"Sweeney Todd" 

West Bridgford Operatic Society

Nottingham Arts Theatre

Celebrating West Bridgford Operatic Society (WBOS) 70th year in great style with one of Stephen Sondheim's darkest of musicals; this is one musical this week you should not miss. 

Set in 19th century England, this supply and demand musical details the return of barber Sweeney Todd, previously known as Benjamin Barker, to London after 15 years of exile, He's back to take revenge on the corrupt Judge Turpin who banished him, and by conspiring with a local baker, Mrs. Lovett, who is in desperate need of fresh meat for her pies, he wreaks his bloody revenge, but not without some heartache for Todd along the way.

Meng Khaw, as Todd, has an air of menace about him from the minute he strides on stage, and that menace stays with him right to the grisly end. He's angry and his tunnel vision of getting his revenge on Turpin and Beadle Bamford is quite frightening. His distorted features often staring out to some unseen victim really makes you feel on edge. Meng has a wonderful, rich singing voice with great power, and that's one thing that runs through the WBOS; their consistency of talent and powerful, operatic voices.

Sam Thorne is Mrs Lovett and, paired with Todd , they make a formidable pair, as dangerous as Bonnie & Clyde but with some lovely comical segments, especially in the song "A Little Priest" where they are comparing the tastes of the pies with various professionals as the fillings. Again a wonderful voice.

The young sailor, Anthony, who befriends Todd at the start and falls in love with Johanna, who is really Todd's daughter, is played by Drew Dennis. his voice has got stronger since the last time I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing him on stage and is showcased on the song to his love "Johanna". A lovely clear, strong timbre to his voice which is very pleasant to listen to and just right for musical theatre.

Johanna, played by Lauren Gill, has an amazing strong operatic voice and whether in her solo number or complementing Drew's voice when duetting with Anthony, Lauren has been perfectly cast in this vocally challenging role.

Stephen Godward is no stranger to the role of Judge Turpin as he has played the role eight times before. Again perfect casting and his solo of "Johanna/Mea Culpa" will send shivers down your spine. Great voice control, and a great version of "Pretty Women" with Meng.

Toby, who has Pirelli as his master is played by Curtis Taylor-Tipton. Curtis is another one who has a strong voice, especially with those big notes. You can really feel the force of the power of his vocals.

Pirelli, the comedy character of the musical is also quite the deceitful one as his role switches from Italian barber to Irish blackmailer. This dual nationality is pulled off with a wonderful comedic element by Dan Armstrong, but what a voice  Dan owns. Would love to see Dan and co perform serious opera.

The beggar woman is a different role for Julie Fowler, as she has played Johanna in the past. Even though the role is quite a flirty fun role, Julie also shows the sad, desperate and lonely side of the woman, and i won't spoil it for anyone who doesn't know the story, but she has a secret that is revealed at the end, but only after her death.

Paul McPherson is Beadle Bamford, again a pleasure to watch.

Technically, this is quite a difficult show, mainly due to the disposal of the bodies and the chair but all went very smoothly. The effect of the throat splitting was suitably gory with blood spurting, not trickling and I especially loved the popping sound when Turpin's throat was slit followed by a mini fountain of red. if you like grisly gore then this is the production to watch.

A tight ensemble who produced a wall of sound when all singing together. Directed by Morven Harrison, this was very tight and fast moving with great light and shade and characterization from the actors. Stephen Williams is the musical director and what a crisp sound they produce. At times you almost forget that there is an orchestra there as the sound is like listening to a record. Incredibly pleasant on the hear, plus the mix with the singers was perfect.  This, along with the lighting design by Nick Gale, is the work of the Arts Theatre.

What a set!! This has to be one of the best sets for "Todd" I've seen. Giving the performance area a multi level space which also provided different areas for the pie shop, Todd's barber shop, Turpin's home and the street scenes. all this without having to change any scenery.

