Rugby Unplugged will be bringing you theatre news and reviews of the biggest shows from London's West End to Broadway, NYC to titillate your tastebuds and excite your senses. That way, when a show hits your neck of the woods you'll know exactly what to expect.
Eventually, we will be turning the world upside down to find the latest dramatic fads, fashions, crazes and vogues from the stage for your delight in rugby capitals around the globe.
To book tickets for a show, simply click on the show details at the end of the review. And if there is a trailer for a particular show, if you click the title image below, you'll get straight to it.
It being the festive season, obviously the only theatre on most minds in the UK is the traditional Christmas Panto...from Westport to Norwich, and from Penzance to Inverness, rugby towns the nation-wide will be cheering 'he's behind you!' (and not just at the No. 8 who hasn't noticed the ref while he's shoeing a hapless scrum half). So I've been off to the best known theatre closest to the Home of Rugby, Richmond, well known for it's pre-West End shows.
Also, I've been looking around at a few other options if you really are not in the mood to be surrounded by cantankerous children high on too many sweets! So may I present my breakdown of theatre into FAMILY:Snow White...MUSICAL: GREASE...PLAY: Enron...COMEDY: Billy Connolly, on now and coming soon.
Synopsis
SNOW White grows up in a kingdom with her evil step-mother after her father dies mysteriously. With her magical mirror, the Evil Queen assures herself that she is the fairest in the land, until Snow White turns 18. From the near by kingdom, news of the Prince arrives who is looking for the fairest bride to marry bringing their kingdoms together. But the Queen has other ideas - she will get rid of Snow White and marry the Prince herself whereby she will shortly after become the poor widow and rule both of the kingdoms.
The Queen’s magician takes Snow White and leaves her deep in the heart of the forest and reports back to the Queen saying that he has killed Snow White. However, through the power of the Magic Mirror she realises that Snow White is living with the Seven Dwarfs and sets out to kill Snow White herself. With the power of the poison apple, Snow White falls into the sleep of death and only the Prince can save her with a kiss of true love.
Review
Wonderfully colourful! To see the magic of Panto still lives on with the grown ups shouting louder than the children is just marvellous. I felt like a child again!
Jane Asher plays the Evil Queen who has a wicked air about her. By her own admission she says her pudding is better than her singing [with Buffy’s Begging Me for Mercy].
Sapphire Elia [star of the British TV musical drama Britannia High] is the best Snow White I have ever seen with an fabulous rendition of Boogie Wonderland. Her booming voice overshadows the rest of the cast from such a petite frame.
Tim Vine as Muddles brings a brilliant element of comedy to the show catering for the children as well as the adults. He brings audience kids onto stage for a bit of banter - but amusingly made the mistake of picking four who's parents were all lawyers and he felt like he was in the dock!
Jonathan Shotton gives a great performance as the Queen’s Magician, with a mini magic show from the Magic and Mystery School in Las Vegas. And the Prince, David Gale, was perfectly charming and had the girls swooning. The Dwarfs are nothing less than what you would expect, featuring the world-renowned Rusty Goffe – lead Oompa Loompa from the original Charlie And The Chocolate Factory blockbuster also famed for his roles in Star Wars and the Harry Potter movies. And how can you forget the one and only Nurse Nora doing the number ‘Ghostbusters’.
It’s a show for all the family which everyone will thoroughly enjoy.
GUEST REVIEWER, Vicky Mahony:
From sparkling sets to dazzling costumes and the amazing vocals of Snow White, this production is sure to provide entertainment for all ages.
This fun filled stage performance, mixes children’s entertainment and all the usual Panto one liners with hilarious comedy provided by the comedy genius that is Tim Vine, along with the usual antics of the 7 dwarfs.
A thoroughly enjoyable night out, with some great performances but most of all just "great fun"!
