... 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 ...

... Danny Brown Edinburgh/Touring On a dreary Tuesday, the news that several venues on Danny Brown's tour had already cancelled him was not promising. But the Stand Comedy Club has not survived in the city without building a strong reputation for itself, and there was a good turn out for the host of Channel 4's cooking and dating show, Dishes. With a main course promis ing to be hot and spicy, ...

... The Sara Jory Band Brierley Hill What can you say about an act who has Buddy Hemmings as one of her biggest fans? After her debut at Showcall Showcase in Stratford-upon-Avon last year and signing to new manager Malcolm Feld, the band certainly have been busy on the road. Even after playing recently to 36,000 people in Holland and soon to tour in Switzerland, Jory's loyalty to British ...

... Los Excentricos Purcell Room It has to be said. Some clowns are just not funny. So hurrah for this wonderful trio from Barcelona who had the entire audience in stitches with their show Rapsodia in Clown. Like all great clowns, Marceline Kahn (Marceline), Josep Ventura (Sylvestre) and Didier Armbruster (Zaza) have the ability to engage all age groups, and the parents at this half-term ...

... Night of the Dons 2 - The Big Pay Back! Greenwich Night of the Dons 2 reprises the comic mayhem of 1997's Night of the Dons but, ousting the pride of male black comedy, this time it is the women's turn to strut their stuff in this roaring production from Goodfoot Entertainments in association with Theatre Royal ouairuru tasi, wnere an me actors/comics play themselves. Eddie Gee has a ...

... II Barbiere de Siviglia Cardiff/Touring Giles Havergals 1986 production of Rossini's comic masterpiece for Welsh National Opera continues to wear well, its timely revival at the New bringing forth well-earned laughter and applause throughout. Commedia dell arte staging, designed by Russell Craig, has been meticulously reproduced with a rollicking sense of fun by Aidan Lang. There is much ...

... Diverse menu of fine acts Wimborne BFP Entertainments Scene Showcase 2000 This event at Cobham Sports and Social Club had been rescheduled from the autumn due to a fire. In truth one speculated whether it was still smouldering, for the temperature in the packed cabaret room was such that jackets were soon divested and programmes vigorously utilised as fans. Fortunately, discomfort was to be ...

... Hawthorn Entertainments Trecco Bay, Porthcawl Neville and Anita Williams, the principals of Hawthorn Entertainments, welcomed their many guests to the spacious surroundings of the Show Dome to see a selection of managed and touring artists. Compere Steve Saint really had the most difficult of tasks. The enormous audience was largely made up of revellers from the South Wales clubland fraternity ...

... 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 ...

... Clash of styles grabs attention Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky Whether this piece, by John Adams and June Jordan, represents the future of opera I would not like to say. But there is no doubt that it is significant in bringing the operatic form to a young audience. Some might claim that it is more of a musical than an opera, but it is ...