This week’s theatregoing thoughts plus reviews of Bloodsport, Man To Man, Thelma & Louise, and more
OHMYGOD HEY!
Welcome back to my weekly collation of the various reviews, opinion pieces and theatre news updates I’ve shared across multiple social media platforms.
It has been said by many that if all major acting awards were to be made genderless, that female actors would lose out on nominations and wins to their male peers. In addition to the mounting evidence that this isn’t necessarily likely (2023 Tony Awards, anybody?), I propose that it’s ignorant of the alternative reality that many of theatre’s greatest roles, vehicles and stories have been for, about and of women.
It’s a curious coincidence that so many of the shows I’ve seen in September have been not only female led, but utterly female-focused – investigating the feminine identity and the implications of gender inequality. From Manfred Karge’s Man To Man to Electra/Persona at the National Theatre and even the musical adaptation of Thelma & Louise, the notion of reinvention for survival in a patriarchal world has been thoroughly explored, while Ava Pickett continues to scorch auditoria with another blazing triumph in Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy.
Even Kimberly Akimbo, the musical adaptation of David Lindsay Abaire’s play, penned by him with composer Jeanine Tesori, finds its compelling protagonist in a 16 year-old young woman whose rare genetic disorder sees her in a body that is functionally and aesthetically decades older. And staying in the realm of musical theatre, though the title has been occasionally bestowed, I reckon there is not yet material that resembles the emotional scale or demand of “a male Rose from Gypsy”, and find it tickling that so many stage heroines earn their ovations independently while many of theatre’s most famous fictional gentlemen do so with iconic ladies at their side. Of course at a certain point, even thinking about it through a binary lens becomes tedious and you long for a world of Oh, Mary!s to do away with the whole thing altogether.
Also worth flagging, with no wish to shame the company or the individuals involved, that I found myself for the first time at a partially AI-written community theatre production this week. My concerns in that particular arena persist.
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Why a great show is closing on Broadway: Thoughts on Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
In what is beginning to feel like a Broadway bloodbath, another musical has announced that it will soon be closing – the Tony-nominated original Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York).
The show, previously seen in London at the Criterion Theatre, will have run for a year of performances at the Longacre Theatre in New York and is soon to be soon around the US on its first National Tour.
With considerable praise for its success, here are my thoughts on why Two Strangers is closing and what its enduring legacy might be…
Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
Who will star in NANNY MCPHEE? Thoughts on the upcoming West End musical adaptation of the film
It has been announced that a musical based on the Nanny McPhee films is coming to the West End next year.
A world-class creative team has been assembled to bring Nanny McPhee to the stage including book by Academy Award®, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor and writer Emma Thompson (who won an Academy Award® for Best Adapted Screenplay for Sense and Sensibility), music by singer-songwriter Gary Clark (frontman of the band Danny Wilson who wrote the music for Sing Street on stage and film), with original lyrics by Emma Thompson and Gary Clark.
Today I’m speculating about who might be playing the titular role, sharing some insights about which high profile names have been attached to workshops of the show thus far, and letting you know whether I think it has the makings of a hit…
Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
I met the stars of THELMA & LOUISE: A chat with musical’s leading ladies Amy Lennox & Rachel Tucker
Ahead of its opening night, I had the chance to sit down with the two leading ladies of the new musical adaptation of the award winning film, Thelma & Louise.
Amy Lennox (Cabaret, Kinky Boots) and Rachel Tucker (Wicked, Come From Away) are both established stage stars who have brought powerful performances to the stage and are no strangers to developing material.
Check out what they had to say about this world premiere production at the Young Vic Theatre, workshopping new shows, and working alongside strong female creatives…
Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
Q&A with the cast of the JANE EYRE Musical: Post performance chat at Southwark Playhouse Elephant
The stage musical adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre premiered on Broadway more than 25 years ago, and has finally received its UK professional premiere.
The show is playing at Southwark Playhouse Elephant, under the co-direction of John Caird and Megan McGinnis, with Charlie Burn starring as Jane alongside Ashley Gilmour as Rochester.
On Thursday 17th September, I joined producer Adam Blanshay, leading lady Charlie Burn and members of the cast for a post show Q&A discussing their discovery of the show, what they would say to Charlotte Brontë, and which lyric they would have tattooed…
Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
This Week’s Reviews
Thelma & Louise at Young Vic Theatre, London
★★★★ Review available YouTube / Spotify / Apple Podcasts
Bloodsport: after Helen of Troy at Stratford East, London
★★★★ Review available YouTube / Spotify / Apple Podcasts
Man to Man at Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, Royal Court Theatre, London
★★★★ Review available YouTube / Spotify / Apple Podcasts
for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf at The Yard Theatre, London
★★★ Review available YouTube / Spotify / Apple Podcasts
Electra/Persona at Lyttleton Theatre, National Theatre, London
★★ Review available YouTube / Spotify / Apple Podcasts
Million Dollar Quartet at The Arts at Marble Arch, London
★★★ Review available YouTube / Instagram / TikTok
A week of West End opening nights – Theatre Vlog ft Kimberly Akimbo, Bloodsport, Man to Man & more
Check out another week in our life of seeing theatre around the UK!
This week we were at back to back opening nights including Man to Man at the Royal Court, Bloodsport: after Helen of Troy at Stratford East and Kimberly Akimbo at the Hampstead Theatre. We also had a tour of the newly reopened Yard Theatre ahead of a performance of For Colored Girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf.
Meanwhile I headed to the National Theatre for an announcement about the new season, chatted with the cast of Million Dollar Quartet, and attended the launch of the West End transfer of Into the Woods.
Join us vicariously in this brand new vlog to find out what a week in our lives looks like!
What’s coming up this week?
The coming week is a big one for opening nights and events alike, one which will conclude with a determined sprint from the 20th Anniversary gala performance of Wicked to the Stage Debut Awards.
Meanwhile I’ll also be seeing the newly conceived production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Sting’s The Last Ship (at long last), and the London transfer of Table 17.
Until next week, I hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have a stagey… week! – Mickey-Jo
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