Review: Band of Gold

Set in the 90’s and loosely based on the TV series Band of Gold, this play offers something more challenging than MK theatre’s normal but excellent fayre.

The play follows the story of one girl Gina’s (Sacha Parkinson) journey into the realms of prostitution and then the group of girls ‘down the lane’ that she teams up with. Various themes popped up from single motherhood to domestic violence and exploitation by men. Pretty gritty stuff but somehow not too overwhelming as a stage play. It certainly suited its times and would not have worked in today’s internet and smart phone era. 

Casting was tight with some well-known names from mostly the soaps. Some of the best names have got together to tread the boards. They were faultless, I must say. Look out for Shayne Ward, Gaynor Faye, Laurie Brett, Andrew Dunn, Emma Osman, Olwen May and new boy on stage Kieron Richardson.

It takes some doing to condense the series into a 2.5 hour play. Well done to the writer Kay Mellor for her adaptation. There was a lot to get in so the story was told in short sharp scenes. We just about get a basic understanding of the raison d’etre of each character before being quickly moved on to the next scene. I really liked the pace and didn’t feel I needed to know the full backstory of every character in any great depth which is just as well as there wasn’t time!

If you’re wondering, then yes there was some hope for these girls and there was some humour among the gritty storyline. I was engrossed by the story, it was fast paced and quite intense at times.

There is still time to see it: Band of Gold is on at MK Theatre until Saturday 14^th March 2020

For tickets: www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes or Box Office: 0844 871 7652

Review: Peter Pan Goes Wrong

This hilarious show is on at MK Theatre this week – brought to you by Mischief Theatre, the same team behind The Play That Goes Wrong and A Comedy About A Bank Robbery.

It’s a fun, feel-good show suitable for the whole family. It’s not a children’s production, so don’t be fooled into thinking this show is childish or a panto…..unless you like that sort of thing, then that’s exactly what it is. 

The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society are a haphazard bunch but they sure do their best to put on a jolly good show for the audience that dares or bothers to go and see them. Superb acting from the guys that play the Drama Society cast and crew and consequently the Peter Pan characters. We had the pleasure of interviewing Oliver Senton – who plays Assistant(co) Director Robert Grove and also the characters Nana the Dog, Peter Pan’s Shadow and Starkey - ahead of this show (featured in the January Phonebox Magazine). He set our expectations high with just how brilliant this show was going to be and we were most certainly not disappointed. Oliver along with the entire cast, was a joy to watch. Mischief Theatre have this really interesting way of making traditional silly British slapstick humour funny all over again – it’s like old-fashioned comedy reborn. 

In this particular show, you have the Cornley whatsit society, putting on a production of Peter Pan that goes rather wrong. Filled with all sorts of humour – some anticipated and some the audience doesn’t expect and possibly even some unplanned by the actors themselves. Broken props, dodgy flying, costume changes, forgotten lines, accidents and lots of silliness. You will laugh the whole way through. We heard some amazing cackling last night and lots of kids laughing their pants off. 

Go see this show! Running until 8th February 2020 at Milton Keynes Theatre.

For tickets, head to www.atgtickets.com

Review: Kinky Boots the Musical

Kinky Boots the Musical at MK Theatre – 29/10/19

Having seen the film Kinky Boots, I was very excited to go and see the musical that has arrived in Milton Keynes for the next couple of weeks.

Based on the true story of WJ Brookes, the musical follows the trials and tribulations of Charlie Price, a Northampton shoemaker, who has inherited a failing shoe factory from his father. To turn things around and stop the building being sold to property developers, Charlie decides that his company needs a niche market. Enter Lola! If you’ve seen the film, then you’ll know the casting of the character Lola is quite pivotal to the story, and the casting of Kayi Ushe as Lola in this stage version is perfect!

Lola is a drag queen that always has problems with the heel snapping on her (his) boots. Charlie sees this need and decides to do something about it. The audience is taken through the journey of Charlie’s up and downs as he produces ‘ladies footwear for men’.

Sometimes when a film is adapted for the stage it can cut out a lot of the detail and songs can be inserted for the sake of it – not necessarily adding anything. I don’t feel this was the case with Kinky Boots. The songs added to the story and engaged the audience with the mood of the scene, whether that be happy, sad or comical.

Giving the audience the complete immersive experience was the set. A backdrop of a shoe factory but with a central rotating ‘room’ that with a quick spin, transformed the stage to a bar, storeroom, a boxing ring or Lola’s stage. All very clever and allowed the action to flow effortlessly from one scene to the next.

