All stories by Chris Wiegand on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Shucked review – terrific songs add zest to undercooked corn country musical by Chris Wiegand

Regent’s Park Open Air theatre, London Thin tale of neighbourly spirit is loaded with groansome gags but the hoedowns and show tunes are full of flavour Aw, shucks. There’s plenty to lov…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42AM
Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Actor and writer Gawn Grainger dies aged 87 by Chris Wiegand

A prolific performer with the National Theatre, the actor and playwright – who was married to Zoë Wanamaker – was also a regular on TV, starring in Doctor Who The actor and writer Gawn …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:24PM

The Fifth Step review – Jack Lowden and Martin Freeman go head to head by Chris Wiegand

@sohoplace, London A new arrival at Alcoholics Anonymous meets with his apparently composed sponsor in David Ireland’s knotty, often hilarious two-hander Jack Lowden wasn’t away from the…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:24AM
Friday, May 16, 2025

Charles Strouse, Tony award-winning composer of Annie, dies aged 96 by Chris Wiegand

Over the course of an illustrious career, Strouse composed music for Broadway shows such as Bye Bye Birdie and Applause but was best known for Annie’s evergreen songs The composer Charles …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:24AM
Wednesday, May 14, 2025

Oedipus at Colonus/Electra review – a double shot of Sophocles in Sicily by Chris Wiegand

Greek theatre, Syracuse Two searing new productions, performed in a hallowed space by intense ensembles, bring strikingly fresh energy to the ancient dramas Concurrent London productions rec…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:12AM
Thursday, May 8, 2025

Three Hens in a Boat review – Jerome K Jerome inspires funny voyage of family reflection by Chris Wiegand

Reading Rep theatreThree generations of soon-to-be-weds unload their emotional baggage into the Thames in Camille Ucan’s comedy Jerome K Jerome was not kind about Reading in Three Men in a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:32AM
Wednesday, May 7, 2025

Shedinburgh festival returns with new 100-seat venue at Edinburgh fringe by Chris Wiegand

Francesca Moody and Gary McNair’s innovative DIY solution to Covid restrictions will be revamped for a series of in-person, one-off shows When the 2020 Edinburgh fringe was cancelled due t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:48AM
Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Jamie Cullum to compose music for RSC’s The Constant Wife starring Rose Leslie by Chris Wiegand

The musician is to debut as a theatre composer for W Somerset Maugham’s 1926 comedy adapted by Laura Wade and directed by Tamara Harvey Jamie Cullum is to make his debut as a theatre compo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:32AM
Thursday, May 1, 2025

Holy Krapp! Gary Oldman and Stephen Rea unspool Beckett’s masterpiece about memory by Chris Wiegand

Krapp’s Last Tape, in which an old man rummages through recordings of his younger self, is back for two star-powered revivals. This haunting play invites actors and audiences to reconnect …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:32PM

The best theatre to stream this month: how Stranger Things shook the stage by Chris Wiegand

Behind-the-scenes look at the TV juggernaut’s transformation into a theatrical spectacular, interactive acrobatics with Cirque du Soleil and a spellbinding tribute to Kneehigh are among th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:54AM
Wednesday, April 9, 2025

Sunny Side review – teen spirit spirals in yearning dance drama by Chris Wiegand

The Place, London Arresting show from Northern Rascals charts the growing distance between two young men This bedroom looks like it has been ripped out of a building. Its walls are edged wit…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:18AM
Wednesday, April 2, 2025

Beegu review – Alexis Deacon’s mellow yellow alien adventure hits the stage by Chris Wiegand

Unicorn theatre, LondonRejected by adults, the far-from-home heroine is embraced by cheering children in Debbie Hannan’s comical show If you took one of Tove Jansson’s Moomins, sprayed t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:06AM
Tuesday, April 1, 2025

The best theatre to stream this month: Macbeth, Life of Pi, Playhouse Creatures and more by Chris Wiegand

David Tennant and Cush Jumbo in Shakespeare’s tragedy, a puppet-powered transformation for Yann Martel’s novel and Anna Chancellor in a Restoration-era comedy are among this month’s hi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:12AM

Scraps review – posh frocks and meal deals in a class comedy by Chris Wiegand

Wardrobe theatre, BristolDaisy Kennedy and Mia Macleod tussle with capitalism, class cliches and the cost of living in this smart two-hander Meet Daisy and Mia. One is working class, the oth…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:12AM
Monday, March 31, 2025

Apex Predator review – supernatural psychodrama bites off more than it can chew by Chris Wiegand

Hampstead theatre, LondonSophie Melville and Laura Whitmore star in an ambitious yet flawed play about the pressures of parenthood John Donnelly’s new play is perceptive about early parent…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:32PM
Friday, March 28, 2025

Little Angel Theatre’s Miniature Travelling Circus review – tiny treats for tots by Chris Wiegand

