THEGAYUK

Category: Review

  • THEATRE REVIEW | The Tempest, Waterloo East Theatre

    ★★★ | The Tempest

    The cover of the programme for Waterloo East Theatre’s new production of The Tempest shows Big Ben toppling under a flood of water. As we entered the theatre, Ariel was suspended in a hammock above the audience. Whilst on stage, various detritus that may have been salvaged from a flood was scattered around, Miranda sitting reading in an empty bath, and Prospero, seated on a crate, quietly talking to her. The press release tells us that the year is 2080, but no other allusion to the year or to London was made, and as the text continued to refer to the courts of Milan and Naples, I doubt many would have got the reference anyway.

    The play opened in a burst of energy, with passengers on the ship that is soon to be caught up in the eponymous tempest, dancing and drinking and generally making merry before the storm disperses them on Propero’s island, which is when Prospero starts to have his fun, directing events almost like a puppeteer. Indeed many have sought to find something of Shakespeare himself in the character.

    Sarah Redmond’s production was swift moving, managing seamlessly the transitions from high to low comedy, from darkness to light. I’m not quite sure I understood why Miranda and Ferdinand’s marriage should have been celebrated with a lap dance, and I would have welcomed a little more of “the sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not”, but the score did provide us with “a thousand twangling instruments”. In fact, music was used most effectively throughout.

    Would that the text had been delivered with a deal more musicality too, for poetry was somewhat lacking, except in the performance of Guy Wolf, who gave us a Ferdinand of charm and innocence, bringing out both the humour and the beauty of the poetry. It was there too in Chipo Kureya’s mercurial Ariel, and I will not easily forget the radiant happiness that spread over her countenance when Prospero finally set her free. Rebecca Hazel caught well Miranda’s wonder at a “brave new world”, if a touch too lasciviously at times. Though there is no doubt a venal side to the attraction between Miranda and Ferdinand, it should still have a childlike innocence about it, which is exactly where Wolf was so convincing.

    I’ll admit that I often have a bit of a problem with Shakespeare’s mechanicals and The Tempest is no different from any of his other plays in that respect. Here their scenes were managed as well as they can be, I suppose, ably led by Matthew Harper’s boorishly bullish Caliban, but still nobody was rolling in the aisles, as presumably they would have been in Shakespeare’s time.

    Over all presides the problematic figure of Prospero, and for me the performance of Tom Keller revealed a major problem at the heart of the play. Admittedly, there is not much to like about Prospero for the first half. He is cruel to both Ariel and Caliban, and to Ferdinand, at times dismissive of his daughter. This makes him a difficult character to like, though he redeems himself in the last two acts. Prospero does have a good deal to be angry about, but to succeed in the part, the actor needs to bring out his benevolence as soon as possible. Tom Keller was pretty irascible from the word go, and remained in a pretty bad mood throughout, his delivery of the text unmusical and perfunctory.

    The Tempest plays at Waterloo East Theatre until October 26th.

  • FASHION | Harris Tweed Messenger Bag

    FASHION | Harris Tweed Messenger Bag

    Looking for a winter bag? Fancy hopping onto the Harris Tweed trend? Next have the answer, with a range of bags for all occasions that include a Harris Tweed detail, showcasing the individual colour combinations that this label is famous for.

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  • THEATRE REVIEW | Damn Yankees, The Landor Theatre, London

    ★★★★ | Damn Yankees, The Landor Theatre, London

    Perpetual losers, The Washington Senators, are failing to win at baseball yet again and fanatic Joe Boyd is tempted into a Faustian pact when he sells his soul to the devilish Mr Applegate in return for a series win. Joe soon realises what he’s leaving behind and is torn between the wife he’s left behind versus the chance to take his team to victory and the distraction of the devil’s sidekick, beautiful and vampy Lola.

    Adler and Ross’s multi-award winning musical may have one of the silliest plots around but that doesn’t matter at all. Coming straight after their success with The Pyjama Game and a string of chart hits, Damn Yankees was well received and was even made into a film starring Tab Hunter and Gwen Verdon. Sadly, at the height of their success, Ross died aged 29 from complications of lung disease.

    This production has already been nominated for an Off West End award for Best Choreographer for Robbie O’Reilly. It’s not hard to see why. The dance routines are breath taking. The production values of the show are up to the standards of a West End production and tickets are a fraction of the price. O.K., The Landor is a fringe venue and has fewer frills in terms of special effects and scenery but is well worth a trip to Clapham North. The lighting, set and costumes are all well put together especially given the constraints of a smaller venue.