On page 15 of the November Phonebox we spoke to Joel-Harper Jackson who plays Charlie. He said his favourite part is the big finale. Whilst watching it, you can really understand why he would say that as it was such a feel-good moment – and as he mentions, the audience really did go wild.

Kinky Boots is on at Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday 9^th November.

Tickets available from https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/kinky-boots/milton-keynes-theatre. I’d be quick though, as this is going to be a popular one.

Review: Saturday Night Fever

This week, seventies disco in all its hip-popping, strutting, grooving glory is in town at Milton Keynes Theatre. Based on the 1977 movie starring John Travolta. This story follows Tony Manalo, a 19 year old Italian American from Brooklyn who escapes the harsh reality of his bleak family life by dominating the dance floor at the local disco and dreams of making it big at Studio 54, New York. The show is filled with hits including Night Fever, Stayin’ Alive, More Than A Woman and Disco Inferno.

It is a fairly simple plot of boy meets girl, girl isn’t interested, boy keeps trying anyway but it is a likable story and has so much good music and dancing. It does cover a lot of serious themes, including religion, women’s rights, abuse, abortion and suicide. Disco dominated the latter half of the seventies and found its place amongst the other strong music genres of the time such as rock, heavy metal and punk. This show is all about the music, having a little dance in your seat and singing along to some banging tunes! The “Bee Gees” are on stage throughout the show, the three brothers are played by Jake Byrom, James Kenneth Haughan and Danny Knott and they were amazing, sounding just like the original music.

Tony is played by Richard Winsor – he’s one of the few actors that completely convinced me with his American accent, in this case Italian-American Brooklyn New York, and is a fabulous dancer. Richard is supported by a talented and energetic cast including Olivia Fines as Stephanie Mangano and Natasha Firth as Annette.

The staging was a good mix of bleak and harsh for the scenes outside and on the bridge and then bright and colourful for the disco scenes complete with disco dancefloor, giant mirror to reflect it back out to the audience and disco balls which really brought the audience to life. Look out for DJ Monty up on the podium dancing, he was strutting his stuff and we couldn’t stop watching him – having so much fun up there!

Saturday Night Fever is well worth a watch and I promise you’ll be singing the music and trying to do the Night Fever dance routine when you get home! Running until 19th October, for tickets, head to www.atgtickets.com

Review: The Exorcist

Something rather unusual and chilling has arrived at Milton Keynes Theatre this week. Possibly the scariest movie of all time, at least when it was first in cinemas in 1973, has been adapted for the stage. The Exorcist play is actually based on the book by William Peter Blatty, published in 1971, which was very important to the show’s playwright John Pielmeier who said in an interview in the show’s programme, ‘I certainly want to stay true to the story that people know, but I also want to explore elements of the book that they may not be familiar with. I want to fulfil their expectations while at the same time surprising them’. It absolutely gave the audience what they wanted, bringing new life to this famous head-spinning horror.

As a bit of a scary movie buff, I’ve seen my fair share of all things spooky, chilling and downright terrifying and must say this show did not disappoint! From start to finish, the goosebumps just kept coming. One of the best show starts that I’ve experienced (across any genre) that plunged the audience straight into the dark and thick of the story. 

The potty-mouthed demon that possesses poor Regan is as spiteful and disgusting as ever and the actress portrayed both her characters brilliantly. On the one hand she is a sweet, innocent little girl that longs for love and attention from her family and on the other she is the possessed Latin-speaking, aggressive, spitting Devil himself.

The staging was simple yet remarkably clever with a few rooms of the house, the attic, the outdoors and the church scenes all playing out across one set with the use of some screens and clever lighting. They also use a very smart and effective screen as the background to Regan’s bedroom where we see spooky happenings alongside flashes and crashes of thunder throughout the theatre. 

The lead characters were skilfully played by the actors which include theatre veteran Paul Nicholas as Father Merrin, Sophie Ward as Chris MacNeil, Ben Caplan as Father Damien Karras and Tristram Wymark as Uncle Burke. To top it off, the Demon is voiced by Ian McKellen – what more do we need?

The show is indeed chilling, but I can highly recommend it to anyone, not just fans of this genre. It was certainly a different audience experience to plays from other categories or musicals of course and was a night I thoroughly enjoyed. As stage designer Anna Fleischle said in the programme, ‘I am hoping that the audience will leave having been shaken to their core. I would like them to feel a sense of relief in the knowledge that they are going back to their safe and protective homes where there are no demons lurking in the dark – or are there?’

The Exorcist is on until 12^th October, for tickets, go to www.atgtickets.com

Review: Greenday’s American Idiot

American Idiot is on its 10^th Anniversary Tour and is in town at Milton Keynes Theatre this week until Saturday. We went along to last night’s performance for the opening night of this Tony and Grammy award winning show.

