Hiyaa! Just realised I didn't review Hairspray! Don't really remember much now except it was incredibly funny and worth watching. The story is a little different from the film version but it goes along the same lines and I actually like the stage version better because it's a bit more realistic! Brian Conley and Les Dennis were really funny during their song together and had the whole audience laughing.
The Secret Garden was on at the Birmingham Rep (which is an amazing theatre, unfortunatly it's closing for two years). All the cast had amazing voices but some of the actors playing the children were not child like at all. The story does not really lend itself to musical theatre, at most points it seemed like they thought 'we haven't had a song for a while, lets put one in now', 'The Cabbage Song' being one of these moments. However I don't think you could fail with a story such as this one and the staging was very clever. It may sound like this is a good show for young children but there were lots of kids getting restless during some of the songs and quieter moments.
