London Theatre Reviews

‘Wicked’ review — the West End hit flies high at the Apollo Victoria Theatre

Read our five-star review of Wicked, the Stephen Schwartz musical starring Lucie Jones and Helen Woolf, at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. Get Wicked tickets now.

Peter Pan Goes Wrong Review

"This is not a pantomime," says the publicity for Peter Pan Goes Wrong. But it is a farce — and a riotous one — in which, instead of Peter Pan's traditional declaration that to die would be an awfully big adventure, it is more of an awfully big misadventure here.But then Peter Pan was never written by JM Barrie to be performed as a panto — it's actually a rather serious, sometimes brooding and melancholic work about the pains of growing up, as it portrays the story of a boy who refuses to do so,...

Let It Be Review 2012

In the typical jukebox musical, the music of a well-known band or musician are combined with a script which tells us something about the life and times of the artist. In 'Let It Be', there is no script - the songs of The Beatles are simply left to speak for themselves. The format is more akin to a concert as the musicians are set-up 'on stage' in performing mode throughout.The show is billed as celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Beatles - defined, it seems, by the acquisition of their...

Les Miserables (25th Anniversary touring production at Barbican)

This year sees the silver jubilee of one of the most successful musicals ever - 'Les Misérables'. It's almost beyond imagination to conceive of a musical lasting a staggering 25 years in one city (London) and touring and playing in dozens of other cities all over the world. But such is the phenomenal success of 'Les Misérables'. To celebrate its anniversary, a new touring production of the show has landed at its original home, The Barbican, and so we now have the unique situation of 2 versions...

Market Boy

Those who know that I have a tendency to mention Margaret Thatcher on occasions might pause before judging it a full-blown obsession. And if I have such a fault or failing (or quality, for that matter) it's a fascination shared by numerous writers and producers, and a large section of the theatre-going public too, or so it seems. Because there have been a number of successful shows recently which have involved Thatcher in one form or another: 'Billy Elliot - The Musical' to name but one. And to...

Noises Off

When I first saw Jeremy Sams' production at the National Theatre 16 months ago I said, "This is farcical comedy at its very best with some of the most incredible timing I have ever seen by a cast." Unfortunately, after transferring to the Piccadilly Theatre and now to the Comedy with a completely new cast the quality of the production has seriously diminished.This 1980's hit comedy by Michael Frayn of theatrical antics and disasters is in three acts. A theatrical company are performing in a play...

Les Miserables review at the Queen's Theatre

Les Misérables is a monolith of a musical that at 30 years young shows no signs of slowing down. Even on a Wednesday matinee three decades after opening in London the show received unadulterated concentration from a full house, along with a standing ovation. Part of the joy and the energy comes from the sheer commitment and devotion shown by the cast, who walk the familiar territory as though they're doing it for the very first time. With the highly successful film adaptation making the story...

Matilda The Musical Review

Note: There has been cast changes since this review!We are rapidly drifting into that peculiarly English time of year when even the sanest of actors and production companies seem to take leave of their senses. Men dress up as women, women dress up as men and well-worn jokes that never ought to have seen the light of day in the first place are resurrected with abandon.Yes, panto season is with us once again. But 'Matilda The Musical', even though it is being aired during this silliest of seasons,...

Romeo and Juliet - The Musical

'Romeo and Juliet' is one of the most famous and tragic of the Bard's plays. A love affair that is doomed to end in tragedy due to the hostilities between the lover's families. Turning Shakespeare's script into a romantic musical with mass appeal seems an impossible task, and indeed it apparently is, which is why this musical does not attempt to do so. The book written by David Freeman and Don Black, for all intents and purposes ignores Shakespeare's text, and has merely borrowed the plot and...

Mamma Mia! Review

The show features Abba songs which are cleverly integrated into the story written by Catherine Johnson. Young Sophie who lives with her mother on a small Greek island is about to be married to Sky and wishes for her father to walk her down the aisle. However, she has a problem, who is her father? Her mother does not want to tell her and so Sophie reads her mother's diary and discovers the name of three men who could possibly be her dad. Sophie secretly invites all three men to the wedding. The...