Yes, it’s Panto season and having been along to review a couple of productions for the Folkestone and Hythe Operatic and Dramatic society this year I was once again invited along this time to their annual Panto. Those of you that know me will know I am a big advocate of panto, not just as a form of theatre but
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With promotional material for The Messiah boldly announcing “three towering talents” playing a cast of thousands in “the funniest and most magical Nativity you will ever see”, the bar for my expectations was set very high. Patrick Barlow’s play, has evolved over the 35 years since its first incarnation – it has been a hit at the Edinburgh Fringe, been
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I hate Panto. Oh Yes I do…..or maybe I don’t.Tonight’s performance of Aladdin at The Orchard Theatre changed my outdated and somewhat jaded perception of pantomime and everything surrounding it. Admittedly I haven’t seen a full scale theatrical pantomime since I performed in one in the 80’S (in a strange twist of fate at The Orchard too) where I was
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A Christmas Carol by LMTO The story of A Christmas Carol needs no introduction, a festive favourite with music by Alan Menken and Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. Performed by London Musical Theatre Orchestra and some big Musical Theatre singers in concert format, this was a night I had been looking forward to for a while. LMTO really excelled themselves with
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Cinderella at The Churchill Theatre I will happily admit that when it comes to pantomimes I am a big kid. I love the tradition of them and recognise that often they may be a child’s first experience of live theatre or a family’s only trip to the theatre in a year. I was therefore thrilled to go along to review
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Plaid Tidings at Bridge House Theatre If your Christmas spirit levels are low, or you’re not feeling quite full to the brim of holiday cheer, a trip to see Plaid Tidings is the perfect remedy for you. Bridge House Theatre have a reputation for picking the cream of the Christmas crop, and this show is no deviation from their pattern
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Hot Gay Time Machine at Trafalgar Studios 2 Where do I even begin in describing Hot Gay Time Machine? We meet Zak Ghazi-Torbati and Toby Marlow who decide to use the time machine that they have discovered to revisit ‘seminal’ moments in their lives. Amongst other scenes we see them coming out to their parents, in the boys locker room
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Seussical The Musical Seussical is a musical aimed at all the family and based on the works of Dr Seuss. It tells of Hornton the Elephant who hears tiny voices coming from a clover. These voices turn out to be JoJo and her family who live on a tiny planet on this clover. Hornton sets out to save them. Along
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Stick Man at The Orchard Theatre On Monday 26th November I had the pleasure of taking my son and my parents to see Stick Man at The Orchard Theatre. Expectations were high as this is a Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler masterpiece and I was interested to see how well this would translate on stage. Scamp Theatre’s production however did not
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An Honourable Man If you are a writer of political dramas, you can do one of two things. You can take a broad-brush approach, eschewing detail and making grand points about totalitarianism or dictatorship or whatever, without bothering much about details of parliamentary procedure or campaign finances. The idea is that the terrible things that unfold in the drama could
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