Review: RIGOLETTO, London ColiseumOctober 31, 2024There’s no shame in pulling an old favourite from the vaults but Jonathan Miller’s 1982 gangster-themed production is firing blanks in this latest revival.
Review: CHILLY GONZALES, Royal Albert HallOctober 29, 2024Jarvis Cocker singing torch version of Tina Turner’s “Private Dancer”? Peter Serafinowicz doing an Elvis Presley impression for half an hour? In the Royal Albert Hall on a rainy Monday night? Welcome to the world of Chilly Gonzales, one of the most unique musicians around as he comes to the capital to promote his latest collection Gonzo.
Review: THE ORCHESTRAL FOREST, Smith Square HallOctober 25, 2024Featuring works as diverse as Michael Nyman’s “Strong on Oaks, Strong on the Causes of Oaks” and Felix Mendelssohn’s “Overture” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sinfonia Smith Square’s environmentally-minded concert The Orchestral Forest is an enchanting sonic experiment.
Review: BRIDGE COMMAND, VauxhallOctober 23, 2024Ever wanted to captain a spaceship on a mission to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilisations and perhaps shoot up some enemy ships along the way? With the aid of a shiny new £3.5m set, Parabolic Theatre’s Bridge Command realises every sci-fi geek’s dream.
Interview: World Record-Breaking Pianist Chilly GonzalesOctober 22, 2024As much a persona as a musician, the Canadian rapper and classical pianist Chilly Gonzales comes to the Royal Albert Hall on 28 October to promoting his latest album Gonzo with special guest Jarvis Cocker and Peter Serafinowicz as Elvis Presley.
Review: THE KEY OF DREAMS, TreowenOctober 20, 2024With tickets costing £400 each and a storyline stretching over 24 hours, is Lemon Difficult’s The Key Of Dreams the ultimate in immersive theatre?
Review: IMMERSIVE 1984, Hackney Town HallOctober 18, 2024Watching this reboot of Immersive 1984, a thought comes to mind: if, as we’re constantly being informed, we’re all living in the post-privacy, post-truth and post-politics world foretold in 1984, aren't we already inside an immersive version of George Orwell’s seminal book?
Review: TOP GUN: MAVERICK IN CONCERT, Royal Albert HallSeptember 30, 2024Tom Cruise made a surprise appearance at a screening of his recent hit Top Gun: Maverick, screened at the Royal Albert Hall as part of their Films In Concert series and BroadwayWorld's critic was there..
Review: THE BLACK SAINT AND THE SINNER LADY, Barbican TheatreSeptember 27, 2024Charles Mingus originally intended for his iconic 1963 jazz album The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady to be accompanied by dancers and, thanks to performance company Clod Ensemble and the Nu Civilisation Orchestra, it becomes the inspiration for a vibrant and inclusive show.
Review: BIANCA DEL RIO: DEAD INSIDE, Eventim ApolloSeptember 25, 2024Eighty dates into Bianca Del Rio’s Dead Inside tour, the sweary New Orleans-born comedian is still very much alive and kicking. The artist formally known as Roy R. Haylock is an insult comic whose outsized personality and foghorn voice easily fills the capacious Eventim – but does her latest show work on this side of the pond?
Review: THE MAGICIANS TABLE, LondonSeptember 23, 2024You wait all your life for someone to come up with an immersive show which blends magical and cocktails and suddenly London has two. What to do?
Review: AKRAM KHAN'S GISELLE, Sadler's WellsSeptember 21, 2024Whatever you do, don’t ignore the signs. The posters outside the auditorium alerting audiences to the “very loud music” are not being overly cautious. Quite the opposite. With its ear-splitting drums and a rumbling bass that rolls across the room juddering through our bodies, this Giselle’s effect relies as much on sound as the dancing.
Review: RHYTHM & RUSE, The VaultsSeptember 13, 2024With a Jazz Age theme and plenty of cabaret, cocktails and close-up magic, London’s latest slab of immersive fun Rhythm & Ruse opens at The Vaults.