This really could be the best performance of "Sweeney Todd" that I've seen, and I've seen a couple to compare it to, and possibly for the fact that the bloody scenes were just that. The audience definitely appreciated this realism. One of my highlights of this year so far I think i can safely say.

"Sweeney Todd" is on at the Nottingham Arts Theatre until Saturday 5 March 2016, and well worth the £14.00 price of the ticket.

"Of Mice & Men" by John Steinbeck

Nottingham Theatre Royal

John Steinbeck's classic deep South novella, rather than a novel, which he wrote as a "playable novel" about two men travelling together looking for work.George is clever, the opposite of Lennie who has learning difficulties. They say opposites attract and throughout the play George tells us how much better off he would be if he was travelling alone. The two are loners in their own way and in a way they do need each other, Lennie probably more than George, but you get the feeling that George enjoys having the power and control over his travelling and work partner.

They are travelling to look for work on the farms, but they're also running away from trouble, and given Lennie's past, into inevitable trouble, which they find in their latest workplace. The story has several offshoots with the various workers on the farm and deal with segregation and the image of how women are treated within marriage as well as the image of elders with learning difficulties. All sidelines but all very vital to the story as a whole.

Steinbeck originally planned the book as a children's story, and that is why the book is still on many school's curriculum. It gives many positives as well as highlighting a lot of negative attitudes, many of which still exist in modern society. 

Kristian Phillips is spot on as the mentally challenged , but lovable Lennie. You really do feel sorry for him and the end, because you know what his fate is, really makes you tense up. There are a couple of moments like this in the play with parallels with Candy's old dog, played by Benji, a bit of a local celebrity, and Lennie. Kristian projects the very human side, as well as the lonely side of the character and really stirs the emotional side of you.

George, played by William Rodell, really comes across as the protective one, and he is to a great extent just that, and in the final scenes you can tell he isn't 100% in favour of his actions, but in his eyes, is the kindest action to protect Lennie. Confident role who, again, evokes emotion and reaction from the audience for his character.

One familiar face in the cast is Dudley Sutton , who you may recognise as Tinker from "Lovejoy" among his other TV roles. Candy is a lovely warm character who, like Lennie and George, has his dreams which you just know won't come to fruition. He has hopes and ambition, even at his time of life and his devotion to the dog he had as a pup is admirable, recoiling into a semi foetal position after his final act of "kindness".

The rest of the cast are equally superb. Jonah Russell (Slim), Ben Stott (Curley) as the over protective and suspicious husband, Saoirse-Monica Jackson (Curley's wife) who does a really good job in her professional stage debut, Dave Fishley (Crooks), who has a very convincing emotional scene and speech as he describes what his life as a black man in the deep south is like.

The set is changed by the ensemble, and while the props are simple they create just the right atmosphere and look for the piece, designed by Liz Ascroft. Sensitively yet powerfully directed by Roxana Silbert with an evocative light design by Simon Bond and sound design by Nick Powell.

It is a classic piece of literature and is a powerful and emotive piece of theatre, beautifully acted which still manages to hold an air of tension and menace, and still has that shock element.

"Of Mice And Men" is being performed at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 5 March 2016.

"Dracula"  by David Mynne

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

Presented as part of Derbyshire's Live & Local which supports rural and community touring productions in various venues throughout the county. David Mynne, who was a leading light in setting up Kneehigh Theatre in Cornwall, formed Rabbit Theatre and is touring his version of the story of Bram Stoker's "Dracula". This is theatre with a difference; a one man show of story-telling with sound effects and light, and a whole lot of batty comedy.

The stage was only just lit, creating that certain mid light eeriness, setting the atmosphere beautifully. David appeared from the rear of the stage shadows and started to relate the story of Dracula. he operated all of the lights and did all of the sound effects himself, as well as operating the props. Stripped back theatre can sometimes be the most evocative. Leaving it simple and uncluttered makes you focus more on the actor and the words and David is a wonderful story-teller. he painted pictures in your head, playing every character himself, balancing the legend and myth of the infamous fanged blood-sucker with an original line in comedy.