The story follows three boyhood friends on their search for meaning in a post 9/11 world. They live in ‘suburbia’, bored and frustrated with life and so they head out on their own to try and make something of themselves with quite tragic consequences. The show is based around Greenday’s Grammy Award winning album American Idiot and is in the style of a punk-rock opera with minimal dialogue. Songs include American Idiot, Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Wake Me Up When September Ends.

The show is quite niche – perhaps not something your average musical fan would enjoy so I went in with an open mind, as a huge fan of Greenday (I saw the band perform this album live at The MK Bowl back in 2005). This isn’t your typical All-American-Dream, glitz and glam musical, in fact it is the complete opposite with a fair amount of hopelessness, dark and dreary settings, anarchy, sex, drugs and rock and roll. I couldn’t help but feel the show did lack a bit of ‘soul’. To see punk rock bands live (or any live music for that matter), is unlike any other experience, the sheer energy and emotional atmosphere on stage and in the crowd cannot be matched in a theatre production and acting rebellious certainly isn’t the same as actually being rebellious. However, that is where we must remember this is not meant to be a Greenday gig. This musical is its own entity, theatre productions have a whole host of their own excitements and this show has plenty of them, fans of Greenday can still thoroughly enjoy the music, lyrics and epic guitar riffs. Likewise, musical fans can enjoy something completely different and experience a taste of Greenday’s catchy songs. The cast were brilliant and all had a great stage presence for their own characters, there’s no lack of talent in this cast, great singers and performers and they all looked awesome in their costumes.

The stage set was great and it really transported you to the grubby homes and lifestyles of the characters. Having the band situated on the upper level of the set as a permanent feature throughout the show was really effective – especially as a punk-rock opera where musicians are just as important to the show as the cast. The show and music are as relevant today as they were 15 years ago when the album was first released.

The show contains lots of swearing, drug use and sexual references, so certainly not one for kids! But I would highly recommend seeing this one. Tickets available on www.atgtickets.com and the show runs until Saturday 27^th April.

Review: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat

Having seen Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat at least three times already I feel as though I know the script! Obviously, I think it is a lovely feel good show that has all the perfect elements of an Andrew Lloyd Weber musical. I like especially the fact that it is nothing but singing and dancing; there is no `talking` as such. The biblical story of Joseph, loosely interpreted of course, is narrated by the wonderful Trina Hill who holds the whole show together. Unlike some musicals there is actually a story to support the songs albeit a simple one! This is an ideal show to take all the family to.

Having seen previous incumbents playing Joseph, Jaymi Hensley is as good as it gets. He had a very strong voice almost operatic in its quality. The eleven brothers of Joseph were brilliant, bringing so much energy to their roles. They were both entertaining and humorous. There were also so many local children in the Joseph choir that I could hear several parents chatting about them during the interval. The children were an absolute delight and really enhanced the whole show.

The stage set up and lighting were of the usual high standard we expect from a musical at MK Theatre. We mustn't forget the Joseph Orchestra who were excellent. It`s good that live music is still being supported in our theatres. This is a show not to be missed. It`s going to be a sellout. Joseph is on untill Saturday 13th April.

Tickets from www.atgtickets.com/Miltonkeynes or telephone 0844 871 7652 (booking fee applies)

Review: The Band at Milton Keynes Theatre this week!

I think the whole audience resonated with the story of the Band. 25 years ago most of us, me included were dragged along to a Take That concert in some enormous arena where we mostly watched the show on a TV screen. To be honest I thoroughly enjoyed it but my ears were ringing for days after; thankfully with health and safety being what it is there’s no danger of that at MK Theatre!

The story of The Band then catches up with the loyal group of girl followers 25 years later when they are settled into their more mundane lives, have put a bit of weight on and are settled into domesticity. They arrange to meet up to see the band reform in Prague.

The story is interwoven with the songs of Take That with a newer and younger group of lads who have their own style and charm. This is not a tribute band at all. The audience absolutely loved the show and were singing along, up on their feet and waving their phone torches to the various ballads. It was just like the old days! For a moment we all felt a lot younger!

The show will appeal to both an older audience who remember back in the day and those younger who have been introduced to the music of Take That since their resurrection. Believe me the older tunes are the best!

It was a packed house so if you want to see this show then hurry for tickets. They won’t last long.

On at MK Theatre until Saturday 9th March.

Tickets from www.atgtickets.com/Miltonkeynes or telephone 0844 871 7652

(booking fee applies)