“The Foreigner” by Bonington Players
Bonington Theatre, Arnold.

I’d never heard of this play before so this was going to be an education for me.And what a lovely education it turned out to be.

In a resort-style fishing lodge in rural Georgia, the plot revolves around the visit of two guests, Englishmen Charlie Baker and Staff Sergeant Froggy LeSueur. Naturally shy, Charlie is also depressed because his beloved wife may be dying.

To help his friend, Froggy tells Betty Meeks, who owns the lodge, that Charlie is the native of a foreign country and does not understand a word of English. Betty, who has never travelled, is delighted to cater for a stranger who is "as foreign as the day is long." At first, Charlie is not at all happy by Froggy's fib and protests that he can't pretend.

Charlie overhears a private and emotional conversation (Catherine discovers she is pregnant), and decides to go along with the facade. Before long, Charlie finds himself privy to assorted secrets and scandals freely discussed in front of him by the other visitors.When these secrets become a danger to Charlie and the others, drastic action is called for!

The set (Tony Tomlinson) for this play is one of the best that I have seen at the Bonington with video screening design (David Goatham) and a wonderfully designed set.

Wayne Hill (Froggy Le Seur) is great in this part and I loved that he kept a local accent as well.

Anna Hodkin (Betty Meeks) has lovely characterisation as the elderly lodge owner. the voice and movement ages her character perfectly.

Eddie Januszczyk (Rev David Maeshall Lee) is responsible for the baddie section of the cast, and gets his comeuppance by the end of the play, but not in the way that I'd expected.

Helen Holbrook (Catherine Simms) plays one of those roles that really grow on you, and i love the transition that occurs in her character, albeit very slightly.

Kevin Jones (Owen Musser) is an even worse - or better baddie depending on how you look at the character - than the Reverand, and it's Owen who brings a very dark twist to the play.

Alex Brimelow (Ellard Simms) absolutely smashes the accent, and again first impressions with Ellard are not always what they seem.

Danny Longbottom (Charlie Baker) is the star of this play with his various vocal talents and his verbal and physical humour.

Nick Hill, Jill Weller and Gail Tomlinson play the townspeople.

The sound, also by David Goatham, is vital for this play in order to create that world outside the stage area, and the various sound effects help paint those images in your mind.

A lovely lighting design by Howard Whitehurst which also creates the atmosphere, especially during Act Two.

Jonathan Greaves has directed a wonderfully funny play with plenty of pace.

The writer, Larry Shue, has a lovely comedy style which has enabled the actor to present a gentle comical piece of theatre and some wonderful characters with a lovely sense of the absurd.

Loved the music choices as well at the start, interval and ending of the play creating just the right feel of the play.

“The Foreigner” is at The Bonington Theatre until Saturday 13 April, and is one not to be missed if you like a good chuckle.

“Fame The Musical” by Long Eaton Operatic Society
May Hall Trent College, Long Eaton

Think “Fame” and images of leg warmers and New York yellow taxis come into play, and of course that iconic song, which topped the singles chart back in 1980. LEOS take us back to that period with some memorable characters. Characters like Carmen, Schlomo, Tyrone, Iris, Nick and Serena who attend the New York City's celebrated High School for the Performing Arts.

Emily May Corner (Carmen Diaz) is sassy and Carmen is hungry for fame, but at what price? I have many favourites from the soundtrack and, apart from the title track, Emily belts out one of my faves in "In L.A." I thought she was going to take the roof off with that last note!

Ellie Simmonds (Grace Lamb) is always a welcome edition to any piece of theatre and as "Lambchop" she is also full of sass as the lady drummer in the music class.

Rob Chilton (Schlomo Metzenbaum) also gets to sing another of my favourite songs from the show, "Bring On Tomorrow" which by the end of the musical turns into one big old gospel style number

Natalie Brown (Serena Katz) and Harvey Latter (Nick Piazza) perform another face in "Let's Play A Love Scene". This "will they/won't they" scenario is quite cute, even though we know they will, and their pairing is well cast.

Lydia Thacker (Iris) brings an air of class as the ballet dancer with a hidden agenda, but has some lovely lines in her ballet.