Synopsis
CALIFORNIA 1959 - Danny Zuko the coolest guy Rydell High School and head of the T-Birds gang. Starts the final year after spending the summer at the beach, where he met and fell in love with the sweet and delightful Australian Sandy Olsen. At the end of the summer they believe that they will never see each other again. Until Sandy’s parents decide to move to California permanently and send her to Rydell High.
Here she meets the Pink Ladies, the girls gang of the school. With whom she seeks solace and reminisce of the sweet gentle, boy next door who she fell in love with at the beach. The Pink Ladies surprise Sandy when they realise it is their own Danny after he has told his boys that he and a wild time with a really hot girl.
But Danny has an image to keep and Sandy is a goody two shoes. They are both still in love but someone has to change to “You Are The One That I Want!”
Review
I saw it a while back with a wholly different cast from today, but it was pure unadulterated fun. Having been subjected to the movie repeatedly at a young age no thanks to a schoolgirl sister who was slightly obsessed with John Travolta, I had developed a fondness for the show already. I went with a group of girls who grew up in the simplicity of the early 80s and they loved every minute of it. There were others like myself who were forced to go by sisters/girlfriends and secretly we all enjoyed it almost as much.
The cast is not as strong these days, but if you have a female friend or relative that you want to get on the right side of, then take them along for an entertaining couple of hours. You won't able to resist singing and jiving along to the lively numbers just as much as the rest of us if you're of a certain age!
THERE was a warning. And its name was Enron.
One of the most infamous scandals in financial history becomes a unique theatrical event in ‘Rupert Goold’s brilliant production’ (Guardian). Mixing classical tragedy with savage comedy, it reviews the tumultuous 1990s and casts new light on the current financial situation. In what promises to be ‘an outstanding evening’ (ES), Enron is ‘the exhilarating answer to a $60bn question’ (Times).
“Are you kidding me? Did we take advantage? That’s what we do, that’s how the world works. When you ask, ‘Did you take advantage?’, I hear ‘Do you make a living?’, ‘Do you breathe in and out?’, ‘Are you a man?’ Yes, we took advantage. And the only difference between me and the people judging me is they weren’t smart enough to do what we did.’
One of the most infamous scandals in financial history becomes a theatrical epic in Lucy Prebble’s groundbreaking play Enron. Mixing classic tragedy with savage comedy, it follows a group of flawed men and women in a narrative of greed and loss which reviews the tumultuous 1990’s and casts a new light on the financial turmoil in which the world finds itself in 2009.
Inspired by real-life events and using music, dance and video, ENRON is directed by Headlong Theatre's Artistic Director Rupert Goold whose recent credits include the award-winning Macbeth and Six Characters in Search of an Author, King Lear, No Man's Land and Oliver!
Enron’s author, Lucy Prebble, won the George Devine Award and the Critics Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright for her debut play The Sugar Syndrome at the Royal Court in 2004.
“Enron already looks like the play that all the others will have to beat at this year’s theatre awards.”
Daily Telegraph
Following two sold out runs in Chichester and at the Royal Court in London, Enron is now booking for the West End run of the production.
THE seriously side-splittingly hilarious Billy Connolly CBE is on the rampage again...he's performing live at the Hammersmith Apollo in London for a limited season of 20 shows in January 2010.
Now just in case you've been asleep or on a different planet all your life, Glaswegian-born Billy is an actor, musician, presenter, one-time welder but first and foremost one of the world's funniest comedians.
His acting roles range from masterpieces like 'Mrs Brown' billed alongside the acclaimed Dame Judi Dench, to gentle comedic roles in movies such as 'The Man Who Sued God'. From Hollywood to Australia he's worked across the globe in Film and TV, and even had his own sitcom as a spin-off from 'Head Of The Class' [which was a little short-lived].
It's his observational wit which has me falling off my chair with laughter! He's toured his comedy shows all over the world, and this is another chance for you to catch him live...at the ripe old age of 68 he'll no doubt have even more to say now.
