The 39 Steps. The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham. If you want to see a stage play of John Buchan’s novel, this isn’t it. This is instead a parody of Alfred Hitchcock’s film adaptation – which was radically different from the novel. And what a parody! The plot is… Continue reading
Unfortunate. Birmingham Hippodrome. Think you’ve seen The Little Mermaid? Think again. Unfortunate is the “untold story” of Ursula the sea witch from the classic Disney movie. This isn’t a kids’ story though. This is dirty Disney! Billed as a musical parody it retells the story of the much… Continue reading
Shrek the Musical. The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham. The 2001 Dreamworks animation was a huge hit and this musical adaptation which opened on Broadway in 2008 has also been a huge hit. This is the latest UK tour. For those not familiar with the story, it follows an ogre… Continue reading
I Should Be So Lucky. The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham. Stock Aitken Waterman ruled the charts in the second half of the 80’s (and also early 90’s). The songwriting and producing trio scored more than 100 UK top 40 hits (plus dozens of worldwide hits) and sold over 150… Continue reading
We are excited to welcome a brand new venue for Birmingham Fest, and a brand new venue for the city. Introducing The Birmingham Black Box. An exciting new performance space in a fantastic listed building. It’s multi purpose and extremely versatile, suitable for multiple uses. You can read all about… Continue reading
Peter Pan Goes Wrong. Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham. Think you’ve seen Peter Pan? Think again! Presented by the fictitious “Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society” this is their latest am-dram production – Peter Pan. You’ve heard the saying “it’ll be alright on the night”. Well in this case it couldn’t be… Continue reading
Madagascar The Musical. The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham. Many movies end up getting made into musicals but here we have Dreamworks’ 2005 smash hit animated film getting the treatment. On one hand transferring a slapstick cartoon to the stage sounds tricky, but on the other hand it gives producers… Continue reading
And Then There Were None. The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham. This piece was originally a 1939 novel by the queen of the murder-mystery – Agatha Christie. It went on to become the best selling crime novel of all time. In 1943 Christie herself adapted it into a stage play…. Continue reading
An Officer and a Gentleman The Musical, The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham. I have to admit, I’ve not seen the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman (sorry). I do know however that it contained a huge hit song (“Up Where We Belong”) and an iconic scene where… Continue reading
The Woman in Black. The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham. The whole audience scream in terror. That’s not a line from the play, it’s what actually happens. Several times. The Woman in Black stated out as a novel. Written by Susan Hill it was billed as “a ghost story’, and… Continue reading
