A bit of gang rivalry, a bit of Romeo and Juliet, some gangster overtones and set in modern London – well never mind that as the story was merely an excuse to bring to the stage the music of Frank Farian artists including Boney M, Milli Vanilli (my favourite even if they weren’t real singers) and No Mercy. Although I wouldn’t call the show exactly newsworthy it was a fun enough evening.

The headlining “stars” in the show were Michelle Collins (apparently from East Enders), Harvey from Solid Crew and Javine as ‘Asia Blue’. Harvey and Javine delivered as expected I guess and were definitely the strongest performers on stage (outshining the two leads by a long mile). I really did like Javine’s performance during the show but towards the end she did start putting it on which was a bit much.

The singing and the dancing were the best points of the show as the story line was to be honest a bit naff (huge cheese factor) and the acting a little bit wooden. Oh, actually the set was pretty amazing except for one of the props, something you can see throughout the whole show, which made a brief and bizarre appearance at the end. Probably one of the most useless contributions I’ve ever seen but hey its something to talk about during interval.

Overall I enjoyed myself but probably because it was the music from my younger years and so brought back some interesting memories. Also I don’t know how I would have felt if I’d had to pay the full £45 for a ticket. People who did pay that price might probably feel a little bit cheated.

Evita follows the story of Eva Peron as she journeys from her small town to her greatest moment and then to her eventual, and tragic, death from cancer. The newsreel of her death at the beginning of the musical is both haunting and emotional. And this emotional start for the musical really does set the pace for the rest of the show.

I’m not really sure how to critique this version of Evita as I’ve never seen the musical before nor any movie production so I had nothing to compare it to. However I was glad to have read a little of Eva Peron’s biography as it made interpreting what was going on on stage that much easier. I get the feeling that a two hour musical is never going to quite capture the true spirit of Eva Peron and the true impact that she had on so many people’s lives in the short period she was with us.

Overall I quite enjoyed the musical. The music was great and the set well produced. The only disappointment of the night was not getting a look in at Elena Rogers as Eva, though her understudy seemed to come across fairly well.

For something a little different Jen suggested we go catch a play at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park. Tickets had been sold out for quite a while so the weather being rather sh!te actually worked in our favour for once. As it looked like the performance was going to be a wash out quite a few people had cancelled their tickets so, even though we were at risk of being caught in a downpour, we grabbed a couple of the returns. There was of course the option of buying the cheaper tickets on the grass but I wasn’t interested in getting grass stains and a wet bum on a very cool summer night.

Open Air Theatre comes annually to Regent’s Park so take advantage of it whilst its around. It was actually pretty nice to be out in the fresh evening air to be enjoying the play – but I would definitely try and get as close to the stage as possible to enable both being able to hear the actors and see the detail in both their expressions but also the stage. Of course it also helps that the weather is fine. Luckily for us it only threatened to rain a few times and even when the sky opened up it was only for a light splatter. It was rather amusing though to see, and hear, the ripple in the crowd at any hint of rain as all the paranoid people raised their umbrellas and doned their shells.

A quick summary about the play. Based on Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, the play tells the story of one father with unwed two daughters – the elder, Katherine, with her sharp tongue, critical and opinionated and the younger, Bianca, the fairer and supposedly sweeter one. The younger has no end of suitors but the father insists she will not be wed before her elder sister. The three men in “love” with Bianca conspire with a man, Petruchio, who only wishes to marry someone of wealth no matter the temperament, that he should win Katherine’s, or do whatever is necessary to do so, to clear the path for them to woo Bianca. That Petruchio will Tame the Shrew.

Not being familiar with the original version by Shakespeare I’m not sure how close it stuck to Shakespeare’s formula. The play was definitely spoken in Shakespearean language and comparing it with the movie 10 Things I Hate About You, loosely based on the original, I’m sure it came pretty close. At first I have to admit understanding what the actors were saying was a bit difficult but after some hard concentration I started to get the flow of the conversations. Being up close and being able to see the facial expressions of the actors also really helped.

I’m not sure I totally agree with, let alone like, the ending of the play with Katherine eventually totally subjugating herself to Petruchio’s commands and wishes after some interesting techniques by Petruchio to tame her obstinate and shrew-like behaviour. However, it was tempered in part with Petruchio seemingly falling in love with Katherine such that you may believe that he too, should Katherine wish it, would subjugate himself to her wishes. So even though the main message appeared to be man’s dominance over woman the message was not as strong as it could have been.

Overall it was a fun evening out. The play was entertaining and had quite a few laughs for the attentive audience. Watch out also for the rather “explosive” ending.

Not sure how long The Woman in Black has been running on the West End but I daresay it has been around for quite some time. To be honest for a long time I kept confusing this with the Andrew Lloyd musical The Woman in White which people assured me had nothing to do whatsoever with this play. At any rate The Woman in White is now long gone and tonight was the time for The Woman in Black.

