Christian Durham
09 Dec
Reviews 
Review: BARNUM at the Menier Chocolate Factory
By Christian Durham Saturday, December 9 2017, 08:36
Phineas Taylor Barnum was the original ‘Greatest Showman on Earth’. He brazenly and unashamedly used ‘flim flam’ and humbug to entertain and occasionally hoodwink the general public in the 19th Century both in his time as a Circus impresario and as a politician. His philosophy was to ‘hook your attractions to the mood of the country’.
26 Feb
Reviews
Review: THE GIRLS at the Phoenix Theatre
By Christian Durham Sunday, February 26 2017, 07:48
Tim Firth has completed the writing triple. A successful film, a popular play and now a musical based on the inspiring story of Yorkshire’s Rylstone & District Women’s Institute.
27 May
Reviews
Review: Threepenny Opera
By Christian Durham Friday, May 27 2016, 14:16
First a blazing production of Show Boat and now a barnstorming 3 Penny Opera has hit London for summer. Two very different pieces written less than a year apart in the late 1920’s that highlight just how powerful music theatre’s voice can be to both entertain and critique us at the same time.
25 Apr
Reviews
Review: SHOW BOAT at the New London Theatre
By Christian Durham Monday, April 25 2016, 10:56
In 1927 Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II took the courageous step of basing a musical on Edna Ferber’s novel exploring 40 years of a theatre company ‘s life on a Mississippi Riverboat. By doing so, they set off a chain reaction in the world of musical theatre that proved that this then trivial art form could comment on more serious aspects of the human condition. In Show Boat, alongside the usual but more developed vicissitudes of love, they threw the spotlight on racial prejudices in society.
16 Apr
Reviews
Review: PHANTOM OF THE OPERA at Her Majesty’s Theatre
By Christian Durham Saturday, April 16 2016, 08:39
PHANTOM OF THE OPERA has been an integral part of the West End for over a generation. For years, it was a sold-out success and alongside other Andrew Lloyd Webber shows such as CATS, STARLIGHT EXPRESS and EVITA spread British musical theatre around the planet. So revisiting such a show after a quarter of a century brought with it some trepidation and nostalgia. However within 5 minutes of the show’s beginning I had forgotten I was there to review and was swept up in its visual and musical splendour.
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