    The cast are especially strong with wholesome and handsome Alex Lodge putting in a stellar lead performance as Joe Hardy, showing dazzling dance moves and a powerful voice, which considering that he’s a recent graduate shows a considerable talent. He’s definitely one to watch and not simply because of his boyish good looks. Poppy Tierney and Jonathan D Ellis are both hilariously camp as Mr Applegate and his sidekick Lola and give well polished performances. Ellis’s cabaret turn in Act Two was especially waspish and funny and Tierney gives a good rendition of “Whatever Lola Wants”.

    Did I mention the boys? I haven’t seen so much bare male flesh in a musical in quite some time. As well as being a stage presence due to their singing and dancing, their abs and pectorals are worthy of some kind of award, surely? The supporting female cast are equally good but with less flesh on show.

    This is definitely worth checking out for an entertaining few hours.

    Damn Yankees runs until the 8th of November 2014

    Buy tickets here: http://www.landortheatre.co.uk/index.php/booking-office/musicals/damn-yankees-90/

  • THEATRE REVIEW | The Great Gatsby – Northern Ballet

    ★★★★★ | The Great Gatsby – Northern Ballet

    In 1922, Nick Caraway moves to Long Island, hoping to take advantage of the economic upturn. He buys a house near to his cousin, Daisy, who is trapped in an unhappy marriage to Tom Buchannan as a result of Tom’s infidelity and quick temper. Entering into the decadent and indulgent world of 1920’s extravagance, Nick attends the lavish parties thrown by his reclusive neighbour, Gatsby. Gatsby longs for his lost love, Daisy, and as the two rekindle their love; a chain of events is set in motion which impacts upon all of them as their world of excess and glamour comes crashing down.

    Northern Ballet continues to surprise and delight in equal measure with this production. The show has an almost cinematic feel to it, combining detailed narrative, rich characterisations, sweeping scenes and a mixture of choreography, ranging from traditional ballet to the Charleston. The party scenes were an absolutely delightful, producing a genuine smile and conveying the fun and decadence of the era with the uplifting and joyous music and enthusiasm of the cast. This made the juxtaposition with the love story, the themes of loss and regret, loneliness and divided loyalties even more moving.

    Giuliano Contadini brought a wide eyed innocence to the role of Nick Carraway; and Kenneth Tindall has never been better than in his role as the scheming and thoroughly unpleasant Tom Buchanan. Tobias Batley brought an effective, subtle performance of loneliness and regret as Gatsby and Martha Leebolt was superb as Daisy Buchannan. The entire cast deserve credit for the way in which; expressed only through dance; they were able to garner such rich depth of character for those involved in the narrative.
    The music was very much in keeping with the time period, as were the cloche hats, flapper dresses and smart tuxedo’s, which filled out the cast’s wardrobe. The live orchestra once again played beautifully and the inclusion of two songs within the score added a twist which worked incredibly well, one of which immensely enhanced the beautifully poignant closing scenes.

    Northern Ballet was named Best Company at the inaugural Taglioni European Ballet Awards in October this year, and with the consistency and quality of their productions, it is not hard to see why. The running time for The Great Gatsby simply flew by and the show was not only utterly absorbing but was very difficult to fault. Very highly recommended.

    The Great Gatsby is currently on national tour, visiting Canterbury’s Marlow Theatre, The Alhambra Theatre; Bradford, Saddlers Wells in London and Norwich Theatre Royal.

    For more information visit www.northernballet.com

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Hello Norma Jeane, Kings Head Theatre, Islington

    ★★★★ | Hello Norma Jeane, Kings Head Theatre, Islington

    The year is 2003. Joe has jetted off to Los Angeles to find and bring back to England his 76 year old grandmother, Lynne, who has escaped from the home she was living in and holed herself up in a motel in Hollywood.

    When he finds her, she tells him that she is there, because the world is in dire need of some good news, and that news is that she is about to reveal that she is in fact Marilyn Monroe, that she faked her own death, and that she has been living in obscurity in Essex ever since. Is she really Marilyn or is she just fantasising? Will Joe believe here? Will we? And does it really matter one way or the other?

    Dylan Costello’s amusing and often very touching play cleverly keeps us guessing. As he adds layer upon layer of detail to his tale, we are buffered one way and the other, one minute believing Lynne really is Marilyn, and the next absolutely sure that she isn’t, and we are kept guessing till the end. Ultimately though the play is not about guessing games, but about the nature of love, unconditional love; the genuine love between Joe and his grandmother, contrasted with that of Joe and his abusive, cheating boyfriend back in London. And maybe when Lynne jets off to Hollywood, she does so in the hope of making Joe see sense, of Joe finding his true self instead of living in the shadow of his boyfriend.

