This month, I saw the touring production of Single White Female, an updated version of the film adapted for the stage, starring Lisa Faulkner and Kym Marsh. In preparation, I made sure to have watched the movie, which gave me a good grounding for what to expect, even though they were two very different things.

People have been raving about this book, so I was curious to see what it was all about. Having read it, honestly, I’m none the wiser. The style of writing is engrossing, you’re thrust into this world of stage and theatre and drama both on and off the boards. But the two halves of this story are deliberately but confusingly different, don’t really make any sense and don’t progress any sort of plot or story. Maybe I’m missing something because the people that love it really do, but I just didn’t get it.

When I saw A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong towards the end of last year it must have been a sort of test run because the Mischief crew are going big with promoting their new London production and short UK tour run. They’re popping up everywhere and releasing lots of promotional content, including this excellent behind-the-scenes video of how the show has come together, and generally what a great bunch of people are involved.

It’s been a whole year since I wrote anything about Mischief Theatre, but I recently got to see their festive stage show Christmas Carol Goes Wrong and it was spectacular. I’d previously only seen the BBC version, an hour long special which features the main story of Scrooge and the ghosts, and of course, plenty of things going wrong.

Oliver! the musical has had many outings since its inception in the 1960s, and the most recent is a West End Revival that burst onto the scene last year. I saw a performance on one of the variety shows and immediately bought tickets to see it. Taking up residence at the Gielgud theatre, the show is currently booking through to March 2026 and is so far having a very successful run.

I’m completely fascinated by the furore surrounding the new production of Evita in the West End. The choice by producers to take the iconic Don’t Cry For Me Argentina song out to the balcony is causing all sorts of angst. Star Rachel Zegler heads out to the balcony and belts out the song to passers-by, with the ticket-buying audience inside settling for a live stream of the big moment. Hardly surprising that the people inside are a bit miffed at this, having paid a significant sum only to have a key moment of the show completed remotely. For those outside on the street - and they are starting to gather in their hordes, waiting for hours to see the spectacle - it’s a real treat. There’s no real consensus on this one.

I really didn’t know very much about Dear Evan Hansen when the show rolled into town on its current UK tour. The song You Will Be Found is obviously the biggest hit and pops up on various musical reviews and occasional variety shows, but outside of that I could only have told you that the main character has a cast on his arm, and Ben Platt was in the film.

I don’t often read plays but whenever I do, I always think I should read more of them. You can picture the play happening on stage as you read through the script and this one is a great one. I actually haven’t seen the play performed anywhere but I knew of the story and that it cause quite the furore when it was first written because of its feminist angle. Such a great feminist role model, our Nora, and a surprising story with twists and turns and ultimately an incredibly forward-thinking ending. Loved it, and now need to seek it out on stage.

I’ve been intrigued by the play The Shark is Broken since I first heard about it, and was very keen to see it when it embarked on a UK tour. The show is set aboard the boat during the filming of the mega blockbuster Jaws, featuring as the only characters in the play, the three actors who star in the movie. They have plenty of time to spare as the mechanical shark, known as Bruce, keeps breaking down. The play spends time with these three as they get to know each other, argue and make up, in these many hours spent trapped aboard.

A recent interview with Tim Rice has brought up the idea of captioning musicals for audiences to gain a better understanding, using surtitles (not a word I had come across before) as newer generations are so used to subtitling their content anyway. It’s very frustrating at times, especially if you’re the words man… Time and time again, the lyrics couldn’t be heard when it was choral. If you’ve got great singers like Tommy Körberg or Elaine Paige singing the songs solo, you do hear the words, but the choral stuff can often be quite important and you just don’t hear it.

If you tuned in to the Royal Variety Performance on ITV last week, you’ll have enjoyed a scene from the new Mischief Theatre project: A Comedy About Spies. You bet your ass I bought tickets to that show immediately that I heard about it. It’s been a while since there’s been something new like this from the group, and it should be the original Mischief members up on stage which is a double bonus.

I really liked this, it was very faithful to the text and had a great spooky vibe all the way through, without going too far with it. The acting was great and some of the more emotional moments were really very moving. The actors playing the ghosts were great and as noted above Nicholas Farrell really captured the essence of Scrooge and portrayed him perfectly. The only detraction for me was that, whilst I’m used to actors playing multiple parts no problem, the ghosts were so iconic that seeing them in other roles was unsettling and distracting. But otherwise, a great performance.

Just in time for Musicals week on Strictly, I managed to squeeze in an actual musical viewing. Here & Now - The Steps Musical made its debut in Birmingham, and I rocked up to take in one of the shows. It was brilliant! I love Steps, their kind of wonderful guilty pleasure of music that you know isn’t exactly great art but is one heck of a crowdpleaser.

