Sitting In The Cheap Seats

Last weekend saw the Red Roses secure an impressive win on French soil. The first for England Women since 2012, against a France team who had won 17 of their previous 18 games. With a return fixture this Saturday in Exeter we caught up with Gloucester-Hartpury lock Zoe Aldcroft to see how the team were preparing.

After a summer series over in the US that saw the Red Roses focusing firmly on squad development, and still racking up their share of wins, it’s time once again for the squad to set their sights on results. We caught up with head coach Simon Middleton and Red Roses & Harlequins Women try-scoring phenom Jess Breach to find out just how that preparation is going.

It’s amazing how a show as ubiquitous as Les Miserables can at once be utterly recognisable and thoroughly fresh. This tour, currentlyspending some time in Southampton at the Mayflower Theatre feels morealive than any of the half a dozen or more previous visits I’ve made to revolutionaryFrance. Laurence Connor and James Powell ‘s (relatively) new production may not have the cosy familiarity of the original Trevor Nunn (I still miss the revolve) but it makes up for that with a relentless energy. No production holds together without strong central castingthough and most especially the twin pillars of Valjean and Javert who hold somuch of the plot together. Killian Donnelly unsurprisingly sings Valjean’spart beautifully but he also brings a tenderness underpinned by steely resolveto the role. Opposite him Nic Greenshields is a formidable officer ofthe law, but he too shows the characters humanity, particularly in a lovelymoment when he searches the barricades for the body of Valj...

Olivier nominee Rachel Tucker (‘Come From Away’, ‘Wicked’), ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ winner Jai McDowall and Matthew Pagan from Collabro are to headline a star-studded charity gala performance of Boublil And Schönberg’s ‘The Pirate Queen’ at the London Coliseum on Sunday 23 February, 2020, with proceeds going to Leukaemia UK.