    At the play’s centre is a performance of warmth and humour from Vicki Michelle, known worldwide for the role of Yvette in the TV sitcom Allo Allo. But this is no star turn; Michelle is one part of a talented team. Her relationship with Jamie Hutchins’s sweet, rather gauche Joe is beautifully charted, as their scenes together veer from high comedy to touching drama. Farrell Hegarty differentiates nicely between the superstar Marilyn and the young Norma Jeane, and has a great comic turn as TV hostess Carla Carlyle. Handsome Arron Blake completes an excellent cast as budding actor Bobby and Matthew Gould’s direction is unobtrusively right from beginning to end.

    Hello Norma Jeane was one of five winners in Chicago based Pride Films and Plays’ Great Play Contest in 2011, and it is to be hoped that it will have a life beyond its present short season at the Kings Head in Islington.

    At the moment it is playing Sundays only at 3.15 and 7.15 until November 2nd at the Kings Head Theatre, Islington.

  • FILM REVIEW | The Two Faces Of January

    ★★★★ | The Two Faces Of January

    After an overly long gestation period, this lesser-known psychological thriller from novelist Patricia Highsmith finally makes it to the big screen.

    The year is 1962 and the story opens on the sunny steps of the Acropolis where two American tourists, Chester McFarland and his much younger bride Collette, are having fun enjoying the splendor of the Ruins, whilst nearby Rydal a handsome charismatic Tour Guide has a small group of young wealthy debutantes eating out of his hands. At Collette’s insistence, Chester hires the guide to take them sightseeing although he quickly realises that the young man is not all he claims to be.

    It turns out that neither is Chester, and the past that he is running from is far more complicated and filled with danger. That night a Private Investigator turns up at Chester’s hotel room and threatens to expose him unless he repays the money he swindled from some Clients in a Ponzi-type scheme. After a struggle in which he kills the man, Chester realises that he will need to quickly flee Athens before the murder is discovered. So he turns to Rydal sensing that the young man will know someone who can get them new passports to replace the ones that the Hotel had taken off them when they checked in.

    As they all need to hide out until the new passports can be forged, Rydal suggests that they take the night ferry to the distant island of Crete. However when they arrive there the Hotel will not give them rooms without proper identity, so they catch a decrepit local bus into the remote heart of the island hoping that a more basic village inn would take them in regardless. As the journey gets more difficult and fraught the trio seem less elegant and assured particularly as there are strong undercurrents of mistrust developing between them, especially the two men. Rydal seems fixated with Chester who he thinks off as a substitute figure for his father whom is estranged from, whilst on the other hand, Chester suspects that the young man wants to steal Colette away from him.

    Suspicion leads to treachery and the pace gets more frenetic as they try to keep one eye on each other whilst keeping the other eye looking out for the authorities in hot pursuit as they start catching up on them. It’s very clear that it’s not going to end well for any of them.

    It’s hardly a Hitchcock masterpiece like his adaptation of Highsmith’s Strangers on A Train, nor is it Minghella’s take on the novelist’s Talented Mr Ripley but Oscar-nominated screenwriter Hossein Amini in his directing debut does an admirable job keeping the tension level high in this gripping thriller. The moody cinematography is particular is superb adding a very dramatic visual look to this period piece. Whilst the lead actors Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst may not have a great deal of chemistry as a couple, they put in really fine performances as the troubled McFarlands that one expects from these two talented actors The real joy, however, is Oscar Isaac who was completely mesmerizing as Rydal, and this following hotly on from his riveting turn in Inside Lllewyn Davies clearly shows that he is destined to be a major star.

  • BOOK REVIEW | The Queen Of Clubs

    ★★★★★ |The Queen Of Clubs

    There’s a quote at the front of this book that states:
    “Some people are born drag queens.Some people become drag queens. And some poor sods have drag queens thrust upon them.”

    And so it starts…

    Riding on a wave of drag queen interest, everywhere from the Facebook controversy over users having to use their real name (but only seems to apply to drag queens?) to RuPaul, this book tells a story – and a bloody good one at that!

    Tobias has taken some characters that could have been drawn as complete clichés and given them life – these characters, like ‘em or loathe ‘em, are real.

