JACK AND THE BEANSTALK - THEATRE REVIEW

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK AT THE BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME

Theatre Run: Friday 19 December 2014 - Sunday 1 February 2015
Performance Reviewed: Monday 22 December (Press Night)

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

Matt Slack teaches us midway through Jack and the Beanstalk, tongue firmly in-cheek, that the counterpart to ‘Deja Vu’ is ‘Vuja De’, aka ‘I’ve never been here before’. It’s sold as funny, but in many ways it’s a coupling sentiment that encapsulates the entire panto ethos - plenty of the familiar, lashings of tropes, essentials and audience-favourites, all thrown into a suitably barmy melting pot with the new - new faces, and incremental new approaches to the same old handful of fairytale yarns. For some, the balance is not so even, leaning on the pulling power of star wattage, the genuine fondness of the public for panto itself, or a slew of tried-and-true set pieces and old reliables in the gag department. 

THEATRE INTERVIEW - Liam Doyle (Wicked)

WICKED INTERVIEWS:
Part Two - Liam Doyle (Fiyero)

Wicked flies in to the Birmingham Hippodrome this week as part of it's first ever UK and Ireland tour, and as part of our WICKED WEEK celebrations, we've brought you interviews with two of the show's leads.

Last week, Kyle chatted with leading lady Nikki-Davis Jones, who plays Elphaba on the tour, and this week we conclude our interviews by chatting to Midlands native Liam Doyle, who plays Fiyero in the show. We discuss his unusual path into performing professionally, returning to the Midlands with Wicked, and landing his dream role...

By Kyle Pedley.
Interview Conducted Thursday 24th April 2014.

Liam Doyle as Fiyero in Wicked

“I’m worried that I’m 23 and doing the part that I always wanted to do... it’s just downhill from here!”

Actor Liam Doyle is humbly, and jokily, assessing exactly what it means to him to have bagged his self-confessed dream role at such a relatively young age. The Coventry-born performer is of course speaking of Fiyero, the dashing, debonair leading man of musical colossus Wicked, which continues it’s first ever UK tour this week as it opens for a summer tenure at the Birmingham Hippodrome.

“It’s amazing. It is the part that I always wanted to play, it’s a part that I always kind of identified with.”

EVITA - THEATRE REVIEW

EVITA AT THE BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME

Theatre Run: Tuesday 08 - Saturday 19 April 2014
Performance Reviewed: Wednesday 09 April 2014 (Press Night)

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical colossus Evita returns to the Midlands this week as this sumptuous, technically audacious production of the show continues its acclaimed UK national tour. Everything that made the show such a towering and impressive achievement well worthy of its five star review we bestowed upon it last year remains thankfully intact, with an indelible aura of quality and, at times, majesty permeating around what is surprisingly one of Lloyd Webber and Rice’s earliest collaborations. The sophistication and maturity with which they weave the tale of Eva Peron’s rise from obscurity to political and cultural juggernaut through a masterful, instantly recognisable soundtrack remains as bold, beautiful and intricate as ever. And with the sublime Madalena Alberto thankfully remaining front and centre as the titular character, Birmingham audiences have the opportunity to witness what surely must be the definitive interpretation and performance of one of musical theatre’s most iconic and demanding roles.