"NOW That's What I Call A Musical"

Nottingham Theatre Royal.

"NOW That’s What I Call A Musical" is a brand-new musical written by comedian Pippa Evans and directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood, and celebrates 40 years of the iconic and chart-topping compilations brand "NOW That’s What I Call Music", which has sold an estimated 200 million copies worldwide and is still going strong today.

It’s Birmingham, 1989. Two school friends, Gemma and April, are busy with very important business - planning their lives based on Number One Magazine quizzes and dreaming of snogging Rick Astley. Cut to Birmingham 2009 and it’s the most dreaded event of their lives– the school reunion. Drama, old flames and receding hairlines come together as friends reunite and everything from the past starts to slot into place.

Over the years I've seen many jukebox musicals ranging from the very naff ("Tonight's The Night") to the brilliant ("Our House"); this one lies slap bang in the middle. The first half seemed to slot songs in willy nilly - why would John Parr's epic hit "St Elmo's Fire" be relevant to a couple arguing? - and had no relevance to the storyline, and my heart started to sink as steadily as Ladbaby's career. 

The strange thing was that, in the second act, the songs seemed to have more relevance to what was happening on stage and I started to believe that this jukebox musical could be saved, unlike Ladbaby's career. There were some really nice arrangements of songs that were different to the originals - "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" and "Heart Of Glass" were incredibly good, and sung amazingly well.

By the end of the musical I had warmed up sufficiently to actually like what I had seen and wallowed in the fluffy fun and campness of the show. There are quite a few really good comedy bits to be fair, especially the wedding scene between younger Gemma and Tim, and also Nina Wadia's drunk scene was superb.

EastEnders star Nina Wadia is Gemma. I have been such a fan of Nadia's for a very long time, in fact since the wonderful "Goodness Gracious Me", and this role seems to blend both the comedy side and the more serious side of her acting career. Nina also has a good voice and compliments Melissa Jacques powerhouse of a voice nicely.

Melissa Jacques is April, and I am quite sorry to say that I have never heard of Melissa previously, but what a star I had been missing out on. You can tell from the power in her voice that she has worked on some big West End musicals, due to the strength of her vocals. When Melissa started on "Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves", I swear the roof of the theatre rose by an inch or two! NOW that's what I call a belter of a voice! melissa is also a wonderful comedy actor and that is highlighted in her role.

Special guest and pop icon, Sinitta joins the cast to give a lovely tongue in cheek, diva-esque performance of "So Macho". I last saw Sinitta as Mama Morton in "Chicago" and she has a lovely taste for comedy, which is so welcome in this role as herself.

Chris Grahamson as Tim is beautifully slimy, complete with the worst 80's chat up lines EVER!!

Kieran Cooper as Younger Tim is equally as slimy with his seduction technique on the young Gemma.

Nikita Johal plays Younger Gemma, and this lady could get away with looking like a schoolgirl all the time, as I don't believe that it's just make up that makes Nikita so youthful. A lovely bubbly role made believable by a lovely bubbly actor.

Maia Hawkins is Younger April. She looks gorgeous and she has a voice to match. Maia is responsible for giving vocalisation to a wonderfully slow arrangement of Tears For Fears romper stomper "Everybody Wants To Rule The World".

Shakil Hussain plays Frank, Gemma's brother who has always had a crush on April, even before her quest for stardom in the States. the older Frank is much more sensible but still shows that puppy love flame still burns as bright.

Luke Latchman is the Younger Frank. Great fun to watch, especially when he is being taunted by Gemma over his soppy crush of April. Good singing voice but the over the top Brummy accent just didn't do it for me. That said, this is a great fun role.

Callum Tempest plays Barney, who had always had a crush on Gemma. Another really fun role, and we also get to hear Callum's vocals on another great arrangement of The Police's "Every Breath You Take", a poem that he had written to woo Gemma. I remember Callum playing a G.I. in "Miss Saigon" at Sheffield not so long ago, so knew that he had a great voice.

Matthew Mori who plays Younger Steve, who as a worker at the local video hire shop, is a bit of a heart throb, especially to April, makes his professional debut in this show. 

Phil Sealey plays Steve, when he has grown up. How this character has changed but what character and personality he has developed with that change.

Christopher Glover plays Dad to Gemma and Frank, but what stood out to me was Christopher's voice. His stripped back version of Blondie's "Heart Of Glass" was stunning.

Poppy Tierney plays Mum. This show is full of fun characters and this is just one more of them.

Lauren Hendricks plays Ms Dorian, a teacher from Gemma and April's school who shows up at the School Reunion.

