RENT - THEATRE REVIEW

RENT AT THE ARENA THEATRE, WOLVERHAMPTON

Theatre Run: Friday 26 - Saturday 27 July
Performance Reviewed: Saturday 27 July (matinee)

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

Most major musicals bring their own set of challenges and dilemmas to an amateur adaptation, be it a requirement for expansive sets and staging, period or niche costume and production design or elaborate, demanding choreography, all of which often have to face the constraints and practicality of budget and available talent. Relatively speaking, RENT is a somewhat barer, more raw piece of musical theatre in those particular regards, and one whose expressionist, bohemian slant makes it a more malleable beast for the amateur treatment. However, therein lies the inherent challenge of tackling the show - there are no major set pieces or spectacle to hide behind, it is a story and production that is raw, pure, innately human and relatively uncompromising - and if the cast cannot rise to the occasion the show can be a floundering mess of youthful post-modernism and half-baked theatrical expressionism. It truly is a show that is only as good as those in whose hands it is placed.

9 to 5 THE MUSICAL - THEATRE REVIEW

9 TO 5 THE MUSICAL AT THE WOLVERHAMPTON GRAND THEATRE

Theatre Run: Monday 13 - Saturday 18 May 2013
Performance Reviewed: Tuesday 14 May (Press Night)

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

9 to 5 The Musical returns to the Midlands, and indeed (A)musings this week as it begins its tenure at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, bringing with it its irrepressible slice of fun, sass and spirit that has lost none of its fire since I last reviewed the show back in December. For those who have not yet experienced the production, practically all of what was said in the original review still holds true, and for those who have, this is definitely a show that holds up to a second viewing perfectly - so winning and vibrant are the performances, catchy and peppy the showtunes and set pieces and generally infectiously feel-good is the evening as a whole.