Don Giovanni, Glyndebourne
The darkness descends with the shocking first chord of the Overture brutally shutting out a beautiful day at Glyndebourne. Such comedy as there is in this show (and that aspect of the piece is kept well in…
The Life of the Party, Menier Chocolate Factory
I still regard myself as an Andrew Lippa newbe – though now that his recent outing at the St James Theatre has morphed into fully-produced all-singing, all-dancing London show with props and projections and costumes and lights…
Rags revisited
It managed 18 previews and just four performances on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in 1986 and what I wouldn’t have given to have seen the great Teresa Stratas in the central (very central) role of…
A sneak preview of Goodall and Hart’s “Bend It Like Beckham – the Musical”
It is the afternoon of Friday 2 May in the none too prepossessing upstairs studio of the Dominion Theatre and I am one of a privileged few invited to a workshop reading of the West End bound…
A View from the Bridge, Young Vic
These days it almost goes without saying that something extraordinary is happening at the Young Vic. There hasn’t been a show I have seen there over the last two years that didn’t challenge and excite my theatrical…
CLASSIC FM – Charlotte Green’s Culture Club – Sunday 3-5pm
In my debut on CLASSIC FM I’ll be popping up regularly on Charlotte Green’s Culture Club – Sunday 3-5pm – with selective tips for all that’s best in live Classical Music, Opera, and Musical Theatre. Short and…
Happy Days, Young Vic
“Happy Days”. It’s a throw-away phrase, an all-purpose “we’re still here” pleasantry, a little more specific than “cheers” and perhaps a bit (some would say a lot) more hopeful. Samuel Beckett’s devastating play turns it into a…
Claudio Abbado 1933-2014
Conductors achieving superstar status are rarely shy, self-effacing, and humble – but that was the paradox characterising Claudio Abbado throughout his extraordinary career. I came in during the nine years he was Principal Conductor of the London…
Putting It Together, St James Theatre
Watching the Stephen Sondheim/Julia McKenzie compilation cabaret Putting It Together (is that a fair description of this hybrid?) in its latest incarnation – courtesy of producer/musical supervisor Alex Parker – one’s thoughts turn once more to the…
BBC RADIO 3 – CD REVIEW “BUILDING A LIBRARY” Saturday 8 March
This prime spot on Radio 3’s flagship programme CD REVIEW is easily the most challenging that any music journalist can undertake – and having braved that challenge on countless occasions over the last three decades with the mighty…
