Swan Lake is an icon of the ballet world, for good reason – and now this hauntingly beautiful ballet is back in Manchester for one weekend only.
Set to Tchaikovsky’s equally iconic score, Swan Lake tells the love story of Prince Siegfried and Swan Queen Odette, with plenty of magic and sorcery along the way.
There’s a lot of depth and intrigue to this tale, even if it a good half of it is essentially a load of people peacocking around a ballroom trying to prove they’re the most compatible for one another.
Throughout the two hour performance by the Mergaliyev Classical Ballet you’ll be witness to deception, enchantment, love, and plenty more, as evil sorcerer Von Rothbart meddles in Siegfied and Odette’s love and tricks him into falling in love with his daughter, Odile, instead.
The mirroring roles of Odette and Odile are both played by Nilay Tahiroglu, who is possibly the most captivating dancer to have ever graced the stage at the Opera House.
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It’s remarkable how she can make the human body so closely resemble a swan – the way the shape of hands can mimic a swan’s long neck, or the avian way her arms rotate in their sockets and gracefully unfurl like wings, or how she literally looks like she’s on water when she glides across the stage balanced en pointe.
When Tahiroglu transforms into Odile she’s still the same captivating dancer but now she’s bolder, braver. There’s a sharpness to her grace that wasn’t there before.
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While Odette’s eyes are almost always cast downwards and soft, Odile stares straight at the audience with a glittering secret in her eyes.
She’s the most beautiful, other-worldly dancer I’ve ever seen.
Cristo Civancos Prunes is excellent as Prince Siegfried, a man so classically handsome and sure-footed you could put him on the cover of a romantic novel at the airport and it’d sell a million copies.
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And Marek Bobosik shines as the cunning Von Rothbert too, even if his character is let down by an underwhelming costume that’s more ‘onesie at a Halloween party’ than ‘lead villain in a world-class ballet’.
The Dance of the Cygnets fell flat on opening night of Swan Lake in ManchesterVon Ruthbert’s costume
It’s not a perfect performance – during Dance of the Cygnets, possibly the world’s most iconic dance sequence, the four cygnets stumble and lose time. Our glittering principal also loses her footing once, prompting a sharp intake of breath from the audience, but regains it quickly.
And the first act, before we even meet Odette and are instead watching the wealthy types parade in front of one another in a ballroom, drags on – in fact, there are a lot of empty seats after the first of two intermissions, with many calling it a night early.
Compared to the English National Ballet, which brought Swan Lake to Manchester in 2022, this production could do with a little more polish and pizzazz.
But it’s still a truly magical sight to behold – even if you just come for Odette.
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Get your tickets for Swan Lake at the Opera House Manchester HERE.
Dear Evan Hansen at the Palace Theatre Manchester – a sensitive tale of teenage torment
Kristen MacGregor-Houlston
Dear Evan Hansen,
Today is going to be a good day because you’re running at the Palace Theatre until the 22 February and the show is fantastic.
It has been a pretty tricky 10 years since the show first debuted, with Covid, worldwide unrest, wild fires, etc and the storylines that make up the fabric of the show are more prominent than ever before.
With music and lyrics written by the talented duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, famous for creating some of the most popular modern musicals of our time (La La Land and Greatest Showman), this show reaches heights well beyond the treetops of its rivals.
The show covers some quite sensitive topics including suicide, grief and mental health, which are all treated with compassion and gentle care whilst still being realistic and honest with the audience.
We follow the story of Evan Hansen (Ryan Kopel), a socially anxious teen who is trying to navigate high school, his mental health and trying to be noticed by those around him. His mum (Alice Fearn) is a single mother, trying to do right by her son whilst doing her best to create a life for them.
Evan has a run in with Connor Murphy (Will Forgrave who stepped in for Killian Lefevre), a troubled young man battling with a number of demons and fighting with his rich yet dysfunctional family played by Helen Anker (Cynthia Murphy – mum); Richard Hurst (Larry Murphy – dad); Lara Beth-Sas (Zoe Murphy – sister and stand-in for Laren Conroy). Connor finds a letter that Evan has written to himself that mentions his sister Zoe and causes him to spiral out of control.
