After three years of waiting, The Book of Mormon is back in Manchester at the Palace Theatre and it’s just as outrageously funny as before.
All I had ever heard about this musical going into it is how absolutely hilarious it is – I had little knowledge of the story line and from what I did know I was still unsure I would like it. But I didn’t just like it, I loved it and I can’t remember the last time I laughed that much in one evening.
Written by Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez, the masterminds being South Park, The Book of Mormon returned to the Palace Theatre on Wednesday 11 September and will run up until Saturday 5 October with lots of tickets still on sale.
The story follows two young Mormon missionaries, Elder Price and Elder Cunningham, who are sent to a remote village in Uganda to spread the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Upon arrival, they are faced with harsh realities which starkly contrast with their own naïve expectations.
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The full cast of The Book of Mormon. Credit: Paul Coltas.
Also sounds quite serious doesn’t it? Well despite the plot line this is a show that had every member of the audience rolling around laughing from start to finish.
I must warn if you are not of fan of dark comedy, you’ll be better off catching Mamma Mia, but if you can lean into the humour you’ll be walking away with sore ribs and teary eyes.
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As the story pans out the pair struggle to connect with the locals and each other while their religious mission takes unexpected and often absolutely absurd turns.
This is a musical that certainly doesn’t shy away from poking fun at religion, especially Mormonism, and has a knack for finding the funny side of culture clashes and colonialism.
The ensemble of The book of Mormon. Credit: Paul Coltas.Credit: Paul Coltas.
While the show is famous for its comedy, something has to be said for the choreography, when you can take a moment from gasping at the contents of the lyrics you can appreciate that this cast can really dance.
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Absolutely turning the musical genre on its head, it carries all the same profanity and shock-factor as South Park in the best way possible.
The two leads played by Adam Bailey and Sam Glen are phenomenal all the way through, how they don’t burst out laughing sentence is a skill itself, and had the audience clinging onto every punch line.
But for me the ensemble really make a musical and this cast is nothing short of spectacular, I would go and watch it again tomorrow.
The Book of Mormon Manchester. Credit: Paul Coltas
The show is in Manchester at the Palace Theatre until October 5 and if you want an evening of non-stop laughing I could not recommend it more.
If you needed any more persuading, it’s been announced today that 15 tickets for each performance will be made available at £15 each, from 12pm the day of the performance so get your alarm set quick.
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.
Abbie Bartlett -
20th September 2024 
