By Phil Willmott Friday, December 11 2015, 17:35
I first saw this hilarious comedy in a try out fringe production at the Pleasance Theatre some years ago.
A lot has happened since then for this brilliant team of comics, writers and improvisers and their visionary producer, Kenny Wax. Most notably the unexpected success of their first show, THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, on tour and in the West End at the Duchess Theatre.
By Phil Willmott Monday, December 7 2015, 16:14
AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS is a much loved novel by Jules Verne from 1873 in which Phileas Fogg, a methodical, emotionally stunted adventurer, bets a fortune that he can travel the circumference of the globe in under 80 days. He's joined by a bumbling servant, Passepartout, pursued by a detective who believes him to be a bank robber and along the way he meets his future bride, Aouda, when he rescues her from sacrifice in the Indian jungle. The chemistry between the protagonists, the race against the clock and the scrapes and escapes, which come thick and fast, all contribute to its enduring popularity.
By Phil Willmott Monday, December 7 2015, 14:11
The American sit-com FRIENDS which ran from 1994 to 2004 has been a permanent background to our lives ever since it captured the world with its vision of loveable and witty twentysomethings starting their adult lives in Manhattan. It’s repeated across the globe, all the time, on satellite TV channels and is as popular as ever with young viewers.
It’s big news then that one of the stars, Matthew Perry, best known for playing Chandler Bing in the highly rated, critically acclaimed series, is to take the lead in a new West End production of his own play, THE END OF LONGING at the Playhouse Theatre.
By Phil Willmott Monday, December 7 2015, 13:47
Older audiences and critics were rather underwhelmed by this massive new show, inspired by the classic children’s book ALICE IN WONDERLAND, when it premièred in Manchester earlier this year. It has now transferred to London's Oliver Theatre and if the enthusiasm of the younger audience members at the late preview I attended is anything to go by, it could prove a massive hit if it can reach the urban teenage audience it’s aimed at.
By Phil Willmott Monday, December 7 2015, 10:57
FUNNY GIRL is a Broadway musical written in the early 1960s by the same composer as GYPSY, Julie Styne.
Like GYPSY it’s set backstage, in the bygone variety theatre of the early 1900s. It’s the story of how a young comedienne, Fanny Brice, used her gift for comedy and her unusual looks to become a massive star in the Follies, a popular entertainment of the day which predominantly featured identical, beautiful girls moving in simple unison around a spectacular set.
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