Little Angel theatre, LondonThe big top pops up inside a book as puppeteer Lizzie Wort whirls through a jaunty carnival of acts Roll up, roll up! Abracadabra! There’s barely a trad circus …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:12PM
Thursday, March 27, 2025

Red or Dead review – Peter Mullan never walks alone as Liverpool FC hero Bill Shankly by Chris Wiegand

Royal Court, LiverpoolA cast of more than 50 delivers an inspiring adaptation of David Peace’s epic novel about a manager who prized socialism In 2016, an adaptation of David Peace’s The…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:54AM
Tuesday, March 25, 2025

Hot Chicks review – scorching account of county lines exploitation by Chris Wiegand

Sherman theatre, CardiffRebecca Jade Hammond’s assured drama about two girls groomed for drug trafficking switches between humour and terror What a punchy play. Rebecca Jade Hammond has wr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:36PM
Tuesday, March 18, 2025

‘Our show fits in a duffel bag’: clowning duo Xhloe and Natasha on scoring a triple fringe whammy by Chris Wiegand

They came out of the blue and electrified Edinburgh with absurdist takes on Americana. Now the US pair are doing all three hits back to back – and dreaming of not having to share a room It…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:36PM
Monday, March 17, 2025

The LeftBehinds review – dystopian thriller finds the National Theatre firing on all cylinders by Chris Wiegand

Lancaster Academy, LeicesterRoss Willis and Ned Bennett’s audacious adventure for schools is a cult in the making, with a post-apocalyptic plot, snappy gags and a trash-talking baby This i…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM
Friday, March 14, 2025

Macbeth review – a dynamic tragedy of somersaulting ambition by Chris Wiegand

Shakespeare’s Globe, LondonThis brisk staging for young audiences has acrobatic witches and action-movie fights but misses some of the play’s bloodcurdling weirdness Here is a Macbeth fo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:36AM
Thursday, March 13, 2025

A Little Inquest Into What We Are All Doing Here review – notes on a scandal by Chris Wiegand

Shoreditch Town Hall, LondonThe cancellation in 2022 of a sex education show for children and their families is revisited in this hour of artistic self-assessment The stage is dressed for an…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:48AM
Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Embodying the Impossible review – beguiling tricks of the magic trade by Chris Wiegand

The Place, London Tom Cassani outlines conjuring techniques with a beguiling routine, while Compagnie Les Vagues make a teasing performance from tiny movements Throwing shapes is expected at…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:54AM
Monday, March 10, 2025

US playwright ak payne wins Susan Smith Blackburn prize by Chris Wiegand

Furlough’s Paradise, a ‘lyrical’ journey about grief, scoops award for female, transgender and non-binary playwrights The Susan Smith Blackburn prize for female, transgender and non-bi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18PM

A Tryal of Witches review – an enthralling memorial to Suffolk’s persecuted women by Chris Wiegand

Theatre Royal, Bury St EdmundsAn all-female cast deliver Tallulah Brown’s play about 17th-century East Anglians under threat of the self-styled Witchfinder General The past sings to the pr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:06AM

Bungalow review – secrets and cries in a family home of horrors by Chris Wiegand

Theatre503, London Playwright Ruth D’Silva explores cruelty and control but also kindness in a knotty drama focusing on a mother-daughter relationship ‘Don’t play with your food,” Be…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:06AM
Friday, March 7, 2025

A Squash and a Squeeze review – Donaldson and Scheffler favourite crammed with songs by Chris Wiegand

Little Angel Studios, LondonIngenious puppetry and jolly performances help animate the story about an ever-expanding indoor menagerie Many young families quickly find themselves running out …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:42PM
Thursday, March 6, 2025

Taio Lawson to shepherd London’s Bush theatre as new artistic director by Chris Wiegand

Lynette Linton’s successor at the new writing venue in west London promises to build on its bold legacy Taio Lawson has been appointed as the new artistic director of the Bush theatre in w…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:36AM
Tuesday, March 4, 2025

‘Just to see Tom Hiddleston would be enough!’ My eye-popping night with the fans who mob stage doors by Chris Wiegand

With London’s West End chockful of Hollywood A-listers, crowds are thronging stage doors. But do some fans go too far? We uncover a shadowy story of joyful adulation, gobby putdowns – an…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:12PM
Saturday, March 1, 2025

The best theatre to stream this month: The Lion King, Churchill in Moscow, The Other Place and more by Chris Wiegand

An anniversary show for the pride of Disney, a secret meeting of wartime leaders and a very modern Antigone are among this month’s highlights Talk about the circle of life: past stars of t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:24AM
Monday, February 24, 2025

Hansel and Gretel review – Northern Ballet ditch the witch in peril-free eco-fable by Chris Wiegand

Stanley and Audrey Burton theatre, LeedsWitty compositions and appealing performances win over a young audience but the traditionally grisly tale gets lost in the woods Traditionally, Hansel…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:54AM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Nov 17, 2024: Elf - Marquis Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre