REVIEW: Hairspray UK Tour – A Big, Bouncy, Beautiful Blast from the Past
Dermot Canavan (Wilbur Turnblad), Katie Brace (Tracy Turnblad), Neil Hurst (Edna Turnblad) and Katlo (Little Inez) – Credit Pamela Raith Venue: Aylesbury Waterside Theatre Performance Date: 17 February 2025 Reviewer: Gemma Fincher Star Rating: ★★★★1/2 On a chilly winter evening in Aylesbury, Hairspray bursts onto the stage like a ray of technicolour sunshine, whisking the audience […]
REVIEW: Calamity Jane – A Rootin’-Tootin’ Revival
Carrie Hope Fletcher as Calamity Jane – Photo Credit: Mark Senior Venue: Aylesbury Waterside Theatre Performance Date: 15 January 2025 Reviewer: Gemma Fincher Star Rating: ★★★★ The UK tour of Calamity Jane galloped onto the stage this week, proving that this Wild West classic is as spirited as ever. Based on the much-loved 1953 film starring Doris Day, the musical retains […]
REVIEW: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – the fairest panto in the land!
Photo courtesy of Aylesbury Waterside Theatre Venue: Aylesbury Waterside Theatre Performance Date: 05 December 2022 Reviewer: Gemma Fincher Star Rating: ★★★★ Aylesbury Waterside Theatre can always be relied on to deliver a rip-roaring and riotous pantomime. 2023’s offering of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is no exception. This magical panto transports the audience into a […]
REVIEW: Aladdin – Panto Perfection!
Venue: Aylesbury Waterside Theatre Performance Date: 06 December 2022 Reviewer: Gemma Fincher Star Rating: ★★★★★ It’s that time of year again when theatres are bursting with festive frolics, double entendres, and extravagant costumes. Panto season has begun in earnest and the magic and frivolity of this Great British tradition are alive and well at Aylesbury Waterside […]
REVIEW: Footloose – won’t change your life, but it will put a smile on your face
Footloose UK Tour – Photo: Mark Senior Venue: Aylesbury Waterside Theatre Performance Date: 10 May 2022 Reviewer: Gemma Fincher Star Rating: ★★★ Theatreland is somewhat saturated with movie musical offerings of late. We’ve had Dirty Dancing recently replaced by Grease at the cavernous Dominion Theatre in the West End. Both enjoyed UK tours before their London […]
REVIEW: We Will Rock You – Pop your smartphone down for three hours & go & immerse yourself in some good old-fashioned live entertainment
Cast of We Will Rock You UK Tour – Credit: Johan Persson Venue: Aylesbury Waterside Theatre Performance Date: 02 May 2022 Reviewer: Gemma Fincher Star Rating: ★★★★ Back in 2002 even the perceptive Ben Elton surely couldn’t have foreseen just how technology would evolve by the time We Will Rock You would celebrate its 20th anniversary […]
REVIEW: Chicago Blues Brothers – A night at the movies – Get ready to shake your tail feather
Chicago Blues Brothers Production Image Venue: Aylesbury Waterside Theatre Performance Date: 30 April 2022 Reviewer: Jo Neville Star Rating: ★★★1/2 The Blues Brothers movie first hit the screens in 1980. With its fantastic rhythm and blues music and quotable lines, it became a cult classic. The trilby hats, suits, and dark glasses of Jake and Elwood […]
REVIEW: Fatal Attraction – A tempting, thought-provoking thriller
Oliver Farnworth and Susie Amy in Fatal Attraction Tour Credit: Tristram Kenton Venue: Aylesbury Waterside Theatre Performance Date: 05 April 2022 Reviewer: Jo Neville Star Rating: ★★★1/2 When Fatal Attraction opened in 1987 it soon became the film everyone was talking about. The psychological thriller terrified cinema audiences earned multiple Oscar nominations, and took more than […]
REVIEW : The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – See the Lion and hear him roar
Chris Jared as Aslan (Image: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg) Venue: The Alexandra, Birmingham Performance Date: 08 March 2022 Reviewer: Ely King Star Rating: ★★★★ Many may know the story of The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe from the best-selling books by C.S Lewis, or by movie trilogy The Chronicles of Narnia. Watching the stage adaptation takes you back to […]
REVIEW: Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World – oodles of potential
Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World – Pamela Raith Photography Venue: Aylesbury Waterside Theatre Performance Date: 05 January 2022 Reviewer: Gemma Fincher Star Rating: ★★★1/2 Original new musicals are always welcome in a world saturated with reimagined and reworked classics. It’s rather timely then, that in a time when diversity and equality are being (rightly) […]