I quote from that great song I Got Rhythm as written by George Gershwin with his brother Ira and first heard in 1930 in the musical Girl Crazy. To a degree the show of the week this week Crazy for You is based on this production, revived in 1992 by Ken Ludwig. This new touring production from Watermill Theatre brings in more classic songs from the Gershwin song book though and the show is awash with standards like They Can’t Take That Away From Me which was from Shall We Da

(pic credit: Sean Ebsworth Barnes) Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s Review by John Murray That iconic title already conjures up the imagery of the era, the fashion and industry that surrounded it. Years away from the stage play, book and definitive movie a forgettable band called Deep Blue Something (honest) scored their only hit with an unrelated song where they ‘remembered the film and both kinds liked it’. So that embedded phrase should be enough for a revival – and

With several stage productions and two movies previously most of us have heard aspects of Annie and at least two of the big production songs therein. The story of little orphan Annie as a stage musical is pure Broadway and every production since has reflected this. Set in New York in the first place the minimal sets reflect the great depression of the 1930’s following the Wall Street Crash. So we can expect conmen, unemployment, brushes with the law and a workhouse that dou

Photo Credit: David Munn Photography Many will ask is this just another Beatles tribute? After all in our area we see many touring bands and annually the Bootleg Beatles bring their show and well loved by Beatles fans. So what is this show that warrants a national tour and an impressive run in the West End? Well the scale for starters as the production quality shows investment and creativity. Let It Be celebrates all aspects of The Beatles music and is presented chronolog

Tom Jones is a legend in music terms. From humble Welsh roots to the biggest stages his career spans the decades and still does. Elvis would come and see his shows in Las Vegas in order to check out the new sensation and the hits just kept on coming. But was this an overnight success? The story can now be told as Cardiff writer Mike James saw this as a musical drama. So the action starts in 1955 with a young Tommy Woodward occasionally singing in the pubs and clubs of Pon

Now that the rights have been released for amateur companies it seems that there are many productions of Sunshine On Leith in the pipeline for this year. The Fife premiere though goes to Leven Amateur Musical Association (LAMA) and on all this week at the Centre in Leven. Based on songs from The Proclaimers and first performed at Dundee Rep in April 2007 it also has been a full musical movie in 2013 gross nearly £5 million in the process. The story surrounds two returning

This week an all star cast play Hairspray The Musical at Edinburgh Playhouse. Joining Brenda Edwards (from X Factor) are Claire Sweeney, Peter Duncan (Blue Peter) and Tony Maudsley from Benidorm on ITV. Set in Baltimore 1962 the music styles and dance fads of the day are revived in a colourful set and an energetic cast as Tracy Turnblad aims to get on national TV to dance. Her mum Edna (played by Tony Maudsley) tries to stop her and she ends up in jail as we see the making

Of Course many of us remember the 1984 movie and some of us can still sing the title song, but what of the stage musical? Well this touring production from Sell A Door Theatre certainly won us over within the first few minutes with their live and lively version of the title song. The challenge here is that all the stage musicians with the exception of Musical Director David Keech on drums on his elevated podium, play live during the performance and that includes the choreog

Lyn Paul is back in Edinburgh this week and in her familiar role as Mrs Johnstone in Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers at the Playhouse. She first joined the show in 1997 for a West End run then was asked back regularly by producer Bill Kenwright through the years joining this UK tour which runs all this week. If the name sounds familiar Lyn was a member of The New Seekers who had a string of hits in the early 1970’s. The group came to Edinburgh in 1972 for the Eurovision Son