What's on in London theatres for September and October
As the autumn season draws in, so does a new selection of theater shows. Here's where to find all the latest productions on show in London this September and October.
Tina - The Tina Turner Musical
If you’re a fan of Tina Turner, then this show is definitely for you. The show will have you singing and dancing throughout and ends on an uplifting note, but it also highlights many of the tragic things that happened to her during her life.
The show highlights, interspersed with singing, how difficult it was for a black American woman to make it in a world not only dominated by men, but also while facing extreme racism in America’s Southern states. Many social issues are confronted in quite a dynamic way as well as the issues where Ike, her husband, had taken all her money, leaving her virtually destitute.
The show builds to a crescendo when Aisha Jawando, who plays Tina, performs a fantastic heart-lifting finale as the Tina Turner we all know and love with the entire audience on its feet and cheering for encores. You might find yourself singing What’s Love Got to Do With It or one of the other 24 songs in the show on the way home.
Not only was she a great singer, Tina Turner is an inspiration for anyone who has suffered the kinds of hardship that she had been through and bringing such important topics as domestic abuse and racism to people’s attention. In the end Tina found true love and fulfilment and hopefully her story will encourage others to seek out the same.
You can catch Tina at the Aldwych Theatre. Near Waterloo mainline train station, and within easy reach of Waterloo, Covent Garden, and Charing Cross tube stations.
Content warning: This show contains strong language and words of a racially discriminatory nature.
Musicals by Candlelight
Lovers of musicals can’t fail to enjoy Musicals by Candlelight held in the atmospheric Actors’ Church. Hidden away, but centrally located in Covent Garden, enjoy an hour of music played by a Quartet composing of two violins, a voila, and cello, played by talented young ladies.
The setting is very atmospheric with a darkened church, with only the stage lit with hundreds of candles. An added bonus is a glass of champagne to sip while enjoying the performance.
The programme starts on a high note with sentimental songs from hit shows - Les Misérables, Cats, & more. Their repertoire is mainly from memorable songs that make you want to join in, even if silently - I could have danced all night from My Fair Lady; the theme song from Mamma Mia!; Maria from Les Misérables.
It may be worth coming a bit earlier to look at the plaques on the wall in the interior of the church which are dedicated to actors of note including Charlie Chaplin.
There are two evening performances lasting an hour at 6.30pm and 8.30pm.
& Juliet
For the young (and the young at heart!) this extravaganza mixes theatrical tradition with pop culture.
A modern Romeo and Juliet made up of cosmopolitan London mixed with the Elizabethan age, that introduces a hint of the cultures of both Paris and Verona.
In a comical way, there are lots of reason to laugh, while the show also addresses issues of today that both men and women face in society and also focuses on relationships, both heterosexual and homosexual.
Miriam-Teak Lee as a black Juliet is the star of the show and makes the point in the last song ‘I Want It That Way’ when she changes the words to ‘she’ll do it her way’. It’s the sort of show that will have you dancing in your seat.
& Juliet is playing at the Shaftesbury Theatre, with the nearest tube being Tottenham Court Road.