The Woman in Black is a thriller that will have some of you jumping out of your seat with fright and possibly squealing just a little bit, though I must say I was surprised to find out I wasn’t really in either of those categories.

This play is very smartly written to deliver maximum story and maximum characters with a core cast of only two males and one female (who will obviously play the Woman in Black.) Basically, a young aspiring solicitor receives instructions to clean up the estate of a recently deceased woman. At first he is positively enthusiastic about the experience but soon finds out that all is not as it seems in her mysterious house which is located in a very remote and spooky part of the town. Soon he too falls victim to the curses and the ghost of the house. Many many years later he seeks to exorcise this ghost by telling his story. What we see is his rehearsal of the story with the aid of a director who more than brings the tale to life.

I must say I was very impressed with the play. Although the first half dragged on a bit it gets so much more exciting. The actors were brilliant and the set was amazingly adaptable to all the varying scenes required to tell the tale. The sound effects definitely play their part and an active imagination will also help you enjoy the play. Is it awful to admit it was funny to see people literally jump from their seat and also scream in fright? The nervous giggle from them afterwards was even funnier.

Overall a good enjoyable play that I’m happy to recommend.

Its been a while since I’ve seen a play with the last play I saw being over seven weeks ago so when I saw that Juliette Lewis was starring in Fool For Love with the hunky kiwi Martin Henderson I thought why not. I didn’t realise it at the time when I made bookings for this show but this is not the first time this play has been produced or even shown in the West End. In fact, it was even made into a movie back in 1985 starring the writer of the play, Sam Shepard, and Kim Basinger.

Fool for Love is a passionate, violent, rough and steamy affair. May and Eddie are on and off again lovers, and have been since their teenage years. They shouldn’t be together but can’t seem to live without each other. May is desperately trying to break their bond and Eddie seems to only want May on his terms – basically when there is a threat that he can’t have her, a threat that includes May’s latest beau.

There are only four characters in the play with May, Eddie, May’s latest beau and a strange old man who sits rocking the corner, so the play relies on all four characters acting their heart out. Juliette Lewis seems very well suited to May allowing her to embrace her true rock star self, and to once again play that white trash skanky female character, but at times came across as a little whiny and Martin Henderson is dreamy as Eddie the cowboy/stuntman and though he seemed to struggle with the accent early on settles with negligent ease into his character. The play is actually quite physical with both Juliette and Martin hitting the walls a number of times, a lot of moving to and fro and door slams (there is a lot of that!) emphasised by thunder.

Overall, Fool for Love was involving but I wouldn’t say mesmerising. Its very intense as you will have to focus for the entire play with no interval and really no breaks between the scenes and you may, like myself, find yourself wiggling around in your seat so your butt doesn’t get numb. I could also see where the story was going in the end and though a little shocking probably is less so in this day and age. An interesting drama to be sure but that’s pretty much all it is.

…more like musical horror show. Perhaps I’m being a tad harsh. I think to really enjoy tonight ‘s performance you needed to have seen, and remembered, the original stage production or the huge 1975 movie or even any subsequent remake since then or have some basic understanding of what is going on.

The Rocky Horror Show tells the tale of a couple of “square”: Brad (or “@rsehole” to the crowd) and Janet (“Sl*t) who find themselves stuck in a remote area in the spooky woods when their car breaks down. They stumble upon a castle where they are about to experience the most interesting of evenings. Host is Dr. Frank N. Furter who is celebrating his creation of his hunky playmate Rocky (who has a body to die for if you like that sort of thing). What follows are some very strange sexapades and even a bit of violence. Its a pretty in your face production tackling subjects such as homosexuality, adultery, cannibalism, cross-dressing, transvetism etc.

I’ve been to some West End musicals which have involved the crowd getting up and dancing on their feet but this show is the one that has contained the most spontaneous crowd involvement with the crowd constantly shouting out responses to whatever happened on stage including jeering characters, shouting them off stage, yelling out vulgar jokes etc. Half the time I wasn’t sure if it was a set-up (that is, a planted audience member) or just people who really knew the show well. Clearly crowd involvement has extended beyond the verbal abuse in other showings/screenings to throwing things and cigarette lighting so there was a very stern warning at the beginning of the show that there was to be none of those shenanigans. Oh and true fans will also make sure they are dressed for the occasion.

For me this crowd involvement, next to the thoroughly engaging actor who played Dr. Frank N. Furter, was one of the highlights of the show although some of the gags got a bit old in the end and didn’t always delivery when the timing was slightly out. I guess this says something about the production if I felt that the crowd involvement was a highlight, and not the cast performance!