I don’t know when I first saw this but I definitely had it on DVD and had it as one of those things you watch in the background while cleaning or cooking. Lovely Hugh Jackman before he was properly famous, showing off the skills that he later puts to good use as the Greatest Showman. Oklahoma is a bit of a mixed bag though, it’s very long and the dream sequence is diabolical, and I’m not sure the songs really live up to the hype. But I do enjoy the chemistry between the leads and People Will Say We’re in Love is really done well. Plus adorable scatter-brained Ado Annie steals every scene she’s in.

I love these live musical events, and am glad to have the opportunity to see them and review them here… but I have to admit this one wasn’t a favourite. As I said above, I have mixed feelings about Annie the musical anyway - it’s a bit dreary but some of the songs are real classics. The good stuff in here was great - Taraji as Miss Hannigan was exceptional, the pipes on our new young Annie amazed, and it flowed really well. But the camerawork was wonky, Nicole Scherzinger seemed out of place and how could anyone look at anything other than Warbucks’ bald head? Medium good but worth a watch anyway.

I’ve not seen this musical before but I knew a lot of the songs going into it, they are musical classics after all. It was an interesting watch, although I thought ultimately it was quite light on plot. But it’s fun to be behind the scenes of the theatre, and so much brilliant tap dancing it was a joy to behold. Bonnie Langford is fab, and I was very impressed with Clare Halse. Not one I’d particularly seek out again but I’m glad to have ticked it off the musicals list.

I had previously gone to see this musical when it was in the theatre, but I left at the interval. The first half hadn’t massively grabbed me but it was more about me - I was not in the right headspace to watch what happened to these doomed characters. We know how this story ends and it’s not a happy history. So I was quite glad to see this recording of the live show, so I could watch the second half in the safety of my own space.

I’ve not been to the Watermill Theatre at Newbury before, tucked away as it is in the depths of the countryside. It’s an incongruous setting for a theatre - beautiful flowing river, overhanging greenery, a sense of countryside history, and then, oh yes, a regional theatre of some renown! My reason for going this time was to see Fanny, the show about the sister of Felix Mendelssohn who, of course, has been overlooked in history despite having plenty of her own successes to write about. I’ve got to be honest that it’s not something I would have ordinarily noticed, except that it was starring the wonderful Charlie Russell from Mischief Theatre.

I was lucky enough to see Tim Rice on stage recently, as the musical legend toured the country to talk about his life, career and achievements. It was worth every penny of the entry price, with the famous lyricist sharing great stories and surprising facts, and a quartet of singers showcasing some of the songs that have littered his illustrious career so far.

I’ve seen this play twice, accidentally the second time as I’d forgotten I’d already seen it until the first scene seemed so familiar. But both times were great, what a classic. It’s interesting to read a play, the way it flows is so different to seeing it unfold on stage. The directions are less interesting, the focus is really solely on the dialogue, and although aging at this point, it’s still a brilliant mystery and whodunit. Keep the secrets, though!

Finally, I have managed to cross ‘Watch Back to the Future: The Musical’ off my to do list. There have been a couple of failed attempts and I’ve been worried that the universe didn’t want me to see it, but I’ve thwarted the universe and seen the brilliance of this show.

Any musicals fan has to read this. I know Andrew Lloyd Webber isn’t so popular at the moment after the disaster that was the Cinderella musical, but there’s no denying what he has done and continues to do for musical theatre. This autobiography is written with wry wit and humour, more self-deprecating than I was expecting, and also a lot harsher - there’s a lot of details and communications and back and forths about who did what to whom in which business deal, and I was quite surprised!

At the end of the June, the fabulous West End live celebration returned to the heart of London - two days of various musicals and productions putting on their best efforts to show the crowds what they can see in the West End at the moment. I missed keeping track of what was on during the weekend, mostly because of Wimbledon, but was surprised and thrilled to find lots of clips on YouTube.

I’m never quite sure how to feel about reading plays, it sort of works but also I feel like you’re missing a crucial element of the whole thing. But of course, you have to start somewhere and knowing this was the basis for My Fair Lady has had me intrigued for a while. It’s a lot shorter than I expected, and I was surprised how similar it actually was - although of course the ending is vastly different and the characters slightly less fleshed out. A good read though.

As we’re still unable to go to theatres at the moment, the Mischief crew have decided to bring the theatre into our homes - hooray! Their improvised show Mischief Movie Night has gone online, starting yesterday and streaming every day until New Year’s Eve. I was lucky enough to see this show in person a few year’s ago and although I’ve never been entirely comfortable with improv, you know you’re in safe hands with this crew.

Theatre is one of the biggest things I’m missing in this lockdown, and although the country is (rightly or wrongly) easing out of lockdown status, theatres aren’t looking set to open anytime soon. And if they did, would we be comfortable enough to go to them? In the meantime, and because there is zero support from the government, theatres and artists are having to find their own ways to keep busy and hopefully make a little money to keep going a bit longer. The National Theatre’s weekly streams of their plays have been incredible, although are coming to an end soon.