Jake Truman (Tyrone Jackson), now here is a character that Is flawed from the start, but what i love about this character is that he knows where his strengths, as well as his weaknesses are, and does something about them.I love the energy in "Dancing On The Sidewalk" and the fire in "Tyrone's Rap".

Now I don't know if this was part of the rough Bronx character but I noticed Jake helping all the ladies down the stairs, so if not a Tyrone trait, the gentlemanly trait is certainly with Jake.

Jack Woolley (Joe Vegas) is well cast as the comedy character. Brash, naughty but very funny.

Amy Parker (Mabel Washington) gets to belt out a wonderfully strong version of "Mabel's Prayer".

Thomas Phipps (Goody King), the trumpet player in the music study threesome

Alex Tavener (Miss Sherman), gets top pitch the character just right as the English teacher who is seen as being on Tyrone's case all the time but she is his saviour when it comes to his education.My favourite song from this musical has always been "These Are My Children" and as soon as Alex started singing, the hairs went up on my arms. An emotive song which suits Alex down to the ground.

Emma Collins (Ms Bell)m the dance teacher gets to battle it out with Miss Sherman and their duet is one of the many musical highlights in this performance.

One of the busiest men in local theatre is Adam Guest who plays Mr Sheinkopf, the music teacher. Not the biggest of parts but one that, for me, stuck out, not least for that wonderful talent he has for accents, and his German accent was done really well. Adam seems to morph into any character he does, and he looked so much like Mr Shorofski from the TV show "Kids from Fame", also the music teacher in that show,

Also appearing in this production are Molly Parkinson (Sonia), Simon Parker(Mr Myers - the drama teacher), Louise Seel (Mrs Peterson), Katie MacDonald (Jessica), Erin Hill (Tiffany) and Jenny Ashworth (Nicole),

Directed by Adam Daniels, he kept the show pacy with plenty of energy.

Choreographed by Rachel Murray, and a great job she did as there were several dance styles in this musical; from ballet to street.

Musical Director for the show is Tom Watkins and along with his band of musicians they created a sound that was close to the authentic 70's soul sound of the likes of The Salsoul Orchestra from that era, and I felt that i was back there. Smooth, jazzy and I loved the sound of the harpsichord used in some of the tracks.

The sound in Act One was a bit messy but by Act Two it had been sorted and there was a big improvement. At times it seems like the singers were battling against the volume of the band in the first part. there had always been issues with the sound at May hall, bit last year was the best sound I'd heard at May Hall. But as I mentioned by Act Two the balance was just right.

What i also missed though were some of the New York and/or U.S generic accents in some of the performances; There seemed to be a predominance of English accents in the New York School of Performing Arts.

That said, nothing could detract from my love for this musical. It's one of my guilty musical theatre pleasures because of the memorable soundtrack and the warm characters.

I love the messages the musical gave out, and I love the irony of the original film, which made stars of many of the actors, because the message that Schlomo gives Carmen is not to be in such a hurry to find fame.

Yet another solid and entertaining production from Long Eaton Operatic Society

“Fame The Musical” is lighting up the Long Eaton sky like a flame until Saturday 13 April.

"Love, Laughter & Loathing" by Musicality.
The Great Hall, Trent Building, UoN.

When I last saw Musicality, they performed "Made In Dagenham" at the Nottingham Arts Theatre and I mentioned how strong their harmonies were, so when I was invited to see this showcase, it did not take me long to accept, because I knew how good this group are.

From the very first number in the showcase, "No One Mourns The World" from "Wicked", the ensemble seemed to have started where they left off, with incredibly tight harmonies.

As every piece of music was rolled out, I said to myself that i must mention that song and the performers. Well that thought soon went out the window because otherwise I would be commenting on all 26 of the numbers and their incredibly talented performers, so 'll try not to be biased as I continue.

The choices for the showcase were not the standard ones that you'd think of first time round when given a musical, and that made this production very exciting for me.