 

The cast is completed by Emily Barnett-Salter, Molly Cheesley, Lizzy Ives, Stefanos Petri (Lizzy and Stefanos both making their professional debuts here), Martha Pothen and Blake Tuke.

The choreography is, as expected FAB U LOUS Dahling, especially that famous lift from "Dirty Dancing" that is performed here by Keiran Cooper and Nikita Johal; a lift that takes strength and trust on both sides, but was perfectly executed. Craig has included some wonderfully camp choreography as well for the young male performers.

Set and Costume Design by Tom Rogers & Toots Butcher. It's the 1980's, what can I say? Marvellous, as I remember those styles so well. The set revolves around a typical bar from that era, complete with mobile disco set up at the back. The set then morphs into every other scene needed, including the kitchen, the bedroom, a hospital bed, a studio set in Hollywood, a bridge scene and more. Very clever use of foldaway scenery and props.

Musical Supervision, Orchestrations and Vocal Arrangements by Mark Crossland, and featuring massive hits like "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", "Gold", "Mickey", "Tainted Love", "Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves", "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)" and many more.

Lighting Design by Ben Cracknell. Big, bright, bouncy and brilliant. A wonderful lighting design.

Sound Design by Adam Fisher. I had been told on the way in that the sound was going to be VERY LOUD!! Well, it wasn't, it was just like the lighting design; big, bright, bouncy and brilliant. I love a punchy sound, and this musical has it.

Wigs & Hair Design by Sam Cox, and there are some wonderful wigs including a brilliantly authentic mullet for Young Tim and a fab Marilyn Monroe-esque design for Young April.

Associate Direction by Guy Woolf, Associate Choreography by Aaron Renfree and  Associate Sound Design by Ollie Durrant.

Technically this musical is very well catered for, and while I started off being only mildly entertained and not really admiring the clunky song choices for the story, I actually ended up relaxing into it and quite enjoying the frothiness, as well as the odd serious moment, in this jukebox jamboree of the 1980's. I was won over eventually.

"NOW That's What I Call A Musical" is at the Nottingham Theatre Royal until Saturday 28 September.

 "Dystopia" by Niche Artefact.

Nottingham Central Library.

So, who are Niche Artefact?

Niche Artefact are a creative collective that is based in the city of Nottingham. They curate bespoke art shows at different venues across Nottingham - featuring creatives of every medium. Being inclusive to the LGBTQIA+ community and all allies. 

The evening is a celebration of Queer arts, an evening of the like that I can't ever remember experiencing previously. An evening I would readily revisit; which is just as well as the next event is in November.

Robin Da Silva curated and hosted the evening of entertainment as well as unveiling new pieces of art by local and new artists. The paintings and sculptures were unveiled throughout the evening with stories by their creators as to the reasons for their creations. As with the live entertainment, the art pieces were as varied and as exciting, all with fascinating stories behind them.

What an evening of entertainment we were treated to as well.

Opening the evening of entertainment, all the acts took to the stage in an exciting choreographed piece.

Milady Burlesque is an aerial burlesque artist who exhibited an incredible display of strength and control, as well as beauty. She also proved that she had a fine singing voice which matched the power and emotion that she put into her aerial work. A gorgeous version of Sondheim's "Send In The Clowns" matched her gorgeous costume that could have come straight out of Cher's wardrobe, only to be outshone again by her final costume change which ended the evening with another emotional song.

Ro De La Monja is a performance artist who also showcased a fine set of lungs and some equally glam costumes throughout the evening. The version of "Losing My Mind" from La Cage Aux Follies" was full of feeling with a nice edginess towards the end. The stage work ensured that your eyes were on the performer and the performance at all times.

Priscilla Shona Krackov - it didn't take me too long to get that name - also known as PSK is a Death Drop Drag Queen, and there were  a few occasions where we experienced the death drops, which I can only imagine takes an awful lot of practice and timing! Loved the gothic interpretation of Shakespear's Sister hit "Stay", complete with leather and chains, disrobing to present a look that Madonna would have been proud of. Some brilliantly exciting choreography on show from PSK.

Dani Magic is another drag act, but without the death drop. The pairing of PSK and Dani Magic was quite literally magic entertainment.

Serena Eadon is the vocalist for the evening and has an absolutely incredible multi octave voice. Serena absolutely smouldered during her version of the 1940's song "I Don't want To set The World On Fire", a very different feel to her earlier ethereal vocals. A combined set that showed off her vocal talents to the absolute maximum on Friday night.

The evening was hosted by DJ Wilson Shaw.

