Author: The Reviews Hub - Yorkshire & North East

Northern Stage, the largest producing theatre in the North East, has announced the cast for its magical reimaging of Beauty and the Beast, arriving on its Newcastle stage this Christmas. In this adaptation, devised by Katie Mitchell and Lucy Kirkwood, a stolen rose sets everything in motion for Beauty and her unfortunate dad. Two mischievous fairies whisk us through rural France with a Thoughtsnatcher machine and a very helpful rabbit in tow. With live music from the Insect Orchestra, Northern Stage invites families to experience this tale as old as time in fresh, funny and unexpectedly touching ways. The production is set…

Book and Lyrics: Alan Dix, with Mike Kenny Music: Richard Taylor Director: Alan Dix Attending 509 Arts’ production of Life Class was an uplifting experience. In part this was because of the venue, a newly created factory conversion for Bradford’s City of Culture celebrations (one hopes it will continue long afterwards) with an art gallery as well as a comfortable small theatre. Mainly, though, it was the theme, the performance and the staging. The theme was a realistic celebration of old age.  At the very beginning Tyrone Huggins strips off his dressing gown and strikes a series of poses in his Y-fronts…

Composer: George Frideric Handel Conductor: Johanna Soller Director: Olivia Fuchs Handel wrote Susanna as an oratorio, with no stage action. Opera North, in association with Phoenix Dance Theatre, therefore had to manufacture much of the action – and Marcus Jarrell Willis’ choreography meshed perfectly with Olivia Fuchs’ direction. In particular, the four dancers who represented Susanna in association with Anna Dennis, added depth to her character which, in the original oratorio, is never fully developed. Another bonus came in the remarkable performance of Tianah Hodding, officially a BSL performer, but adding much more in on-the-sidelines encouragement and comment. Susanna is the story…

Book: Julian Fellowes Music and Lyrics: Richard M Sherman, Robert B Sherman, George Stiles, Anthony Drewe Writer: P. L. Travers Director: Richard Eyre Tour Director: James Powell This is a glorious return for everyone’s favourite Nanny. There’s a flutter in the air long before Mary Poppins herself appears. The orchestra swells, and Cameron Mackintosh and Disney’s latest revival takes flight with confidence and charm. Mary Poppins has always traded in wonder, but this 2025 production finds a new kind of magic: one that fuses technical brilliance with stunning individual and ensemble performances. At its heart, this remains the familiar story…

In this tour, celebrating the 25th anniversary of Clare Teal touring, there was a fairly perfunctory attempt, soon abandoned, to present the whole thing chronologically, but one fact that emerged from Clare’s amusing comments on her career was that, before she took the plunge and started releasing albums on her own label, there was a time when the record company she was contracted to was taken over by another company and all the jazz employees sacked. Clare was re-classified as Adult Pop! That, in a way, has been her problem, certainly with the jazz crowd, that she hasn’t entirely escaped…

Writer: William Shakespeare Adapted by: The Company Director: Stacey Norris “Shut up Simba, I’m Jeremy Irons!” The yearly mania that is the Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare visit to Huddersfield is here. Six actors, one technician, and a whole lot of booze. The premise is simple – an abridged performance of a beloved Shakespeare classic – Hamlet this year – performed to the best of the company’s ability, while dealing with one member who is categorically, completely, well, sh!tfaced. One of the actors (a different one each night to save everyone’s livers) starts drinking at 4pm, and by the time the curtain goes…

Composer: Judith Weir Conductor: Nicholas Shaw Director: Rosie Kat Opera North is attacking on all fronts at the moment. Not only did the semi-staged Simon Boccanegra pick up the Sky Arts award for Opera (two more productions on different short lists at the moment), not only is the company building the first part of the season around its ever-popular La Boheme, but the company has the chutzpah to start the season with this delightful production of Judith Weir’s The Secret of the Black Spider by the Opera North Youth Company, with superb accompaniment from the Opera North Youth Orchestra. Of course, the company (48…

Conductor: Garry Walker Soloist: Elena Urioste (violin) For their first concert in this season’s Kirklees Concert Season, the Orchestra of Opera North played to a full house. This was hardly surprising, given  that the programme included Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1, always near the top of Classic FM’s Hall of Fame, in addition to Rachmaninov’s best loved symphony. But there was no free-wheeling, no relying on the popularity of the works, about the performances, especially the Rachmaninov. At the end of the performance, someone at the back shouted “Encore!”. This was an ironic commentary on Garry Walker’s clearly exhausted…