The Second World War is coming to an end and amidst the impending defeat of Germany, 10 year old Johannes “Jojo” Betzler (Roman Griffin Davis) is joining the Hitler Youth to dedicate his life to his country and it’s leader. Trying to quench his soft nature through blind nationalism, Jojo doesn’t get off to a good start. Led by his mother (Scarlett Johansson) towards the right path, Jojo faces some moral choices…
Taika Waititi as Adolf Hitler and Roman Griffin Davis as Jojo. Image credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures
We absolutely loved Jojo Rabbit and can’t recommend this bonkers comedy enough. Check out our five reasons to see it below!
To round off a successful UK tour, Amélie The Musical is currently doing a 2 month run in The Other Palace, London. Unfortunately the tour didn’t reach Tyne and Wear so we booked our tickets for a day trip to see it in the capital and we were not disappointed! The show is based off the 2001 French speaking film of the same name; luckily the native language has been dropped for the musical and replaced with accents so it’s easier to understand. The story is of Amélie Poulain (Audrey Brisson), a shy Parisian waitress who takes great pleasure in anonymously improving stranger’s lives through small acts of kindness. This pass-time sees Amélie cross paths with one stranger who sparks more than happiness inside the heart of our introvert protagonist.
Image credit: Pamela Raith Photography
Filled with delightful charm and a wonderful soundtrack, we thoroughly enjoyed the performance. Check out our five reasons to see Amélie The Musical below!
Since it’s original stage production in 1981, Cats has never had its own feature film adaptation until now. Off the back of his well received version of Les Misérables, director Tom Hooper has been given the reigns to another classic musical in a bid to win over audiences to a show that notoriously has a marmite effect. Cats tells the story of a group of cats all competing through song and dance at the Jellicle Ball to become the “chosen one” to move onto a new life (the Heaviside Layer) and be reborn. When the first trailer appeared 5 months ago, lots of people were pretty disturbed by what they saw, us included. It’s worth nothing here that this is our first encounter with the musical in any capacity at all! So without further adieu, let us tell you what we thought of it.
Dare we say it, Louisa May Alcott’s classic 1868/69 novel has once again had another on-screen adaptation. From countless TV series and this being the fourth big-screen attempt at portraying Alcott’s work, we aren’t short of (pun intended) Little Women films. We expected the story to now be a tired thing that’s been seen multiple times and another re-make unnecessary – how wrong we were. Greta Gerwig has carefully tweaked the story and is telling it in a way that hasn’t been seen before by using parallel narratives from the two parts between each character’s childhood and adulthood. With a stellar cast of fantastic women, this feminist story is a joy to watch and packs in the emotion too. Check out our five reasons to see Little Women below!
Meg (Emma Watson), Amy (Florence Pugh), Jo (Saoirse Ronan)and Beth March (Eliza Scanlen). Image credit: Sony Pictures
Raise your lightsabers, the Skywalker saga has come to an end. Across the 9 episodes from the last 5 decades we have had some highs and lows, with the latest trilogy receiving really mixed reviews from fans (we loved The Force Awakens and weren’t too sure on The Last Jedi). We caught the final chapter to the saga on the opening night filled with anticipation and excitement, but felt pretty torn as we left the cinema. While the film was good fun and had exciting parts, we felt it didn’t land with us emotionally and had us pondering on some storyline decisions where things were reversed, hence our average review. Regardless, we’ve pulled together five reasons so see The Rise Of Skywalker below!
We realised we haven’t posted anything personal on here for quite some time so thought we would share a bit about the photos we got for our pre-wedding shoot at Sunderland Empire, one of our favourite theatres. We absolutely adore these photos by From The Smiths Photography and hope you like them too!
“So, did you hear the story of the Johnstone twins?” That’s right, Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers is back out on another UK tour. Studied by thousands of drama students each year and adored by audiences across the world, this classic musical is showing no signs of stopping. The story tells the lives of two twins, Mickey (Alexander Patmore) and Eddie (Joel Benedict) separated at birth after their mother (Lyn Paul) was coerced into giving away one of her newborns to her employer Mrs Lyons (Chloe Taylor). Convinced by superstitious tales that the twins should never meet again in the interest of their safety, Mrs Johnstone is left with no choice. Alas, living only a stones throw from one another, this inevitable meeting of the unassuming boys was always bound to happen…
Image credit: Robert Day (image shows previous cast)
As one of the first musicals John ever saw which began his love for theatre, this one holds a special place in his heart. We consider this show to be one that would be great to take someone to see who isn’t that into musicals as it’s not too heavy on the “bursting into song” that can put some none-musical-lovers off. Here are our five reasons to see Blood Brothers:
Finally! Six years after the release of Frozen, Arendelle’s most iconic duo are back in the long awaited sequel, but was it worth the wait? The follow-up story is set a few years after the original and tells of Elsa (Idina Menzel), Anna (Kristen Bell), Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), Olaf (Josh Gad) and Sven on a new journey to discover the source of a mysterious sound that Elsa can hear and get so much more than they bargained for on their quest. With so many of the creative team returning and promises made to answer those burning questions from the first film regarding the sisters’ heritage, this sequel has been highly anticipated by an abundance of fans. A great story packed with so many jokes, well written songs and all tied up with stunning animation, this film does not disappoint!
London has once again been graced with another new musical! & Juliet, written by David West Read (Schitt’s Creek), directed by Luke Sheppard (In The Heights, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ -The Musical) and featuring music from Max Martin’s extensive catalogue (Backstreet Boys, P!nk, Bon Jovi, Celine Dion, Britney Spears, Ariana Grande etc. etc. etc.) has found its home at the Shaftesbury Theatre. The comedy musical follows Shakespeare (and his wife Anne)’s rewriting of his classic tale beginning with Juliet not killing her self upon finding Romeo’s body. From here, she decides to go to Paris with her best friends to find love once again.
Cassidy Janson (Anne), Miriam Teak-Lee (Juliet) and Melanie La Barrie (Nurse). Image credit: Johan Persson
We managed to see a preview of the show in Manchester this October and really enjoyed the performance but seeing it in the West End has completely blown us away. The production has become everything previews are intended for, it’s one of a kind and has to be seen to be believed! Here are our five reasons to see & Juliet:
The smash hit musical has officially opened in London! Written by Steven Levenson (who has won a Tony Award for this show) with a soundtrack by the legendary Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (The Greatest Showman, La La Land), this London production was set to be a resounding success after it’s accomplishments on Broadway winning six Tony Awards. The show follows Evan Hansen (Sam Tutty), whose well intended lie of telling a grieving family that he was best friends with their son spirals out of control. Filled with some fantastic songs and such raw emotion, this show is one not to miss. We loved the show and thought it was so sad! The only part we felt didn’t really land that well with a British audience was “To Break In A Glove”, perhaps with the baseball glove father/son sentiment being something almost exclusively American, but hey, it’s an American show! Regardless, we highly recommend this show. Here are our five reasons to see Dear Evan Hansen in London!