It is Evan’s letter that his family finds on Connor when they discover that he has unfortunately taken his own life. This sets in motion a profusion of events that catapult Evan into the spotlight as his letter is mistaken for a deep friendship between the two. His “family friend” Jared (Tom Dickerson) encourages Evan to keep up the facade which really gets out of control when the well-meaning Alana (Vivian Panka) takes the school-wide movement of grief to new heights.
Dear Evan Hansen is in Manchester until 22 February 2025
Ryan’s portrayal of Evan is nothing short of magical. His anxious ticks are natural and respectful, pulling you in with compassion for his character and his timing is impeccable. His vocals are absolutely electrifying, every song is a power house, emotive performance with barely a dry eye in the entire audience, especially after the iconic “You will be found.”
Alice Fearn deserves a special mention for her depiction and performance as Heidi Hansen. Reflecting how many parents must feel in trying to do the best for their children and feeling like they always come up short. Her vocals were fantastic throughout, but her final solo song “So Big/So Small” had everyone weeping.
Not all the vocal performances were of a high calibre, but this is likely down to either first night nerves or just the unfortunate comparison to Ryan, Alice or Vivian. Some of the dancing by one or two of the ensemble also seemed slightly robotic, although as a previous treader of the boards myself, I know first-hand that some people just aren’t natural movers (myself included) and this doesn’t detract from the absolute spectacle that is this show.
The show is only on a short run, from 18 – 22 February at Palace Theatre, Manchester, so if you miss it, I recommend chasing it to another theatre on its UK Tour, you won’t regret it.
Audience members ejected from Dolly Parton musical in Manchester due to homophobic heckling
Daisy Jackson
The Manchester run of Here You Come Again, a new Dolly Parton musical comedy, has been repeatedly disrupted by vile homophobic heckling from the audience, its star has revealed.
Actor and West End star Steven Webb shared a video addressing the issue on TikTok, saying that audience members had to be ejected from the Manchester Opera House.
The star of the lively new musical, which tells the story of a diehard Dolly Parton fan and is packed with the country star’s biggest hits, said the cast had faced an ‘insane’ amount of homophobia.
Steven said they once had to do a full show stop in Manchester and leave the stage after one audience member was ‘disgusted that there was a gay character on stage’ and began shouting mid-show, causing ‘a ruckus’ in the audience.
He said: “It’s a Dolly Parton musical, it’s gonna be a little bit gay, obviously.”
Steven also said: “Travelling the country and seeing how many people literally cannot bear to see a gay person depicted on stage, it’s wild. I feel very sorry for them.”
The Manchester Opera House stressed that it has a ‘zero tolerance’ policy to ‘bullying, harassment, or any form of abusive behaviour towards our cast, crew, or staff’.
The theatre, and its sister venue the Palace Theatre, said: “Our theatre team is committed to creating a safe, inclusive, and welcoming environment for everyone – both on and off the stage.
“Whilst these incidents are rare, we have a zero-tolerance policy to bullying, harassment, or any form of abusive behaviour towards our cast, crew, or staff. Anyone engaging in such conduct will be removed from the venue immediately.
Actor Steven Webb stars in Here You Come Again, a Dolly Parton musical, in Manchester. Credit: TikTok, @thatsteviewebb
“Thank you to all our theatre goers who continue to act with respect and kindness towards others.”
Steven said in his video: “The amount of audience members we have had to eject from our show due to homophobia is… insane. It is insane.
“Just this week in Manchester alone, last night we had to eject someone who was shouting out slurs, and on Wednesday we had to stop the whole show.
“We had to do an entire show stop and leave the stage, because a woman was so disgusted that there was a gay character on stage, and she was shouting out and then all the audience started shouting at her and then there was a sort of massive ruckus. So she eventually was ejected and we could start again, but we were stopped for 15 or 20 minutes.
“It’s crazy. It’s happening nearly every single week and it blows my mind. This is a Dolly Parton musical, first of all.
“It’s a Dolly Parton musical, it’s gonna be a little bit gay, obviously.
“It’s really opened my eyes, because we’re in such a bubble in this industry. But travelling the country and seeing how many people literally cannot bear to see a gay person depicted on stage, it’s wild. I feel very sorry for them.”
Daisy Jackson -
17th January 2025 