The attraction was obvious as the audience couldn't take their eyes from David, who became even more eerie when the red spotlight created a spooky bloody-hued face of David, who became Dracula, and then as quick reverted back to Van Helsing the vampire hunter or the doctor, Mina or any one of the several characters he introduced within the story, eventually leaving us with the "to be continued....." cliffhanger.

A brilliant night of comedy and chills, or was that just the air conditioning, I'm not sure. It must be difficult to hold an audience in the palm of your hand, enticing them into your supernatural world, hypnotising them to make them hang on to your every word and then to break the spell by making them laugh. Difficult as I imagine this was, David managed it and he cast his spell on us. 

"Fawlty Towers" by Encore Performing Arts

Nottingham Arts Theatre.

I am a massive fan of the TV comedy series "Fawlty Towers" and, not having seen any of the shows that have been produced for the stage, I wondered if there would be the same comedy affect. I didn't need to worry as I have not laughed as much as I have tonight, and I mean laugh, a proper laugh, not a giggle or a titter but a proper belly laugh!

The scripts for "Fawlty Towers" are some of the funniest in TV comedy history and this talented and fairly new cast present the script in a fluid and faithful way, which is half the battle won.

Basil Fawlty is one of the most recognised and iconic comedy characters of the 1970's and Graham Buchanan personifies the whole Fawlty character without doing an impression of the great comedy character. He has the walk, he has the expressions and he also sounds a lot like Cleese's famous hotel owner. Graham has the majority of the lines, and the bulk of the brilliant one-liners as well. He delivers like I've never seen him deliver before, but is just one of the many stars of this production.

Sybil is played by Claire Farrand-Preston, one of the new names to me and what an introduction. The Sybil laugh is there and the well known catch phrase "Oooh I know" is there. A wonderful comedy female character who Claire has paid a wonderful tribute to in her performance.

Adam Guest as the Spanish waiter, Manuel, is the third of the "Fawlty Four" and another very funny portrayal. This is the second time that Adam has played Manuel, and it is great to see him in a comedy role where the timing, and relationship with Graham's Basil is wonderful to see. you know when you have got it spot on when you get appreciation from the audience after a big scene, which Adam received, and quite rightly so.

Polly, played by Zoe Stebbings, is one of those comedy characters that is slightly under rated in my opinion and she makes a brilliant Encore debut in this role.

Loved the two elderly ladies, Miss Tibbs and Miss Gatsby, played by Angela Walters and Jenny Carty, and well worth keeping an eye on during the main action because they really are very funny on the sidelines.

Terry Stevenson as the Major has the absent mindedness character off to a tee, especially in the final part of the trio, "Communication Problems". This episode also has one of my favourite Fawlty characters in Mrs Richards, the deaf old bird who thinks she has lost some money at the hotel. this is a comedy classic and played so close to Joan Sanderson's original role by Sandy C Lane. A wonderful close to a magnificent trio of Fawlty classics.

There were so many brilliant characters created by John Cleese and Connie Booth and in "The Hotel inspectors" the character of Mr Hutchinson is one of the highlghts of this very funny episode and Ross Lowe shines in this role. This particular episode also has some great slapstick fighting between Hutchinson and Fawlty.

Lord Melbury in " A Touch Of Class" played by Martin Briggs and Danny Brown, the CID officer who rumbles the Lord, played by Jack Readyhoof are worlds apart but great characters in typical Cleese/Booth characterization as Fawlty tries to attract a more upmarket clientele for the hotel and, as expected, fails magnificently.

The rest of the cast, Al Grant, Andrew Bould,Amy Clover, Kathryn McAuley, Josh Birchall, Arun Hayes and Verna Bayliss complete the class cast list.

