All stories by Ryan Gilbey on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

‘The doc said you’re having a heart attack right now’: why is US standup Mike Birbiglia still alive? by Ryan Gilbey

The comic, who has survived cancer and once sleep-jumped through a closed hotel window, is bringing his Broadway smash about mortality to the UK. ‘I guarantee you’ll laugh,’ he says Fo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:04PM
Thursday, August 10, 2023

Baklâ review – this teasing tomfoolery is devilishly smart by Ryan Gilbey

Summerhall, EdinburghMax Percy’s physical theatre show mixes ideas on sex, power dynamics and homophobia into an audacious reflection on generational trauma Putting a shirtless young man o…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:13PM
Monday, August 7, 2023

Simon Amstell: ‘I used to think I couldn’t talk about enjoying sex’ by Ryan Gilbey

After routines about orgies from the perspective of an ‘awkward English twit’, the comedian returns with an unironic and open account of carnal pleasure It is nearly midnight at a packed…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:13PM
Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Tarantino Live review – a megamix of songs, speeches and severed ears by Ryan Gilbey

Riverside Studios, LondonSpattered with blood and brains, this blend of cabaret and cosplay brings together Quentin Tarantino’s career highlights with flashes of divine inspiration Childre…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:43AM
Thursday, June 15, 2023

Frank and Percy review – McKellen and Allam’s banter meanders into romance by Ryan Gilbey

Theatre Royal, WindsorIan McKellen and Roger Allam star in a rambling but unabashed depiction of desire after middle-age Walking their dogs on Hampstead Heath, the widowed Frank (Roger Allam…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:25AM
Tuesday, May 9, 2023

The cuddling cowboys ride again! Saddle up for the Brokeback Mountain musical by Ryan Gilbey

As the two hard-loving herders from the 2005 Oscar-winner get back on their horses, the team behind a new musical version talk about fear, regret – and the tragic power of forbidden desire…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:12PM
Thursday, April 27, 2023

Animal review – candid comedy drama explores sex and disability by Ryan Gilbey

Park theatre, LondonDavid has cerebral palsy and is determined to lose his virginity using Grindr in Jon Bradfield’s entertaining play Any Grindr user faces a barrage of questions. Top or …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12AM
Wednesday, April 26, 2023

‘I’m going for it like crazy’: Suzy Eddie Izzard on her one-woman, 19-role Great Expectations by Ryan Gilbey

After 30 years, the standup star is now finally winning acting plaudits, for a ‘tour de force’ take on Dickens with sharper punchlines – and Hamlet is next First names first. What does…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:48PM
Friday, April 21, 2023

Hate Radio review – vivid and urgent retelling of ‘Radio Machete’ atrocities by Ryan Gilbey

Battersea Arts Centre, LondonDepicting the Rwandan radio station that spurred on genocide, this harrowing show raises a warning to be heeded today In a brightly lit studio, three DJs (Diogè…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM
Friday, April 7, 2023

The Dry House review – a mother hits rock bottom in gloriously cast alcoholism drama by Ryan Gilbey

Marylebone theatre, LondonThe capacity to arrest our own destruction is central in Eugene O’Hare’s stark look at a woman struggling to cope after the death of her teenage daughter As The…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM
Monday, March 27, 2023

The Very Best and Worst of Mr Swallow review – keep up with Nick Mohammed’s runaway alter ego by Ryan Gilbey

Duke of York’s theatre, LondonMaths, magic and Les Mis all feature in the entertaining musings of the Ted Lasso star’s northern know-it-all ‘Who’s here ’cos of Ted Lasso?” grins …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:32AM

‘Nightmare! I’ve got to tap-dance with four legs!’ Inside the new SpongeBob Musical by Ryan Gilbey

Is chirruping dangerous? How many legs can you tap-dance with? And what have they all been smoking? As the SpongeBob SquarePants musical hits Britain, we dive down to Bikini Bottom “Who li…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:12AM
Thursday, February 23, 2023

Charlotte and Theodore review – agonised academics knee-deep in culture wars by Ryan Gilbey

Ustinov Studio, BathRyan Craig’s play stars Eve Ponsonby and Kris Marshall as a couple tearing themselves apart over cancel culture and other hot-button topics Think male-female two-hander…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:48AM
Friday, December 2, 2022

Mother Goose review – a feather in Hackney Empire’s cap by Ryan Gilbey

Hackney Empire, LondonClive Rowe gives a masterly performance as he shapes the high jinks while wearing fabulous frocks in this infectiously funny panto It’s worth flocking to this triumph…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:42AM
Friday, November 25, 2022

The Wizard of Oz review – carnivalesque trip down the Yellow Brick Road by Ryan Gilbey

Curve, LeicesterCatwalk-ready costumes, expressive puppetry and a knockabout cast make this a fun, if rather cluttered, production Even without the ubiquitous Wicked, there is no shortage of…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:32PM
Monday, October 17, 2022

'I’ve got a feeling I won’t be on stage again’: Derek Jacobi on age, ego, Igglepiggle and unrequited love by Ryan Gilbey

