The 2025 UK tour of Mary Poppins has arrived at Manchester Palace Theatre like a gust of wind from the East – bold, magical, and utterly charming.
This beloved musical, co-produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Disney Theatrical, continues to soar with a reinvigorated staging that captures both the heart of the original and the spectacle expected by modern audiences.
From the moment the overture begins, there’s a tangible sense of excitement.
The production is visually rich, transforming Edwardian London into a pop-up storybook come to life.
The set changes glide seamlessly, and the use of projections and stagecraft delivers the kind of magic that keeps children wide-eyed and adults grinning like them.
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Mary’s iconic flight is breathtaking and still manages to feel like the first time you saw it.
Stefanie Jones returns to the role of Mary Poppins with an effortless elegance. Her portrayal is delightfully crisp, with just the right balance of mystery and warmth. She sings with clarity and control, and her comedic timing keeps the show light and pacey. She is, quite literally, the glue that holds the show together – and she does it with a wink and a twirl of her umbrella.
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As Bert, Jack Chambers brings a buoyant energy that never fades. His charm is infectious, especially during “Step in Time”, a tap number that turns the theatre into a playground. Whether he’s defying gravity on rooftops or leading a chorus of chimney sweeps, Chambers is a joy to watch – charismatic, agile, and sincere.
The score, with classics like “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”, “A Spoonful of Sugar”, and “Feed the Birds”, remains timeless.
The orchestra handles the blend of whimsy and emotion with skill, and the choreography is as inventive as ever – especially in ensemble numbers that explode with colour and movement.
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The 2025 UK tour of Mary Poppins doesn’t just revisit a classic – it refreshes it. While the story may be light on plot and character depth, the production more than makes up for it with theatrical magic and dazzling stagecraft.
It’s a visual and musical feast that reminds us why this timeless tale continues to soar. Mary Poppins is, indeed, practically perfect in every way.
You can grab tickets for Mary Poppins at the Palace Theatre in Manchester HERE.
Jersey Boys at Palace Theatre, Manchester – Oh, what a night
Amy Williams
20 years, 65 major awards (including Tonys, a Grammy, and an Olivier), and seen by over 27 million people worldwide – it could only be Jersey Boys, and now it’s back at the Palace Theatre in Manchester.
This is one of those shows where you realise just how many songs you know and love by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, but may not know the story behind the band themselves. How they started, how big they became, how they fell apart, and how they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
It follows the four boys from Jersey (who each narrate their parts of the story), how it started as just Tommy and Nick and a range of different guys along the way, until they found the one who has a voice like an angel, Frankie Valli, and this started to change the direction of their success.
But they were missing a key part, a good song writer – enter Bob Gaudio, and the creation of The Four Lovers, who then became The Four Seasons.
Mixed with issues of debt, loan sharks, prison time and more, it wasn’t the smoothest of sailing for them, and as they said themselves, they didn’t create a movement like the Beatles. But The Four Seasons were for the factory workers, the dads, the working class people who could relate to them.
One thing we need to talk about, is just how INCREDIBLE the vocal performances are in this tour of Jersey Boys, staring Luke Baker as Frankie Valli, Carlo Boumouglbay as Tommy Devito, Lewis Kennedy as Nick Massi, and Toby Miles as Bob Gaudio.
Jersey Boys is back in Manchester, for a run at the Palace Theatre
A special mention for Luke Baker, because as iconic as Frankie Valli’s voice is, he very perfectly matched it.
The musical features some of their biggest hits including Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Beggin’, Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, Walk Like A Man, and of course, December 1963 (Oh, What A Night) which had everyone up on their feet dancing at the end.
This show is incredible from beginning to end, and would recommend everyone go to see this.
Jersey Boys is running at the Palace Theatre in Manchester until Saturday 19 September, and you can grab your tickets HERE.
High School Musical at Lowry, Salford – a night spent reliving our childhood | Review
Amy Williams
What a night spent reliving our childhood.
Now, I don’t want to exaggerate or seem biased, considering this is one of my favourite film trilogies of all time, but this could be the best stage show I’ve seen in a long while.
We all know how High School Musical goes, right? Set at East High, we follow Troy and Gabriella (the star basketball player, and the geeky new girl) who meet over New Year, and then become ‘star-crossed lovers’ when back at school as they’re part of two different ‘cliques’.
The duo mess with the ‘Status Quo’ when they audition for the school musical. But will they stick to what they know? Or become stars of the stage? I’m sure you know the ending.
High School Musical is currently on stage at Lowry, Salford / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
From the costumes and the characters, to the memorable songs (there’s actually 52 songs in this production, including a mega mix at the end), they’ve kept right to the script of the films – and that’s exactly what we wanted to see.
Of course, the biggest throwback of them all is Kaycee Stroh – who originally featured as Martha Cox in the film trilogy – taking the role as Ms Darbus, and she was just as incredible as we expected her to be. And to see her do the iconic dance in the finale was unbelievable, 13-year-old Amy was screaming.
Also featuring Jason Donovan as Coach Bolton, Tobias Turley as Troy, Leonor Correia as Gabriella, Caitlin Tipping Sharpay, and Luke Bayer as Ryan, it was a proper impressive cast all round.
It’s a night to properly relive your mid-00s childhood / Credit: Matt Crockett (Supplied)
There was crowd interaction right from the off, as they taught the crowd a cheerleading routine to be included later in the show, plus for the finale, they had the lyrics on the big screen too so everyone could sing-along.
If we could go and see this show every single night, we would – it is absolutely brilliant.
Dec Kelly -
12th April 2025 
