New York
Thomas J Campanella: Brooklyn - The Once and Future City review - out of Manhattan's shadowSunday, 13 October 2019
For visitors to New York, it’s all about Manhattan, its 23 square miles of skyscraper-encrusted granite instantly familiar, its many landmarks – enshrined in movies and music – must-sees on the itinerary of first-time tourists. The other... Read more... |
Good Posture review - charming coming of age comedySaturday, 05 October 2019
Dolly Wells’ directorial debut employs her best friend Emily Mortimer as reclusive writer Julia Price, having paired up previously in a TV satire of their professionally uneven relationship, Doll and Em. Mortimer cameos this time, as posh... Read more... |
Jessye Norman, 1945-2019Tuesday, 01 October 2019
She was recording Carmen in Paris, and the Radio France auditorium was packed with the press, asking such dazzling questions as "have you been up the Eiffel Tower yet?" and "what do you think of the French men?". I thought, given the statuesque... Read more... |
Big the Musical, Dominion Theatre review - sweet if wildly overstretchedWednesday, 18 September 2019
The work isn't finished on Big, if this stage musical of the beloved 1988 Tom Hanks film is ever to, um, make it big. A Broadway flop in 1996 where it was among the last shows directed by the late, much-admired Englishman Mike Ockrent, the material... Read more... |
Hustlers review - strip club crime paysFriday, 13 September 2019
When did Dorothy (Constance Wu) really want to be a stripper? Maybe it’s when she looks with love at Ramona (Jennifer Lopez) during her strutting set piece dance, as she descends to a carpet of cash. If that’s the equivalent of Ray Liotta’s gangster... Read more... |
Torch Song, Turbine Theatre review - impressive return for Harvey Fierstein's seminal gay dramaMonday, 09 September 2019
London’s latest theatre opening brings a stirring revival of Harvey Fierstein’s vital gay drama, which premiered as Torch Song Trilogy in New York at the beginning of the 1980s, the playwright himself unforgettable in the lead, before it opened in... Read more... |
Falsettos, The Other Palace review - affecting search for the new normalFriday, 06 September 2019
William Finn and James Lapine’s musical – which combines two linked one-acts, March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, set in late 1970s/early 1980s New York – picked up Tony Awards in 1992 for its book and score, and was nominated again in... Read more... |
DVD: Are You Proud?Tuesday, 13 August 2019
Ashley Joiner’s expansive documentary Are You Proud? opens with the testament of a redoubtable nonagenarian remembering his experiences as a gay man in World War II. Though followed by the admission that he had to live his later life as a lie, it’s... Read more... |
Napoli, Brooklyn, Park Theatre review - lacking substanceTuesday, 18 June 2019
According to their mother, Luda (played by Madeleine Worrall, pictured below), each of the three sisters (pictured top) in Napoli, Brooklyn, bears one of their father’s admirable traits. Tina (Mona Goodwin), the oldest, who left school early to... Read more... |
Men in Black: International review - lacklustre sequel missing original starsFriday, 14 June 2019
The best joke in Men in Black: International happens before the film starts, when the iconic Columbia Pictures lady in a toga whips out a pair of familiar dark glasses. It’s a nifty, witty gag that doesn’t outstay its welcome, which is more than can... Read more... |
Kiss My Genders, Hayward Gallery review – a shamblesThursday, 13 June 2019
Kiss My Genders may not claim to be a survey, yet it seems perverse to mount an exhibition of work by LGBTQ artists who address issues of gender identity without including some of the best known names. Particular emphasis is placed, says the press... Read more... |
Late Night review - Emma Thompson star vehicle needs a serious rewriteThursday, 06 June 2019
“Get me rewrite!”: That’s likely to be a common reaction to Late Night, the well-meaning but surprisingly slipshod star vehicle for Emma Thompson set in and among the writing world of a New York late-night chat show that is hitting the skids.... Read more... |
