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 ...

In late November I saw the world premiere of the contemporary opera Marnie at the London Coliseum. In addition to the dozen or so principals, I counted a chorus of 37 who appeared variously as office workers, funeral mourners and party guests. Plus 10 dancers who doubled as scene shifters, and four additional Marnie alter egos. That made an on-stage cast of over 60; add in the orchestra, the lighting engineers and the rest of the backstage crew, and it meant that well over 100 ...

Pros: There’s something very magical about seeing an opera in such a small space and immersing yourself in the music. Cons: Some theatrical tricks employed here might be better left for the big stages. This new reworking of Giacomo Puccini’s opera Tosca, by Becca Marriott and King’s Head Theatre artistic director Adam Spreadbury-Maher, is set in Paris during World War Two. Painter Marius, played on press night by Martin Lindau, has agreed to hide a Jewish man who has escaped ...

This is about the most exuberant, vibrant, downright enjoyable classical performance you'll have seen for years.