Tag Archives: Rebecca Need-Menear

FLAT AND THE CURVES – ROSÉ-TINTED

★★★★

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

FLAT AND THE CURVES – ROSÉ-TINTED at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

★★★★

Flat and the Curves ladies at table with wine and food

“the audience for last night’s performance left happy and entertained, and you will, too”

Flat and the Curves are back at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with their new show, Rosé- Tinted. If you’ve never seen this talented group before, don’t hesitate to book a ticket. Oh, and take your men friends. They’ll learn a thing or two about how these satirical sirens see men and their less endearing habits. But it’s all good fun, and even the lads will appreciate the ladies, their music (and their jokes).

This talented group is Katy Baker, Charlotte Brooke, and Issy Wroe-Wright. When I last saw this group in London, they had a fourth member as well, and honesty compels me to admit that Flat and the Curves do better when they’re a quartet. Rosé-Tinted is just as sparkling as earlier shows, but having an extra voice helps carry the load of their incredibly energetic performances. They can perform everything from opera to soul, with a touch of raunchy blues thrown in for good measure. They have much more to offer than your average cabaret show. And that includes a running commentary with songs to make your grandma blush. Or maybe not. After all, they are singing about experiences that every woman has had, regardless of one’s date of birth.

Many of the songs in Rosé-Tinted will be familiar to fans of Flat and the Curves. They range from useful advice you can get from meeting female soulmates in the loo, to less than happy memories about hen dos. In fact, when Flat and the Curves have advice to offer, you’d better listen. (Don’t ever wear a jumpsuit where there’s a lot of competition for the loos. Just sayin’). Then there’s all the angst that comes with hosting middle class dinner parties. And a torch song about the disappearance of “real” men. The song about P*** suggests reasons for this—and it’s hilarious. There’s some new material including a rather offbeat little song about The Easter Bunny but why the heck not? It gives the girls time for a breather before launching into their next energetic set. At just sixty minutes, this is a shorter show designed for Fringe conditions, but the audience for last night’s performance left happy and entertained, and you will, too.

 


FLAT AND THE CURVES – ROSÉ-TINTED at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – Underbelly Bristo Square

Reviewed on 4th August 2024

by Dominica Plummer

Photography by  Rebecca Need Menear

 

 


ROSÉ-TINTED

ROSÉ-TINTED

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Buddy

Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story

★★★★

Theatre Royal Windsor & UK Tour

Buddy

Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story

Theatre Royal Windsor

Reviewed – 24th February 2020

★★★★

 

“Memorable tunes and a happy vibe make this a highly recommended show”

 

There’s a place forever in the rock and roll hall of fame for Buddy Holly, the legend that sprang from Lubbock, Texas and bloomed all too briefly before his tragic death in an aeroplane crash at the age of 22.

After just two years of huge success, Holly got fed up of freezing tour buses that were always breaking down and chose to take a four-seater plane from Clear Lake, Iowa to his next big tour date. He perished in a frozen corn field with fellow singers Ricky Valens and J. P. Richardson (‘the Big Bopper’) after an inexperienced and unqualified pilot turned their plane into the ground.

But misery is the last thing you’ll feel at the Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story. This is a toe-tapping, gloriously catchy and splendidly feel-good show that tells the story of how the 20-year old Holly broke out of country and western music to become a chart-topping sensation. It has been rocking audiences worldwide for over 30 years, and now has a five-day residency at the Theatre Royal Windsor. This chilly Monday night, I can report that many in Windsor’s normally somewhat reserved audience were on their feet in delight by the end of this sparkling show.

This justifiably popular ‘juke box’ musical features influential Holly hits like ‘That’ll Be The Day’, ‘Not Fade Away’ and ‘Peggy Sue’ together with unforgettable tunes like ‘Why Do Fools Fall In Love’, ‘La Bamba’ and ‘Raining In My Heart’. A dedicated and mainly British cast led by A J Jenks (or Christopher Weeks) give energetic and committed performances. Choreographer Miguel Angel appears as Tyrone Jones and has a glorious voice that deserves a special mention after over 1,500 performances in the show. Fifties sound design (Pete Cox), a memorable set and lighting (Adrian Rees and Darren Coopland) all create an authentic period feel.

The first half tells the story of Holly and his band the Crickets’ big break, thanks to innovative producer Norman Petty, and leads on to their being the first ever white performers to appear at the famously hard to please Harlem Apollo. The second half is dominated by a 20-minute sequence of massive rock and roll hits that re-create the excitement of a big tour in the winter of 1959.

The 22 million people worldwide who have seen Buddy can’t be wrong. Memorable tunes and a happy vibe make this a highly recommended show.

 

Reviewed by David Woodward

Photography by Rebecca Need-Menear

 


Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story

Theatre Royal Windsor until 29th February then UK tour continues

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:
The Trials Of Oscar Wilde | ★★★★ | March 2019
Octopus Soup! | ★★½ | April 2019
The Mousetrap | ★★★★ | October 2019
The Nutcracker | ★★★★ | November 2019
What’s In A Name? | ★★★★ | November 2019
Ten Times Table | ★★★★ | January 2020
The Last Temptation Of Boris Johnson | ★★★½ | February 2020

 

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