... Hitting the high notes Criterion East 15 Acting School On the impressive evidence of this latest postgraduate showcase. East 15's founding principles-- truth in acting and a fierce belief in the important role of theatre in society--continue to shine just as brightly as they ever did in the school's 38th year. Events began appropriately enough with the entire company arriving on stage singing ...

... The Muldoons Wakefield After some members of the Muldoon Brothers left the band recently to pursue other projects, the future of this renowned hillbilly band looked pretty uncertain. It now seems that, after a short spell off the road, the impossible has actually hap pened and three long-lost mem bers of the Muldoon clan have turned up to join the two sur vivors to return the band to its full ...

... Le Nozze di Figaro Holland Park Theatre Opera in Holland Park has come a long way since the often amateurish junkets of a decade ago. Opera Holland Park's new staging of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro was a considerable success, thanks to the committed singing and acting of a mostly young cast and two seasoned pros. Designer Peter Rice trans formed a pleasing shallow, U-shaped enclave of dove ...

... Almost a total washout London Coliseum Spartacus If one ballet identifies the Bolshoi Ballet, it is Spartacus, and even if today's company would rather let go of its legendary hallmark, the London public is not yet ready to accept a season without Yuri Grigorovich's blockbuster. But the Bolshoi Ballet of today is quite different from the troupe that bowled audiences over in 1968, when this ...

... Unique idea in pole position Greenwich+Docklands International Festival: Canary Wharf Flight Australian company Strange Fruit returns to the UK with its new outdoor show, performed - at this lunchtime viewing in scorching sunshine - at the entrance to the new Jubilee Line station. Lasting just half an hour, Right is quite a slight offering which explores mankind's obsession with flying. ...

... The Gogmagogs Gobbledygook Bridewell The Gogmagogs are a septet of very talented string players who launched themselves a couple of years ago, playing their instruments in a multitude of positions to scores specially commissioned in response to physical and spatial ideas. The result was a series of college cabaret turns to music which reeled out like ticker- tape. Their current ...

... Summer Cabaret '99 Blackpool Some summer shows carry on pulling in the crowds with the minimum of fuss and fanfares. Into this category comes the cabaret line-up of one of Blackpool's longest established live entertainment venues - the Talk of the Coast at the Viking Hotel. A welcome addition to this year's line-up is comedian Stu Francis, who headlines the Monday slot. A master of the art of ...

... The Jolson, Formby, Crosby Show Blackpool There have been busier opening nights. But, if there is anyone out there who loves a trier then they will adore this night of nostalgia at South Shore's once thriving Tangerine Nightspot. The idea for this event origi nated at Great Yarmouth's Wellington Pier before arriving in Blackpool for an early season at North Pier in 1995. But, the cur rent ...

... Vanessa Bloomsbury Theatre Samuel Barber's Vanessa is the composer at his best, an old- fashioned grand opera carried upon succulent harmonies skilfully orchestrated, the rhythmic momentum seamlessly sustained within the formal structure of each act. Menotti's trashy libretto, how ever, does not deserve its fine score. Vanessa, having waited 20 years for her lover, instead finally meets his ...

... Cosi fan tutte Longborough Summer opera for the wealthy gentry is proliferating alarmingly. Eavesdropping revealed a fair percentage of the Longborough crowd had already notched up Glyndeboume, Garsington and Grange Park. The Longborough Cosi was an Opera 2000 import. Making the lovers English travellers in Italy circa 1820, with Don Alfonso a waggish visitant friend stirring it with the ...

... Warren Vache and The Zephyr All-Stars Conway Hall Zephyr is a record label, run by John Bune, which has made its name by presenting the music of British jazz mainstreamers, chief among them the durable pianist Brian Lemon. The label's roster of artists has been supplemented by occasional American guest stars, with trumpeter Warren Vache appearing often enough to qualify for honorary ...

... Seaside Special Cromer Seaside Special is everything that a summer show ought to be. It is funny, fast-moving and colourful, and sends you out of the Pavilion knowing you have had a great time. Underlying it all may be the old-fashioned concept of the end- of-the-pier show, but this produc tion is, more than ever, bang up to date. Robert Marlowe devises, directs and choreographs for its 18th ...