Directed by Ollie Turner, who I also had the pleasure of seeing him as producer of "American Idiot" for the now defunct Streetlight Theatre Arts, brings a wealth of talent to the show and keeps the theatre production very close to what you'd expect from watching the TV series. No mean feat as Ollie is far too young to experience the shows the first time round, but he does a cracking job, keeping the action rolling on with not too many longer than expected spaces. Not sure if these were intended but would hardly have been noticeable to anyone else not so well versed in Fawlty. Ollie is ably assisted in the direction role by Milly Shawcross.

Produced by one of the busiest men in local theatre at the moment, Sam Griffiths, these three, along with the brilliant Encore backbone behind the scenes, and often in front of the scenes, they present an evening consisting of some of the funniest lines written, acted by some of the nicest and talented people I've seen on stage. A great multi functional set as well.

If you like a really good laugh and reliving some classic 70's sit com moments, go along to the Nottingham Arts Theatre for "A Touch Of Class", "The Hotel Inspector" and "Communication Problems" which is on until Saturday 27 February 2016. Do not miss this show.

You'll also find some collection buckets at the end for donations to an excellent charity in Macmillan Cancer Trust, so if you pop down, please give what you can.

"The Tiger's Bones And Other Stories" by Ted Hughes

Lakeside Theatre

Ted Hughes was an English poet and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation, and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He served as Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death in 1998.

New Perspectives have taken three of Hughes' stories, "The Coming Of The Kings", "Sean, The Fool, The Devil and The Cat" and "The Tiger's Bones" and put them together in a show, aimed at kids but just as enjoyable for older kids as well, like me. It's animated acting approach is great for younger kids, in the same way as the audience for the excellent "Horrible Histories" theatre tours, making the subject matter fun and exciting for them, keeping the little ones' attention for the full seventy minutes.

Four actors, Heather Dutton, Harry Egan, George Eggay and Ed Thorpe play every part in the three stories, breezing through them all and making the time fly. The stories, combined with their enthusiasm for the parts leave you hanging on to Hughes' words and the actors' actions. The chosen stories cover themes of death, spirituality and the supernatural as well as the story leading up to the birth of Christ. Pretty varied, I'm sure you'll agree for a trio of children's stories.

I've always loved the art of story-telling and these four actors are expert in bringing literal pictures to life. Directed by Jack McNamara with a sparse but then again complex set. I know this sounds like a contradiction in terms but you'd need to see it to understand what I mean. The soundtrack for the three plays is all original music, composed and designed by James Atherton. the highlight of these clever songs , for me, being "Never Forget The Cat" which has seriously dark overtones, but fits in so well with the story behind the song.

The play is for anyone over the age of seven and is on at Nottingham's Lakeside Theatre but only until Tuesday 23 February 2016, so hurry up and get those tickets for a truly magical tribute to one of Britain's finest wordsmiths.

"A Woman Of No Importance" by Oscar Wilde

Lace Market Theatre

It was with Wilde anticipation that i went to see this production at the Lace Market Theatre, as it was only just over a week ago that I saw "The Importance Of Being Earnest" here in Nottingham, and when you see the two in close proximity you appreciate the way that Wilde writes with such wit and characterization. He has a style of writing that every one can understand and recognise and if he were alive today he would a brilliant stand up comedian or sitcom writer.

Wilde  explores the double standards that existed between men and women in the Victorian Era. Men were forgiven for their indiscretions far more readily than women, and women were more condemned for moral failings. Women had few rights, as well. The plot is very simple, but it is the psychological interactions between the characters that reveal a darker side to the Victorian Era.

Gerald Arbuthnot has been offered a job by Lord George Ellingworth and is over the moon about the new position but his mother, Mrs Arbuthnot doesn't seem to be too pleased that her only son is moving up in the world. Now why would that be? What has she against Lord Ellingworth?

Director Dan Maddison has done a brilliant job ensuring that all the wit of Wilde is presented with timing, not rushing the plot, in fact the plot unwound nice and steadily around the main plot line with the Arbuthnots and Ellingworth. The interim stories and characters drawing you in to the reason as to how, and why the bombshell is dropped when it was.

