REVIEW: The Barricade Boys at the Other Palace

Back by popular demand following their critically acclaimed season in 2017, and hot off their 40 city 2019 UK tour, the Barricade Boys have come home for Christmas, with their brand new festive residency at The Other Palace Theatre in Victoria (Studio space). 

Having only seen the Barricade Boys briefly in action at this year’s West End Live Festival in Trafalgar Square, I was eager to see them perform a full concert, and what better way to start than with a Christmas Cabaret; the most wonderful time of the year. A sentiment that these four boys certainly didn’t fail to disappoint.

It became quickly apparent as to why this quartet have had sell out performances in London’s West End, an appearance at the St James Theatre on Broadway, and continue to delight audiences worldwide in their international dates and appearances. Plain and simply, they know how to put on a bloody good show! Truly showcasing some of the finest voices that London’s West End has to offer.

REVIEW: Reputation at the Other Palace

Alick Glass and his daughter Suzanne have written and composed this new musical , Reputation about plagiarism in Hollywood and set it on the long road from the page through workshops to its first public performance at The Other Palace and it feels harsh in their presence to judge what still looks like work in progress on a good idea.

In the small studio space and with a cast of ten they presented a concert version of the piece with a handful of props and some pretty costumes. It was hard to get a sense of the period - 1935 to 1937- aside from the references to the then movie stars and an Atlantic crossing of six days, it could have been set in any period. It is a simple story of a small-time crook who rips off New writer's scripts as his own for a Hollywood and stumbles across one that can get nominated for an Oscar. Written by a young American in Paris, The Page is her passion and she set out to prove her case. In the course of two hours there is very little character development, an absence of sub plots and a critical character, her father, never actually appears on stage. There is no jeopardy in the plot and the outcome is always obvious from the start. The obvious feminist and #MeToo implications are underplayed.

REVIEW: Falsettos at The Other Palace

Falsettos premiered on Broadway in 1992 and has since had several well-received Broadway revivals. This is the first time the show has been professionally performed in London. James Lapine’s book began originally as two one-act musicals representing gay liberation: March of the Falsettosand Falsettoland. The combined show tells the tale of a Jewish family in New York in the 1970s; parents Marvin (Daniel Boys), Trina (Laura Pitt-Pulford) and son Jason (George Kennedy) as well as Marvin’s lover, Whizzer (Oliver Savile), whom he has left his wife to be with.

Falsettos is a fully-scored, Sondheim-influenced, sitcom musical that is all about love, jealousy, insecurity and- in Jason’s case- growing up. In the first act, Trina falls in love with Marvin’s psychiatrist and various other family drama occurs. Unfortunately, as there are so many songs (with no relief) in the show, it can tend to merge into one long song as each individual one is less memorable. Pitt-Pulford’s ‘I’m Breaking Down’ was a standout for me in the first part. The second act takes a serious turn as the AIDs crisis of the 1980s hits and Whizzer falls ill. Emotion begins to pour out, the songs become slower and it is truly heart-breaking to watch his deterioration and the way it affects the whole family (as well as the ‘lesbian couple from next door’, who are brilliant).

REVIEW: National Youth Music Theatre's Anything Goes at the Other Palace

National Youth Music Theatre (NYMT) have hit London with their revival of the 1934 musical Anything Goes. Set onboard the S.S American during a voyage from New York to London, this musical ticks all the boxes for great songs, dances, love stories and drama. The performers range in age from 12 (shout out to a brilliant performance from Milo Hallett as Elisha J. Whitney) to 21. Each cast member performed with the utmost professionalism and created an impressive show.

Alex Sutton’s direction drew the strong personalities out of the characters and led them to perfect comedic timing. A little overly-slapstick at times, the overall performance was slick and boasted the abilities of the cast as natural entertainers. Cole Porter’s music and lyrics were brought to life by leading lady, Reno Sweeney (Olivia Hallett) and her killer vocals. Her rendition of Blow, Gabriel, Blow in Act 2 gave me hope I would be seeing her in the West End one day.

REVIEW: Showstopper! The improvised musical at The Other Palace

A red ‘bat’ phone rings and lights up. Our MC for the evening picks it up and answers with one word: Cameron. And so we’re off with Showstopper, the improvised musical’s one thousandth performance.

