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It’s got to be said, there’s a touch of the Butlins Red Coat about this show. The troupe gave musical snapshots of Broadway musicals such as Cabaret, Chicago, Carousel (and other musicals not beginning with ‘C’), via jazz hands, wide grins and a live band. Lovers of musicals would recognise all the tunes, unlike the evening’s audience who only perked up a bit when they could match the song to the musical or vice versa. The peaks were seldom, portions of the evening just sounded a bit samey and as a consequence slightly bland.

 Pavilion Theatre, Worthing, 22 July
 Rating:
 Lee Stevens

Ruby Grimshaw has an adventure in Borneo

While I did enjoy my Indonesian holiday enormously, the one thing I was very glad to see again when I arrived back home was a lavatory seat. I know it is very good to crouch over a hole in the ground (apparently Far Eastern women have less incontinence and constipation problems than women in the West) but I did find using a ladle and a bucket of brown river water made me long to see that puppy carrying a loo roll. Read the rest of this article »

Thoroughly independent and forever traversing the byways and highways of this land, London’s Bruise are nominally a two-piece with the occasional addition of bassist and 70s moustachioed Bob, who was here tonight, adding some extra bottom to their deliciously fluid and mainly easy-going alt-indie rock, although they are perfectly capable of rocking out when appropriate. Guitarist and lead singer Isobel has a guitar style all here own, crafting songs of subtle beauty, that are carried along by her slightly warbling voice. Drummer Jim also has his own, highly watchable and fluid style, aided and abetted by his box of fired electronic samples that provided colour to the music. Mixing in a few acoustic numbers which particularly showcased their excellent harmonies, Bruise slowly but surely entranced the audience.

Latest Music Bar, 22 July
Rating:
Julie Andrews

A Night Of Dirty Dancing… Well firstly I do have to mention, there wasn’t any dirty dancing. The cast went through each Dirty Dancing track, sometimes with the audience singing along and sometimes without. At one point, members of the audience were encouraged to get on stage for a little bit of ‘cha cha cha.’ The audience seemed to generally enjoy the whole performance, however to me it looked a little low budget; and if anything, a little tacky. Nevertheless, you couldn’t fault the cast’s enthusiasm or energy throughout the entire performance.

Worthing Theatres, 21 July
Rating:
Laura Hayward