A simple but effective set non detracting from the story and characters but just enough to flesh out the scenes and make them visually attractive. Designed by David Hope he added to the feel of the Victorian era with class.

A fairly large cast for a Wilde play but with wonderful character. Take for instance Lady Pontefract, played beautifully with dry comic humour by Beverley Anthony. She's always got her eye on her husband, for whom she knows what is best for him, and attempts to keep him on a short leash. A wonderful matriarchal role.

John Anthony plays Lord Pontefract, the hen-pecked husband. There is a lovely realism between the two characters, which could be because away from the theatre, they are husband and wife.

Ruth Page plays the outspoken and slightly opinion laden American Hester Worsley. I was impressed by the accent because so many times there is a tendency to try and slightly over do an American accent and it sounds forced, but Ruth nailed it.

Eileen Frier-Kelsey played Lady Hunstanton with marvellous class befitting a character of such Victorian standing. The character is one of those that you really warm to, in a story where several of the characters are, shall we say, "stuck up" and self important.

Gerald, is played by Nick Parvin, and gets to portray a varied array of emotion in this role. From the excitement of his job offer, through naievity shown by his chat with his future employer about women, to his emotional outburst and protectiveness to his mother. Not as simple as the role first seems due to the complexity of the situation forced upon him.

I loved the role of Mrs Allonby, played by Amy Farmer. Very flirtatious at a time where this maybe wasn't the correct attitude for a lady to take. there's a very wordy passage that Amy has to deliver which was performed excellently and drew a well deserved, mid play show of appreciation from the audience. the twinkle in Amy's eye, even though befitting the character, I feel was because she loves playing this kind of confident female role.

Mrs Allonby's best friend, Lady Stutfield was played by Tilda Stickley and added a nice dollop of comedy to the play with her character's manner of speaking.

Stephen Herring played the flirty Mr Kettle, sorry Kelvil, who also got the rough end of Lady Pontefract's tongue.

The part of Lord Ellingworth was played so convincingly and with such confidence in the script by Guy Evans. The speeches delivered with such gusto and the arrogance of the dandy character was brought to the fore wonderfully.

Mrs Arbuthnot is played by Kay Harrison and what a lovely, emotional and tender performance she gives here. It makes you wonder how Mrs Arbuthnot and Lord Ellingworth were teamed up by Wilde, as the characters are at opposite ends of the spectrum, and this is shown without doubt in this performance.

Other roles were played by Thomas Broadbent as Farquhar, Peter Hillier as The Archdeacon, who also has some funny retorts to share, and Olga Karaiosif as Alice the maid. Oscar winning performances by all and thoroughly enjoyed by an almost full theatre, which is always good to see on a local amateur level.

It's everything you'd expect from an Oscar Wilde play. Very classy, very funny and some brilliant costumes as well, thanks to Barry Holland, Doreen Hunt and Doreen Sheard.

"A Woman of No Importance" is on at the Nottingham Lace Market Theatre until Saturday 20 February 2016.

"Blood Brothers"

Nottingham Theatre Royal

It's no secret to anyone who knows me that this is my all time favourite musical. I've seen the show several times and the emotion still gets to me, as it does the cast as well.

For anyone who doesn't know the story it's all about Mrs Johnstone who has several children and takes a job cleaning for Mrs Lyons. Just as she is making ends meet, Mrs J discovers that she is pregnant again, with twins. An agreement is struck between the two women that when the twins are born Mrs J would give one of the babies away to her employer, Mrs Lyons, who has discovered that she is having problems conceiving. Mrs Lyons then sacks Mrs Johnstone and moves away to the country with her husband and Eddie, the twin to Mickey. Thinking that this has separated the two forever turns out to be far from what she had planned.

The story is one of the most powerful in British theatre and, like a game of football, it's in two halves. the first being high spirited and comical with the adults playing the kids. Life is carefree for the kids but not so much for the parents. Act One ends on a high, giving no premise to the dark act two to come. Although this musical is 29 years old, it's still as fresh today and covers the subjects of depression and murder, secrets and superstition, which is why it's one of the most popular musicals today. And there's not many musicals who can turn the atmosphere around as fast as this one with its' subject matter.

