... 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 ...

... 28th Annual MacMillan Weekend of Magic Elizabeth Warlock Her Majesty's There was not a rabbit or dove in sight, but this magic show was full of variety, ranging from the classic cups and balls trick to black art, comedy and illusions. Noel Britten was the excellent compere of this event, the high light of three days of magic performed by stars from around the world. He learned his craft as a ...

... Not Yet the Dodo John Martland British Library Although it was made it clear at the outset that not one note of Noel Coward's music would be sung during this elegant soiree, William Blezard established just the right mood by playing a miniature overture on the piano and then skilfully interpolated the occasional musical morsel, com posed by Coward and others, into this entertainment of The ...

... Funny Girls Christmas Show Robin Duke Blackpool Basil Newby's phenomenally successful transvestite showbar Funny Girls has gone to town with what is already proving to be a record-breaking seasonal show. Having recently put paid to rumours alleging his imminent departure, headliner Betty 'Legs' Diamond (Simon Green) has come up with a virtually brand new show in what is the venue's most ...

... Swindon Norman Pace took leave from his starring role in West End musical Chicago to hit the road with long time comedy partner Gareth Hale. A cold, wet Monday night at the Wyvern Theatre may not appear to match West End glamour, but that proved no problem to the near-capacity audience, which enjoyed some familiar routines along with equally familiar rudery. The duo welcomed them by adapting ...

... Varied line-up has real gems Billing Jade Entertainments Billing Aquadrome's Marina Room may not at first glance appear the most obvious of showcase venues--especially on a cold, rainy evening--but once inside this lively place of honest, no frills entertainment, you soon warm to it. And, on the night. Jade Entertainments had gone to the trouble of supplying more variety than some, with solo ...

... Falstaff Guildford Verdi never intended that his final opera should be performed, but mercifully a reprieve gave the world an elegant masterpiece so different from his usual boisterous showstopping arias and ensemble. London Opera Players premieres a delightful production at the Yvonne Amaud Theatre, directed without gimmickry by John Ramster and accompanied by Charles Farncombe, who ...

... Cabaret with class Pizza on the Park KT Sullivan and Steve Ross Barry J Mishon's style of slick and well constructed cabaret shows has never been better demonstrated than by this joint recital from two luminaries of the New York scene, the already familiar Steve Ross and the more recently garlanded diva KT Sullivan, known to aficionados in this country only through her recordings. The ...

... This knight wins his spurs Royal Opera House Gawain Now, at the year's dead end, the dream quickens, sings Morgan le Fay at the start of Harrison's Birtwistle's epic Gawain, relishing the prospect of destroying Arthur's smug Camelot as she lures the faithful Gawain into his fateful odyssey of needful knowledge provoked by the Green Knight's challenge. An inspired choice of opera, ...

... Roberto Alagna/Angela Gheorghiu Royal Opera House Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna ended this joint recital singing Christmas encores, she a touchingly simple Romanian carol, unaccompanied and phrased with a natural purity of line, he Petit Papa Noel, whose first half he delivered with tonal bloom and a Gallic lightness. They were a reminder of the duo's natural voices especially of ...

... Der Protagonist/ Royal Palace Barbican Hall Opening operatic offering in this venue's Kurt Weill celebration, Berlin to Broadway, was a double bill, the second part of which was a UK Dremiera. Der Protagonist (1924-5) is a PagliaccHike tale motored by a fierce Hindemithian drive, though harmonic succulence pervades the Protagonist's first faintly incestuous exchange with his sister. The ...