Aliya Al-Hassan - Page 3

John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London have rightly earned a reputation for holding audiences rapt with their vivid realisations of music. Last night, you could have heard a pin drop in the majestic Royal Albert Hall, as they returned to The Proms for a victorious fourth consecutive appearance, celebrating American classics.

Auntie had no need to be worried. For Smith's only UK appearance of 2024, they were joined the BBC Concert Orchestra and the LJ Singers for an excellent (and very professional) evening, celebrating Smith as a singer, rather than a controversialist.

Carrie Cracknell (Julie, The Deep Blue Sea) directs Frank Galati’s award-winning adaptation of John Steinbeck’s masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath, now open at the National Theatre.

The world of professional swimming has been dogged by stories of doping and Hnath's play seeks to explore the ethical aspects of this issue and how far someone will go to be a winner. So far, so intriguing, but Red Speedo feels unfinished and Hnath fails to either dig deep enough or offer any interesting commentary about these themes.

Never to shy away from embracing new genres, BBC Proms introduced its first ever Disco Prom at a glitter ball-bedecked Royal Albert Hall. Everybody Dance! The Sound of Disco was a heady mix of infectious grooves, slick vocals and dynamic floor-fillers that shook the venue to its very foundations.

What did the critics think of Dominic Cooke's long-delayed production?

Well, we got there in the end and thankfully, it was worth the wait. Initially due to open back in 2020, Dominic Cooke’s adaptation of Hello, Dolly! has finally arrived in the West End.

After a record-breaking sell-out concert launch at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Your Lie in April is now open at the Harold Pinter Theatre for 12 weeks only.

Back in the summer of 1994, Disney's latest animation film The Lion King raked in almost $1 billion at the global box office. After several sequels and long-running shows on Broadway and in the West End, the film is now celebrating its 30th Anniversary and the Royal Albert Hall is giving it the epic Films in Concert treatment.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express has now opened in the specially designed Starlight Auditorium at Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express is possibly one of the world's most bizarre musicals-yes, even more so than Cats. A child's dream-like world where trains compete for races and for each other, all set on roller skates. And yet, this 1984 musical's latest revival will make a new generation fall in love with this loud, bright and captivating production.

Bucket List is the first play from Show Don’t Tell Productions, a company dedicated to new writing, recently founded by postgraduate creative writing students at Oxford University.

Matthew Warchus' production focuses on a single back-bench MP trying to balance help and professional distance with her increasingly unstable constituent.

A new production of Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate, starring Adrian Dunbar and Broadway Royalty and Tony Award Winner Stephanie J. Block, making her West End debut, has now opened.

Starring original cast members Susannah Doyle, Robert Duncan, Ingrid Lacey, Neil Pearson, Jeff Rawle, Stephen Tompkinson and Victoria Wicks, this new stage version sees the team are thrust back together in the world of 24-hour rolling news, social media and algorithms at a new TV station with the distinctly tongue-in-cheek name, Truth News. 

After a gruelling few years of cancellations and Covid, Bill Buckhurst's production of Sister Act The Musical was first enjoyed at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2022. Having opened in March 2024 at the Dominion Theatre, a new cast continues the success of this pacy, slick and hugely enjoyable production.

In 1973 George Lucas wrote a story titled “The Adventures of Indiana Smith”, inspired by the adventure films of the 1930s and 1940s. While on holiday with Steven Spielberg, Lucas pitched his story, and convinced him to direct a trilogy of films. Spielberg suggested that the surname was changed to Jones and the rest is history. Simply known as Raiders of the Lost Ark when it was originally released, the film features an incredible score by the great John Williams.

After a successful run at the Fringe, Martha Watson Allpress’ lyrically poignant show Lady Dealer now comes to the Bush theatre. Dealing with loneliness, loss and mental health, it's a captivating and immersive watch.

For a sitcom that only lasted for 12 episodes, Fawlty Towers left an indelible mark on British comedy. Discourteous hotel owner Basil Fawlty and his shrewish wife Sybil became legends, along with long-suffering chambermaid Polly and hapless waiter Manuel. Previously staged in Australia, this nostalgic and tightly choreographed play is adapted by the series’ original co-writer John Cleese.

It’s nearly a decade since Denise Gough set the stage alight in Duncan MacMillan’s starkly raw study of addiction. She now reprises her Olivier and Critics' Circle Theatre Award-winning role as Emma for this harrowing and completely absorbing new production of People, Places & Things.