REVIEWS
NORTHERN ENGLAND
This
page contains reviews at the following theatres:-
BOLTON
– Octagon Theatre
BLACKPOOL
– Grand Theatre
LEEDS
- West Yorkshire Playhouse/ Quarry Theatre
/ Courtyard Theatre
LIVERPOOL
– Everyman Theatre / Playhouse Theatre
MANCHESTER
THEATRES: Royal Exchange / Library Theatre
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE:
Northern Stage / Theatre Royal
SCARBOROUGH - Stephen Joseph
Theatre
SHEFFIELD
- Lyceum Theatre / Crucible Theatre / Crucible Studio
YORK - Theatre Royal
SHEFFIELD
BOX OFFICE: 0114 249 6000
Paul Nicholas and David Ian by
arrangement with Robert Stigwood present
GREASE
Book, Music and
Lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey
Now playing at Sheffield Lyceum Theatre Saturday
19th May 2012
This
production of GREASE was an unexpected treat. This light and familiar musical
can sometimes be marred by dodgy ‘celebrity’ casting, but this
large, young, talented cast are uniformly strong and engaging.
TERRY
PARSONS’ set design was effective and simple and enhanced the show.
ANDREANE NEOFITOU’s costume was varied, bright, colourful and
appropriate. The costumes in ‘Beauty School Drop Out’ were
particularly stunning, enhancing RHYDIAN ROBERTS’ performance as Teen
Angel.
The
cast did a fantastic job with ARLENE PHILLIPS and STORI JAMES’
choreography, performing it crisply and with great energy. ‘We Go
Together’ at the end of Act One is an excellent example of this. DANNY
BAYNE (Danny) and SOPHIE ZUCHINI (Cha Cha) danced expertly at the High School Hop.
RICHARD
VINCENT (Doody) made a charming job of ‘Magic
Changes’. JOSH DENVER as Sonny and LAURA WILSON as Jan were comic,
skilled and entertaining. RICKY ROJAS’ Kenickie,
with his chorus of T-Birds made ‘Greased Lightening’
exciting and fun, despite the obligatory hip thrusting. ‘There Are Worse
Things I Could Do’ sung by KATE SOMERSET HOW (Rizzo) was genuinely
moving.
An excellent production – well
worth seeing.
Reviewed by Gertie Whitfield for Theatreworld
Internet Magazine
SHEFFIELD
BOX OFFICE: 0114 249 6000
Reviews by "The Whitfields" for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
SHEFFIELD
BOX OFFICE: 0114 249 6000
Reviews by "The Whitfields" for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
St Anne's Square
Manchester
BOX OFFICE: 0161 833 9833
Web site: http://www.royalexchange.co.uk
Reviews by Colin Snell for Theatreworld
Internet Magazine
Central Library
St Peter's Square
Manchester
M2 5PD
BOX OFFICE: 0161 236 7110
web address: www.librarytheatre.com
Reviews by Colin Snell for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
Howell Croft South,
Bolton,
BL1 1SB
BOX OFFICE: 01204 529407
THE
QUEEN OF THE NORTH
by Ron Rose
Lynda
Rooke as Pat Phoenix / Elsie Tanner
Directed
by Elizabeth Newman
Now
playing at the Octagon Theatre until 26th May
Billed
as 'a new drama about the life of Pat Phoenix' writer Ron Rose and director
Elizabeth Newman are charged with bringing the life of this iconic actress to
the stage. Starting with Phoenix's collapse during a touring theatre
performance after she had left Coronation Street the play chronicles her
life up to her much publicised battle with cancer and her death-bed marriage to
actor Tony Booth (she died in her sleep eight days later). Phoenix acts also as
narrator describing her early life, her relationship with her parents, her
father's bigamous marriage to her mother, her own early unsuccessful
relationships, an abortion, her career, success in 'Coronation Street', her
disastrous marriage to Alan Browning ('an intelligent man - rare as rocking
horse s--t'), eventually finding love and happiness with Booth before her
untimely death at the age of 62 from lung cancer.
It
seems to me that Rose treats her life very much like a soap opera itself.
