Wonderful Town, The Lowry, Salford by Philip Radcliffe

The cultural triumvirate of the Hallé Orchestra, the Royal Exchange Theatre and The Lowry have joined forces for this new production of the 1953 hit musical Wonderful Town. Leonard Bernstei…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 4:20am on April 5, 2012☆⚑

Monkee Business the Musical, Opera House, Manchester by Philip Radcliffe

The world premiere here of Monkee Business the Musical was planned long before the untimely death in February of Davy Jones, the Manchester-born member of the manufactured band tha…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 4:10am on April 4, 2012☆⚑

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Royal Exchange, Manchester by Philip Radcliffe

What is it about the Sixties that keeps drawing us back? Surely, it can't just be that anniversary thing " 50 years on? Perhaps, in these care-worn times, we just like to revisit our don't-g…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 3:07am on March 6, 2012☆⚑

The Daughter-in-Law, The Lowry, Salford by Philip Radcliffe

"Am I for t' see mi own lad bitted an' bobbed? Theer's more blort than bustle i' this world - an' 'er's a clat-fart". Welcome to the old curiosity shop of English drama, from which Mancheste…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 7:10pm on February 26, 2012☆⚑

Alfie, Octagon Theatre, Bolton by Philip Radcliffe

Alfie's back. The eponymous scallywag of the late Bill Naughton's picaresque yarn of London's so-called "swinging 60s" is at it again, canoodling the women and cuckolding their husbands. "Ke…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 2:53am on January 21, 2012☆⚑

You Can't Take It With You, Royal Exchange, Manchester by Philip Radcliffe

Oh, the joys of eccentricity. Welcome to the Vanderhof family of misfits. The head of the household, Grandpa Martin, refuses to pay any taxes, preferring to keep snakes on a hat-stand. Good …

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 2:32am on December 13, 2011☆⚑

Beautiful Thing, Royal Exchange, Manchester by Philip Radcliffe

Nearly 20 years have whizzed by since Jonathan Harvey, then a 24-year-old comprehensive school teacher, wrote a play in the school holidays " and caused a stir. That play was Beautiful Thing…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 3:58am on November 15, 2011☆⚑

Top Hat, The Lowry, Salford by Philip Radcliffe

The only time I saw Ginger Rogers in the flesh was by chance in a book store on New York's Fifth Avenue. She was doing a book signing (Ginger: My Story " a good read) and was well past her d…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 4:52am on September 28, 2011☆⚑

Edward II, Royal Exchange, Manchester by Philip Radcliffe

This is not exactly Edward II the musical. There's no singing, but music plays a leading role. It is the food of love of the sort that dared not speak its name " and there is excess of it fo…

SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 12:47am on September 13, 2011☆⚑