North East & Yorkshire Reviews

Writers: Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice Musical Director: Ron Melrose Director: Des McAnuff Reviewer: Jim Gillespie The band may have come from the wrong side of the tracks, but musically, the tracks created by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons could scarcely have been righter. 16 US top 40 hits between 1962-64, countless cover versions since then, 175 million records ...

Devised by: Gene Lerner Director: Giles Havergal Musical Director: Martin Pickard Reviewer: Ron Simpson Leeds is not short of quality theatre and it’s good to see the level of co-operation between three of the city’s finest. Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill is a co-production by Opera North and West Yorkshire Playhouse, staged in the City Varieties, a perfect venue ...

Writer – Alan Bennett Directors: James Brining, Amy Leach & John R Wilkinson Reviewer: Jay Nuttall It has been thirty years since the BBC commissioned a series of single voice plays from Leeds playwright Alan Bennett for BBC 2. These televisual treats became iconic, won BAFTAs, spawned a second volume of monologues and have been performed in theatres ever since. ...

Music and Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz Director: Joe Mantello Based on the novel by: Gregory Maguire Reviewer: Ruth Jepson Are people born wicked, or do they have wickedness thrust upon them? Wicked is a musical phenomenon. Since opening in 2006 the show has garnered over 100 major international awards and already been seen by nine million people in London alone. Seemingly ...

Writer: Alan Bennett Directors: James Brining, Amy Leach, John R. Wilkinson Designer: Laura Ann Price Reviewer: Ron Simpson As West Yorkshire Playhouse prepares to close for a major refurbishment Artistic Director James Brining has opted to end with an appropriate, rather than original, choice of play, saving the originality for a performance schedule that re-affirms the theatre’s commitment to the ...

Writer: Dale Wasserman Music: Lewis Gibson Director: Javaad Alipoor Choreographer: Deb Pugh Reviewer: Sophie Dodworth One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was first published in 1962 by Ken Kesey, adapted for the stage one year after by Dale Wasserman. The brilliant dramatisation took Broadway by storm and now this thought-provoking drama lands in Sheffield for a Sheffield Theatres production. Set ...

Reviewer: Laura Stimpson To the delight of many pre-schoolers Peppa Pig arrived in Leeds today with her latest theatre offering, Peppa Pig’s Adventure.  Based on the animated children’s TV series produced and directed by Astley Baker Davies, the latest theatrical adventure follows Peppa and her friends; Pedro Pony, Suzy Sheep, Gerald Giraffe, and Daisy as they go on a camping ...

Writer: Vashti Maclachlan Composer: Kieran Buckeridge Director: Jonny Kelly Musical Director: Rebekah Hughes Designer: Celia Perkins Reviewer: Ron Simpson In many ways, you see Mikron Theatre Company at its best in settings like York’s Scarcroft Allotments. The company does pretty well in theatres (see our review of Get Well Soon at the Square Chapel), but it is at its most ...