504 stories by "Jonathan Baz"
As 2015 draws to a close, here is my personal look back on the performance highlights of the last 12 months. This list is entirely subjective - and marks out the shows I have seen, that, as …
Commissioned by the RSC, Queen Anne is a new play by Helen Edmundson, directed by Natalie Abrahami in her debut season at Stratford-upon-Avon.
2015 you sly old fox, you've saved the best for last.
The Confederate flag flutters over the stage as the opening bars of Show Boat play out. An ugly image, the flag defining so much of Ame…
This year's Christmas offering from the Landor is more bewilderment than Bewitchment that's often skating on thin ice rather than black. But if stars were to be awarded solely for ballsy amb…
Charles Perrault's classic fairy tale comes to the stage this season as Matthew Bourne completes his trilogy of Tchaikovsky's ballets. Sleeping Beauty (originally premiered in 2012) follows …
In that little wooden candlelit nest of magic and wonder that is the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Sam Yates directs a dreamy, fairytale-like Cymbeline. Originally written to be performed across …
The family friendly festive fayre at the St James this season is a delightfully performed take on Jules Verne's classic novel. The stagecraft is ingenious as Verne's visionary novel is conde…
Imelda Staunton may have just wowed in Styne and Sondheim's Gypsy, but hard on her heels is Sheridan Smith's take on Fanny Brice. In a role that famously demands an unconventional beauty - a…
The arrival of Christmas in Bromley is well and truly heralded by the opening of Aladdin at the Churchill Theatre.
Starring Scott Maslen as the villain Abanazar, Jess Robinson as Slave of t…
Christmas came early to the West End on Sunday night, for just like Max Bialystock, Mel Brooks' legendary king of Broadway, Alex Parker has done it again with his own Kings Of Broadway. Thou…
Who is the nation's greatest Dame? Maggie Smith, Judi Dench or Helen Mirren? Well, think again, for as pantomime season descends upon us, Clive Rowe yet again claims that illustrious honour …
Twelve years after the movie scored itself into the global psyche as a modern day Christmas classic, the musical version of Elf makes its London premiere at the Dominion Theatre.
Les Miserables has long impressed me, not just for having such a stirring libretto, but also for the cheekily economic creativity of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schoenberg that was able …
Julie Madly Deeply is a technically brilliant performance from Sarah-Louise Young that charts the life of possibly the queen of our national treasures, Julie Andrews. A self-confessed fan an…
In a time of celebrity cast Shakespeare productions, it is a pleasure to observe Greg Doran's take on Henry V and see not so much a band of brothers, but rather a company of craftsmen offeri…
As the RSC cycle of Shakespeare's Histories arrives at London's Barbican Theatre, Alex Hassell appears first as Hal in Henry IV Pts 1 & 2, before maturing into the series' Henry V. 35 …
In her one-woman cabaret, Maria Kesselman firmly proves herself to be a force to be reckoned with. A truly seasoned professional, she seamlessly blends an impressive voice and near-perfect t…
There have been many interpretations of J M Barrie's Peter Pan story but this musical version by George Stiles & Anthony Drewe, with book by Willis Hall, deserves a place of note. The t…
A concert of this sort " large numbers of quite well known people along with full backstage back-up giving their services for charity (Esther Rantzen's Silver Line) on a Sunday evening usual…
Crazy Coqs, London*****The term ‘icon’ is often freely used with little regard for it’s true definition – however from last night’s gig at The Crazy Coqs, Franc…
For one night only this week, the fabulous Tiffany Graves was in cabaret at the Crazy Coqs. The stunning performer, increasingly appearing as one of our finest leading ladies, offered a coll…
Ye Olde Rose And Crown Theatre, London***Music and lyrics by Stephen SondheimBook by Hugh WheelerDirected by Tim McArthurA Little Night Music is up there as one of the great Sondheim musical…
Lyric Theatre, London*****Conceived by Adrian GrantDirected and choreographed by Gary LloydDajiowMarking seven years in the West End (along with an eye-watering global box office take of …
****There’s an eclectic, relaxed charm to this collection of Scott Alan’s songs as performed by Cynthia Erivo and Oliver Tompsett. With Alan having enjoyed a modest UK residency …
Central St Martins School of Art, London*****Written by Barrie KeefeDirected by Bill BuckhurstJake Davies, Thomas Coombes and Josh WilliamsIt has long been recognised that when writing about…
