific Overtures 🌟 31 December 2023 at 3:00pm at the Menier Chocolate Factory, London ★★★★★ Usually I tend not to have preconceptions on a show, but I had a gut feeling that Pacific Overtures, a Sondheim and Weidman collaboration, wouldn't be the show for me. However Matthew White's adaptation of the 1976 musical at the Menier Chocolate Factory blew me away with creativity, a visual spectacle that reflects on a colonised generation in the heart of Japan. The orchestrations are divine, each song leading with such sentiment, as the threat of westernization grows more menacing. As musical director, award winning Paul Bogaev is tremendous in leading a small orchestra to create such magical sound. We arrived in the auditorium early, so Bogaev came for a brief chat about how much he adores the production itself. And to be mindful of our feet, as such an intimate venue on one of the traverse's front rows is extremely close!! These moments are a real honour, to talk to indust

 🌟 Cabaret 🌟 30 December 2023 at 7:30pm at the Kit Kat Club / Playhouse Theatre, London ★★★★★ Following such an entrancingly masterful performance back in April, it was never a question of if we would return to the Kit Kat Club, but when! Kander & Ebb's illusive Cabaret continues to thrill London audiences, treating the experience not simply watching a musical, rather invited to a lustful club night, with expression at the heart of everything. Since our previous visit, the cast has significantly changed, and Cabaret really thrives on these cast changes. Every role brings an essence of melodrama, or rather such a potency with emotion. It becomes so fascinating to see a new actor step into these roles, and the breadth of their adaptation to make the character artistically their own. This really keeps the show fresh and alive, The minute you walk into the side door, you are thrown into the roaring 1920s, the highlight of West End immersion. Unless you have taken a visit, it is i

 🌟 White Christmas 🌟 22 December 2023 at 7:30pm at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield ★★★★★ This past week began with Oliver! at Leeds Playhouse, then moving on to Sunset Boulevard at the Savoy Theatre. It was a pleasure to return to the Crucible for White Christmas, just 3 days before Christmas Day itself for a merry and cheery festive warmer. Irving Berlin's musical does exactly that, driving the holiday rom-com that left me beaming from ear to ear the whole show. I have seen a couple shows at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, but this really astonished me with the venue's capabilities, such enchanting sequences that I never thought would be possible in such a condensed space. Seated on the second row (side) of the auditorium, there is such a closeness, and feeling of involvement. Directed by Paul Foster, the story of White Christmas is far from the show I expected. While it maintains the family dynamic characterised by Christmas, the story sees two army buddies team up with a

 🌟 Sunset Boulevard 🌟 21 December 2023 at 2:30pm at Savoy Theatre, London ★★★★★ Sunset Boulevard. Ahead of this afternoon's performance, I had never come across this musical before. It has taken me a while to truly comprehend the immense impact this show holds. The way people had spoken about it was like nothing else, the sheer level of astonishment bewildered me, but Sunset Boulevard at the Savoy Theatre is theatrical perfection, that really has to be seen to believed. I'm at a point where I've written over 40 reviews for my blog, and this is the first time I've been so lost for words. This reawakening of the Andrew Lloyd Webber original is one of the most exhilarating things in theatre to have existed, and I hardly doubt I will EVER forget this. Brought to the West End by the Jamie Lloyd Company, the vision for this adaptation of Sunset Boulevard is refined, that finds a haunting atmosphere in it's simplicity and isolated brutality. Lloyd's vision is phenome

 🌟 Oliver! 🌟 19 December 2023 at 7:00pm at Leeds Playhouse ★★★★ The newest revival of Lionel Bart's musical transformation of Oliver! completely strips away Leeds Playhouse's Quarry Theatre, reinvented for an in-the-round audience. Though still maintaining many of the classic elements of the show, this hugely raved about production really delivers an exuberant and lively dynamic, though at times left me wondering whether this staging style was the best fit. Nevertheless, directed by James Brining, the vision is glorious, and delivers some incredibly unexpected WOW moments. Led by Luke Holman's musical direction, the soundtrack is outstanding alongside whirring tensions, orchestrations (plus live onstage music and percussions) keep the immersive show contained and coordinated. Almost everyone knows a couple of scores from Oliver!, including Food, Glorious Food and Consider Yourself, it certainly feels like a warm reminder of the 1968 film I'd seen as a child. For those