Author: The Reviews Hub - Yorkshire & North East

Writers: John Godber, Elizabeth Godber Directors: John Godber, Jane Thornton Much to John Godber’s credit, rather than continuing to plough a furrow that has brought almost continuous success, he attempts something different in this quirky feel-good musical romance, fantasy within a realistically mundane frame. Godber spans the generations by co-writing Ruby and the Vinyl for the John Godber Company with his daughter Elizabeth. In fact the Godber dynasty keeps a firm hold on proceedings, his wife, Jane Thornton, co-directing and daughter Martha serving as choreographer, though there’s not a lot of dancing on display. Sadly the distinctive tang of a…

Composer: George Frideric Handel Conductor: Laurence Cummings Director: Tim Albery Alcina is one of those Handel Italian operas (staged in London) that relied originally on myth, magic and massive spectacle. The sublime music remains a constant, but it’s important also to devise a stage language that makes sense in the 21st century. One problem is the absurdity of not only the general plot, but of individual situations. In the opening scene of Alcina, for instance, a woman catches her first sight of a handsome knight (actually another woman) and declares that she’s in love. The audience, inevitably, titters. The opera…

Writer/Director: Ross Ericson The Ballad of Mulan shares its name with a 4th/5th century Chinese poem, though the first appearance of the story is even older than that. How far we can attach the word “authentic” to Ross Ericson’s play is debatable, but it’s certainly much more real than the various Disney Princess versions. The legend of Mulan – and opinion is divided as to whether the character existed – tells of a young woman who assumes male identity to take her sick or aged father’s place in the Imperial Army, fights with great distinction, gains high rank and after…

Writer: Phillip Correia Director: Anna Girvan While they have all been around for well over 100 years, classic literature’s monsters and madmen such as Count Dracula, and Doctors Frankenstein and Jekyll, remain as famous and popular as ever. This is largely due to them constantly being brought back in popular culture as a reflection of the zeitgeist. This is also true of H G Wells’ Griffin aka the invisible man. The concept of becoming invisible is often explored in films and TV shows, most recently in 2020’s movie The Invisible Man which very effectively explored toxic masculinity and domestic abuse.…

Music and Lyrics: Andrew Lippa Book: Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice Director: Matthew White It is a long way from Halloween but the beauty of the creation of The Addams Family means that it always seems like All Hallows Eve in the company of this infamous spooky clan. Made most popular by the 1964 TV show, the family make-up need no introduction. Existing as a musical for a little over ten years this fun production tours the UK until summer. It is easy to see why producers and creatives created a musical stage show of the kookiest family on the…

Director: Daniel Clarkson The public’s appetite for Morecambe and Wise continues undiminished, with at least two re-creations of the great double act touring at the moment. Unlike The Play What I Wrote, which spools around the story of a different pair of comedians and foregrounds the costume “drama” and the guest star, Eric & Ern is simply and purely a brilliant re-creation of much familiar material. No writer is credited for the show; presumably it’s mostly Eddie Braben and, quite possibly, Sid Green and Dick Hills and assorted gag writers. Ian Ashpitel and Jonty Stephens have been “doing” Morecambe and…

Composer: Hans Krasa Lyrics: Adolf Hoffmeister Conductor: Nicholas Shaw Director: PJ Harris It’s difficult to convey the impact of this short programme (barely an hour and a half, including interval), at once joyous and poignant, commemorating the past and looking to the future. It was also a fine example of co-operation between arts organisations. Co-producers Opera North provided the Youth Company, the Royal Northern Sinfonia the musicians. It is, however, the third arts organisation that is key to the whole enterprise. The Brundibar Arts Festival was founded by Sinfonia violinist Alexandra Raikhlina in 2016 and dedicated to the music and…

Writer: Willy Russell Directors: Bob Tomson & Bill Kenwright As theatres continue to work hard to persuade their patrons to leave their homes and sit in a big room full of strangers, it is testament to Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers that despite touring the UK almost constantly for what seems forever, it still has the power to pack an auditorium. And as other shows get reimagined, Blood Brothers seems to have remained largely unchanged in the nearly four decades since it debuted on the West End. But why fix what isn’t broken? Russell’s genius has always been in his ability…