For a night of entertainment with a different twist, make sure that you look up Niche Artefact and you will not be disappointed, especially if you're a fan of burlesque and drag; in my eyes two of the most under rated forms of performance, and something that everyone should go out and support.

 "The Lodger" by Patrick Prior.

Ashby Dramatic Society.

Venture Theatre, Ashby de la Zouche.

Adapted from a story by Marie Belloc Lowndes, part gothic thriller, part horror story, part love story, "The Lodger" draws the audience into a dark and terrible gaslit world, which all starts in Madame Tussaud's London waxworks.

Mr and Mrs Bunting, owners of a struggling lodging house in London, finally get a break when they take in Mr Sleath, their first guest in a long time. Sleath has money, plenty of it, and looks to be the answers to the Buntings money flow issues. He is a gentleman who is well read with poetry and the bible. While Jack the Ripper stalks the East End, terror grows as the mysterious lodger prowls the night and the death toll rises.

Director Diane Crane is no stranger to Patrick Prior's plays as she has previously directed "Turn Of The Screw" back in 2023, so is used to creating atmospheric thrillers. The ending of the first act really hammered home the chill from the stage, while the ending of the play leaves you without the knowledge of what happened to the mysterious Mr Sleath..... or Jack the Ripper!

The story all starts with Mr Hopkins at Madame Tussaud's waxworks as he is rounding up the guided tour, when Mrs Bunting interrupts the commentary, announcing that the story that had just been told, may not be the full version. From this point on it becomes akin to a play within a play with occasional diversions from the story being told by both Mrs Bunting and Mr Hopkins.

Mrs Bunting is played by Rachel Wallis. You immediately feel just how world-weary Mrs Bunting is, and that shows in Rachel's face. The many years as a servant.... sorry In Service... is apparent for this character. There's a U turn in Rachel's interest and attitude surrounding the news reports in the papers after Sleath arrives. There's a conflict of interests though as the play progresses, but which way will Mrs B turn? This is the second time I've had the pleasure of seeing Rachel on stage at The Venture, after her performance in "Handbagged" earlier this year.

Mr Bunting is played by Carl Benfield. I was chatting to Carl before the show started, having never met or seen him before, and when on stage and in character, he is completely different, nothing new there with a good character actor. Anyone who knows me, knows that I love a good and constant accent, and Carl certainly has that in the role of Bunting. You get the feeling that it's Mrs Bunting who wears the trousers in this stage relationship, something that comes to prominence by the end of the play. 

Hopkins, the guide to the Chamber of Horrors at Madame Tussauds in London, is played by David Hare, another actor I've seen before at The Venture. I commented in my last review of David of his comedy bones, and while this is a more serious role, there's still injections of comedy; not least in the second act when he is shadowing - in his role as narrator - Mrs Bunting on the way into town to see the doctor. I was trying to think who his delivery of the lines reminded me of, and on the drive home it struck me. If you've ever listened to the way political commentator Robert Peston uses the rise and fall of the voice to accentuate details, David seemed to use the same technique.

Sleath/The Lodger is played by Christopher Lumb, who I have been advised by Diane, first appeared at The Venture, directed by Diane, when he was about five years old in "On Golden Pond". Not that many years later, he is back playing the mysterious Mr Sleath. I saw mysterious because there is no confirmation of the connection between this Gentleman lodger and the violent murderer dubbed Jack the Ripper. I'm saying nothing and provide no spoilers but there are certain coincidences and similarities between both, but I'll leave you to make your mind up about that. Chris plays smooth, slightly jumpy and mysterious very well!

Diane also has managed to get the author Patrick, to allow her to introduce a character into the play in the form of the Newsboy, played here by Peter Robson. Peter has been involved in several productions but always backstage, but that experience has paid off and he has drummed up enough stage points to appear, not only onstage, but all over The Venture's seating areas.

Sound design and operation, as well as the lighting design and operation is by Nikki Callaghan. This is a big task but Nikki seems to have mastered both all in this one production.

Set design is by Nick Howden. Combining three different locations, the Lodger's room, the downstairs sitting room of The Buntings, as well as the waxworks and every other scene are all combined and situated by the sound design.

Mary Barker is in charge of the wardrobe department, which is superb. Sleath's costume is excellent with long coat, waistcoat, breeches and a wonderful top hat, which immediately gives you the period feel. I mention Sleath's costume but all the costumes are wonderful, depicting the social standing of all the characters.

This is a proper chiller, and there are parts that will make you jump, and let's face it, we all enjoy being made jump and feeling the hackles rise. There are jump scares to prepare for and there are several scenes that will make you feel slightly unnerved. This of course shows that everybody involved in this production have succeeded in their job.

