Stuart King
01 Jul
Reviews 
Review: STARLIGHT EXPRESS at Troubadour Wembley Park
By Stuart King Monday, July 1 2024, 09:44
This reviewer last had the pleasure of experiencing Starlight Express at the Apollo Victoria in 1988 after key tweaks and revisions were incorporated into the London show from the Broadway production. Having stayed on track for 18 years, wowing millions of fare paying passengers during that time, it finally ran out of steam in 2002. Now, 22 years after reaching the end of the line, an entirely revamped production hopes to electrify a fresh generation of musical trainspotters at the 2000-seater Troubadour venue at Wembley Park.
Jade Marvin (Momma) and the cast in Starlight Express (Photo Credit Pamela Raith)
28 Jun
Reviews
Review: THE MARILYN CONSPIRACY at Park Theatre
By Stuart King Friday, June 28 2024, 08:11
An empty bottle of 50 Nembutal barbiturates, prescribed just a few days before Marilyn Monroe’s death in August 1962 aged just 36, was largely accepted at the time, as the means of her suicide or cause of an accidental overdose. Medical examiners pointed to a lack of a manicure and pedicure to suggest the actress no longer cared about her usual glamorousness — a sure sign of her unstable and potentially volatile mental state!
Susie Amy as Pat Newcombe and Genevieve Gaunt as Marilyn Monroe in the Marilyn Conspiracy. (c) NUX Photography
28 Jun
Reviews
Review: THE SECRET GARDEN at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
By Stuart King Friday, June 28 2024, 00:01
Frances Hodgson Burnett’s endearingly quaint piece of Edwardiana has been newly adaptated through the joint talents of Holly Robinson and Anna Himali Howard, with the latter also serving as director on the production.
First off, it should be emphasised that the version being performed within the idyllic setting of Regent’s Park Open Air theatre, is NOT the musical which has been around since the early 1990s, but a play version unapologetically aimed at the younger end of the age spectrum.
The Secret Garden at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. Credit Alex Brenner.
27 Jun
Reviews
Review: NEXT TO NORMAL at Wyndham’s Theatre
By Stuart King Thursday, June 27 2024, 08:50
Rock musical NEXT TO NORMAL scored a huge success on Broadway back in 2009, winning 3 of its 11 Tony Award nominations and then (amidst some controversy) the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Last year, under the stewardship of artistic director Michael Longhurst, this new production enjoyed a brief run at the Donmar Warehouse and has now transferred to Wyndham’s Theatre for a 14-week West End residency.
Caissie Levy in Next to Normal at Wyndham’s Theatre. © Marc Brenner
14 Jun
Reviews
Review: KATHY AND STELLA SOLVE A MURDER at Ambassadors Theatre
By Stuart King Friday, June 14 2024, 08:48
In common with other relatively small cast London musicals (like the hugely successful Operation Mincemeat which continues to enjoy its extended run at the Fortune Theatre), KATHY AND STELLA SOLVE A MURDER relies upon sharply choreographed moves and costume changes to ensure the non-stop cultural reference gags land with pizzazz. Thankfully, in bringing together Bronté Barbé and Rebekah Hinds — a pair of supremely talented performers who manage effortlessly to lift even the kitschest tongue-in-cheek and colloquially corny moments — the producers have hit comedy gold.
The Cast of Kathy & Stella Solve A Murder! Pamela Raith Photography.
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