All stories by Pat Ashworth on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Pinocchio review at Nottingham Playhouse – ‘engaging and zany theatre for young children’ by Pat Ashworth

There’s an art to writing something that will amuse and entrance small children while also making adults laugh out loud. Sarah Middleton

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 11:42AM
Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Jack and the Beanstalk review at Town Hall, Loughborough – ‘winning and witty’ by Pat Ashworth

Loughborough has a good track record for pantomime. This year’s show is Little Wolf Entertainment at its very best. It never sits

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 11:51AM
Monday, December 16, 2019

Peter Pan review at Derby Arena – ‘entertaining and warm-hearted’ by Pat Ashworth

This is a curious departure for Little Wolf Entertainment. The company has a reputation for creating first-rate traditional pantos with scripts that

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 10:33AM
Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Cinderella review at Theatre Royal Nottingham – ‘knockabout comedy’ by Pat Ashworth

Nottingham’s Theatre Royal has been ill-served by its pantos in the past, but this one is a corker. Madness and mayhem dominate

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:18AM

A Christmas Carol review at Derby Theatre – ‘spellbinding and beautiful seasonal show’ by Pat Ashworth

Oliver O’Shea’s revival of this show from 2014 sees Charles Dickens’ classic tale brought to life by a talented ensemble of actor-musicians.

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 05:34AM
Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Sleeping Beauty review at Nottingham Playhouse – ‘warm-hearted and irrepressible’ by Pat Ashworth

This is Kenneth Alan Taylor’s 37th pantomime for the Nottingham Playhouse. I’ve seen almost all of them and I think this is

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 08:13AM
Monday, August 5, 2019

Cats review at Kilworth House Theatre – ‘radical approach and outstanding delivery’ by Pat Ashworth

Nick Winston’s production dispels at a single magnificent stroke those habitual audience demurrals that, however showy and extraordinary it is, Cats doesn’t

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:14AM
Friday, June 7, 2019

Redcoats review at the Victoria Hotel, Beeston – ‘affectionate celebration of Butlins’ by Pat Ashworth

The waterways-based company Mikron has perfected the art of no-frills theatre over 48 years of touring. It performs anywhere that’s not an

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 07:32AM
Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Skellig review at Nottingham Playhouse – ‘a funny and tender staging’ by Pat Ashworth

Adapted by the author, David Almond’s marvellous, mystical children’s novel translates well to the stage. Michael (Sam Swann) is an unsettled young

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 12:45PM
Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs review at New Theatre Royal, Lincoln – ‘cheerful and effervescent’ by Pat Ashworth

It’s good to see panto flourishing at the New Theatre Royal Lincoln, a venue that was given a new lease of life

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:35AM
Thursday, December 20, 2018

Treasure Island review at Leicester Haymarket – ‘witty and original’ by Pat Ashworth

The Haymarket closed in 2007, making way for Curve, so its £3.6 million makeover and resurrection by an ardent bunch of people

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 07:52AM
Tuesday, December 18, 2018

The Cat in the Hat review at Curve, Leicester – ‘gleefully anarchic’ by Pat Ashworth

Katie Mitchell adapted and directed this stage version of the Dr Seuss classic for the National Theatre in 2009. It works particularly

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 07:45AM
Monday, December 17, 2018

White Christmas review at Leicester Curve – ‘faultlessly executed’ by Pat Ashworth

It matters not one jot that the story of White Christmas is so thin as to be almost transparent. It’s a glorious

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 07:37AM
Friday, December 14, 2018

The Elves and the Shoemaker review at Nottingham Playhouse – ‘endearing tale of kindness for young kids’ by Pat Ashworth

Christmas shows are often a child’s first experience of theatre, so their value on that score can’t be underestimated. Alongside its family

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 11:54AM
Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Jack and the Beanstalk at Derby Arena – ‘dazzling and thoroughly engaging’ by Pat Ashworth

Morgan Brind is seemingly inexhaustible, writing, directing and designing for Little Wolf Entertainment’s outstanding Loughborough panto while also playing Dame Trott for

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 12:02PM
Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs review at the Palace Theatre, Mansfield – ‘jolly, high-energy show’ by Pat Ashworth

