We Will Rock You. The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham. We Will Rock You is of course a jukebox musical. I’m not usually a fan of these but this is Queen – one of the biggest rock bands ever – so let’s put this to one side. Written by Ben… Continue reading
Annie. The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham. The award-winning Broadway musical “Annie” opened in 1977 and has pretty much been running somewhere ever since. It was based on a 1924 comic strip, which was based on an 1885 poem. When you first hear “Annie” you immediately envisage a girl with… Continue reading
The Shawshank Redemption. The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham. Of course best known as the widely-lauded 1994 movie The Shawshank Redemption the piece actually started out as a 1982 novella (then called Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption) written by Stephen King. The plot follows former banker Andy Dufresne (Joe McFadden)… Continue reading
Operation Mincemeat. The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham. For those that don’t know, the “Operation Mincemeat” of the title was a secret mission during World War 2 by the British to overt invasion by the opposition. It was a very unusual plan – which I won’t go into for those… Continue reading
Single White Female. The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham. The 1992 film Single White Female was a huge hit. Starring Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh it told the story of a single successful woman who places an ad for a flatmate (“SWF seeks similar”) after the breakdown of her… Continue reading
The Ballad of Johnny & June. Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham. The title sounds like a country song doesn’t it? Well… the “Johnny & June” of the title are of course Johnny Cash and June Carter. Two huge stars of country music history. Johnny Cash is one of the biggest… Continue reading
Death on the Nile. The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham. A new stage production of the famous novel by the queen of the murder mystery – Agatha Christie – which has been brilliantly adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig. The story finds the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Mark… Continue reading
Fawlty Towers – The Play, The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham Fawlty Towers is one of the most well-known and revered British sitcoms. Even though it is now 50 years old and only 12 episodes were made it still often tops polls. I think the reasons for that are of… Continue reading
I have to admit, I have never seen an episode of Midsomer Murders – not one – and there are many – 138 to be precise. I do know however that Midsomer is the most dangerous place to live in the UK! The hugely popular murder mystery TV drama… Continue reading
The Woman in Black. The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham. Everyone screams in terror. That’s not a line from the play, it’s what actually happens in the audience. Several times! The Woman in Black stated out as a novel. Written by Susan Hill it was billed as “a ghost story’,… Continue reading
