Evita, London Palladium review - even more thrilling the second time round

★★★★★ EVITA, LONDON PALLADIUM A brave, biting makeover for the modern age 

Andrew Lloyd Webber's best musical gets a brave, biting makeover for the modern age

Would Jamie Lloyd's mind-bending revival of Evita win through twice in four weeks, I wondered to myself, paraphrasing a Tim Rice lyric from his 1978 collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Webber?

Starlight Express, Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre review - freight is kinda great

★★★★ STARLIGHT EXPRESS, TROUBADOUR WEMBLEY PARK THEATRE Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1980s spectacular skates into a new era

Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1980s spectacular skates into a new era

The reinvigoration of Andrew Lloyd Webber continues apace. New York is now hosting a ballroom culture, drag-inflected Cats, and the Olivier-laureled Sunset Boulevard, a breakaway hit last year on the West End, hits Broadway in the autumn.

Sunset Boulevard, Savoy Theatre review - Nicole Scherzinger stuns in an exceptional production

★★★★★ SUNSET BOULEVARD, SAVOY Nicole Scherzinger stuns in exceptional production

Director Jamie Lloyd at the height of his powers in this stark, sublime reinterpretation

Jamie Lloyd has the gift that keeps on giving. Hot on the heels of recent productions on Broadway and at the National Theatre, the visionary director is back in the West End with a stupendous reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s modern classic Sunset Boulevard, starring Nicole Scherzinger (of Pussycat Dolls fame) as the forgotten screen queen Norma Desmond.

Aspects of Love, Lyric Theatre review - not much has actually changed

★★★ ASPECTS OF LOVE, LYRIC THEATRE Not much has actually changed 

Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1989 musical resurfaces, its luscious score and curious logic jointly intact

Love may change everything, as we're reminded multiple times during Andrew Lloyd Webber's rabidly polyamorous Aspects of Love, but certain things about this 1989 London hit (and subsequent Broadway flop) are fixed.

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!

Theatre Lockdown Special 13: Early Lloyd Webber, vintage Rattigan, and a Dame or two in conversation

THEATRE LOCKDOWN 13 Early Lloyd Webber, vintage Rattigan & a Dame or two

Medeas past and present conjoin across a characteristically eclectic theatre week

Stop the presses! For the first time in nearly four months, The Arts Desk can point to the first of several live theatre events amongst the highlights of the coming week: the tour across the nation's car parks to multiple drive-in audiences of Horrible Histories: Barmy Britain, a previous West End mainstay that has adapted with these strange times.

Theatre Lockdown Special 5: A solo show for the ages, Ibsen refreshed, and yet more frolicsome cats

THEATRE LOCKDOWN SPECIAL 5: A solo show for the ages, Ibsen refreshed, and yet more frolicsome cats

From a much-traveled one-man play to a continent-spanning National Theatre premiere, the theatrical week offers plenty so savour

No one can accuse the gods of streaming of failing to cast a wide net. That's even more so with an array of streaming opportunities over the next week that ranges from Off West End Ibsen given a second chance to shine to an online encounter with, yes, The Encounter, and, should you wish, with its protean creator and leading man, as well.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, London Palladium review - bright, brash, largely irresistible

★★★★ JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, LONDON PALLADIUM Bright, brash, largely irresistable

A giddy Sheridan Smith is back centre-stage but watch out for newcomer Jac Yarrow, too

Cheeky and broad and (for the most part) as entertaining as seems humanly possible, this embryonic entry from the collaborative pen of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber is back at its onetime London home, the Palladium. It's a production far surpassing any of the various London and Broadway Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoats I have come across over the last 30 years or m