Back to the Future: The Musical, Adelphi Theatre review - a spectacular West End show to delight fans old and new

★★★ BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL, ADELPHI THEATRE A spectacular West End show to delight fans old and new

Whether you've seen the movie ten times or never, this will be a night to remember

There’s a lot of going back to the future in theatres just now - shows (like this one) postponed by 18 months or so and delayed still further by co-star Roger Bart being indisposed on press night are bringing the bright lights back to the West End.

The Last Five Years, Garrick Theatre review - bittersweet musical treat gets West End upgrade

★★★ THE LAST FIVE YEARS, GARRICK THEATRE Jason Robert Brown's semi-autobiographical show gets a West End upgrade 

Flaws remain, but audiences will lap up the melodies, singing and storyline

Much has happened in the five years since your reviewer braved the steep rake at The Other Palace and saw The Last Five Years (not least my now getting its “Nobody needs to know” nod in Hamilton – worth a fistful of Tonys in prestige, I guess) so it’s timely to revisit Jason Robert Brown’s musical.

Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane review - twinkling spectacle with a sincere drama at its heart

★★★★ FROZEN, THEATRE ROYAL DRURY LANE The stage version of the beloved animation looks set to become a West End staple

The stage version of the beloved animation looks set to become a West End staple

Let it snow! The Broadway musical adaptation of the Disney film behemoth Frozen premiered back in 2018 and now, following Covid delays, a rejigged version finally makes its home in the West End – to the delight of the army of miniature Elsas in attendance.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury review - dazzling Disney rewrite

★★★ BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS, MARLOWE THEATRE, CANTERBURY Dazzling Disney rewrite of beloved Angela Lansbury film

Beloved Angela Lansbury film is in sure, safe theatrical hands

Bedknobs and Broomsticks has always suffered from not being Mary Poppins, the movie delayed in development and released in 1971 (it is a Sixties film in tone and technology) and always seeming to appear later on the BBC’s Christmas Disney Time programmes, after a bit of Baloo boogieing and a spoonful or two of sugar. It was probably more liked than loved.

Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre review - a spectacular show that hits and misses

★★★ CINDERELLA, GILLIAN LYNNE THEATRE A spectacular show that hits & misses

A good night out, but with unrealised ambition to be rather more than that

Belleville has lost its Prince Charming and, when his statue is graffitied, it loses its long held title as the most beautiful town, too. Its people fear the impact on their livelihoods and soon identify the gobby, gothy girl as the culprit – they go after Cinderella with actual pitchforks!

Anything Goes, Barbican review - an explosion of joy

★★★ ANYTHING GOES, BARBICAN An explosion of joy

Sutton Foster makes a sensational London stage debut

"Times have changed", we're informed in the cascadingly witty title number of the Cole Porter musical Anything Goes, now in revival at the Barbican and bringing with it a pandemic-clearing tsunami of joy.

South Pacific, Chichester Festival Theatre review - gloriously revived and also refreshed

★★★ SOUTH PACIFIC, CHICHESTER FESTIVAL THEATRE Rodgers and Hammerstein gloriously revived

Rodgers and Hammerstein classic has new relevance in a spectacular production

We’ve come to learn what socially distanced means but, 72 years ago, the distance that concerned Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers was that between racial groups in the United States. With a catalogue of hits behind them, they turned to South Pacific, and fashioned a velvet glove comprising some of musical theatre’s greatest songs into which they packed an iron fist of a condemnation of prejudice – popular entertainment with an uncompromising message.

Pippin, Charing Cross Theatre review - happy-clappy vibe

★★★ PIPPIN, CHARING CROSS THEATRE Pared-back version of Stephen Schwartz 's 1972 musical 

Light up a joss stick for this pared-back version of Stephen Schwartz 's 1972 musical

If Time Magazine’s Man of the Year in 1966 was anyone under the age of 25, why couldn’t a teenage student write a musical in 1967? There are plenty of answers to that question of course, none of which stopped the composer Stephen Schwartz, who conjured Pippin while still at Carnegie Mellon University.