Tag Archives: Lyceum Theatre

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 ...

Music and Lyrics: Maury Yeston Writer: Peter Stone Director: Thom Southerland Musical Director: Mark Aspinall Reviewer: Dawn Smallwood The sinking of the RMS Titanic in April 1912 is one of the most tragic maritime events on record, where sadly 1517 souls were lost.  Many will know and have watched James Cameron’s 1997 Oscar-winning film, Titanic, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo ...

Book and Lyrics: Don Black and Christopher Hampton Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Director: Nikolai Foster Reviewer: Jim Gillespie Sunset Boulevard has been around for an astonishing length of time. The original Billy Wilder film was made in the early 1950s, and versions of Lloyd Webber’s musical have been in production since the early 1990s, with mixed success. Nevertheless, like the ...

Writer: Yazmina Reza Translator: Christopher Hampton Music: Gary Yershon Director: Ellie Jones Reviewer: Janet Jepson Art always gives the appearance of being a quintessentially middle-class English drama, performed by traditional middle-aged actors on a contemporary set. However, it is somewhat surprising to learn that the work was originally written in French by Yasmina Reza, a Russian/Iranian/Hungarian/Jewish playwright from Paris. Translator ...

Book and Lyrics: David Lindsay-Abaire Music: Jeanine Tesori Director: Nigel Harman Reviewer: Jim Gillespie The tone for the latest touring production of Shrek the Musical was set by the Front of House announcement as the house lights dimmed. Should we fail to switch off our mobile phones, we were warned, Shrek would come down from the stage and fart on ...

Writer: Eugene Ionesco Adapter: Zinnie Harris Director: Murat Daltaban Reviewer: Gareth Davies There is much in the modern world that we might reasonably describe as absurd. But not the fun kind of absurd, like the charmingly harmless nonsense of Alice in Wonderland, where animals talk gobbledegook and logic is inverted to wry effect. There is a darker kind of absurdity ...

Director: Phyllida Lloyd Resident Director: Nikki Davis Jones Musical Director: Richard Weeden Production Designer: Mark Thompson Reviewer: Charlotte Broadbent Mamma Mia! is fast approaching its twentieth birthday but that doesn't seem to be slowing them down. The success has endured since 1999 and continues to draw audiences in for their first time or their tenth. With a successful film adaptation ...

Writer and Director: Kay Mellor Composer: Nick Lloyd Webber Reviewer: Ruth Jepson Loosely based on the tv show of the same name which ran from 2000 to 2005, Fat Friends has a clear target audience in the middle-aged women attending at Sheffield's opening night, and if the knowing laughs and whispered comments are anything to judge by, many of whom ...