by Neil Glasspool. Alice, a Musical Adventure in Wonderland is a youth production packed with sing-along hits, big dance routines and plenty of feelgood factor, but perhaps the most impressive aspect of all is the size of the cast. Featuring an ensemble cast of more than 50, largely made...
Entertainment Reviews
Review: Goldilocks and the Three Bears – Mayflower Theatre, Southampton, December 2022
by Sally Churchward. It’s no exaggeration to say that Goldilocks and the Three Bears is the most spectacular show I have ever seen (December 13). It has more lights than have ever before illuminated the Mayflower stage and is an incredible experience for the senses from the first moment...
Review: Festive Fizz and Fairy Lights, Winchester Guildhall, 9 December 2022
by Catherine Collins. It can be hard to get into the festive spirit when you don’t have little ones, so this year I made a conscious effort to try out a few events aimed more at adults, rather than the usual panto we’d attend. That’s how I found myself...
Review: The Wizard of Oz, Theatre Royal Winchester – November 2022
by Charlotte Ndupuechi. I remember watching the film The Wizard of Oz as a child and being totally mesmerised when Dorothy landed in Oz and her world exploded into colour. This was very much like the panto experience. It was full of colour, laughter, and joy- just what we...
Review & interview: Dub Pistols, The Brook, Southampton, December 2022
words and photos by Peter Nicholson. This wasn’t the first time the Dub Pistols had played The Brook, in Southampton, but this time it was a sell-out (December 3)! With more than 20 years since the band formed, their history, according to front man Barry Ashworth, reads like an...
Review: Raymonda, English National Ballet at Mayflower Theatre, Southampton, November 2022
by Joy Richardson. Despite being considered a standard of classical ballet Raymonda, which was first performed in 1898, tends to only be seen in excerpts today and it has never before been performed in full in this country by a UK company. Keeping the original score of Alexander Glazunov...
Review: Marcus Mumford at The Brook, Southampton – November 2022
words and photos by Peter Nicholson. In all honesty, this wasn’t a gig that I was particularly excited about. Despite it being at my favourite venue, The Brook, Southampton, I suspected it would simply be an artist with an acoustic guitar, playing a short, forty-five-minute set. However, and for...
Review: Welsh National Opera, Migrations – Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
by Sam Wise. The WNOs Migrations is an opera of bold ambitions; to weave together different stories of migration into a compelling, engaging whole which changes the thinking of the audience forever. It fails, on all counts. Before we go further, it Is important to say that the musicians...
Review: Welsh National Opera, The Makropulos Affair, Mayflower Theatre, Southampton November 2022
by Martin Brisland. The Makropulos Affair (1926) confronts the question: ‘if you could live forever would you really want to?’ I thought I knew opera, having seen many productions of all the classic works, but never one by Janáček. In fact, I have avoided his work so far thinking...
Review: Skinny Lister (Plus support) at The Old Fire Station, Bournemouth
words and pictures by Peter Nicholson. This was my first visit to The Old Fire Station in Bournemouth. I was there to see a band that I photographed at Wickham Festival back in the summer. That was an extremely hot weekend, a contrast to winter coats that were the...