Overall the show felt a little confusing and although I’m sure the cast are usually probabably very good singers at tonight’s performance, with the exception of Dr. Frank N. Furter (can you tell I really liked him) and Janet, voices were very shrill and overly loud. There is no danger that you are going to fall asleep in this musical but I suggest that if you really want to enjoy it – get out a copy of the movie and watch it earnestly, pick and dress up as your favourite character, turn up and be ready to party. Its not the greatest production but true fans of the cult won’t care as they are just there for a good night out.

If there is one show that you shouldn’t take your (young) children to, its definitely this one. Avenue Q has been likened to a Sesame Street for Adults and with themes such as homosexuality, racisim, internet and porn, and just life in general, I think I tend to agree. I read a review in the Metro and the following phrase is pretty apt: ” … if Avenue Q were brought to you by any letters at all, they would probably spell a swear word.” Great line. You will find that Avenue Q is unlike any show on the West End at the moment. In addition to the puppets, it nice to see a show that although dealing with potentially depressing matters, does not try to sugar coat things and in fact embraces the reality of life rather trying to escape from it. There is profanity and *gasp* even puppet sex. Yikes.

Princeton (a puppet) has newly graduated with a BA in English. He comes to New York seeking out his purpose in life and wonders what he can do with his BA. In New York, and specifically on Avenue Q, he meets the strangest set of neighbours. Firstly you have the puppets: Kate Monster, the cute loveable kindergarten teaching assistant; Trekkie Monster, the hilarious internet (and porn) addict; and Rod and Nicky (Bert and Ernie I hear you say.) Then you have the three humans: Brian (a wannabe comedian), his Japanese wife Christmas Eve and finally the super Gary Coleman. Hmm. Mixed together the neighbours go through ups and downs and “find” themselves and grow into who they’re meant to be in the end. Look out also for Lucy the Slut who is hilarious.

There are no attempts at hiding the humans behind the puppet and I found that this really added to the show because their facial and bodily expressions I think really made the show. They all must have had amazing energy with really four people managing all the puppetry all over the stage. It really was impressive to see how seamless the changes were.

Overall, this has to be have been one of the funniest shows I’ve seen during my time in London. The writing is smart and new just the right thing to say without going too far. Definitely a show that must be seen.

I booked tickets to this show purely on the fact that Alanis Morissette was going to be in it so I had no idea what the play was going to be about. What we got was an education on faith especially in the face of death.

The Exonerated tells the true stories of six innocent survivors of death row, each convicted for a crime they didn’t commit and sentenced to death. The stage was set out fairly simply with 10 chairs set out in a row. Each survivor tells their story but we switch between each of them as we find out how they came to be on death row and their escape. As an interview type format is undertaken, with the audience as the interviewer, we are drawn in and able to feel the emotion that each survivor, and their family, feels.

It is at first heart-breaking when you hear of the circumstances of their conviction but then inspirational as each and every suvivor finds something in them to believe that justice will win out, and that life is too short to spend it angry and vengeful. So even though these survivors have never received compensation for their wrongful conviction you get the feeling from their testimonials that freedom was enough for them.

The Exonerated is a play that I would recommended. Sure it seems like a biting attack on the US legal system and also raises questions about whether the death penalty has a place in any legal system but ultimately its about the amazing fortitude of these six survivors and the importance of hope in all our lives.

As a side note Alanis Morissette didn’t break out in song in the middle of this.

Whistle Down the Wind is based on a book which, when published in the late 1950s, was risky for its time. The book was also followed by a movie so the content of the musical is not original. Though there have been some changes to the stage adaptation the story remais basically the same.

Three motherless children (Swallow, Brat and Poor Baby) discover an escaped criminal in their barn and mitakenly assume he is Jesus Christ. The musical is set in the 1950s in the south and tensions are high in a town filled with racism and religious righteousness.

This show was an Andrew Lloyd Webber production so I was expecting some great and memorable songs. I’m not sure it really delivered. There were a number of songs I thought were either unnecessary, went overly long or were reprises of songs already sung. No Matter What, the most memorable song, I’m sure was reprised up to maybe five times during the show. Just as well it was a good song! The singing was pretty good and the kids as a whole (probably outnumbering the adults) were especially cute and sweet. The orchestra were great, as usual.

As for the two main leads, Claire Marlowe, as Swallow, was sweet but at times seemed a little tense in playing her supposedly 15 year old character. Aussie Tim Rogers was definitely a fit muscular Jesus Christ and definitely gave his all in his numbers.

To use the words of American Idol judge Randy Jackson, It was just alright for me.

Just wanted to note that The Palace is one of the nicer theatres I’ve been to. Gorgeous and ornate surrounds, they keep the lighting low to give a warm intimate atmosphere.