The conceit is that ‘Cameron’ has called demanding a new hit musical. And he wants it tonight. “But I’ve literally given you 999 other musicals already,” says our MC. Fortunately, he tells Cameron, a room full of musical theatre experts is on hand to help. That’s us. And so the audience is invited to come up with the setting for the new show along with some musical styles and a title. In fact this produced one of the best ad libs of the night when the audience member who suggested the setting should be a Yorkshire soup factory in 1882 was asked, why 1882? “It was a good year for soup!” he replied, setting the bar for the cast.

REVIEW: Murder For Two at The Other Palace (Studio)

Murder For Two claims its inspiration is part Marx Brothers and part Agatha Christie. There’s also a hefty dose of Broadway pastiche thrown in, a sub genre in its own right of which there are an increasing number of examples.

The story concerns a classic country house murder mystery. The subject of a surprise birthday party gets a different sort of surprise as he is shot dead on arrival. But by whom? All the suspects are played by Jeremy Legat, running around the set, grabbing props as he goes, to become anything from a ballerina to a choir of three nine year old boys. Ed MacArthur is the detective, desperately trying to corral all these characters so he can follow his protocol for solving the case and show his boss he’s ready for promotion. 

In a breathtaking display of energy and skill the pair also play the piano, sing and dance, for this is a musical. And although it’s on a small scale – the two actors are the entire cast and band – it has the style and panache of a full-scale Broadway show. Knowing nods and winks to various Broadway tropes are heavily signposted with references to doing ‘my big number’ and ‘the friendship song’. It’s all huge fun and the musical numbers are tuneful and even catchy.

REVIEW: Eugenius! at The Other Palace

Can a person make a living by working in a creative job? According to Ben Adams and Chris Wilkins's new musicalEugenius!yes, as long as one works hard and keeps believing. 

It's the year 1988 and Eugene (Rob Houchen) is a geeky schoolboy who dreams every night about his favourite super-hero, Tough Man. A superfan of comics, he sketches scenes of Tough Man's life on a scrapbook, hoping one day to become famous for his strips. His best friends Janey (Laura Baldwin) and Feris (Daniel Buckley) believe in his talent too and, when the opportunity to shine in front of a Hollywood producer arises, their support is crucial. 

Of course, the reality of the film industry is much less glamorous than what had seemed and, when experiencing it first hand, Eugene is compelled to review his life priorities. Furthermore, the evil that he thought was only a product of his imagination, turns out to be a real challenge for him and his friends.

Full Cast Announced for Brand New British Musical EUGENIUS! at The Other Palace

Warwick Davis and Kevin Wood are delighted to announce the full cast for the hotly anticipated new musical for years, “EUGENIUS!” which is coming to London for a strictly limited run at The Other Palace from 22 January until the 3 March 2018.

Making his London theatre debut is American born Liam Forde who will play the lead role of ‘Eugene’. Liam has performed in many shows across America and is looking forward to making his debut across the pond. Joining Liam is Laura Baldwin who will play Eugene’s love interest- ‘Janey’. Laura’s previous credits include UK Tours of “Shrek” and “Betty Blue Eyes” and currently she can be seen in ‘Big Fish The Musical’ at The Other Palace.

STARLIGHT EXPRESS at The Other Palace

The Other Palace is set to do a concert-style workshop performances of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical STARLIGHT EXPRESS, in The Theatre at The Other Palace.

Members of the original creative team of STARLIGHT EXPRESS will collaborate again, along with a group of carefully chosen actors and musicians to explore the piece. Focussing on the score and lyrics, and working for a week before the public showings, Andrew and the team will continue to work on the show in the daytime before evening performances, responding to audience reaction and feedback as they navigate the exciting process of revisiting this classic work.

The cast includes Christina Bennington (Pearl), George Ure (Rusty), Oliver Tompsett (Greaseball), Liam Tamne (Electra), Patrick Sullivan (Caboose), Natalie McQeen (Dinah) Sabrina Aloueche (Belle), Laila Zaidi (Tassita), Mica Paris (Mamma, formerly Papa), Anthony Selwyn, Michael James Stewart, Parisa Shahmir, Jamal Andreas, Carl Man & Divine Cresswell with Jude Harper-Wrobel as Control.