The choices of musicals as well were inspiring with many new musicals interspersed with classics."I'm The Greatest Star" from Funny Girl, a spine tingling ensemble version of "Somewhere" from West Side Story and "Downtown" from Little Shop Of Horrors" sat perfectly with tracks from newer musicals like Come From Away, Hamilton, Waitress, the wonderful Dear Evan Hansen, Catch Me If You Can and big West End successes like Mamma Mia and We Will Rock You. This showcase covered so many musical theatre songs for all levels of musical theatre fans.

The Musical Co-ordinator for this mammoth job was Matt Talbot, and just watching him conduct made me feel tired, he puts so much energy into this job, as well as playing keys and performing in several of the on stage pieces.

The band - although I am sure that numbering sixteen, we could class this as a mini orchestra at least, were just so amazingly good, something that you really appreciate in the ballads.

The emotional highs emitted by these performers made the hairs on my arms stand upright so many times this evening. "I Confess" from Footloose, "Bui Doi" from Miss Saigon, "You Will Be Found" from Dear Evan Hansen, "Prayer" from Come from Away, "It's Quiet Uptown" from Hamilton.

Balancing these with wonderful lighter moments like "There Right There" from Legally Blonde, "Jailhouse Rock" from the Blues Brothers, "Meet the Plastics" from Mean Girls, "Take A Chance On Me" from Mamma Mia, "Master Of the House" from Les Mis and bringing the evening to a rousing close, "Raise You Up/Just Be" from the brilliant Kinky Boots.

Did I say that I would try not to be biased?

It's quite easy to not be biased with the performers though because every single singer on that stage was superb, I wouldn't know where to start if I were to be biased.

These kind of showcases are perfect nights of entertainment for me, especially when you can recognise the amount of hard work that everyone involved, from the singers, Choreographers, Directors, tech magicians, the orchestra have put in. These sort of shows don't just happen, and when you think they all have studies and degrees to work on and for, it makes me wonder when these people sleep.

Thank you Matt Talbot for asking me along, and thank you to every single person who performed, thank you for making the end of my weekend a very special one.

There was lots of love, there was plenty of laughter, but there was no place tonight for the slightest bit of the other one.

Here's looking forward to "Little Shop Of Horrors".

“Rat King” by Oliver Binns
Nottingham New Theatre

This play has left me completely confused, but in a good way, I may say, but I've no idea what was going through Oliver Binns mind when he wrote it.

Here's what i understood. Robin, played by Joe Strickland, is a 58 year old father who starts the play in bed and being hounded by nightmare rat creatures. they scatter his books, mess the place up and constantly terrorise him while he is asleep. He awakes a trembling wreck.

His daughter, Molly calls on him and goes to the kitchen to make a drink, only to disappear into a hell like portal.

Is this all in Robin's mind though as shortly afterwards, there is a knock on the door,and in walks Molly!

There are foul-mouthed Santas, possible sacrifices, visions of Robin in a wheel chair with a gory ending, and is his daughter really part of this illusion?

As you can see this left me with many questions, but i do love a play that makes me think about what I've seen, and while I may never get the answers, that matters not.

Technically, this is quite tricky play. Just before we were lead into the performance space, we were advised that there had been technical difficulties, and if anything does go wrong, to "be kind", but if I had not been told that, and if any difficulties had arisen, I would have been none the wiser. And the quirkiness of the above did fit in well with the whole weird vibe of the play.

There were strange voices speaking to Robin which seemed to stick and break off and were distorted. All of this worked really well within the inner madness of the play. Nice use of imagery and light as well.

One thing I really was not sure of was the idea to have some of the words sung, as in a musical narrative style, for me that didn't work.

Was all of this in Robin's imagination? Did Robin do drugs? Will I ever be able to look at strawberry liquorice laces in the same way again? Who knows? You decide by going to see it!

One of the strangest plays I've seen in a long while, but isn't it good to give an audience something off the wall and new, and something for them to question after they leave the theatre?

“Rat King” is at the Nottingham New Theatre until Monday 8 April

“My Fair Lady” by ESNA
Loughborough Town Hall

It’s been such a busy week for me as there have been so many excellent theatre productions to see, so was only able to squeeze this one in on their last night, but I am so glad that I was able to get to see it.

