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Music and Lyrics: Frank Loesser Book: Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows Artistic Director: David McNeill Musical Director: Simon Hanson Choreographer: Geoff Steers Reviewer: Helen Jones The Public Reviews Rating: Stage Experience have auditioned and cast one hundred young people between the ages of ten and twenty one, then given them ten days to rehearse before appearing before the audience at the Palace Theatre in Frank Loesser’s musical Guys and Dolls. Amazingly, it works brilliantly. Loesser’s famous musical, based on the stories of Damon Runyon, is set in the seedy side of New York in 1950 and tells of the romances of two couples. Miss Sarah Brown helps run the local Save Your Souls mission, Miss Adelaide is the star of the local revue, Nathan Detroit and Sky Masterson are gamblers. The score is filled with some of Loesser’s most well-known songs including Sit Down You’re Rockin’ The Boat and Luck Be A Lady. This cast of youngsters shows real talent and includes several potential stars of professional musical theatre; in fact a couple of them are already working professionally. Rebecca Lake’s delicate looking Sarah Brown is sweet voiced but truly shows her acting ability and timing during the scene in Havana where Sarah is under the influence of rather a lot of rum. Fifteen years old Ryan Hunt, while still looking much too young to be a convincing grandfather, is confident in his role and shows a beautiful singing voice in his one solo number. Ben Davies is a charismatic Sky Masterson but somehow just lacks that ability to convince me he’s a hardened gambler. However, he gives a skilled performance which is engaging to watch. Mark Bayliss as Nathan Detroit has that gambling-addicted look down to a fine art. Combined with his accomplished acting and a stunning singing voice, Bayliss makes himself [...]

Writers:Linda A Carson, Jill Daum, Alison Kelly, Robin Nichol, Barbara Pollard, Deborah Williams Director: Andrew Lynford Reviewer: Cathy Crabb The Public Reviews Rating: The play itself, is the product of a group of six actors from Vancouver getting together and writing about their experience of motherhood. The staging is very simple- five chairs in a semi circle with an oversized fridge upstage in Act I and then two large boxes either side of the fridge in Act II one serving as a swimming baths cubicle for a hilarious sketch by Mandy Holliday which results in her running across the stage naked. The main attraction here are the separate mother’s stories. Which on the whole were funny and interesting, though as Act I consisted of their accounts of the birth and early days of motherhood, as to be expected, all the accounts seemed to have similar themes- nappies, getting the baby to sleep, not brushing your hair and being neurotic. In Act II the stories varied more and were more interesting as the characters have settled into their roles and new life so they reflect more as individuals, and to be fair, that’s how motherhood is on the whole. There are fine performances by all five actors. Tracy Shaw as Jill gives us a sweet, embracing and loving account of her shift from glamorous and popular socialite to shunned unkempt mother, she reminds us there is so much to worry about and that often your intellectual side can take a lesser piece of the pie when motherhood consumes you. Lauren Barclay played the part of Robin, a frustrated and lonely parent growing distant from her partner who she communicates with by leaving messages on the fridge, gives us a steady reminder that motherhood for some isn’t all cuddles and coos. Susie Fenwick’s career woman [...]

Writer: Victoria Wood Adaptor/Director: David Graham Reviewer: Brian Gorman The Public Reviews Rating: I really wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy this at all. I love Victoria Wood, but never fancied watching her tv sit-com of ’Dinnerladies’. It all looked far too cosy for me. Well, I missed out, didn’t I? She’s a clever one, our Victoria (I can call her ours, as she’s a local lass; born in Prestwich), and there are quite a few dark moments among the primary colours in this stage version adapted from the tv scripts by David Graham, who also directs, for The Comedy Theatre Company. Set in the kitchen of a Manchester factory canteen, this is the bittersweet love story of Bren (Laura Sheppard uncannily channeling Ms Wood herself) and Tony (Andrew Dunn successfully recreating the role he played on tv). Encouraged to ‘get it on’ by their work colleagues, their road to happiness seems to be eternally blocked by various misunderstandings (both comic and tragic), the misadventures of Bren’s deluded mother Petula (Tamsin Heatley; absolutely hilarious in the Julie Walters part), and Bren’s despairingly low self esteem. The characters are largely female, middle-aged, and working class, and the laughs vary from simple one-liners to borderline slapstick. Sue Devaney, who also starred in the television version, again plays the common-as-muck Jane in what can only be described as ‘broad terms’. But such is the good humoured warmth of Wood’s writing, that we can forgive some of the eye-rolling, pantomime performances and simply enjoy a superbly crafted production that has something for everybody. Barrie Palmer’s Stan, the grumpy old handyman, delivers a very touching poem about his father, that is both poignant and appalling in equal measures. Sarah Head takes on the part of Human Resources manager Philippa, and delivers a suitably silly little madam with [...]