There was a slight deviation from Patrick Prior's script though that was delivered perfectly in character by Mr Hopkins at the start of the second act. 

One noise that no actor, or audience member, wants to make them jump is the one caused by a mobile phone that was left to ring until it had run its' course, which was then followed by two message notification beeps from another phone. An announcement was given before the first act, but this was obviously completely ignored by the guilty parties, the first who may have though they would appear even more guilty if they actually switched the phone off after the first ring, so they just left it to carry on ringing for about thirty seconds, and this was someone near the front of the stage.

The step was taken to get Mr Hopkins to advise the audience from the stage about annoying noises that may distract just before the second act commenced. Unfortunately a couple more notification bleeps were audible in the second act and someone's phone near where I sat also kept flashing in the darkened auditorium. I can never understand theatre goers who can not live without having their phones being on audible for the short time that they are in the theatre. Check them in the interval or better still, switch them off and just sit back and enjoy the play that you've paid good money to see, and stop disrespecting the actors and fellow audience members. Rant over!!

"The Lodger" is at the Venture Theatre in Ashby de la Zouche until Saturday 28 September. If you fancy a Q&A session with the cast and Patrick Prior, the author, then that will be on Friday 27 September.

 "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebolo, adapted by Bryony Lavery.

Encore Performing Arts.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire theatre goers have been blessed with some fantastic productions just recently, and here is another incredible play.

Next year Encore celebrate a decade of producing excellent productions, both musical and straight plays. I have also been lucky enough to have been there from day one to review them.

This is a play that isn't performed often, which is what makes this production so special. It's also a very technical piece of theatre which is not your run of the mill murder play because you know from the start who the killer is, but the end of the play, albeit being a happy one, is left quite open ended. There are so many things that I could write, plot wise, but I would not wish to provide any spoilers regarding the flow of events, so I won't.

Susie Salmon is just like any other young girl. She wants to be beautiful, adores her charm bracelet and has a crush on Ray, a boy from school. There's one big difference though – Susie is dead.

She can only observe while her family manage their grief in their different ways. Her father Jack is obsessed with identifying the killer. Her mother Abigail is desperate to create a different life for herself. And her sister Lindsey is discovering the opposite sex with experiences that Susie will never know. Susie is desperate to help them, and try to bring her murderer to justice, and there might be a way of reaching them…

Susie Salmon is played by Daisy Donoghue, who is on stage for practically the whole run time. There's a lot of script and a lot of emotional characterisation and Daisy smashes everything to do with this role; a role that is very different to any role that I have seen Daisy perform over the years.

Buckley Salmon, Susie's younger, and naive brother, is played by Arden Jennison. This man seems to be blessed with eternal young looks, which is bore out in this role. When you think that Susie is fourteen years old when she is killed, and Buckley is the younger sibling, this places him as a pre teen, and Arden still looks age appropriate. 

Daisy Forster plays Lindsey Salmon, Susie's younger sister who finds love in Samuel, and allows Susie to see her family move on in this coming of age drama, except those coming of age are the ones that are left behind. Lindsey is also one of the first ones to feel the heavenly presence of Susie, allowing the net to tighten and evidence to be discovered.

Kheenan Jones plays Jack Salmon, Susie's father. This is a role that is also very different to his other past stage roles. In one way this is a very calming character who is in control. But then as he feels Susie's presence, he twigs as to who is responsible for her death and he becomes a calculated hunter, and not only of the truth! Kheenan is such a flexible actor that he can play practically any role and make the audience believe in them; just look at his award winning portrayal of "The Creature" in Encore's "Frankenstein". I rest my case.

The mother, Abigail Salmon, is played by Emma Collins. Abigail falls slightly short in Susie's eyes as the play progresses but manages to bring it back around by the end. She shows just what the pressure of losing someone dear can do to a person's emotional state with her actions. Emma's consistency in quality performance is upheld in this role.

Laura Davey plays Ruth Connors. This is one of those characters who starts off as being a bit of an oddball, but then by the end becomes a lynchpin to the story. Susie manages to "contact" Ruth from heaven to let her know who her killer is. She also manages to re-connect with Susie's earthly love interest in Ray via the supernatural body invasion - seen quite spectacularly in that scene from "Ghost" where Sam manages to dance and kiss Molly via Oda Mae Brown. 

Harvey Latter plays Samuel Heckler, Lindsey's partner. Samuel and Lindsey mature together and allows Susie to have hope for her family on earth, via her younger sister. Harvey has had an incredibly busy couple of years and has played a variety of different roles, showing his flexibility in character roles.

