Chicago, Ambassador Theatre, review: Pamela Anderson razzle dazzles ’em

The splashiest number in the long-running Broadway musical Chicago is all about the art of the hoodwink. “Razzle dazzle ’em / And they’ll make you a star,”…

Are ‘Black Out’ performances really the answer to British theatre’s race problem?

Can an audience change the meaning of a play? It’s a question US playwright Jeremy O Harris, lauded as “one of the most exciting new voices of…

The Music Man, review: Hugh Jackman carries the crowd (and justifies the sky-high ticket prices)

“He’s a spellbinder,” cries one character about Harold Hill, the centerpiece of Meredith Willson’s bouncy, buoyant 1957 American musical about a con artist redeemed by love. He…

MJ, review: this Michael Jackson musical fails both as a portrait of the star and as entertainment

Long before it opened on Broadway, this musical about Michael Jackson’s life was already creating a storm. Following the broadcast of Leaving Neverland, a TV documentary in…

‘Everyone hated Bat Out of Hell’: how Meat Loaf made a misunderstood masterpiece

The tour finished and the album kept selling. There was immediately record company pressure for a follow-up. But Loaf wasn’t in a position to record. So Steinman…

Why Michael Jackson was too big to be cancelled

“History moves fast. You might say this person was a drug addict or did this or that. But art exists beyond people’s lives in the end. So…

Flying over Sunset, Broadway: LSD-taking drama that’s far from the trip of a lifetime

Who knew that taking LSD could lead to spontaneous singing and dancing? The outré plot of the new Broadway musical Flying Over Sunset, which opened at Lincoln…

A Chorus Line, review: a world-class production that bubbles with wit

Reuniting with the frankly brilliant choreographer Ellen Kane, he puts everything on the combative front-foot; the curtain rises on a spectacle of tireless physical activity and, after…

Mrs Doubtfire, Broadway, review: a heartfelt and faithful adaptation to make Robin Williams proud

The latest hit film to be transformed into a musical might appear to be a problematic project in 2021. While the 1993 film was a huge hit…

Stephen Sondheim could break your heart and make you hear the world anew

Stephen Sondheim, who has died aged 91, was the towering genius of mid-late 20th century American musical theatre, whose reputation at home and abroad continued to grow…

Stephen Sondheim dies aged 91: Tributes for influential composer-lyricist behind legendary Broadway shows

A supreme wordsmith – and an avid player of word games – Sondheim’s joy of language shone through. “The opposite of left is right/The opposite of right…