... The Nualas- The Big Shiny Dress Tour Lyric, Hammersmith This comic Irish singing trio offers a programme of songs satisfyingly rich in whimsy and madness. Highlights include an a cappella salute to the village idiot, a love song to Donald Sutherland (You're Canadian but you don't bore me at all), a dirge for ute lusi giunes ui iimu anu unm- polene and a rap song delight fully devoid of ...

... Rhona Cameron Bloomsbury/Touring Fresh from her slightly disappointing, albeit mildly successful sitcom debut, Rhona Cameron has hit the gruelling touring road to play-- this evidence- to audiences comprised, for the large part, of her fellow gay women. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it is a little unfortunate given her attempts to break the lesbian comedienne tag, and when ...

... Making a lasting impression By JOHN MARTLAND So successful has the topical Impressions sketch show Dead Ringers (R4, from F/iday, November 17) become, that it is now possible to download certain extracts from the Internet. These mostly feature prank telephone calls by Tom Baker impersonator Jon Culshaw, in the role of Dr Who, to various stores, individ uals and organisations. However, in ...

... Sounds of Blackness Royal Festival Hall Boasting a formidable reputation, this choir--backed by a slick, disciplined band--returned to London to present a show which often sparkled but also threw up some surprisingly disappointing moments. Perhaps an occasionally skewed-seeming sound balance or the nature of some of the arrangements was to blame, but all too many of the evening's up-tempo ...

... Courtney Pine Royal Festival Hall There is no doubting the sheer quality and excitement of saxophone virtuoso Courtney Pine's work, nor his willingness to broaden the scope of jazz to take in a broad sweep of styles including rock rhythms and reggae. Those approaches were on display in a set which brought the packed crowd to its feet and provided ample opportunities to revel in Pine's ...

... Rory Block Blackheath Halls Having grown up in New York's Greenwich Village, WC Handy Award-winning artist Rory Block is a leading exponent of prewar Delta blues. A slight figure, clad in T-shirt, jeans and boots, she nonethe less has the ability to hold the attention of an audience with a solo performance, as she showed in this concert. Sitting with guitar in hand, slamming the strings while ...

... A bohemian alternative London Coliseum La Boheme The line between genius and talent is a thin one, which is why Puccini's 'bohemian' opera has eclipsed Leoncavallo's, in many ways a more truthful depiction of Murger's essentially tiresome and self-regarding Chararters Leoncavallo's libretto (he dev ised his own) lacks the economy and concision of Illica's and Gio- cosa's for Puccini. Acts I ...

... Don Giovanni Glyndebourne/Touring Graham Vick's production of Mozart's Don Juan masterpiece, first seen at Glyndebourne this summer, was thoroughly panned by the critical fraternity. And although it remains literally a pile of pooh, its new cast and conductor miraculously make irrelevant the perverse staging. The opera blazes into life. Conductor Martyn Brabbins' secure grip on the score ...

... Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal Peacock Theatre Television, music and the movies exert a powerful pull on the young, both as light entertainment and theatrical career choices. This can leave dance in general, and ballet in particular, trailing in their wake, a factor that has surelv insDired the ethos and repertory of this company. Since its founding in the early seventies, the Canadian troupe ...

... Masterclass in cabaret Jermyn Street Theatre Kaye Ballard One very damp evening recently, as six youngish singers were pulling out all the stops in their efforts to become the Voice of Musical Theatre on BBC Radio 2, a group of rather more mature souls sat spellbound in this tiny theatre while a Broadwav and popular music legend held court. Dispensing with an opening number on the grounds ...

... Si J'Etais Roi Wexford If I were king the fisherman Zephoris scrawls in the sand, heartbroken that Nemea, the young woman he has saved from drowning and loves, is a princess above his station. As a joke, the Goan King real ises the wish. Thus empowered, Zephoris rights wrongs, unmasks Prince Kadoor's treacherous involvement with invading Portu guese, whose attack he foils, gains advancement ...

... Birmingham's triple thrills Sunderland/Touring Triple Bill A delightful threesome to get the pulses racing, Birmingham Royal Ballet's Triple Bill at the Sunder-land Empire combined the best of classical and modem dance and thrilled an appreciative audience. The first element, Scenes de Ballet, provided a breath of light ness, a gentile offering in the classic style with the movement measured ...