Eliza Doolittle, a rough Cockney girl, meets Colonel Pickering and Henry Higgins in Covent Garden where she’s selling flowers. When Higgins remarks that he could help Eliza speak properly and raise her status in the community, Pickering challenges him to do so and Eliza takes him up on the offer. Though difficult and frustrating for both Eliza and Higgins at first, the lessons soon begin to work wonders, and produce results that neither could predict.

The Lerner and Lowe soundtrack contains so many well-known, and well-loved pieces such as “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?,” “With a Little Bit of Luck,” “The Rain in Spain,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “On the Street Where You Live,” “Get Me to the Church on Time,” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.”

Jonathan Penton (Professor Higgins) shows off his wonderful singing voice in a very clipped way that matched the Rex Harrison original. Loved it that the audience reacted in such a shocked way with some of his comments and insults to Eliza. he made the character live on stage and that is why the audience reacted in such a way.

Abbie Cooper (Eliza Doolittle), oh my! what a transformation from flower girl to lady,and what a beautiful array of costumes Abbie got to wear. Lovely character acting and a lovely voice to match.

Kirt Hammonds (Colonel Pickering) makes his ESNA debut, and with the make up, he looks so different on stage. This part shows what a varied character actor he is as the last time I saw Kirt was as Lieutenant Gruber in "Allo Allo".

Another debut performance for ESNA was for Jason Wrightam (Alfred P Doolittle). i knew of Jason previously as I've seen him in several plays in Nottingham at the Lace Market Theatre, but don't think that I have seen him in musical mode, and this role really suited him. he had the audience in the palm of his hand and I have not heard an audience applaud so loudly and for so long as they did when Jason performed "Get Me To the Church On Time".

The lovely Liz Berrisford played Mrs Higgins, which is one part that I have always thought deserved a bigger role in this musical.

A wonderful, and large ensemble, packed with many well known faces creating a rich and rounded chorus.

The musical backing, musically directed by Mr Meng Khaw, was just beautiful. Let's face it, the soundtrack has so many gorgeous and well known songs, as long as you get the sound right, you have it cracked, taking nothing away of course from the hard work that Meng and the orchestra put in to make this score sound incredible.

Making sure that we could hear every single word from the actors were the sound engineers Rob Temperton and Harry Bridge.

Lighting Director for this show was James Cladingboel.

The sets were just amazing, and moved into place very swiftly which kept the pace of the play going, and at just under three hours - including interval, pace is vital, and ESNA did not hang around.

Directed by Emma Adcock, she has brought out the beauty of this musical perfectly.

Choreographed by Nicola Scoggins, and there are some gorgeous dance sections in this musical, I imagine not made that easy by some of the gorgeous costumes (Molly Limpets) the ladies wear.

It was the final night on Saturday night and, from what I could gather, the whole week was a sell out, as was Saturday night, and I also imagine that the cast had standing ovations on every night.

If you had never seen ESNA productions previously, you may be forgiven for thinking that this was a professional touring production, it was that good. It was that professional.

“Seussical Jr” by Spotlight Theatre School
Nottingham Arts Theatre

Spotlight Theatre School transport us from the Jungle of Noo to the Circus McGurkus, the Cat in the Hat narrates the story of Horton the Elephant, who discovers a speck of dust containing tiny people called the Whos. Horton must protect the Whos from a world of naysayers and dangers, and he must also guard an abandoned egg that's been left in his care by the irresponsible Mayzie La Bird.

Although Horton faces ridicule, danger and a trial, the intrepid Gertrude McFuzz never loses faith in him. Ultimately, the powers of friendship, loyalty, family and community are challenged and emerge triumphant! Oh the things you can think!

I’ve been hankering after seeing this delightful and fun piece of theatre for a few years and every time I have been offered the chance, something has either gone awry or I’ve not been free, so when this chance came, I took it!

It always amazes me with the confidence and the talent of the young people I see on stage, and this production is no different; I was open mouthed at the talented kids that Spotlight Theatre School have shown us.

George Young, who played the Cat In The Hat was brilliantly entertaining and really got into the character well.

