Pros: Excellent musicianship and a good range of song styles Cons: Lack of memorable tunes and a confusing storyline Calling all producers! Please stop pasting microphones to your singers’ foreheads! If you can’t hide them under their hair (although, why?) then the jawline is a far better option. Your audience is connecting to a singer’s eyes, and they don’t want to be distracted by a bundle of wiring in the middle of their face. Sorry, just had to get that ...

Pros: Nicely menacing Gothic atmosphere. Cons: Shallow characterisation and a complete lack of variation in tone A word of warning to anyone planning a visit to Notre Dame de Paris at London Coliseum. Brace yourself. Brace for histrionics. The breast-beating starts early, with the first big number, Les Sans-papiers, and never really lets up for the rest of the show. The understandable anguish of the outcasts, the vulnerable and the falsely accused is rendered with the same power ballad intensity ...

Pros: Astonishing performances and musicianship Cons: A little too long, and could use some variations in pace Arthur Whitney lies dead on the floor, in a house full of guests who wished him ill. It’s down to Officer Marcus to work out which of the many suspects, all played by Jeremy Legat, actually pulled the trigger. Getting to know this cast of characters, their backstory and relationship with the victim, takes a bit of time. So the first half hour ...

Pros: Lots of new talent showcasing their abilities. Cons: Doesn’t quite rise above student production standards. “Do you really love it?” asked a friend when I said I was going to see a student production of Cabaret, the famous Kander and Ebb musical that has been frequently revived since it first appeared on Broadway in 1966. The answer was that I’d seen the 1972 Bob Fosse movie a few times and liked several of the songs, plus I was drawn to ...

Pros: Beautifully staged and performed with incredible joy and skill. Cons: Fans of Django Reinhardt may find his personal story underexplored. Musical theatre can be a time machine. With the help of skillful performers, detailed design, and an inspiring setting, songs and sounds can transport audiences to other eras and places. Old worlds that would otherwise be lost to history can be recreated, experienced, and enjoyed. To this end, Little Bulb’s new production is not only effective, but a hell of a lot of fun. ...

A fun show with very high production values, although its datedness does risk it becoming a bit of a museum piece.

Pros:  A talented cast Cons: A poor, almost non-existent storyline When it opened on Broadway in 2012, this musical was nominated for Tony awards for Best Musical and Best Original Score. The songs are pleasant enough, if a bit ‘same-y’. There is a lively tap number in the second half, and the song What a Mother Does lingered in my head for quite a while, although I think that may have been down to the rather old-fashioned sentiments contained within it. Of ...

Pros: A talented and tuneful cast making the most of a limited performance area. Cons: A low key Act I suffers in comparison with a sparkling Act II which emits a genuine West End feel. Urinetown is hardly the most obvious title for a musical, but its purpose soon becomes apparent as an antidote to the sugar coated fayre common to the genre. The show made its debut off Broadway in 2001 and went on to win two Tonies and ...

Pros: Beautifully written – the musical variety manages to convey just about every human emotion. Cons: The actors’ volume levels are sometimes too low for the musical accompaniment. In a corner of west London at the charmingly grassroots Cockpit Theatre, Sevans Productions and Krystal Lee bring Scott Alan’s musical vision to life through a cast of West End alumni. The tale charts the lives of six individuals as they fall in and out of love, laugh, cry, learn to move on ...

Moving, beautifully produced musical that's good for the ears and heart.