There’s enough energy coming off the stage here to power the whole of Mansfield, and most of it comes from Adam Moss

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 11:28AM

Beauty and the Beast review at Town Hall, Loughborough – ‘original, fresh and funny’ by Pat Ashworth

Loughborough Town Hall consistently sets the benchmark for traditional panto in the East Midlands. This is the fifth successive panto from Morgan

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 07:07AM
Monday, December 10, 2018

Peter Pan review at Theatre Royal, Nottingham – ‘high on spectacle but low on story’ by Pat Ashworth

J M Barrie might ponder where the story had gone in this, a cheery nod to the adventures of Peter Pan. Whether

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:33AM
Thursday, December 6, 2018

Hansel and Gretel review at Derby Theatre – ‘wittily delightful and original’ by Pat Ashworth

Mike Kenny’s gift is to take a classic tale and make the wildest of fancies seem wholly reasonable. So what better than

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 07:49AM
Monday, December 3, 2018

Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood review at Nottingham Playhouse – ‘radiant, warm-hearted panto’ by Pat Ashworth

Watching panto at the Playhouse is like sitting in front of a log fire with all the family home for Christmas. It

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 07:10AM
Thursday, October 11, 2018

Kindertransport review at Nottingham Playhouse – ‘sensitively directed’ by Pat Ashworth

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Kindertransport, the operation to get Jewish children out of Nazi Germany. But Diane Samuels’

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 04:29AM
Thursday, September 27, 2018

FUP review at Nottingham Playhouse – ‘Kneehigh’s delightful touring show’ by Pat Ashworth

Jim Dodge’s comic novel Fup is beautifully transposed to Kneehigh’s home territory of Cornwall in this touring production. Grandaddy Jake has achieved

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 08:21AM
Monday, September 24, 2018

A Thing Mislaid review at Deda, Derby – ‘thought-provoking and haunting’ by Pat Ashworth

Words are a minor component of A Thing Mislaid. It’s an enigmatic and often impish two-hander from Maison Foo, a company now

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 09:12AM
Thursday, August 2, 2018

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat review at Kilworth House Theatre, Leicestershire – ‘mighty and explosive’ by Pat Ashworth

In the 50th year of what is now the most-performed musical in history, director Andrew Wright celebrates Joseph’s origins as a school

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 05:39AM
Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Shebeen review at Nottingham Playhouse – ‘fine production of an authentic but flawed play’ by Pat Ashworth

Mufaro Makubika’s first main-stage play, Shebeen won the 2017 Alfred Fagon Award for best new work by a black British playwright, in

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:31AM
Friday, April 13, 2018

Handlooms review at Anokhi – House of Sarees, Leicester – ‘vibrant, original and important’ by Pat Ashworth

Contact Theatre has vacated its Manchester base during building work, and is making a virtue of necessity by creating site-specific work. Handlooms

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 05:48AM
Friday, April 6, 2018

Holes review at Nottingham Playhouse – ‘fast-paced and inventive’ by Pat Ashworth

What a delicious adventure story this is and how well it adapts to the stage. Adam Penford’s fluid and inventive production of

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:37AM
Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Wonderland review at Nottingham Playhouse – ‘powerful and pertinent’ by Pat Ashworth

A native of the city, Adam Penford, the new, youthful artistic director of Nottingham Playhouse, has created a real buzz with his

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 05:51AM
Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Jack and the Beanstalk review at Palace Theatre, Mansfield – ‘warm and cheerful’ by Pat Ashworth

Pantomime at Mansfield’s Palace Theatre is keenly awaited and much loved seasonal treat. This year there’s a big welcome for returning favourite,

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 08:32AM
Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Black Beauty review at Lakeside Arts, Nottingham – ‘spellbinding storytelling’ by Pat Ashworth

Director Andy Manley has re-imagined the story of Black Beauty using just two actors and a ramshackle horsebox. This is home to

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 07:36AM
Monday, December 18, 2017

George’s Marvellous Medicine review at Curve, Leicester – ‘an outstanding adaptation’ by Pat Ashworth

This is the latest and finest collaboration between Curve and Rose Theatre Kingston. Children’s theatre doesn’t come much better than Roald Dahl

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 07:26AM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards