Tezza's Theatre Place

The Marvelous Wonderettes Ah, the 1950s. For every American high school senior year student of the era, only one thing really mattered and that was the end of year prom. But, after what was usually a very important rite of passage for the students, as the confetti was swept up and the last decorations were taken down, it was time to face their futures as adults. So, what happens after the prom? Well, that is at the heart of  The Marvelous Wonderettes  which is receiving its UK premiere at the Upstairs at the Gatehouse Theatre. Springfield High School in 1958 and its prom time. Due to their lead, Billy Ray Patton, being suspended from school for smoking, the Glee club aren’t able to perform at the prom so, thanks to Mr Lee, entertainment is being provided by a group of cheerleaders called The Marvelous Wonderettes. The four girls – Missy (Sophie Camble), Cindy Lou (Rosie Needham), Betty Jean (Louise Young) and Suzy (Kara Taylor Alberts) – are best friends determined to mak...

l-r Holly Sumpton, Matt Hunt, Samuel Fogell. Photo credit Robert Workman Between 1950 and 1966 actor-manager Brian Rix ran a series of plays in the West End. Because of their location and the type of play they were, they soon became known as the ‘Whitehall Farces’. Now, since those days, the Whitehall Theatre has changed its name to the Trafalgar Studio and, whilst there are still many farces along the road in Whitehall, there hasn’t really been any play as successful as Brian’s five were. However, as Mark Twain once didn’t say, reports of the death of farce are grossly exaggerated and a stone’s throw from Whitehall, in the Criterion Theatre, farce is alive and extremely well in Mischief Theatre’s  The Comedy About a Bank Robbery . Set in 1958 Minneapolis City,  The Comedy About a Bank Robbery  tells the story of Mitch Ruscitti (Matt Hunt) and his accomplice Neil Cooper (Samson Ajewole) as they set out to rob the crookedest bank in the most crooked town in America of...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/187702/review-a-murder-is-announced-the-churchill-theatre-bromley/ Louise Jameson as Miss Marple Apart from my mother, the only other woman with whom I’ve had a lifelong relationship is Dame Agatha Christie.  Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Tommy & Tuppence , I’ve read them all. I’ve seen the movies and TV shows and been to see The Mousetrap twice, so I was very excited to head to the Churchill Theatre Bromley when the touring version of  A Murder is Announced  dropped in. Friday morning at Little Paddocks, Chipping Gleghorn meant one thing to Dora Bunner (Sarah Thomas) and that was the arrival of the local paper which she would pour over learning everything that was important in the village. This particular Friday was no different except that in the small ads there was a very strange announcement “ A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, October 29th, at Little Paddocks, at 6:30 p.m. Friends accept this, the only in...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/185485/review-a-day-by-the-sea-southwark-playhouse/ Alix Dunmore as Frances Farrar, John Sackville as Julian Anson and Susan Tracy as Laura Anson in “A Day By The Sea” by NC Hunter If you look back there seems to be a halcyon period between the end of the Second World War and the hedonistic time of the 1960s when the British hadn’t realised that the days of empire were over and they were no longer the force to be reckoned with that they once were. This is especially true amongst the middle classes who tried to turn back the clock and take the country back to how it was pre-1939. A fine example of this mentality is on now at the Southwark Playhouse where N C Hunter’s play  A Day By The Sea  has returned to London after over 50 years absence. In a delightful seaside house Laura Anson (Susan Tracy) is holding court. She currently has a full house with not only the normal resident’s brother-in-law David (David Whitworth) and Doctor Farley (...