★★★★☆ The plot follows the trajectory of the musicians as they form/dissolve one group after another – The Varietones, The Four Lovers – before they eventually, with the addition of the extremely talented songwriter/keyboardist, Bob Gaudio, adopt the name of the bowling alley they fail an audition in.
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★★★☆☆ Sitting behind an office desk and armed only with a mike and a laptop that he accesses for background musical effects, Dale-Jones nostalgically takes us back to when his dad proudly shows him the Royal Worcester porcelain figure he keeps in a box under his bed – the Duke of Wellington on horseback.
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★★★★☆ Performance maker Ellie Dubois takes us beyond the glitz and ‘good times’ of circus to show us the plain humanity behind the perseverance and pain behind the artistry – challenging, in particular, what we expect from female performers.
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LA CENERENTOLA ★★★★☆
Rossini’s fabulous crescendos and Ferretti’s witty onomatopoeic texts were further amplified in this version of the age-old tale with Disneyesque colour from designer Joan Guillén that would not have looked out of place in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory . . .
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★★★★☆ Director Lindsay Posner ensures the combatants are never still for long on Peter McKintosh’s simple circular living room set, skilfully bringing insulted guests back into the fray just when you think they are gone for good, and always keeping an edge to the night that stopped just short of face scratching!
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