... Four Nights Buccaneers Comedy In this tiny upstairs room at The Hope pub, the punters are on almost intimate terms with performers Pat Condell and Ivor Dembina. Physical proximity echoes a different kind of intimacy as each comedian spends time delving into the private and personal. An elegant anger at religion, and more specifically Roman Catholicism, is threaded through Condell 's routine ...

... Traditionally shipshape Savoy HMS Pinafore Gilbert and Sullivan operas seem better when staged in their original home in the Strand, possibly because audiences are more receptive there. This is certainly the case with Martin Duncan's production, beginning with the arrival of the tap-dancing crew, a blow to the traditionalists, perhaps, but well to the liking of the majority of the audience. ...

... Madama Butterfly Manchester How refreshing it is to see a production of this opera that is not bound by convention, even though it is flawed in parts. Opera North has given director Dalia Ibelhauptaite a completely free hand at the Opera House, and her naturalistic direction tandem with the innovative designs of Oleg Cheintsis and enhanced by Peter Mumford's dramatic lighting, has given a ...

... Les Contes d'Hoffman Antwerp Offenbach, who always revised his work in the light of public performance, left this piece unfinished at his death. No one knows what form it may eventually have taken, but that has not discouraged musical meddling nor the mandarin pronouncements of musicologists, especially as autograph fragments pop up. Offenbach originally intended to use sung recit but, just ...

... Turnage proves his true mettle London Coliseum The Silver Tassie Taking Sean O'Casey's play, neatly filleted by Amanda Holden, as his theme, Mark-Anthony Tumage has come up with an opera which, if not exactly giving a resounding start to the new millennium, is eminently approachable. Its score, though not without modernistic dissonances, will not frighten the traditionalists, and its ...

... The Musicals and More! AshtoiHinder-Lyne/Touring Every vocalist's nightmare is noisy amplifiers and a microphone that does not work. It came true for one member of the cast of this Tameside Hippodrome show who, nevertheless, carried on like a trouper. Another cast member failed to switch off her phone when she left the stage, to the audience's amusement. Apart from sound problems, this ...

... Alison Jiear Brentwood In addition to versatile singing and impeccable phrasing, Alison Jiear displayed great talent at the Brentwood Theatre: irreverent comedy gifts, a bright personality and singing perfectly off-key. This was the second time I had heard the former Fabulous Singlette solo. Not only was she more relaxed, the act was honed. There were old Eydie Gorme numbers Since I Fell for ...

... Days when 208 was truly great By JOHN MARTLAND We are constantly being told that nostalgia is not what it used to be, but there is still an awful lot of it around, especially on radio. Why, only just recently, a misty- eyed (at least, he sounded like it) Noel Edmonds hosted a fulsome 60-minutes worth of cences about The Great 208 the Story of Radio Luxembourg (R2, Tuesday, February 15). ...

... Something Wonderful Wimbledon Theatre/ Touring Conceived by Walter Bobbie, director of the Broadway and West End revivals of Chicago, this classy musical celebration of Rodgers and Hammerstein was entitled A Grand Night for Singing when it played Off-Broadway in 1993. Its current tour is headed by Liz Robertson and Dave Willetts, supported by Geoffrey Abbott, Louise Davidson and Shona ...

... King's Head 9½ Quid Revue Those who remember intimate revue in its heyday do so with great fondness, but there is little chance that Martin Chamin's production will revive the genre for a new generation of theatregoers. Chamin, who devises and directs the show, has had a long and varied career as a director, composer, librettist and producer in American theatre, but appears never to have lost ...

... Salisbury Sassy, saucy supper theatre at the Playhouse's Salberg Studio offers a feast of Stephen Sondheim in a show so good that it makes for a very special night. It is fun Sondheim's witty lyrics ensure that but also captures a range of emotions, from loving sweetness to cold anger and heartbreak. Above all, this is a happy show, with singers Jules Davison, Shona Lindsay and Philip Wrigley ...

... Golden era's sumptuous tunes The John Wilson Orchestra Pizza on the Park As a sumptuous reminder of how good the popular music of an earlier era is. John Wilson's superb orchestra, rich in warm fifties- style string sounds and boasting a repertoire of 20th century classics, would be hard to beat. Wilsons own arrangements, as well as those by legends such as Robert Farnon, are handled ...