America
Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends, Gielgud Theatre review - exuberant gala of nonstop virtuosityWednesday, 04 October 2023The Sondheim gala show Old Friends is a must for fans of the master, naturally, but its quality would knock anybody who loves musical theatre for six. It’s the successor to a one-off gala of the same name staged in May 2022 and broadcast since... Read more... |
Blu-ray: TargetsTuesday, 03 October 2023Targets (1968), Peter Bogdanovich’s first feature is generally regarded as a great film. And yet, it came out of a mixture of false starts and opportunism. Could it be that its unique quality, the elements which make it stand out in the history of... Read more... |
Album: Sufjan Stevens - JavelinMonday, 02 October 2023Sufjan Stevens, so we’ve heard, has just been struck down with a rare and immobilising disease – the Guillain-Barré syndrome. With characteristic courage and faith, he has thrown himself into physical rehabilitation. That he should be so reduced and... Read more... |
Ailey 2, Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury review - young, black and fabulousWednesday, 27 September 2023Dance lovers with no access to a major city could feel genuinely hard done by were it not for Dance Consortium. This sainted organisation works to bring a company from overseas each autumn to a dozen or so large-scale theatres across the UK and... Read more... |
Strange Way of Life review - Pedro Almodóvar's queer WesternTuesday, 26 September 2023Less is more, except when it isn’t. Among the latest batch of overlong Oscar-tipped movies by celebrated auteurs such as Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer with a running time of 181 minutes) and Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon, 207 mins),... Read more... |
Mad Rush, Carol Williams, RFH review - a rainbow of organ coloursMonday, 25 September 2023Big Ben was chiming the quarter-hour as I hit the South Bank side of the river after a not terribly inspiring Remain rally in Parliament Square. What delight, then, to hear the wacky and wonderful Carol Williams playing Vierne’s “Carillon de... Read more... |
Mlima's Tale, Kiln Theatre review - simple, powerful tale about the rape of AfricaSaturday, 23 September 2023The work of the double Pulitzer-winning Black American dramatist Lynn Nottage has thankfully become a fixture in the UK. After its award-winning production of Sweat, the Donmar will stage the UK premiere of her Clyde’s next month, and MJ the... Read more... |
First Person: 'America's sweetheart organist' Carol Williams on running the musical gamutThursday, 21 September 2023I have always had a fascination with concert programmes. I did my Doctorate thesis on this subject. I remember vividly as a youngster attending many uninteresting programmes and thinking “there has to be more exciting, exhilarating, interesting... Read more... |
Wilderness, Prime Video review - twisty thriller that leaves a nasty aftertasteMonday, 18 September 2023Jenna Coleman has had a mostly upbeat acting CV to date, notably playing Clara in Doctor Who and the young Queen in ITV’s Victoria. The mood darkened with her excellent turn as the French-Canadian girlfriend of the mass murderer in The Serpent; now... Read more... |
Blu-ray: Three AgesTuesday, 12 September 2023The Saphead gave Buster Keaton his first starring role in a full-length comedy, but 1923’s Three Ages is the first feature film which he wrote, produced, directed and starred in. Two-reelers were a form where he could go, in his words, “wild and... Read more... |
Next to Normal, Donmar Warehouse review - terrific cast in a punchy musicalFriday, 01 September 2023The journey from off-Broadway to central London has taken 15 years, but the multi-award-winning musical Next to Normal has finally made it. That time lag may lead to suspicions that its subject matter has become a tad outmoded, but this staging... Read more... |
Prom 55: Thibaudet, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Nelsons review - old-style showmanshipMonday, 28 August 2023Funfairs and dance music, old world and new, should have guaranteed a corker of a second Prom from the Boston Symphony Orchestra with its chief conductor, Andris Nelsons. Glitter it did; but wit, drive and violence took a back seat to showcase... Read more... |