504 stories by "Jonathan Baz"
The influences of cinema on Matthew Bourne's The Red Shoes are everywhere. Walking into Sadler's Wells one sees that the stage is hidden behind an old style cinema curtain. The impression is…
Predating the UK's entry into the EEC/EU (and quite possibly outlasting it too!) the Cambridge University European Theatre Group has over the years amassed a fine degree of cross-Channel cul…
St James Theatre, London*****Music, lyrics and book by Jonathan LarsonDirected by Bruce GuthrieThe cast of RentThis 20th anniversary production of Rent is a heart wrenching piece of theatre …
Of course, a good Peter Pan is all about the star-billed talent playing the dastardly Captain Hook " and to be fair, they don't come much bigger or more dastardly than David Hasselhoff.
Garrick Theatre, London****Written by Daniel Clarkson, Jefferson Turner and Richard HurstDirected by Richard HurstJefferson Turner and Daniel ClarksonPotted Panto, the Olivier nominated offe…
Transferring in to London from Stratford, Antony Sher's King Lear is a Shakespearean masterclass. With no headline-grabbing casting to this, one of Shakespeare's greatest works, the producti…
It's a brave ask that has any composers title their show Muted - a name that by its very nature suppresses aural beauty. In this new musical that has been a long time in development, we meet…
Spindlewood, like most towns, has its time old traditions. But no tale is so firmly adhered to as 'The Turning of the Key'. Every year, on the last night of winter, as the first day of sprin…
Hackney Empire's award-winning Susie McKenna has created a brand new take on the fairy-tale story of Sleeping Beauty, bringing the classic yarn up to date for this year's pantomime.
It might be more of a 'play with songs' than a full blown musical but Bryony Lavery's Her Aching Heart now playing at the Hope Theatre, is one of those rarely performed gems that displays ju…
Shifting London's Old Compton Street south of the river, the run up to Xmas sees the Union present Stiles & Drewe's newish Soho Cinders, their Cinderella for the 21st Century, as a fest…
The Unmarried is an originally styled production that attempts to break down barriers and cross into a more modern, urban side of musical theatre.
Timeless and yet innovative, Stephen Daldry's production of An Inspector Calls is a treat as the director reprises his bold take on JB Priestley's famed work. Ian MacNeil's dynamic and innov…
Dan Burton who plays Sawyer's love interest Billy Lawlor is another of Mear's regular ingénues, last seen in the West End's Gypsy. Arguably the best of his generation in musical theatre dan…
The musical Half a Sixpence bounds into the West End from Chichester, newly adapted by Julian Fellowes, with a spring in its step and an infectious grin. The story of Arthur Kipps, a lowly h…
The tale of Dracula (although not quite as Bram Stoker may have intended) comes to The King's Head for a joyous night of quintessentially British comedy. Danny Wainwright and Daniel Hallisse…
Terry Johnson deftly directs the West End revival of his 1994 play, a sharply observed often painfully funny dark comedy with several dramatic twists, as well as a good dose of slapstick and…
The true story behind Rumpy Pumpy is both noble and remarkable. Jean Johnson and Shirley Landers, two stalwart Hampshire grandmothers and pillars of the WI no less took it upon themselves to…
An evening of two short plays sandwiched between the verbatim thoughts of Reprieve's Clive Stafford-Smith, Drones, Baby, Drones examines the psychologies at play behind the controllers of Am…
Designing Side Show has been a blessing and a challenge at the same time. A blessing, as the audience have an inclusive, immersive experience of a freak/vaudeville show and are able to obser…
"They fuck you up, your mum and dad" wrote Philip Larkin and it is precisely that sentiment that sits squarely at the heart of Sam Shepard's Fool For Love currently playing at Found 111.
Opening with two lovers sharing a kiss, for Samantha Barks' Cathy, an aspiring actress it is her tragic last, while for writer Jamie, played by Jonathan Bailey, it is a trepidatious first.
Through their fascinating and unconventional lives, Side Show succeeds in engaging the audience with an open question about individuality and identity; the two girls' struggle to just be the…
There's a well-earned hurrah (or should that be scream?) for this evening of hokum that's currently playing in Birmingham over the Halloween fortnight. As the audience take their seats the h…
Yet again director Thom Southerland has assembled a virtually flawless cast and crew in his revival of Ragtime, a show that is probably Flaherty and Ahrens' finest collaboration.
