Canadian-born Mel Cooper came to the UK to study at Oxford and stayed, captivated by the culture and history of the welcoming and tolerant society of Britain.
He founded the magazine Opera Now. He was a consultant to the Japanese broadcaster NHK, a broadcaster on British Satellite Broadcasting and a member of the team that started Classic FM on which he broadcast shows like Classic America and Authentic Performance. After working with the Genesis Foundation on helping to fund arts projects, he continues to write, review and lecture on music and literature.
The 2014 production of Hairspray directed by Paul Kerryson is touring the country again. Extremely polished, remarkable for its emotional sincerity an...
Simon Reade’s clever homage to Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes: The Final Curtain, plays like a well made West End Drawing Room Thriller of the 19...
The team at the Longborough Festival have managed to produce a Flying Dutchman that will itself live in legend, I believe. It is a superb production, ...
On one level, the Ballet Lorent has once again created an interesting dance event that tells a fairy tale for both children and the adults that they b...
The almost-legendary Midsummer Night’s Dream production by Lyric Hammersmith and Filter Theatre has been revived again and is totally wonderful in alm...
A new production by English Touring Theatre, Theatre Clwyd and Nuffield Southampton Theatres simply proves once again that the Tennessee Williams’ pla...
I was ultimately quite pleased to have seen the new production of Romeo and Juliet at the RSC. However, I do have some serious quibbles. Romeo and Jul...
Thoroughly Modern Millie was a very successful film that got very mixed reviews. It succeeded mainly on the charms of Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moo...
The Fantastic Follies of Mrs Rich, which was originally called The Beau Defeated, is a neglected play by a neglected playwright named Mary Pix. I like...
Because I will be travelling for a bit, I decided to see the new bio-musical Tina in one of its last previews. So technically I cannot review this sho...
