Aliya Al-Hassan - Page 81

With 22 Grammys and hundreds of millions in worldwide sales, the potentially fascinating story of Gloria Estefan, her husband Emilio and their journey to success with the Miami Sound Machine has the potential to be a fantastic jukebox musical. On Your Feet has plenty of material to draw upon; with an intricate journey through issues of immigration, racism and a life-threatening accident, it is a fun and frothy evening.

As part of the 243rd season of the iconic ballet company, several productions by the Bolshoi Ballet are again being broadcast on cinema screens across sixty countries. As one of seven of these ballets, Swan Lake is surely the most iconic, having debuted at the Bolshoi theatre in 1877. Tchaikovsky's incredibly evocative score wasn't enough to secure initial success, but for many people today, Swan Lake is ballet.

Martin Crimp's blisteringly raw version of Cyrano de Bergerac has been a great success so far during its run at The Playhouse Theatre in London's West End. After screening over 80 theatre productions in the last ten years, NT Live are now screening this theatrical masterpiece all over the world.

A world premiere of a play is always an exciting thing; a potential opportunity to witness one of the very first performances of a future classic. Unfortunately, Paul Minx's new play The Dog Walker, at the diminutive Jermyn Street Theatre, is an odd and uneven experience.

In yet another attempt to democratise opera, Opera Undone, the new strand of Islington's King's Head Theatre's celebrated opera offering, brings two radical interpretations of Puccini's Tosca and La bohème to the Trafalgar Studios. These are the first productions to debut in the West End.

First seen in the West End over 20 years ago, titled The Mysterious Mr Love, Karoline Leach's Tryst is the final show of the Chiswick Playhouse's inaugural season; a melodramatic mixture of psychological thriller and slightly awkward love story.

Daphne du Maurier's 1951 novel My Cousin Rachel is a dark, psychological thriller that focuses on jealousy, female sexual power and control over men. It was made into a moderately successful film in 2017 starring Rachel Weiss and then adapted for the stage. It ends its nationwide tour at Richmond theatre this week on a rather weak note.

On paper, the story of Puccini's La bohème veers towards sentimentality, but witnessing a live production rarely fails to stir deep emotion. Continuing their series of live screenings, Covent Garden's Royal Opera House presents a version of the opera that is both captivating and utterly heart breaking. Screening to over 1000 cinemas, across 26 countries, these are truly international events.

Back in 2003, before writing the superb Enron, A Very Expensive Poison and the Emmy Award-winning TV series Succession, Lucy Prebble's first play The Sugar Syndrome made its debut at London's Royal Court. It now comes to Richmond's Orange Tree in its first major revival, in a darkly funny and thought-provoking exploration of the internet's potential to bring the most unlikely people together.

The West End has missed the wit, cheek and high-kicks of Kinky Boots since it strutted off on a nationwide tour last year. Thankfully, the show with a huge heart will be screened in more than 600 cinemas across the UK and Ireland on 4th and 9th February.

The Royal Opera House is on a mission to show that ballet and opera are accessible to everyone. As part of their live cinema season, last night saw Tchaikovsky's beautiful interpretation of fairytale, The Sleeping Beauty, broadcast live across the world.

It's that time of year again; Cirque du Soleil have returned to London's Royal Albert Hall, bringing their show LUZIA to Europe for the first time. Last year's TOTEM felt somewhat bland and soulless, but LUZIA shows the company at its very best.

On paper, Le Corsaire emphatically should not work. Based very loosely on the poem Le Corsair, written by Lord Byron, the plot is flimsy and the score is a mash-up of work by ten different composers. However, this revival of Anna-Marie Holmes' 2013 production for English National Ballet actually works on every level and is a wonderful evening of escapism and virtuoso dancing.

As the decade comes to a close, many of us are all left feeling a little more bruised by the world than we felt in 2010. Climate change, political upheaval and humanitarian crises can feel relentlessly negative. Fortunately, the arts continue to delight, educate and inspire. The power of theatre never ceases to amaze me and the hard-working people on and off the stage are testament to an industry that will always try its best, even in the face of challenges from funding cuts and social media dominance.

'Messiah' is probably Handel's best-known piece; written in 1741, the oratorio was originally composed for Easter time, but you don't have to travel far to find a performance of it at this time of year. Handel at Christmas at the Royal Albert Hall is always a special, festive event. The composition has been performed in full at the venue since 1871 and, as of this month, it has been performed a remarkable 524 times.

Kingston's Rose Theatre always goes all-out for their Christmas production. After last year's huge success with Hansel And Gretel, writer and director Ciaran McConville turns his hand to another Hans Christian Andersen tale with The Snow Queen.

The annual pantomime at Richmond is always an entertaining affair. After last year's Peter Pan, we now turn to a glittering and very enjoyable version of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. Comedian, writer and presenter Jo Brand is the star turn as the wicked Queen Lucretia. Brand takes a little while to settle into the rhythm of the show, but is a screeching baddie, with a throaty, cackling laugh. She maintains the sardonic and dry style that she is known for. Even when she appears to forget her lines, her request for a prompt gained laughs rather than groans. She is an evil, but also funny character and her scornful rendition of 'I Put A Spell On You' is her highlight.

For many, it simply cannot be Christmas without Nutcracker. The enduring story of Clara and her beloved Nutcracker is one to soften the hardest of hearts. The pair defeat the evil Mouse King and his army and journey to the Kingdom Of The Sweets to meet the Sugar Plum Fairy for a magical adventure. English National Ballet present another Christmas revival of the Wayne Eagling version which both enchants and charms.

Billed as the only all-female panto in the world, The Fairytale Revolution: Wendy's Awfully Big Adventure is the latest pantomime offering from Battersea's Theatre503. With a cast of only four, this is an energetic and charming production that attempts to subvert many pantomime stereotypes. Wendy from Peter Pan is stuck at home caring for the Lost Boys, while Peter Pan and her brothers have all the adventures. Captain Hook is a poetry-lover who wants to break free from his villainous past. The pair team up and go on to meet Thumbelina's mother Baker Swife (!), who has been sent to Banishment for trying to save her daughter.

When you enter a theatre to a soundtrack of Stormzy and open the programme to see a Beatboxer listed on the credits, you know that this is probably not a traditional staging of a nineteenth century play. Much anticipation has been building for Martin Crimp's new adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac. Directed by Jamie Lloyd and starring James McAvoy, this magnificent show has stardust sprinkled all over it.