... 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 ...

... So moving inside this child's mind New Ambassadors Spoonface Steinberg It takes a very special kind of writer to get into the mind of a child who is autistic, Jewish and suffering from cancer but, as radio listeners know, Lee Hall managed it triumphantly in 1997. Though it worked so brilliantly on radio, thanks to Kathryn Hunter's wonderful performance it is even better in the theatre. She is ...

... Libera Me Edinburgh It was not the wisest decision to stage the Flying Splinter Group's new production during Edinburgh's Hogmanay street party in the dying moments of the last millennium--most revellers looked briefly and wandered past. But when the repeat performance packed out George Street on New Year's Day, the full glory of the piece showed that little else was wrong. Devised around a ...

... Under Milk Wood Mold Dylan Thomas' play for voices is not easy to stage. The language forms the characters and if a director allows too much business he risks distraction from its richness. lerry Hanos production in Clwyd Theatr Cymru's Emlyn Williams Theatre does not fall into that trap. On occasion it is too busy, some of the miming is over fussy, but mostly it allows the words to build up ...

... 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 ...

... Amen Corner Tricycle There are too few plays such as James Baldwin's bold examination of emotional turmoil in a Harlem Pentecostal church for us not to forgive its length, occasional repetitiveness and some faintly simple-minded moral lessons. Artfully constructed and filled with fantastic gospel singing, it offers a gentle insight into the struggles of the impoverished community particularly ...

... Punchy look at a swinging city Young Vic Studio/Touring Soho Story Fast moving and sharply observed. Kaboodle's musical production holds the attention from start to finish, poking fun at the swinging London of the fifties and sixties but never failing to put its more serious points across. Based on The Beggar's Opera principle of low life charac ters and popular tunes, it tells the story of ...

... Three Men in a Boat Wimbledon Studio Audience participation is not often as thorough as this. There is no question of simply turning up to watch Performance Theatre Company's superb version of the Jerome K Jerome classic- everybody in the auditorium has their part to play in the story. And the result is a riotously enjoyable show as Jay, George and Harris played by Patrick Bramwells, Benjamin ...

... 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 ...