    From the still-in-the-closet virgin to the seen-it-all barman, from the abusive relationships to the fading glamorous drag queen – it’s all here and written large.

    The story follows one of our cast, Oliver, as he pops his drag club cherry and visits Divas, a seedy, rundown club run by Chris (not me!) It’s here that Oliver meets the rest of the cast – from deluded Robert Davies Junior (aka Wendy WolfWhistle) to the trio of cabaret queens Wendy aspires to join.

    The storyline moves along in short, sharp bursts, each chapter leading you into the next in a clever and addictive way. I’m not one to spoil a good plot, but there is lost love, unrequited love, love on the rocks, self-love and self-loathe, drugs, bad cabaret, cops ‘n’ robbers, and bad drag.

    This isn’t Drag Race calibre, there’s no Sharon Needles or Bianca Del Rio here – and that’s its charm. This is Everytown or Anytown, and these are people you could walk past on the street any day of the week, these aren’t the polished performers that may have to lip-synch for their lives… these couldn’t lip-synch to save their lives!

    This really is one you’ll love – from start to finish, it’ll entice you in, make you feel you know these characters (or someone very like them) and leave you with a shocker of an ending! This is low rent, low end, real life, warts and all stuff and I for one love it!

  • FILM REVIEW | Map To The Stars

    Maps to the Stars can be described as a take-off on Hollywood and celebrity and the people who inhabit this world, and boy what a world it is.

    It’s a world created by David Cronenberg, who also directed. He’s the man who last brought us 2012’s Cosmopolis but he is more well known for the much better received A History of Violence and Eastern Promises. Maps to the Stars is not a normal movie, in other words, it’s not what it says on the tin. It’s surreal, dark, black, and intense. It’s a movie that is desperately trying to show us the inhabitants of Hollywood, and their dreams, and their need for fame and validation.

    There are several lead characters in the film, but it mostly belongs to Julianne Moore. She plays ageing actress Havana Segrand. While she’s not that old, she can’t get the parts she used to get, but one part that she really wants is to play a part her late mother once played. Segrand seems to live in the shadow of her more legendary mother, who died in a mysterious fire, yet is not a stable woman – though she lives in a huge house that befits a famous film star. Even though Segrand is surrounded by people all the time, including her agent, her personal assistant Agatha Weiss (Mia Wasikoska), and her visits to self-help guru Dr Sanford Weiss (John Cusack), she sees the ghost of he mother as a young girl around the house, and she doesn’t know why. Segrand is just one of the many strange characters in the film.

    There’s also the already-mentioned Agatha Weiss. Her story is even more bizarre. She’s been kept in a psychiatric asylum in Jupiter, Florida since she was a young girl, after a horrible fire that left her with scars on her hand (she wears gloves) and face. It was a fire that appears to be one that she started, as she has been ostracised and totally rejected by her family. This includes her father, who happens to be Dr. Sanford Weiss. She’s obsessed with trying to re-enter the family circle, which she does, and on top of all this, there’s something really strange about her.

    Dr Sanford Weiss is a famous television psychologist who offers New Age advice to his followers, as well as performing intimate bodywork on his celebrity clients, the rich and famous. He stars in his own television program that is constantly on in his household; he’s a strange egotistical man. He is also the author of best-selling self-help books with analysis for the troubled, which doesn’t help his 13-year old teenage son, Benjie Weiss (a very good Evan Bird).

    Benjie Weiss is a teen sensation, a Beiberesque movie star who is making way to much money. He’s spoiled and screwed up. He’s a teen heartthrob (having starred in the big hit ‘Bad Babysitter’ and fresh from rehab – at the tender age of 13). He visits a sick girl in a hospital, to boost his reputation, and is told by his agent that the girl in dying of AIDS, but actually she tells him that she’s got Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. He’s pissed off and tells his agent off for providing him with the wrong information. The girl eventually dies and Benjie is haunted by her ghost – a ghost that he sees almost everywhere he goes. It’s a metaphor for his stardom, an attempt to bring him back down to earth perhaps? But it doesn’t, it makes him a lunatic to the point where he thinks he’s strangling her but he actually strangles the co-star of a new film that he’s doing. He’s jealous that this co-star is stealing scenes from him. The strangulation is a chilling scene, and all too surreal by the reaction of his mother, Cristina Weiss (Olivia Williams). She’s not your typical celebrity mother; she’s a bit backwards and emotionally unstable, paranoid if you will, who is more concerned about her son’s ability to make more money than for his personal well-being.

