104 stories by "Robert Walport"
I've said it before and I'll say it again. "Matilda the Musical" is unbelievably brilliant. The kind of show that makes me want to force everyone I've ever met to go along and see it for the…
"Crazy For You" is an old-fashioned, dance heavy musical that thrills when it works but flatlines when it doesn't. It would be hard to argue that Ken Ludwig's book is as good as it should be…
The Royal Ballet's "Nutcracker" marks the final Nutcracker in my self designed, transatlantic Nutcracker Festival that has taken in six different productions of Tchaikovsky's magnificent wor…
The Menier Chocolate Factory's tech heavy "Pippin" brought out the nerd in me. Arriving in the auditorium is a complete delight, wandering through a detailed teenage boy's bedroom before ent…
The last time I made a pilgrimage to Stratford-upon-Avon I found the glorious "Matilda". Trekking to "The Heart of Robin Hood", this year's Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC…
Having ventured to the Southwark Theatre it seemed only sensible to check out everything on offer. After spending the afternoon at the disappointing, technology heavy "Howl's Moving Castle",…
The Southwark Playhouse's projection driven "Howl's Moving Castle" quite successfully falls in just about every pitfall of cinematic theatre you could conceive of. A show as thin as the 2-D …
From the poster (see above) I hadn't the foggiest what this was about. With no knowledge at all of the original Ealing Comedy film, I was largely drawn to "The Ladykillers" by its cast and c…
It's got to be said, Irish playwrights have their own personal brand of misery. "Juno and the Paycock" by Sean O'Casey is a long, slow burning play that simply revels in poverty and gloom. A…
I must confess, I did not have the highest of expectations for this revival of "La Traviata". The Royal Opera have been wheeling out various casts over an epic run of performances and the co…
My head is now spinning with Nutcrackers but Matthew Bourne's take, "Nutcracker!" is a sufficiently delightful spin that I came out more than grinning. Filled with larger than life character…
"Death and the Maiden" is in every respect a play worth reviving but it's a pity that they had to front it with Thandi Newton. I've no problem with celebrity casting, it gets bums on seats, …
In amongst the sea of Nutcrackers in London is nestled this little gem of show. "Magical Night" might have raised artistic interest for its use of Kurt Weill's long lost score, but it's the …
I missed out on the Royal Ballet's O2 Arena excursion (it was slap bang in the middle of my exams) but the prospect of the Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) bringing their much lauded "Nutcracke…
To make a genuinely original "Hamlet" you've got to try pretty hard but that doesn't mean doing what Ian Rickson has done with his Young Vic production. He's moulded Michael Sheen into a qui…
Mike Bartlett is certainly ambitious. He's turning out plays at an incredible speed and they aren't exactly chamber pieces either. "13" is possibly his most epic yet, though it's also one of…
There's nothing better than a well written, well performed farce. "Noises Off" at the Old Vic ticks all the boxes. I have hugely fond, rose tinted memories of its last outing at the National…
There's a lingering feeling in Graham Vick's extremely pleasant production that many of the most interesting aspects of Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg" are being papered over. Much…
My Christmas Nutcracker fest continues with the English National Ballet's Edwardian take on the tale. New last season, it is an elegant, plush show that has plenty of original elements and a…
I'm back in the UK and naturally headed straight to the subsidised sector. Oh how I've missed you National Theatre. Admittedly, "The Animals and Children Took to the Streets" by 1927 isn't r…
After my opening Nutcracker trip to the New York City Ballet , next on my list (and the final show I'll be catching in the U.S. till after the New Year) was American Ballet Theatre's "Nutcra…
When this Des McAnuff Production opened in London it was not well received. I wasn't in town at the time but am fortunate to have been able to catch it in New York. Fortunate for the absolut…
The very existence of The Little Orchestra Society makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Entering into the Avery Fisher Hall for an operatic performance to see it thronging with Children is a…
I love Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel" (here delivered in English). It's an opera that somehow touches the heart and the funny bone through delicious Wagnerian grandeur. Alas Richard Jones…
The gender swapping "On A Clear Day" that I caught just hours before "Standing on Ceremony - The Gay Marriage Plays", says much for how far gay rights have come in the last fifty years. This…
