... 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). ...

... Stand-in is a showstopper Lyric, Hammersmith/Touring Fascinating Aida- Barefaced Chic! As the curtain rises on this revamped show, first seen in London at the Theatre Royal Haymarket last year, the three members of Fascinating Aida are 'backstage', pondering the highs and lows of this business called show. And well they should, for although the pre-publicity had all been about new member, ...

... Lee Hurst Leicester A capacity audience greeted Lee Hurst at the De Montfort Hall when he appeared as part of this year's Leicester Comedy Festival, beaming his trademark grin. The Londoner quickly got them laughing with a topical gag, that Leicester people are friendly like Stan Collymore the troubled Leicester City star. Then Hurst went into an hour of fine comedy. The themes were not ...

... Reach Out Blackpool/Touring Philadelphia had its freedom and New York was so good they named it twice, but it was always dirty Detroit, the motor town, that had the best music. The American metropolis pro duced a seemingly endless line of hit makers, and this show at the Grand pays tribute to the Temptations, the Four Tops and the Motown record label era. It is always the songs as Oft., much ...

... Romeo et Juliette Royal Opera House Nicolas Joel's blandly old-fashioned production of Gounod's opera, first seen in 1994, has heavy architectural decor, Nordic gloom lighting and much period shrieking for the Capulet ball. Why is the R0H reviving so dis mal a staging of a fine score, aglow with youthful passion, transparently orchestrated especially as regards woodwind fleet of foot and with ...

... CAA Dinner Bloomsbury Posthouse In recent years, the Concert Artistes Association annual dinner has introduced some unfamiliar performers in its cabaret, and this year there were two acts new to me. The Jelly Rolls are a smaller but no less weighty offshoot of the Roly Polys, created by ex-Roly Poly Audrey Leyboume. There are three of them, the largest a bespectacled charmer in the mould, and ...

... Turandot Cardiff/Touring Visual and vocal, the impact of Christopher Alden's 1994 updating of this piece for Welsh National Opera ensured that it had to be revived. And it has been to even greater effect, bringing together the outstanding talents of Dennis O'Neill as Calaf and the thrilling Anna bnatajinskaya, making her British debut in the title role. The heroic warmth of the Prince ...

... Here Come the Girls Wakefield When this show was first staged, its premise was to feature cabaret spots from a female cast of Yorkshire performers. Since then, it has developed into a high quality presentation. Clubland star Michaela May, who is also commere for this evening at the Frobisher Suite in the Millhouse Complex, is the first of the cast of four onstage. She has a dramatic, throaty ...

... Ronnie Scott's Stacey Kent Relaxed and classy, vocalist Stacey Kent's approach is ideally suited to her favoured repertoire, which consists largely of classic vintage American songs. Her refined interpretations, backed by an equally stylish band, serve to illustrate both what an excellent voice she has and how good the standard of popular songwriting was in the twenties, thirties and ...