Author: Kevin Bourke
Music Review: Vetiver/Treetop Flyers, YES, Manchester
I’m sure Andy Cabic, aka Vetiver, won’t mind me saying that when I had a quick transatlantic chat with him last week (as you do), he seemed distinctly nervous about performing this string of UK dates completely solo, particularly as the Up On High album hasn’t been out that long.
Review: Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes, The Lowry, Salford
For the past couple of decades Sir Matthew Bourne has been enthusiastically following his own enthusiasms and loves – often films – and transforming them into heart-on-sleeve, crowd-pleasing dance magic.
Music Review: Rickie Lee Jones, RNCM, Manchester
“What do you think she’ll be singing? Will it be jazz? Or country?” an over-refreshed Scottish fan was asking anyone who’d listen just before Rickie Lee Jones took the stage.
Theatre Review: The Exorcist, Manchester Opera House
When the first wave of so-called ‘movie brat’ film directors began to break through in the 70s, it often seemed to be with ingeniously crowd-pleasing adaptations of successful mass-market novels.
Theatre Review: Curtains, Palace Theatre, Manchester
A musical whodunnit, penned by John Kander and Fred Ebb, the redoubtable team behind Cabaret and Chicago, and starring the likeable comedian Jason Manford who has come a long way from collecting glasses at Manchester’s Buzz comedy and music club, Curtains has, on the face of it, got a lot going for it.
Theatre Review: & Juliet, Manchester Opera House
Not so much a remix of Shakespeare as a thoroughly modern sequel, packed full of fashionable themes like female empowerment and gender fluidity, all set to, ahem, bangin’ tunes from some bloke you’ve probably never heard of even though they’ve sold in the high godzillions.
& Juliet: Miriam-Teak Lee talks about taking on the ultimate role
It’s by no means impossible that you’ve never heard the name Max Martin.
Theatre Review: Jerry Springer – The Musical, Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester
Not that long ago, in 2006, when Jerry Springer – The Opera, Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee’s outlandish and provocative satire of over-the-top tabloid chat shows, first toured this country, outraged citizens (who in all probability hadn’t actually seen the show but knew in their hearts that they should definitely be outraged) demonstrated long and hard outside any regional theatres who had the balls to mount the show – sorry, this sort of stuff does seem to be catching after all.
Theatre Review: Amélie The Musical, Opera House, Manchester
I’ve pondered before in these pages on the apparently insatiable appetite of musical theatre producers for hit films that can be transformed into stage hits.
Theatre Review: There Is A Light That Never Goes Out: Scenes From the Luddite Rebellion, Royal Exchange, Manchester
There was no little irony in the fact that the press night opening for a play about the luddites should be delayed by a malfunctioning microphone.
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