    The Weiss family is one screwed up family. Robert Pattison shows up as perhaps the only sane person in the movie. He’s Jerome, a limo driver who happens to pick up Agatha when she arrives in Los Angeles. He’s not just a limo driver, he’s also a part-time actor and has fallen for Agatha, but also gets seduced by Havana. After their sexual romp all hell breaks lose and Agatha goes on a rampage.

    Maps to the Stars is an exaggerated take off on Hollywood and it’s denizens. It’s a film that is a distorted view on celebrity culture, but to the extreme, with highs and the very lows, with ghosts from their past thrown in for scary effect. It’s a film where the characters are all very unlikeable, so unlikeable that you sort of wish they would all kill themselves. Maps to the Stars uses Los Angeles and Hollywood as the backdrop, with parts of the film shot on the Hollywood walk of fame and under the famous Hollywood sign, to give it an authentic feel.

    Most people say that Hollywood is fake and artificial, which is observed well in this film. It’s fake, dark, make believe, artificial and over the top, with celebrities swallowed up by their obsessions with success, celebrity and money, and perhaps this is what Hollywood is all about?

    Available to buy from Amazon

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Next Fall

    ★★★★ | Next Fall

    Imagine meeting a younger man, falling in love and then finding out that he has a very different ideology from yours. How would you cope if you found out that he was a fundamentalist Christian who believes that homosexuality is a flaw, the Bible is a literal document and is waiting for a rapture to occur so that he can be drawn up to heaven?

    Adam and Luke have managed to make their relationship work in spite of their differences. Adam is a failed writer from New York and a neurotic atheist with hypochondria issues. Luke is from Florida and is an aspiring actor with strong religious views and a tendency to pray to thank God for food and again after sex to ask for forgiveness. Luke has kept his sexuality secret from his parents, always planning to tell them next autumn but things come to a head when Luke is hit by a car and is lying in hospital in a coma and his long separated parents arrive from Florida along with a closeted male friend and his best female friend.

    This multi award winning play by Geoffrey Nauffts is so much more than an issue centred play but works on varying levels: as a tender exploration of human frailty and diversity, a moving drama and also a really witty comedy with laugh out loud moments. Charlie Condou (Coronation Street) and Martin Delaney portray the couple at the centre of the play with skill but the real stars of the play are the supporting cast. Nancy Crane is exceptional as Luke’s flaky mother with drug issues and her comic timing is absolutely impeccable. She delivers killer line after killer line without batting an eyelash. Sirine Saba and Mitchell Mullen are equally brilliant in their portrayal as Adam’s New Age best friend and Luke’s bullish father, struggling to cope with his suspicions about his son’s sexuality.

    The set is versatile, making use of the intimate space in play at Southwark portray hospital waiting rooms, apartments and even a street scene. The theatre is a perfect space for a play of this intensity and warm humour.

    This is a play that is really worth catching. It’s definitely worth a trip to Southwark for a rare opportunity to see a play that has the potential to make you cry with both laughter and sorrow.

    Next Fall runs until the 25th of October 2014

    Buy tickets here: www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

  • TOP 10: Favourite Gay Web Series

    The rapid growth of high quality and extremely well produced WEB SERIES has made us sit up and take serious notice. Covering all aspects of our community, there is literally something for everyone. Here are another favourite Top 10 that we’re currently hooked on. So ditch that TV remote and turn your Laptop on to see the programmes that we really deserve and want.

    1) THE OUTS: We were quickly addicted to this series written/directed and starring ADAM GOLDMAN as one half of a Brooklyn couple who are both trying to discover if there is life and love for them after they break up. Funny and tender and extremely perceptive: you will be hooked after the 1st episode

    2) HUSBANDS: Two unlikely LA gay celebrities get married. One is an out and proud rather fey TV host and the other a hunk who may be the LA Dodgers first Out baseball star. This wonderfully rich and insightful comedy has already had over 3 million viewers on YOU TUBE, and you will soon discover why it is such a smash hit.

    3) THE 3 BITS: This is another Brooklyn based show but this time it’s about three siblings: one gay, one lesbian and one straight. Each have their own story to tell. It calls itself a queer show about sex, love, booze, drugs, friendship, family and amazing acts of stupidity. But mostly sex. Immensely enjoyable.

    4) THE BOYS WHO BRUNCH: This smart sexy urban series has been hailed as ‘Sex In The City’ meets ‘Queer As Folk’. In an attempt to shake up the monotony of his life in New York City, Mason introduces his 3 best friends to each other and creates a social-circle of his own. He then proposes a weekly brunch dare, something they’ll have the 6 days of the week to do before the next brunch.