Browning was an alcoholic and the marriage suffered terribly. Phoenix craved
love (and attention) and she found both eventually in a highly successful
career and in her relationship with Booth. Phoenix was two women - Patricia
Frederica Pilkington (her step-father's name which she eventually changed to
Phoenix) and Elsie Tanner, the feisty, red-headed single mother who battled
with the likes of Ena Sharples
and the world, bringing up her son Dennis and daughter Linda, and never really
finding love. She personified northern grit, was down-to-earth, hard-working,
and along with Ena and Annie Walker one of the
matriarchs of the Street. Most of the soaps have them. James Callaghan, Prime
Minister at the time described Phoenix as 'the sexiest thing on television'.
And so we needed to feel that she truly deserved her title of Queen of the
North, not only as Elsie but also as Pat. Episodes of Coronation Street certainly
show her to be a fine actress.
On
a set that is divided by a rather long and steep staircase Phoenix's hospital
bed is situated above the main acting space in which designer Elizabeth Wright
makes use of a revolve for various, and constant, scene changes. Lynda Rooke as Phoenix is required to hop in and out of bed,
often for a few lines or a brief scene, before descending the stairs for
another episodic moment. It all takes time as does the
revolve (to revolve), resulting in some very tedious staging and
directorial choices. I wanted more from this play. I wanted to know what made
Elsie/Pat such an icon. And I came away disappointed. Not by Rooke's performance (she will grow in stature even more as
the run progresses) but by the poor quality of the script - lacking in depth
and real substance. There was really nothing in it that contributed to the
drama of the woman's life with any degree of integrity or conviction. A laboured
production which used four other actors to people Phoenix's world: Paul-Ryan Carberry (Harry Kershaw/Bill K/Consultant/Director/Bill
N/Policeman/Mourner); Charlie Covell
(Minnie/Jean/Paula/June/Nurse/Kathy/Stage Manager); Matt Healy (Tom Manfield/Alan Browning/Priest/Peter Adamson); Sally Hodgkiss (Adele/Violet Carson/Stage Manager/Anna/Mourner)
with John McArdle playing Tony Booth - a performance
that attempted to show their relationship, friendship, love, laughter in a
supportive way but remained somewhat superficial as a result of the script.
With just four actors playing so many significant roles in Phoenix's life it
was always going to be difficult to create any real depth to the piece. Rooke, however, does create Phoenix in a sensitive, gritty way
and convinces in her quest for love and happiness. It's all very episodic and
bitty and without her skill in holding the whole together it would prove even
more lacklustre.
Phoenix's
life fused Pat and Elsie; even she must have wondered where the fantasy ended
and the reality began. With her former husband in the first night audience, I
left wondering what he had made of it all.
Reviews by Colin Snell for Theatreworld
Internet Magazine
Williamson Square
Liverpool L1 1EL
Sales and Information: 0151 709 4776
Minicom: 0151 709 0534
Reviews
by Wendy Fairbank for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
Williamson Square
Liverpool L1 1EL
Sales and Information: 0151 709 4776
Minicom: 0151 709 0534
Reviews
by Wendy Fairbank for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
Fairbottom Street
Oldham
0L1 3BR
BOX OFFICE: 0161 624 2829
Reviews by Colin Snell for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
Moor Lane
Lancaster
LA1 1QE
BOX OFFICE: 01254 598500
Reviews by Colin Snell for Theatreworld
Internet Magazine
Playhouse Square,
Quarry Hill,
Leeds, LS2 7UP
Box Office: (0113) 213 7700
why not
visit West Yorkshire Playhouse's own
website:- www.wyp.co.uk
Reviewed by Sue Pigott
for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
****************************************************************
Reviews
by Sue Pigott for Theatreworld Internet Magazine
St.
Leonard's Place
York YO1
7HD
Box Office 01904 623568.
Reviews by Sue Pigott for Theatreworld Internet
Magazine
SCARBOROUGH
BOX OFFICE: 01723 370541
Reviews by Sue Pigott for Theatreworld Internet
Magazine
33 Church Street
Blackpool
FY1 1HT
BOX OFFICE: 01253 290190
Reviews by Colin Snell for Theatreworld
Internet Magazine
Haymarket
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
NE1 7RH
BOX OFFICE: 0191 230 5151
WEBSITE:
WWW.NORTHERNSTAGE.CO.UK
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