I’ve talked before about loving the Fleabag TV show, I came to it late and binge-watched both series in as small amount as time as possible. I hadn’t seen the original stage play, obviously, and missed out on the brief return to the stage that the lovely Phoebe Waller-Bridge completed earlier in the year. (Was it this year? I’ve lost all sense of time.) Anyway, that meant I was first in line to rent the play when it became available on Amazon Prime. National Theatre have been doing incredible work in keeping us all entertained during lockdown, and keeping theatre in the heart and minds of everyone. Their weekly theatre releases are something I’m definitely planning on talking about separately, but their video of Fleabag took a slightly different route.

This week, I got to see The Bodyguard musical on the final stop of its UK tour. Based on the film of the same name, Alexandra Burke heads the cast with her phenomenal vocal powers bringing to life those infamous Whitney Houston classics. She was joined by Ben Lewis in the role of Frank Farmer (portrayed by Kevin Costner in the movie). And therein lies the problem. I was forever comparing it to the movie, which is an absolute favourite of mine.

When Mischief Theatre announced a year-long residency at the Vaudeville in London, I was intrigued and determined to see as much of the output as possible. I’ve previously seen their plays and pantos and bank robberies that go wrong, and consider myself officially obsessed with this comedy troupe. The first of three shows wraps up this weekend, and I just managed to catch Groan Ups “before term ended”. Unlike The Play That Goes Wrong and the other shows, which are basically non-stop slapstick comedy, Groan Ups is character-driven, with a story that tracks the lives of five friends from about 6 years old, to 14, and then to adulthood.

This short book about how the play came together was, of course, right up my street. It’s a fascinating look from the producers at every corner of bringing the two-part production to life. From the early days of meeting JK Rowling and coming up with an idea, through the writing and rewriting process, through first rehearsals to tech run-throughs, make-up, costume, illusions, and finally the opening nights across the world.

I was lucky enough to get a chance to see Pressure, a play by David Haig that is currently in the West End. The play tells the incredible true story of James Stagg, a meteorologist who was tasked with predicting the weather conditions for the D-Day landings. With Stagg predicting severe storms and Irving P. Krick - Hollywood’s meteorological movie consultant - predicting beautiful weather, the future of Britain, Europe and the United States rests on one single forecast.

When it was first announced that Miranda Hart would be taking the role of Miss Hannigan in the West End production of Annie, I knew I’d have to go and see it. Annie isn’t one of my favourite musicals – children and animals and all that jazz – but the chance to see Miranda in her first stage musical role was too good to pass up. Thus, I rocked up to the Picadilly Theatre one Saturday to see how it all went down.

I’m trying to up my theatre game this year, so was glad to get a chance to see The Play That Goes Wrong. I’d seen a snippet on some variety show on TV and became quickly entranced with the idea of seeing the full thing on stage. It’s such a brilliant show, starting simply but gradually building in terms of farce, disaster and hysteria. What’s clever about it though is that by the end, far from wondering what else can possibly go wrong for this poor haphazard bunch of people, you’re almost willing the next thing to happen to see just what lengths they will go to to try and keep going. I was even impressed with the pre-show action, featuring some silent comedy with a member of the audience. The cast are in character long before the play actually begins and it’s all the better for it.

I recently got a chance to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the two part HP play that is currently featured in London’s West End. Around the same time, the play broke records for Olivier Award nominations and actual award success, so I was going in with some pretty high expectations. Naturally, I have to #keepthesecrets but it’s fair to say that I can fully endorse the awards for production, lighting and sound. The general production values of the entire five hour play are astonishing: incredible music, wonderful visuals and some astounding effects. We’re watching wizards, after all, so there’s some exciting stuff to behold.

It’s the first time in, perhaps forever, that I have stayed up until the midnight release date for a book, but I was so eager to see what happens in the next part of Harry Potter’s story, that I read the first act before finally admitting defeat and getting some sleep. The rest of it was read in just a few hours upon waking, and what a great story it is.

My Life List has featured “watch a professional ballet performance” for a long time, and I’ve never quite got round to it. I’ve just recently realised why that is, considering how much I love the theatre and would grab any excuse to go. I have a weird obsession with ballet that manifests itself by me loving the behind the scenes activities – training and classes, rehearsal, choreography and dance schools – but then not being at all interested in the end result.

It was an impromptu trip to the theatre, a last minute decision to snap up tickets to The Phantom of the Opera on a spare Friday night nestled in the midst of a very hectic couple of months. I like musicals, as they have been ingrained in my life since childhood, but I haven’t had as much chance to indulge recently as I’d like. Since watching We Will Rock You five times, I haven’t seen much else.

Theatre On my new 2006 calendar, I have marked down everything I want to see, and I am totally prepared to go and see everything I have noted. In one particular week, there are three different things on that I want to see!