THEATRE

THEATRE VISITS - 2011

NEXT

At the Empire: Marty Wilde and the Wildcats were in terrific form; Joe Longthorne's act was poor but seemed to satisfy his fans;  the Rat Pack tribute was dire. The Headliners' shows on the Aurora were fabulous and the cruise had the bonus of a Music Festival at Sea hosted by John Brunning with 12 classical musicians including the dynamic pianist, Cristiano Burato and the inspirational choral director, Jeffrey Howard. 

I went to the theatre more times in 2011 than in any previous year and saw some amazing performances: Tracie Bennett in End of the Rainbow; Sarah Parks in Marlene; Cush Jumbo in As You Like It; the whole cast of Street Scene (particularly Kate Nelson and Elena Ferrari); Daniel Evans in Company; Richard Fleeshman and Caissie Levy in Ghost. Ghost takes musicals to a whole new level - I rated it very highly. It was far, far superior to Betty Blue Eyes which, unsurprisingly, didn't last long. However, I enjoyed Love Never Dies and felt it should have been more successful.  Billy Elliott has had a long run but it failed to impress me. The best dancing was in Top Hat which had a 24 strong dancing chorus performing some terrific routines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zac

Harold Brighouse

Royal Ex. Manchester

***

Variety Spectacular

Variety

Empire, Blackburn

****

Cinderella

Prokofiev

Empire, Blackburn

***

Separate Tables

Rattigan (Am)

Empire, Blackburn

***

An Evening of Magic

(Am) 

Empire, Blackburn 

** 

Joe Longthorne

Concert

Empire, Blackburn

**

The Gondoliers

G & S (Am)

Empire, Blackburn

***

Funny Money

Cooney (Am)

Empire, Blackburn

***

Billy Elliot

John/Hall

Victoria Palace, L'don

***

Love Never Dies

Webber/Slater/Elton

Adelphi, London

****

End of the Rainbow Quilter

Trafalgar St'd's. L'don

*****

Clybourne Park

Norris

Wyndham's London

****

Betty Blue Eyes

Stiles/Drew/Bennett

Novello, London

***

War Horse

Morpurgo/Stafford

New London Theatre

*****

HMS Pinafore

G & S (Am)

Guildhall, Derby

***

Let's Hear It ... Wee Man

Jimmy Cricket

Empire, Blackburn

***

To Kill a Mockingbird

Lee

Grand, Blackpool

****

Ghost - The Musical

Stewart/Ballard/Rubin

Op. House, M'chester

*****

 

 

Guys and Dolls

Loesser/Runyan (Am)

Empire, Blackburn

****

La Cage Aux Folles

Herman/F'rstein (Am)

Charter, Preston

***

April in Paris

Godber

Hull Truck Theatre 

***

Marlene

Gems

S. Joseph, S'borough

****

BBC Philharmonic

Concert

Media City, Salford

****

Verdict

Christie

Grand, Blackpool

****

Bedroom Farce

Ayckbourn

Empire, Blackburn

***

The Pitman Painters

Hall

Grand, Blackpool

*****

That'll Be The Day

Concert

Cliffs Pav. Westcliff

****

As You Like It

Shakespeare

Royal Ex. Manchester

*****

Rat Pack Vegas Spec'ular

Concert

Empire, Blackburn

*

Top Hat

Berlin

Lyric, Lowry, Salford

*****

Street Scene

Weill/Rice

Hull Truck Theatre

*****

Legally Blonde

O'Keefe/Benjamin

Op. House, M'chester

****

Marty Wilde

Concert

Empire, Blackburn

*****

Ken Dodd  

 Variety

K.George's Hall B'burn

****

Company 

 Sondheim

Crucilble, Sheffield

****

& on Aurora: 8 Cabarets,

 9 Headliners' Shows

10 Classical Concerts

 

 

For theatre visits in some previous years please click on the 'NEXT' box

I have never seen anything like War Horse before - it was mind blowing! Other outstanding plays were The Pitman Painters and Clybourne Park.