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...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/196428/review-the-york-realist-donmar-warehouse/# Lesley Nicol (Mother) and Ben Batt (George) in The York Realist at the Donmar Warehouse, directed by Robert Hastie. Photo by Johan Persson The kitchen is the heart of the home. It is the place where we receive our sustenance and is the only room that everyone in a house is likely to visit and meet other members of the household. This is particularly true in a small property such as a cottage on a farm, the setting for Peter Gill’s 2001 play  The York Realist  which has been revived at the Donmar Warehouse. Yorkshire farm labourer George (Ben Batt) lives in a tied cottage with his elderly Chapel going mother (Lesley Nicol) and his life pretty much revolves around the farming calendar. The two of them roll along nicely together. George’s mother is getting on in years and is not as fit as she once was, but she always ensures he has a hot meal waiting and a clean shirt ironed. There is only...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/195858/review-mad-as-hell-jermyn-street-theatre/ Vanessa Donovan and Stephen Hogan in Mad as Hell, credit of Eddie Otchere. There is always a frisson of real excitement when I find out the production I’m off to see is a world premiere. Knowing I will be one of the first people to view and comment on a show is both exciting and humbling at the same time. So, it is with some trepidation that I write about  Mad as Hell  receiving its world premiere at the Jermyn Street Theatre. In a Jamaican bar, a local girl is having a good time. Her name is Eletha Barrett (Vanessa Donovan) and works as a dance hostess with an enlarged moral sense. Yes, she will accept money to dance with men but that is as far as it goes. Sitting watching her is a middle-aged white guy (Stephen Hogan) in a rumpled suit. The two strike up a conversation and Eletha seems unimpressed with the man, even when he boasts that he is the renowned actor Peter Finch. Peter may be...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/192760/review-this-story-of-yours-white-bear-theatre/ David Sayers as Baxter and Brian Merry as Johnson in ‘This Story of Yours’ – © Lesley Cook Headshots Often, when I go and see a show, part of the fun is trying to work out the ending as the story progresses. Sometimes though, the audience knows exactly what is going to happen at the end. For example in John Hopkins’  This Story of Yours  currently at the White Bear Theatre. The end is directly referred to throughout. In a dark sitting room, Detective Sergeant Johnson (Brian Merry) is sitting alone knocking back the whisky. In fact, he is drowning in it and is not so much three sheets to the wind as totally hammered. He attempts to put a record on the record player but fails to coordinate and ends up making so much noise that he wakes his wife, Maureen (Emma Reade-Davies) who tentatively comes in to find out what has upset her husband. Johnson explains that earlier that evening he ...

https://www.lastminutetheatretickets.com/londonwestend/review-joe-ortons-loot-park-theatre/ LOOT – Sam Frenchum (Hal) Sinead Matthews (Fay) Photo by Darren Bell How does a play stand the test of time? Shakespeare, as we know, still works on most levels when performed today. But, what about a more recent piece of writing from, say the 1960s? Would a modern sophisticated theatre audience still appreciate the show without it being ‘updated’? Well, now you can find out by heading to the Park Theatre and seeing Joe Orton’s  Loot . It is the day of Mrs McLeavy’s (Anah Ruddin) funeral and her household are all getting ready in their own way to see her off in a good old fashioned Catholic manner. Her Husband (Ian Redford) is upset and sombre while her nurse, Fay (Sinéad Matthews) is both cheerful and full of the Holy Roman spirit as the time of the funeral draws nearer. Only Hal (Sam Frenchum) the son of the household seems unperturbed by the death of his mother as he hovers suspici...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/173595/review-the-investigation-the-bread-and-roses-theatre/ You probably know that following the end of the Second World War, the victorious allies prosecuted senior members of the Nazi hierarchy in a series of trials at the Nazi Party’s spiritual home in Nuremberg. What you may not know is that in the 1960s there were more war crime trials – specifically around events that happened in Auschwitz – and these form the basis of Peter Weiss’ new play  The Investigation  which I saw at the Bread & Roses Theatre in Clapham. There didn’t appear to be a plot as such to this production and, I have to admit, I was a little sceptical of where it was going after the opening sequence. Whilst I do not necessarily think that Donald Trump and Theresa May are the best leaders of their respective country, I’m not sure that lumping them in with Idi Amin, Robert Mugabe, and Adolph Hitler was entirely appropriate or relevant. However, once this openin...

https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/164161/review-promises-promises-southwark-playhouse/ Neil Simon writes the book, Hal David writes the lyrics and Burt Bacharach writes the music. Put all this together and what do you get? A Tony award-winning musical that goes by the name of  Promises, Promises  that has returned to London and taken up residence at the Southwark Playhouse after an absence of nearly 50 years. Chuck Baxter (Gabriel Vick) is a junior accountant in a large insurance company. Although a lowly, often overlooked individual, Chuck has aspirations to climb the ladder to executive level. Unfortunately, his life isn’t living up to his dreams until one day, one of the executives (exec) finds out that Chuck rents a studio bachelor pad on West 67th Street, and asks to borrow it, so he can take his lady friend there for a spot of ‘afternoon delight’. Chuck, in his eagerness to ingratiate himself with the higher ups, agrees and soon news of the local bolt-hole spre...