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Review: Dirty Dancing At The Regent

Photo credit Mark Senior The iconic Dirty Dancing struts into town this week. The 1987 smash hit is a classic and is one of the best loved films of the era, with the tale of a summer holiday romance at Kellerman's between dance teacher Johnny and guest 'Baby' made famous by Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. Michael O'Reilly and Kira Malou are perfectly cast in the leading roles and you are immersed in the action, so much so, it's hard not to remember that you are not watching the original stars of the show. That's to take nothing away from…

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Leigh Francis ‘My First Ever Tour’ Comes To The Regent in March 2024

BAFTA-Award winning comedian, Leigh Francis, is heading out on his first ever live tour 'My First Time'. Leigh's characters and sketches have kept millions of people around the UK laughing for years, and now he's stepping out as himself on a UK tour, opening at the Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent on Friday 1 March 2024. Joining Leigh will be his favourite characters, all brought to life in a live environment for the very first time ever. From Keith Lemon, Bearand Avid Merrion to 'David Dickinson', 'Ant and Dec' and Myrtle, this tour will be packed full of hilarious sketches with buckets of audience interaction. From London's iconic Palladium to the Liverpool Philharmonic, Leigh and his characters are…

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Review: ‘Buddy The Buddy Holly Story’ At The Regent

The story of the iconic Buddy Holly is told at The Regent this week which is a wonderful celebration of the life and times of his meteoric rise to fame and his legacy. Capturing the timeframe of the last two years of his life, it starts with his frustrations with the recording label Decca and his first meeting with Norman Petty. It documents key moments in his rise to fame, winning over audiences at The Apollo in Harlem and the second act concentrating largely on his final concert at the Surf Ballroom, Iowa on the Winter Dance Party tour, hours…

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Review: ‘A Play For The Living In A Time Of Extinction’ At New Vic

An innovative new experiment in eco-theatre hit the New Vic this week. From a concept originally conceived by Katie Mitchell, the production generates its own electricity via a team of cyclists wired up to a generator which powers the audio, visuals and lighting. On this leg of the tour, the local Newcastle Tri Club members whir along on bicycles mounted on stage hooked up to an LED screen to show the wattage of the electricity produced. Its a simple but powerful glimpse for us avid theatre-goers as we are told during the production that an average performance uses over 100,000…

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Review: ‘The King And I’ At The Regent

This week, one of the most famous musicals of all time is in town with 'The King And I' and theatregoers are whisked off in style to the Orient. The fifth of the Rogers and Hammerstein musicals, it was adapted from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the King of Siam. The musical was famously turned into a film starring Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner which was a huge commercial success and features a wonderful score including much beloved songs as 'I Whistle A Happy Tune', 'Getting To Know You' and 'Shall We Dance?'. It finds widow Anna journeying…

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Review: ‘The Card’ At New Vic

Photo Credit: Mark Douet Arnold Bennett's comic novel is inventively and fabulously re-told by Claybody Theatre on its latest run at New Vic which opened on Saturday. Bennett's 1911 tale tells the story of Edward Henry (Denry) Machin and his rise from lowly son of a washerwoman to Mayor of Bursley. The endearing Denry gets there through ingenuity, blind luck sometimes and all with a generous helping of humour. The novel itself was turned into a film starring Alec Guinness and Petula Clark in 1952 (called The Promoter) Bennett, of course, makes more than a little reference to his home…

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Review: ‘Annie’ at The Regent Theatre

Photo Credit Paul Coltas Annie hit the Regent Theatre this week on the musical's 2023 tour of the UK came to Hanley. A much beloved film in 1982 starring (amongst others) Albert Finney and Tim Curry which was revived in 2014 with Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz. Generation after generation adore the tale of the young Annie, plucked from her dreary existence in a New York orphanage which is ran by the surley, exasperated and drunken Miss Hannigan, by 'Gracie' who works for wealthy Oliver Warbucks. Warbucks and the confident Annie are pushed together and they soon build a strong…

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Review: ‘The Killing Of Sister George’ At New Vic

The latest production at New Vic brings to life the 1964 Frank Marcus play 'The Killing Of Sister George'. Itself converted to a 1968 film famously starring Beryl Reid, it tells the tale of June Buckridge, who plays mild-mannered district nurse 'Sister George' on a radio show called 'Applehurst'. In stark contrast to her wholesome, hymn-singing character, June is forthright, frequently drunk, smoking cigars and lives with her lover, Alice 'Childie' McNaught. Deeply paranoid about her status on the show, she almost self-sabotages both her personal and professional relationships, violent and bullying with Alice, unruly at work and culminates with…

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Review: ‘Titanic The Musical’ at The Regent

The Regent is the latest stop on the UK tour of 'Titanic The Musical' this week. The tale focusses on the real lives of passengers on board White Star Line's RMS Titanic in a deeply moving and poignant production. Initial correlations will be made to James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster when looking at the billboards, but instead of a fictional tale as Cameron's epic was, every one of the characters on stage were actual passengers on board which makes it such a hard-hitting production. Over 1500 souls tragically perished onboard (estimated around 800 passengers and 700 crew) and it is hard…

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Review: Heathers The Musical At Regent Theatre

The opening bell at Westerburg High peeled tonight at The Regent Theatre to celebrate the first Stoke based performance of the UK 2023 tour of 'Heathers The Musical'. To say that the 1988 film with Christian Slater and Winona Ryder has a cult following is a slight understatement, as the foyer was littered with fans dressed as their favourite characters and most sporting mock croquet mallets made from everything you can imagine. The musical stays true to the film's dark comedy with a sardonic look at the archetypal US high school, with the various groups, the stoners, the football champs…

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