... Hypnotic riffs and rhythms Wembley Arena The Best Disco in Town--Live 2 Ain't no party like a disco party. cried Nile Rodgers. The trouble was that we had to get through an uneven ragbag of performances before the Village People whipped the crowd into a frenzy with the evergreen crowd pleaser YMCA. Tongue firmly in his cheek, George McCrae began the evening well, crooning baby, baby, baby ...

... The Magic and Illusion of Richard Leigh Barons Court Theatre This venue's tiny space seemed to cramp the style of Richard Leigh and his pretty assistant Corinne-Elise. There were some unfortunate offstage crashes and whispers, and whether bad luck or a lack of practice revealed the secret of their piece de resistance substitution trunk, it really should not have happened. Sadly, at such close ...

... Christmas in Paradise Blackpool Unlike its summer spectacular, the Pleasure Beach Paradise Room does not push the boat out for this winter warmer. Audience expectations are different for each show, with the Christmas performance catering for parties and its summer counter part entertaining families and providing escapism for holiday- makers. The winter production provides a night to eat, drink ...

... On a Clear Day You Can See Forever Bridewell When a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane takes 35 years to arrive in London, and then in a small-scale production, you can bet there is something wrong with it. And it does not take long to see what it is. Lerner's book reflected his interest in psychiatry, hypnotism and extra sensory perception, a subject that had been tackled 25 years ...

... The Wrestling/ The Nation's Favourite: The True Adventures of Radio 1 Jermyn Street Theatre/Touring Art imitates life in this ingenious double bill, adapted and performed with admirable skill by Alex Lowe, which takes its inspiration from two books by Simon Garfield. exploring two very different British institutions. The Wrestling recalls the glory days of a sport that at its peak had a nation ...

... Hedda Gabler Starting Gate This strong, big-boned production may miss some of the ambiguities of Henrik Ibsen's study of alienation and manipulation, but it is certainly clear-sighted and effective. Director Amanda Ling focuses her attention on the characters' actions, developing the plot cleanly and methodically, building slowly and gravely to its suicidal climax. The production is carefully ...

... Salena Jones Purcell Room There is something nostalgically classy about American singer Salena Jones' approach to jazz--she presents tunes, simply and stylishly sung, backed by fine musicianship and bereft of over the top vocal showiness or frills. This performance was in many ways reminiscent or listening to recordings from the fifties and sixties. Jones' voice is mellow and her musical ...

... The Price of Meat Riverside Studios Michele Celeste first attracted attention with his hard-hitting Hanging the President, set on Death Row in a Cape Town jail. But his new play is a soft-centred soao Dretendine to be dark farce. It is set in a Yorkshire ghost town after the coalfields have closed down, leaving whoring, pulling pints and blackmail as the only sources of income. The Jackson ...

... A Woman of No Importance Manchester An imposing country house and an assembly of aristocrats at a candlelit dinner party set the scene for one of Oscar Wilde's most glittering and yet most moral tales. The hypocritical attitudes of Victorian society are scathingly attacked in the play which the Royal Exchange has chosen to launch its new season. Lez Brotherston's sumptuous sets and ...

... Celebration of genius Royal Opera House The MacMillan Inheritance With this triple bill, the Royal Ballet celebrates the genius of the late Kenneth MacMillan, although one sometimes feels the loss of his unique finishing touch. Touring Japan a quarter century ago, MacMillan was prompted to create Rituals, a three part performance piece combining Kung Fu combat, Bunraku puppetry and stylised ...

... The Duchess of Malfi Starting Gate From the moment Duke Ferdinand enters bellowing and taking up most of the small stage with his flailing arms and violent jerks of his body, you sense that this is going to be a ripely physical and overwrought production. It is loud brash and belligerent, but far too concerned to bully meaning out of the text instead of letting it speak for itself. Brett ...

... Grimm Tales: A Guide to Modern Manhood Oval House Modem masculinity is in crisis, or so the press blurb would seem to suggest. Plundering the seemingly innocent world of the Brothers Grimm fairytales, the four young men of the Screwed and Clued Theatre Company interweave the stories with ritualistic scenes from contemporary male life to examine the plight of their number. Physical theatre ...