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Zara Baker glams up and adds some romance to winter

It’s nearly Valentine’s Day. Ladies, if you’re planning on shedding the cardi and woolly hat combo and glamming it up, ease in gently. The gorgeous dresses, sky-heel heels and perfect make-up from Christmas and New Year festivities seem a lifetime ago. The next big calendar event is of course, St Valentine’s. If you’re planning to woo, be wooed or celebrate with singleton friends, mix winter sale bargains with hot new trends for spring and summer. The shops have (mostly all) released their new looks for the hopefully warmer season ahead. But it is still only February, so mixing seasonal trends is required.
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This new Hove comedy night had some cracking emerging comics, topped off with the ever-dependable deft comic touch of Simon Evans, with an unorthodox format alternating all the way through the evening.
Compere Paul Wilson was more character act than compere, with some mixed ideas that worked well in patches but were spread thin in other parts. James Acaster kicked off with a likeable set, with Lee Hume and Rich Perry clocking up some bankable laughs.
Jim Holland introduced some successful new material and Stephen Nelson delivered fine gags that needed a little more contact with the audience to reach their full potential. Worth watching the development of this night.
Brunswick, 14 January
3/5
Victoria Nangle

Seeing the film is not seeing the musical, and yet most people come to theatre expecting just that. Cabaret on stage is bleaker, darker and far more affecting and this production had plenty to recommend it with great staging, set and company.
But the principals have to face the comparisons. Samantha Banks as Sally Bowles does a good job of ridding the image of Liza Minelli, and although her acting is a little gauche she has a superb voice and perfect diction. Wayne Sleep however makes you cry for Joel Gray with a hammy portrayal of the Emcee and far too many references to his own persona.
In contrast Jenny Logan as Fraulein Schneider is stunning and for me the star of the show. Despite misgivings the stage version still knocks spots off the film.
Theatre Royal Brighton, 13 January
4/5
Andrew Kay

This exhibition of pictures,
taken during the three eras of mass slum clearance in the city, make a fascinating snapshot of prewar Brighton.The beauty of them is in the insight it gives into working class lives, which in this era were so rarely recorded as photographic equipment was well out of working class financial reach.
Though the majority of these pictures were taken as a technical document to record why the slums were being cleared, the men behind these cameras saw the beauty and humility in the slums and have delivered up many beautiful compositions. Well worth seeing.
Brighton Art Gallery and Museum,
Until 26 April
4/5
Alison Swann