Sue Devaney has had an extensive career across theatre and television, and has a broad CV. Coronation Street fans will remember her as Debbie Webster, while to an entire generation of fans she is Rita Briggs, from Children’s BBC’s hit series, Johnny Briggs. Other television roles include Heartbeat, a three year stint on Casualty, as well as an original cast member of Victoria Wood’s smash hit, Dinnerladies. On stage, Devaney has worked the length and breadth of the country, appearing everywhere from the Royal Court to the Royal Exchange, tackling shows as varied as The Wizard Of Oz, and The Beggars’ Opera. Currently starring in the hit comedy tour of Dinnerladies – itself adapted from the original BBC series – Sue took time out to speak with Matthew Nichols. Tell us about the stage play of Dinnerladies? How does it compare to the TV series, which people will be familiar with? Basically, it’s like the second series of the programme. When Victoria Wood wrote it, and we filmed it, we did two series. The first one has seven episodes, and the second one had ten. This is the one where Tony and Bren get it together, and obviously my character Jane’s plotline hinges on whether she’ll get her “12 rounds of white, low fat spread!” It touches on Tony’s cancer, and obviously there’s Dolly and Jean, whose husband has had an affair. It’s a love story set in a canteen. How have rehearsals been? Is it hard to keep a straight face in a show like this? Well, when we first filmed the original, which was ten years ago, I thought we’d all be meeting up and singing round a piano, and cracking jokes, but it was lots of hard work. Victoria (Wood) is very serious, and …

Book: JRR Tolkien Adaptor: Glyn Robbins Director: Roy Marsden Reviewer: Jimmy Hardwick The Public Reviews Rating: The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien’s beloved classic, was born partly out of his believe that the English had no real mythology of their own. As an accomplished mythology scholar he was in a position to know and The Hobbit was written to redress this balance. Using texts such as Beowulf,  Tolkien invented people, cultures and even entire languages which fill this story. His novel has, of course, endured and is due to be made into another Hollywood epic this year. Glyn Robbins’ adaptation is a brave attempt to bring this most complex story onto the stage and for the most part he succeeds although there are one or two problems. The heartbeat of the Hobbit is of course Bilbo Baggins and he is here excellently played by Christopher Llewellyn. Bilbo is a character with hidden depths, as Gandalf sees, and Llewellyn brings this out well. I can believe that this Bilbo could be underestimated and show a steely side. Gandalf the Grey is the other main character, the guide and comfort to Bilbo and the person who realises what the hobbit is really made of. Christopher Robbie is a conventional and fine Gandalf who brings the necessary gravities to the role. Gollum (Russell Clough) perhaps suffers in comparison to his CGI/Human counterpart; Andy Serkis may have spoiled playing Gollum for all other actors! The rest of the cast are fine and I particularly enjoyed the stone based stomping of the trolls (William St Clair, Anthony Gabbiel and Craig Whittaker). Thorin Oakenshield (Andrew Coppin) and his companions (Kirk Barker, Seb Morgan, James Hedley and Danny Fox) accompany Bilbo with energy and physicality. One of the best things about this production is the cleverly conceived set (David Shields) …