Lyn Paul plays Mrs Johnstone, and in my eyes the definitive Mrs J. Lyn has the most amazing voice still, and legs to match. She looks good and throughout the show we see her age gracefully. We also see her turn the emotions on and off and her finale of "Tell Me It's Not True" still had the hairs on the back of my neck up, and a tear to my eye. It always does and I hope that it always will. I've seen a few actors play Mrs Johnstone but there is only one Lyn Paul.

Mickey, the youngest of the clan and the twin that Mrs J brought up, was played by Sean Jones, who I've only ever seen Mickey played by. Sean switches from the young Mickey to the older, teenage Mickey from a fun-loving seven, nearly eight year old, typical naughty kid to the depressed ex jail-bird dependent pill popper frighteningly well, And it's frightening honest in its' portrayal of what could happen when the cards don't fall in your favour.

Mickey's twin, Eddie is brought up by the well to do Mr and Mrs Lyons. he has the best of everything. he goes to the right schools, university and lands himself with a well paid job, all the while unaware that he and Mickey are twins. Joel Benedict makes his professional debut in this role and he does a cracking job. Full of character.

Paula Tappenden returns to the role of Mrs Lyons, and I'm not sure if it's just me, but I think this role shows the rapid decline into paranoia better than I've seen before. There's a more defined spiralling into madness as she attempts to protect the secret she holds and is desperate to hide. Mrs Lyons is also shows more clearly in this production, or maybe I didn't notice before, that she seems to be the only one who can see "the devil" that is the narrator.

Kristofer Harding plays the narrator, and to start with I thought it a bit strange that there was no scouse accent for the narrator, but what i also noticed was that Kristofer added a certain amount of menace and threat to the role. Taunting evilly Mrs Lyons and her guilt as he sneeringly told the story. A deliciously dark character which brought out the impending danger of the play.

Was it just me but did Peter Washington look just a little bit too old to be playing Sammy the elder brother? Not that he didn't do a good job, it just jangled a bit for me as all of the other "kids", even though we knew they were adults, looked suitably younger. Peter played the bullying elder brother with a talent for an accurate aim of spit with great playfulness.

Linda, the love interest for Mickey, and lust interest of Eddie, was played by Danielle Corlass, who theatre goers may recognise from her appearances at the Nottingham Playhouse over the years. I can see the attraction there with Linda!

All the characters seemed to age really well thoughout the play and you can see the gradual change in their character and attitude to their different upbringing and surroundings.

Must also mention Graham Martin who played just about every other character in the musical. it was almost a game of spot which characters he didn't play!

They say the director is the glue that holds a show together and if that's the case, Bob Tomson is the equivalent of the extra strong variety. Wonderfully tight show with a great sense of comic timing and brooding, menacing atmosphere. Great pace and use of "dead space" to create that particular air of expectancy. 

The sound was so clear, again creating an atmosphere with the echo chamber on the songs that gave the words an eeriness i'd not really noticed that much in past productions. Dan Samson is the sound designer. the orchestra as well were top class, with an amazing percussion section, with the MD being Phil Gostelow and musical supervisor being Tom De Keyser.

There are some brilliant music pieces in "Blood Brothers". Every musicals fan will know "Tell Me It's Not True", but listen to the comedy in "Marilyn Monroe", the hope in "Brand New Day", the brooding superstition laden "Shoes On The Table", the sadness and loss of "My Child" and the loneliness of "Long Sunday Afternoon".

I've loved the show from the first time I saw it. There aren't too many musicals that feature depression, job loss, class divide, deceit, superstition, dependency, crime, armed robbery and close with a double death that gives so much emotion and entertainment value, as well as many many laughs, but this is why this show is in a class of its' own.

"Blood Brothers" is on at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 20 February 2016. Please experience this unforgettable piece of theatre as soon as you can.