Birmingham Hippodrome’s really on a roll at the moment, if you consider a theatre that gives audiences what they want to see is doing a good job.
It’s always good to come across a writer whose work you haven’t seen before, and in the case of Carolyn Scott Jeffs’ play it really is a positive treat.
This is the second time I’ve seen Welsh National Opera’s Madame Butterfly and in this current production two things leap out. One is the universality of the tale, especially relevant now in our increasingly multi-cultural society and secondly, how modern, indeed totally up to date Puccini’s 1903 wor
Whenever a place you know well undergoes change, there’s always a sense of doubt. Will the grass be greener on the other side? For the Bowling Green in Lichfield the answer is certainly ‘yes’.
Something special happened last night at Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Coppelia.
The drummer Sticky Wicket bought his talented swing orchestra to the city when they played a series of classic jazz, jump and jive songs to finish Lichfield Arts’ 2017 Blues and Jazz Festival.
I didn’t used to ‘do’ musicals, but these days they’re so much a feature of the theatre scene I began to think maybe I was missing out, and The Adams Family – the Musical Comedy proves my instinct right.
Jazz in all of its disparate genres was played to an appreciative and enthusiastic audience when saxophonist Chris Gumbley and his ensemble Anything Goes joined local jazz collective Blast Off at Lichfield’s Wade Street Church.
The jazz guitarist Remi Harris, bassist Mark Green and guitarist Kevin Birch played a masterclass in music-making when they appeared as part of Lichfield Arts Blues and Jazz Festival.
Birmingham Hipppodrome’s busy these days opening our eyes to world class theatre and this tango evening is the full monty, truly in a class of its own.
With a raucous sound that blended bassy blues, delicate acoustic ditties, a steam-punk aesthetic and catchy singalong songs, The Jar Family bought their festival ready sound when they closed Lichfield Arts Spring 2017 season.
On paper it sounds like camp on a bike, but La Cage Aux Folles is that rarest of all things – a truly human drama celebrating the transcendence of the human spirit complete with love, laughter, and that extra magical ingredient, a fairy-tale happy ending.
