Originally published by L.S. Media. July 4th 2012.
L.S. Media Rating * * * *
Cast: Roy Brandon, Paul Duckworth, Taylor Parry. Lynn Francis, Lindzi Germain, Lewis Pryor, Connor Laverty, Dan McIntrye, Andrew Schofield, Alan Stocks, Francis Tucker.
When a theatre gets the start of what will be an excellent makeover, it deserves to reopen with one of Liverpool’s finest writers and a cast that is so well versed in raising the laughter to very highest levels of audience enjoyment.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Micky Finn, Crissy Rock, Suzanne Collins, Lesley Butler, Lenny Wood, Lynne Fitzgerald, Roy Brandon, Lindzi Germain, Ruth Laird.
There may be a very wide river that runs between Liverpool and Birkenhead, perhaps at times it may seem like a gulf or a yawning chasm but the actual differences between the two sides of the Mersey are in truth very small. Birkenhead and Liverpool are communities, communities built upon tradition, hard work and friendship and in Brain McCann’s outstanding musical play, Down Our Street, the history of Birkenhead is explored to its fullest, from the founding stones of John Laird and the thoughts of a model town and the shipyard that still bares the family name.
Originally published by L.S. Media. December 4th 2010.
Cast: Paul Duckworth, Stephen Fletcher, Lindzi Germain, Rachel Rae, Andrew Schofield, Alan Stocks, Zoei Cozens, Niamh Fitzgerald, Kay Staunton, Sarah Walker.
Gambling, swearing nuns, a lost tribe of Scousers, a Catholic Father who is more uncouth than clean cloth and more bananas than you can shake a banana tree at are just some of the elements in this year’s Christmas stunning production by The Royal Court, the epic Scouse Pacific.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Seen through the eyes of one man, a jovial lecture from one of the kings of Liverpool comedy as he reminisces about the old days on stage and the old ways of his beloved home city, Jigsy has seen them all, drank with the best and poked gentle and perhaps deserving fun at some of them too.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: John Power, Matt Breen, Tom Connor, Jessica Dyas, Kirsten Foster, Ross Higginson, Adam Keast, Jonathan Markwood, Mark Newnham.
Even almost 33 years after John Lennon was cruelly and untimely taken from his fans and from the city of Liverpool and the world, his iconic memory still has the power, the absolute authority of spirit, in which to inspire and encourage rousing feelings of love and joy and ultimately the sadness of a life cut short well before his time.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Paul Duckworth, John Evans, Jane Hogarth, Alan Stocks, Liam Tobin.
No matter how much you are urged to climb every mountain, to put your best foot forward and seize the day, you soon realise that life is far from a walk in the park, and the older you get, the more of an uphill struggle it becomes.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Samantha Arends, Emma Bispham, Jamie Clarke, Michael Fletcher, Stephen Fletcher, Lindzi Germain, Hayley Sheen, Andrew Schofield, Keddy Sutton.
Musicians: Howard Gray, Ben Gladwin, Mike Woodbine, Greg Joy.
Anarchy in the hands of the theatrical and the artistic arguably achieves more than a demonstration and the gnashing of teeth; the power of laughter bringing the pompous to their knees, the smallest prick of hilarity bursting the bubble of the forever vain and the insincere pretentious. Anarchy rules, and its rules are simple, make them laugh and you will have a show that is beautiful to the core and one with a polished sheen attached to it.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Cast: Molly Grace Cutler, Alice McKenna, Sarah Workman, Lisa Wright, Jack Alexander, Tom Connor, Tom Dunlea, Guy Freeman, Jonathan Markwood, Mark Newnham.
A throwaway line caught in the ether, a story that deep down nobody seems to remember and yet it did happen and it is one that rivals any of the stories held up to the legend of Liverpool’s music scene, and one so brilliantly captured and focused upon by playwright Ian Salmon.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Paul Duckworth, Pauline Fleming, Gillian Hardie, Michael Peace, Olivia Sloyan, Liam Tobin.
The seductive reasoning of being an armchair detective are honed and always alert, we are spurred in our efforts by the clues and chain of suspicion, and once we have narrowed down the suspects due to our insight and belief, we feel as though we could easily give the likes of Poirot, Morse, Tennison and Vera Stanhope a run for their money and give our friends and neighbours a reason to breathe easy as they drift off to sleep at night.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Jake Abraham, Jamie Clarke, Guy Freeman, Stephen Fletcher, Lindzi Germain, Abigail Middleton, Mia Molloy, Michael Starke.
Band: Howard Gray, James Bretton, Mike Woodvine, Greg Joy.
Billy Riley is the hero you may not have heard of but because of his ingenuity, his fortitude and love of a fish and chip supper, there is forever a part of the South Pacific that is Scouse, where bananas are abundant, where a certain newspaper gets used for its rightful position as a cleansing aid, and where the descendants of the ship-wrecked, press-ganged mariner burst into song as a right; some enchanted evenings are always worth remembering, especially in Scouse Pacific.