CILLA: The Musical

at Palace Theatre

Reviewed by Matthew Dougall November 2017

This is the story of how one of Britain's most popular and enduring pop singers and later TV personality managed to climb that rocky road from working as an office typist and living in a terraced house in Liverpool in the early 1960's. Born Priscilla White, she had, at the age of 25, two number 1 hits, and the world (or at least the UK at that point) knew her as Cilla Black.

Never Mind The Weather, Halle Orchestra

Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

Reviewed by Matthew Dougall November 2017

The Halle Orchestra's POPS season continued this evening with a selection of music taken from many different musical genres from classical to rock, all with a common theme - the weather.

Welcome to Paradise @ 3MT

by A Ship of Fools Company

Reviewed by John Waterhouse November 2017

How to describe Welcome to Paradise? It can hardly be described as play and does not qualify as stand-up comedy. It is certainly inane and in fact extremely puerile. There are no jokes as such, to call it low-budget would be an insult to productions that actually have a low budget and it would be correct to call it witless, banal, silly and very bad. It is also rightly said to be an insult to Christmas shows, and Father Christmas may well have already spoken to his lawyers. And yet somehow, in spite of all this, or possibly even because of it, Welcome to Paradise is so bad it’s actually very good!!

PICNIC - HOME, Manchester

by Manchester School of Theatre

Reviewed by Matthew Dougall November 2017

Once again I find myself going to a play of which I know absolutely nothing. I had never before heard of either the play, 'Picnic', nor it's author, William Inge; and yet, this astounds me since I have spent my whole life within the profession, and this is a play and an author one feels one really ought to know.

Trouble in Tahiti & Trial by Jury

Part of The Little Greats

by Opera North at the Lowry

Reviewed by Matthew Dougall November 2017

Opera North are regular and welcome visitors to Salford's showpiece at The Lowry. This time, in the Lyric Theatre, they came with something just that little bit different. An offering of 6 one-act Music Dramas, all of very differing genres and styles, and all of which rarely get to see the light of day. These are The Little Greats. This evening I was there to watch two of them; Leonard Bernstein's lovely 'Trouble in Tahiti', and the more satirical and comedic 'Trial By Jury' by our very own Gilbert and Sullivan.

Metamorphosis at The Lowry

By Franz Kafka, Adapted by Kerry Frampton

Reviewed by John Waterhouse November 2017

‘The Metamorphosis’ was a novella by Franz Kafka, first published in 1915 in what is today the Czech Republic. A century on, the story retains its relevance and perhaps takes on new meaning as the ever growing power of computers, and the internet, continues to depersonalise things whilst individuals try to find meaning to their work in a digitalised world.

The premise is straightforward enough of Gregor, a travelling salesman who leads a very routine and ordered life, getting up very early each morning and providing for his family until the day he wakes up to discover he has turned into a giant insect.

Avenue Q

by University of Manchester Musical Theatre Society (UMMTS)

Reviewed by Matthew Dougall November 2017

The University of Manchester Musical Theatre Society (UMMTS) have done it again, and managed to produce an astounding piece of Musical Theatre out of very little. Their young ages (they are all students at Manchester University), their lack of budget, the confines and restrictions of their performance space, and possibly also the amount of quality rehearsal time, all conspire against them, and yet have, to date, always produced a Musical of raw energy and talent, and it has always been thrilling and exciting, and I have always thoroughly enjoyed my evenings in their company. Tonight was no exception.

Jason Manford - A Different Stage

at Lowry Theatre

Reviewed by Matthew Dougall November 2017

Salfordian comedian and actor Jason Manford (actually born in Irlam O'Th' Heights), brought most of his family along with him this evening to support his latest venture, and a sideways departure from his more well-known persona as a stand-up comedian or Musical Theatre actor.

This was a solo concert of a very different nature as he has recorded an album and is now on the road singing songs from it, trying to promote it and showing fans, both old and new, that he has something more to offer.

Dick Whittington at Oldham Coliseum

By Fine Time Fontayne and Kevin Shaw

Reviewed by John Waterhouse November 2017

Panto-season is traditionally the time many theatres clean up financially after what may have been an otherwise lean year and it is not hard to see why. Just as weddings and funerals are often the only time many people step inside a church these days, so too that pantomimes are when many walk into a theatre, largely because children still want to see them. That’s all well and good and the Oldham Coliseum panto retains a reputation as one of the most popular in the region, boasting a stunning three-month run.