    5) THE BATTERY’S DOWN: Shortly after Jake Wilson graduated from the University of Michigan the budding director, choreographer and actor then tried to follow his dream and make it big on Broadway. This web series is based on his life as a struggling New York actor. Great musical numbers and camp drama plus each week he seems to snare a big star for a cameo role including Miss Alison Janney, Cheyenne Jackson and Whoopi Goldberg to name but a few.

    6) TWO JASPERJOHNS: The most bizarre of all the series on our list, this oddball comedy is the tale of nine semi-sane brothers from Ohio living in New York whose last names are Jasperjohns and two of them live together. We cannot get enough of it.

    7) TOUGH LOVE: A fresh edgy unpolished series about what it means to be young, broke, queer and trying to make it in New York City.

    8) LITTLE HORRIBLES: Is a darkly comedic web series following the poor decisions of a self-indulgent lesbian trying to navigate her thirties being single in L.A. Created by Amy York Rubin who wants us to laughs in the face of those painfully uncomfortable moments that no one wants to remember, but everyone does.

    9) WHERE THE BEARS ARE: Follows the exploits of 3 bear roommates sharing a house in the hills of Silverlake. It is a hilariously fun comic crime caper that is best described as “The Golden Girls” meets “Murder She Wrote” with big, hairy, gay men.

    10) BULK: An excellent series featuring bears this time in NY, with it’s gritty, raw and sexy drama.

    It seems like we discover a new series almost every week, so we will keep reviewing the ones that we think you should know about. If we have missed your favourite, please let us know.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Opera North La Traviata – National Tour

    ★★★★ | Opera North La Traviata – National Tour

    Set in Paris circa 1700, Alfredo Germont, a demure young man falls in love with Violetta, a courtesan, who is the toast of society because of her lavish, debauchery filled parties. But Violetta is dying and despite initially dismissing him, she falls for Alfredo and gives up her lifestyle to be with him. As they move to the country and with her fortune dwindling, Violetta is visited by Alfredo’s father, who is worried about the impact upon his daughter’s marriage prospects as a result of Violetta’s former profession, and he talks her into leaving Alfredo to secure the family’s future. But with Alfredo confused at why his love has abandoned him and with Violetta’s health failing quickly, can love bring the two back together before it is too late?

    Opera North has produced a simply sumptuous production of Verdi’s beautiful and heart-breaking opera, both in terms of performance and presentation. During the opening scene where Violetta appears, silhouetted by a full moon, the combination of modern theatricality and traditional opera makes it clear that you are about to watch something special. From the sexually charged ensemble piece of Violetta’s party during the opening, to the ghostly visitations voyeuristically poised over Violetta’s death bed, the director, Alessandro Talevi, provides a refreshing take in terms of the opera’s presentation.

    Hye-Youn Lee, as Violette and Ji-Min Parkas Alfredo were well matched in terms of their performances, with Lee providing a sweet and sensitive performance, whilst Roland Wood stood out from the remainder of the cast as Alfredo’s desperate and scheming father. It is only when you hear opera sung live you are hit with the sheer power of their voices, especially as the soaring sounds echoed around the opulence of the Leeds Grand Theatre. The live orchestra sent a shiver down the spine, from the opening notes played by the piercing strings to the swelling crescendos of the closing moments, and sounded exquisite.

    Opera is often overlooked by theatre goers because of the perception of it being impenetrable and highbrow, but Opera North have produced a theatrical piece which is beautifully put together, but accessible to all. La Traviata is embedded in popular culture and you will recognise it from the silver-clad roof top bus ride in Priscilla, Vivien’s first opera in Pretty Woman or the story of Satine and Christian in “Moulin Rouge!” Whether you are an opera novice or aficionado, this production oozes quality and has much to recommend it.

    Despite being sung in Italian, the show has surtitles; two screens which provide the audience with details of what is being said. These surtitles are detailed enough to enhance and drive forward the narrative, but do not translate every single word, thereby allowing you to easily understand the interactions of the characters without it ever preventing you from being able to watch the stage and to appreciate the music, staging or performances.

    La Travita is currently being performed alongside a two other productions, The Bartered Bride and The Coronation Of Poppea (the latter two being sung in English) which comprise Opera North’s Autumn season and are being performed at different venues around the country, including Leeds, Nottingham, Belfast, Manchester and Newcastle.

    For full details, visit their website at http://www.operanorth.co.uk