The Barber of Seville (London Coliseum) JohnnyFox October 8, 2017 Opera, Reviews It has been an undeniably difficult year for the ENO - financial problems, a change of chief executive and the perceived ignominy of having to...
The Dowager’s Oyster (So-and-So Arts Club) JohnnyFox November 24, 2016 Musicals, Opera, Reviews, Theatre With the possible exception of my own heterosexual betrothal one heady night in Malta in 1976, I can think of few projects more certifiably doomed to...
Review: Sunset Boulevard with Ria Jones (London Coliseum) JohnnyFox April 22, 2016 Musicals, Reviews April 21, following the indisposition of Glenn Close, alternate Ria Jones played Norma Desmond. Guest reviewer and photo credit: Kevin...
Review: Sunset Boulevard (London Coliseum) JohnnyFox April 5, 2016 Musicals, Reviews The night after Imelda Staunton picked up her Olivier award for best actress in a musical in Gypsy, her successor is a rock solid certainty....
Review: Norma (London Coliseum) JohnnyFox February 18, 2016 Opera, Reviews No, not that Norma, this Norma. We’ll be reporting on Glenn Close’s return to Paramount at ENO early in April. Thirty years ago I played the...
Opera Review: The Girl of the Golden West (London Coliseum) JohnnyFox October 4, 2014 Opera, Reviews It’s good news that English National Opera has invested in its first ‘new’ production of Puccini’s The Girl of the Golden West in fifty...
Review: Madam Butterfly (London Coliseum) JohnnyFox October 18, 2013 Opera, Reviews You could plot it yourself: randy US lieutenant has an affair with an Asian babe in wartime, it means more to her than it does to him, her family...
Review: Carmen (London Coliseum) JohnnyFox November 22, 2012 Opera, Reviews If you saw the header ‘Opera Review’ and thought ‘not for me’, stick with us for a moment. We’ve always thought Carmen was the crossover...
Review: The Magic Flute (English National Opera, London Coliseum) JohnnyFox September 14, 2012 Opera, Reviews The warehouse in which English National Opera parks its costumes and sets between performances must be the size of Yorkshire. This production of...
Review: The Marriage Of Figaro (London Coliseum) JohnnyFox October 10, 2011 Opera, Reviews The first surprise in Fiona Shaw’s off-piste production is the all-white revolving maze of a set, peopled by such a troupe of bowing and scraping...