Sixty-five years after his first rave reviews, the star of I, Claudius and Last Tango in Halifax is still drowning in work – and self-doubt. Can a man who won Ian McKellen’s heart really…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:43AM
Friday, September 30, 2022

‘When is it OK to start blowing things up?’ Mark Rylance on families, Hilary Mantel and climate disaster by Ryan Gilbey

The actor discusses his new drama at the London film festival, being starstruck by Meryl Streep – and the best way to take environmental action On the day that Mark Rylance video-calls fro…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:03AM
Friday, September 23, 2022

Cages review – hologram rock musical is a dreary dystopia by Ryan Gilbey

Riverside Studios, LondonAn overreliance on technology and a doomy score can’t replace old-fashioned chemistry in this emotionless offering Anhedonia is a condition that renders the suffer…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:25AM
Monday, September 5, 2022

‘We’re going for belly laughs’: Jacques Tati’s Hulot masterpiece gets an all-singing climate twist by Ryan Gilbey

With little plot and almost no dialogue, Playtime does not seem an obvious fit for theatre. Will the addition of songs by Martha Wainwright and Chilly Gonzales help? Comedy doesn’t get any…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:33AM
Friday, September 2, 2022

Sex dungeon cosplay comedy is just a bit too harmless – Horse-Play review by Ryan Gilbey

Riverside studios, LondonTwo men trying to spice up their marriage get stuck with their dom in a cosy comedy that’s neither naughty nor revealing Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a pigeo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:55AM
Wednesday, August 3, 2022

‘The first time I did cocaine, I thought: That’s expensive’ – Keith Allen on his wild years by Ryan Gilbey

He blazed through the 90s, an explosive mix of hellraising laddishness and sheer comic talent. As the 68-year-old resurfaces in Rehab, a musical about a drug-addicted pop star, he hits the G…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:37AM
Thursday, July 28, 2022

Sister Act review – Beverley Knight and Jennifer Saunders bring the laughs as rebel nuns by Ryan Gilbey

Eventim Apollo, LondonKnight and Saunders are full-throated and bristling in the hit musical-from-a-film, with a sprawling cast and hip flasks aplenty The plot of the 1992 comedy Sister Act …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:07AM

‘Standup was a weapon to him’: Ian Cognito, the comedian who died on stage – literally by Ryan Gilbey

Three years ago, the caustic comic had a fatal aortic dissection mid-show. Now a new documentary about the self-proclaimed ‘most banned act in Britain’ reveals a saga of booze and outrag…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:33AM
Monday, July 25, 2022

David Warner obituary by Ryan Gilbey

Stage and screen actor hailed for his 1965 Hamlet at the RSC who went on to have a distinguished film and TV careerIt would be misleading to suggest that the actor David Warner, who has died…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:07PM
Thursday, July 21, 2022

‘I walked into the comedy desert and a part of me died’ – the standup who became a therapist by Ryan Gilbey

Oscar Jenkyn-Jones was one of the wildest new talents in comedy. But he suddenly disappeared – and reinvented himself as a therapist instead. He explains the joys of swapping the fringe fo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18AM
Sunday, June 19, 2022

The Southbury Child review – a vicar picks an odd hill to die on by Ryan Gilbey

Festival theatre, ChichesterEven-handed to a fault, Stephen Beresford’s new comedy coasts by on sub-Alan Bennett humour and the odd eye-roll at wokeness. But its hero’s stance on balloon…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:06AM
Thursday, June 9, 2022

Tony! (The Tony Blair Rock Opera) review – Harry Hill puts the party into politics by Ryan Gilbey

Park theatre, LondonCo-written by Hill and Steve Brown, this is a messy jamboree-bag of songs and silliness that pokes enjoyable fun at the messianic ex-PM Harry Hill and Steve Brown’s X F…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:24AM
Friday, May 27, 2022

The Unfriend review – manners can be the death of you in Steven Moffat’s comedy by Ryan Gilbey

Minerva theatre, ChichesterMark Gatiss directs Reece Shearsmith in Moffat’s cringe-tastic play that more than stands up next to the trio’s celebrated TV work Inside number nine on a west…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:33AM
Sunday, May 15, 2022

For You I’d Wait review – Bataclan attack is dangerous territory for a musical by Ryan Gilbey

Turbine theatre, LondonSophie Golby and Tom West stray too far from home in their soft-rock musical about the 2015 Paris terror attacks, let down by repetitive numbers with tourist-board lyr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24AM
Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Bonnie & Clyde review – outlaws robbed by a generic rootin’-tootin’ musical by Ryan Gilbey

Arts theatre, LondonThis tale about the partners in crime is unsure of the point it’s trying to make but the cast hurl themselves in with winning enthusiasm A note for anyone unfamiliar wi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:42AM
Wednesday, April 6, 2022

The Homecoming review – Pinter’s wickedly funny drama with a warped fairytale twist by Ryan Gilbey

Theatre Royal, BathOn a spectacular set creating Nosferatu-like shadows, Keith Allen expertly negotiates patriarch Max’s rapid turns in a bleakly humorous production exploring relationship…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:33AM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Nov 17, 2024: Elf - Marquis Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic
TBA: Ragtime