Amy Parker plays Franny, the other non-living character in the play and acts as Susie's counsellor up in Heaven. We get some of the comedy from Franny as she constantly reminds Susie that she is no longer alive and tries to reign in Susie's actions.

Payash Raslan plays Ruana Singh, Ray's over protective mother, who likes to smoke and is not afraid to talk back to authoritarian figures. This is Payash's debut with Encore and a very confident start as well, what hopefully will be a continuing succession of parts with the group. This may be her debut for Encore but I remember Payash from local stages in Nottingham's Lace Market and Nottingham Arts Theatres.

Ray Singh is played by Shantanu Bhumbra, another actor who is rapidly developing an extensive theatrical CV - you may not recognise him with his clothes on in this production, after being in "The Full Monty" earlier this year in Nottingham. This is his second production for Encore following on from playing Akhtar in Encore's recent production of "The History Boys".

Detective Len Fenerman is played by Jack Readyhoof. Now, in the past I have said that Jack has played some wonderfully unhinged characters on stage, well this is completely different as the sensible Detective who gravitates to Abigail Salmon romantically, after we find out about Fenerman's late wife. Mush as I love Jack's unhinged and manic characters, it's also really good to see him play roles such as this. Jack also plays Principal Caden in the play.

Guy Evans, who makes his debut for Encore, plays George Harvey, the neighbour who likes to make dolls' houses. Another talented actor who I've reviewed in Lace Market Theatre productions in Nottingham.  What really impressed me, apart from being a really convincing and unhinged maniac, is the way that he made me feel the weight that was in the bags he was unloading at the start of this play. I don't know if those bags were weighted or if they weren't, but Guy made it look as if they were all really heavy, and you could feel the energy that was needed to move the bags.

Grandma Lynn is played by Mina Holtom. I've known Mina for a few years now, but with just a little help by wigs and make up, Mina was almost unrecognisable as the glam Gran who was not at all bothered by letting her mouth run away with her, which also injected some wonderful splashes of comedy. Mina also doubled up her role by playing Mrs Flanagan.

Charli Twyford, Sky Marsden, Eleanor Carty and Megan Hill provided the heavenly voices for Leah, Flora, Wendy and Leidia.

Providing movement in the puppetry department for the heavenly victims were Shan Bhumbra (Leah), Payash Raslan (Flora), Harvey Latter (Wendy) and Laura Davey (Leidia).

Milly Bould, along with her dad, Chris, created the puppets in the show, including Holiday, the dog. Milly also operated Holiday and provided the "voice" for Holiday, as well as playing Sophie, the cop, and a girl.

Directed by Adam Worton and Natalie Webster, assisted by Robert McAuley. The first few minutes of this play had absolutely no dialogue at all, but they managed to create such tension from what was happening on stage, or just below the stage level that from this opening, I was certainly left moving towards the edge of my seat, which is where I stayed for most of this production. Although there was no rush in the action on stage, the time seemed to disappear; this I put down afterwards being due to that focus and anticipation of what was to come just reeled you in.

The stage direction is unlike most other plays because, while normally the stage characters have to react to all of the actors, in this the actors have to completely ignore Susie, for most of the time and act as if she is not there, which of course she isn't; she's in Heaven after all. Clever Direction is so obvious for this play.

Adam Guest is the Producer as well as Sound Designer. Adam has an uncanny sense of what music fits the feel of a play completely, and the music used in this production really adds to the story, as well as the atmosphere.

Sound operation is by Meg Hill and Arran Mackay. The timing of the sound was spot on. From the crunching of the snow underfoot when Jack Salmon is walking on the snow, to the timing of the script words to the recorded passages from Susie and the Heavenly voices of the "ghosts" of the past victims, nothing was out of place and all cues were hit.

Production design is by Adam Worton. The stage, even though it doesn't immediately look like it, is set on about six different levels, including one below stage level. This works well to place Susie at the top, as if she is looking down on everyone from Heaven, but it also means that you can see all the actors on stage, all of the time due to the staggered levels.

Lighting design and operation is by David Price, and the focusing, and drawing in of the spots to pinpoint several of the characters really works well, as well as creating light pools and shadows, creating even more atmosphere.

Every area in this production met my every expectation, but then again I have been watching Encore productions, as I said earlier since 2015, and I know that everyone involved have high expectations of what they need to produce, and they produce what is expected.

This play has so many things that when put together, create an unforgettable evening. The Heavenly puppets of the victims, although not meant to be scary, create an unnerving effect.

"The Lovely Bones" is at the Duchess Theatre in Long Eaton until Saturday 21 September.

During the run of "The Lovely Bones", Encore will be raising money for Myeloma UK.