Words: Nick Mabey. Photos: Liz Bogdan. The 1865 was absolutely heaving last night (2/12/24) as Michael Kiwanuka continued to celebrate his first album in five years in his adopted home of Southampton. He might have been on the road for most of the year, but last week’s release of...
Entertainment Reviews
Review: Nutcracker – English National Ballet, Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
By Nick Mabey. The English National Ballet have been producing versions of this much-loved Christmas-themed ballet every year since 1950 and I’d be surprised if any of the previous 73 versions of Tchaikovsky’s Nutracker outdo the visual spectacle we were treated to at the Mayflower Theatre last night (29/11/24). ...
Review: Light Up Trail, Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Romsey
By Sally Churchward. Twinkly lights brightening up the winter darkness have long since been a feature of Christmas. But in recent years there’s been a growth of specific light-based seasonal attractions. And on Thursday (28/11/24), the Light Up Trail opened at Hillier Gardens in Romsey, Hampshire. If you’ve never...
Review: Mariposa by DeNada Dance Theatre, MAST Mayflower Southampton
By Spring Wise. I expected to be able to write a somewhat narrative review of this show, being that it’s an adaptation of Madame Butterfly, and spoiler rules do not apply to 120 year old operas! Mariposa, however, is something entirely its own. Choreographer Carlos Pons Guerra sets his...
Review: The Devil Wears Prada, Dominion Theatre, London
By Graham Hiley. Photos: Matt Crockett. Grab your Gucci, dig out your Dior and Choos your Jimmy. Then gird your loins and head for the Dominion Theatre for The Devil Wears Prada – the musical. The celebrated movie has been given a sparkling makeover into a smash hit show...
Review: Chicago, Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
By Graham Hiley Darren Day gave them the old Razzle Dazzle in Chicago at Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre last night (19/11/24). For one week only, the star of stage and screen is reprising his iconic role of Billy Flynn the slick smart-talking lawyer who defends murderess Roxie Hart by sensationalising...
Review: Welsh National Opera – Rigoletto, Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
By Chris Richards. photo: Richard Hubert Smith. My mum got totally distracted by one courtier’s long, thin, and (most probably) fake willy. It was my first opera, it was eye-opening. I have long considered an opera to be mainly about the big drama moments and fabulous costumes – underpinned...
Review: & Juliet, Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
By Sally Churchward. The world can feel like a very bleak place, sometimes more so than others. Yesterday was definitely one of those days. But & Juliet last night (6/11/24) at the Mayflower Theatre was exactly the feelgood and more full frontal reminder that there is also joy to...
Review: Wonderboy, MAST Mayflower Studios, Southampton, 5 November 2024
By Lewis MacLean. The first thing that caught my eye (and ears) in Wonderboy – which opened at MAST Mayflower Studios last night – was the use of vivid colourful shapes and funky music courtesy of innovative use of digital technology. ‘This was new’, I thought and as time...
Review: Delilah Bon, Joiners, Southampton
Words and pictures by Spring Wise. “And your mother is my cheerleader And I know just how to please her She’s knitting me a sweater Said “Delilah Bon 4eva!”” The first thing I noticed when I arrived at the Joiners (1/11/24) was that I wasn’t the only wheelchair...