Based on the Book by Ian Fleming Music/Lyrics: Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman Book: Jeremy Sams Director: Adrian Noble Reviewer: John Roberts The Public Reviews Rating: Oh you pretty Chitty Bang Bang! Based on the children’s story by Ian Fleming the man behind 007, this fantasmagorical adventure see’s Caractacus Potts and his Children Jeremy & Jemima take flight in the most wonderful racing car the world has ever seen. Having been stranded on a family picnic and attacked by the Vulgarian’s on the stormy seas. The Potts family are forced land in Vulgaria. It is here that a plot to capture the children and get Caractacus to build a flying car for the ruler of Vulgaria; Baron Bomburst was hatched, and with a little help from a Child Catcher and two rather useless spies it all seems to be going to plan…or does it? I have to admit to being rather excited at seeing the show, I have yet to catch the production since its first appearance at the London Palladium in 2002, and although this touring incarnation is a smaller and more streamlined production, it still brings oodles of magic onto the stage for all the family to enjoy! One thing to say from the off is that the cast work tirelessly to bring the magic of the iconic film to stage, and with a wonderful cartoony and perspective bending set designed by Anthony Ward, not only does it stay close to the original, but also gives the production is own uniqueness. Adrian Noble has crafted a wonderfully slick production and helped with some of the most energetic choreography I have seen in a touring production for a while by David Morgan – you really do feel like you have been on this epic adventure yourself. Nigel Garton & Richard [...]

Writer: Prokofiev Director/Choreographer: Michael Corder Conductor: Alex Ingram Reviewer: Malcolm Wallace The Public Reviews Rating: It’s a special year for English National Ballet. It’s sixty years since the company made its debut and what better way to celebrate than with this revival of Michael Corder’s sumptuous and award winning 1996 production of Prokofiev’s classic Cinderella. The tale is a familiar one. Cinderella, the down trodden and put upon beauty is treated with disdain and made to work as a servant girl by her cruel stepmother and stepsisters. When the Prince hosts a gala ball poor Cinderella, with only rags for clothes, is left behind. Hurrah for the Fairy Godmother who transforms Cinderella into a beautiful princess and sends her off to the ball in beautiful coach. But she is warned, she must leave by midnight otherwise the spell will be broken. At the ball meets and falls hopelessly in love with the prince but at the strike of midnight flees leaving only a glass slipper behind. The distraught Prince visits the home of Cinderella family and both stepsisters try on the glass slipper, but to no avail as the slipper will only fit Cinderella’s feet. Happy ending! As is the case with a lot of classical ballet not a great deal of time is devoted to telling the story and it all happens very quickly indeed which inevitably means there is a huge amount of pointless padding. But, frankly, in a production as good as this who cares? There’s no denying the quality of Prokoviev’s score. Whilst it does lack the accessibility and memorable tunes of the likes of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake or Nutcracker, in many ways it outshines both these other works in terms of style. There are plenty of recurring themes associated with each character and a dark …

Edward Peel is instantly a face you recognise having been in the industry for over 40 years. He has been a regular in our living rooms for the past thirty years playing roles in programs such as Emmerdale, London’s Burning and Dr Who in which he won the title of Best Villian in the 24th Series by the DW readers Poll. Edward is currently doing what he loves best, treading the boards of the stage in what surprisingly is his first ever musical theatre role. He is currently playing the role of Baron Bomburst in Adrian Nobles production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Here he talks to The Public Reviews Editor John Roberts about the show, his life and what he likes about Manchester. You have been touring in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for 8 months now, how is it going? The tour is going very well, and we are currently waiting to hear on the future of the show, whether it is to carry on touring or if in September it will come to a close once more. They say that you should never work with animals and children, so what have your experiences been of both? I have to be honest and say they are both great, but I think you need to add flying cars to the list as well as it really is the true star of the show, and it really is quite amazing how it flies. The children are and have been brilliant so far we pick up a new set of kids at most venues and they have really gotten into the spirit of the show which is fantastic. We also do the show with the same set of dogs. They are a trained circus act which they do as their main job. [...]