Megan Holder (Jojo), Jude Forsey (The Mayor) and Tayla Collins (Mrs Mayor) are part of Whoville, the city within thje speck of dust that Horton The elephant is guarding.

Horton was played by an incredibly talented young man called Bradley Law. This young man has one of the most wonderful singing voices I have heard in one so young. His clarity and control, with just the right amount of vibrato shows that this young man is destined for the stage. He has stage presence and a confidence beyond his years and a real joy to experience.

I loved the streetwise kangaroo, played by Zach Silcock, he has attitude in character, along with Little kangaroo, played by Lennon Crawford.

Talking of attitude, Emily Holder as Gertrude McFuzz, was full of it! great job.

And then there are the very naughty and cheeky Wickersham Brothers - Scarlett Coleman-Smith, Finlay Tomlinson and Harry Smith.

There were many many other youngsters involved in this lovely production that really made me feel very warm inside. It also gave me confidence in local theatre having a host of young talent coming up through the ranks. talent I hope that i will be around to see blossom on the Nottingham stages for m any years.

Choreographed by Bethany Wear, Directed by Jess Hardy-Turner, Produced by Amanda Hall, Musical Director was Patrick McChrystal, Sound & light by Tom Mowat and Stage manager was Laura Ellis. The wonderful costumes were sourced by Amanda Hall and Sophie Petruccio-Hall. As you can tell with this team, the show was of the best quality all round.

It was not like watching a show performed by youngsters because the dedication and discipline they have showed is something you'd expect from their seniors.

What I also love about this theatre school is that these young kids can see teenagers and young adults working back stage and with them, and gives them that confidence that they too can achieve what they have, and is within their grasp.... if they want it, and there are people who can make it all happen for them.

“Power” by NUDance
King’s Meadow Campus, Nottingham

NUDance present an annual showcase and this year the theme is Power. What does it mean to you? What would you do with it? What lengths would you go to in order to get it? NUDance are the Nottingham University Dance Society.

I have never seen NUDance before and this is also my first visit to the King’s Meadow Campus on Lenton Lane. This was the old Carlton TV Studios, and it really brought back memories for me walking through the entrance and through reception.

The evening is a collection of various dance styles, showcasing the students talents, and there is an abundance of talent in this group, and it's also a large group.

From street-dance to contemporary through tap and ballet to
ballroom, hip hop to body pop and K-Pop, there is something for everyone in this showcase.

The evening was peppered with videos of the dancers explaining the reasons why they chose the music and the dance style and what "power" meant to them. A clever idea as this also meant that while the video was playing, the dancers could get in place.

36 performances in just over two hours and too many dancers for me to count.The energy and passion from this group exploded from the performance area and when the dances slowed down, giving us a breather, it wasn't long before the pace was ramped up again, mush to the pleasure and excitement to the enthusiastic crowd.

There were several performances that really stuck out for me. I loved the breaking sections - growing up in the late 70's and early 80's when this music and dance craze was all the rage, this group had me mesmerised with their windmills and popping.

The ballet group, who danced to James Arthur's version of "The Power Of Love", were hypnotic and ever graceful.

The opener to the second half blew me away and the One Stop Cha Cha Shop left me breathless, oh and the Tap and Latin collaboration was technically beautiful. Being a massive "Strictly" fan has taught me to watch for things like the hands and the positioning of the feet and this group obviously had spent a lot of time on these points. Sheer perfection.

Dancers have to be so much more than just dancers because the strength they have to own for the ever more adventurous lifts, and we saw some big lifts in this showcase, which coaxed rapturous applause from the audience. Their core strength and stamina compares to any sportsman, which is why these dancers showed not one sign of being tired or breathless, even through the most energetic of pieces.

If I was pushed to choose any of the dancers to highlight, it would be Denis Lelin for his sheer energy, flexibility, fluidity and entertainment value, and I am sure it was he who was dancing in those high heels. Any bloke who can dance like he did in those shoes deserves a mention.

One of the most exciting dance shows that i have seen in a long time. Powerful and full of power, however you wish to define that word!

“Power” by NUDance is at the King’s Meadow Campus, Lenton Lane until Saturday 6 April at 12.30 and 7.30pm.