Review - Danny Baker - New Theatre Cardiff - 16/04/2023

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When a true legend of broadcasting Danny Baker starts talking, with that machine gun patter of his, the evening certainly flies by. 3 hours later the house lights are on and theatre staff are desperate to head home, But the great DB is only just starting and barely scratching the surface of a quite amazing career.

From his earliest beginnings living in on an East London council estate to jetting all over the world, meeting some of the greatest musical artistes of the time, whilst working for the World’s biggest selling musical weekly newspaper followed by an incredible transition to TV and radio broadcaster. His story is an hilarious one and equaly fascinating.

Baker’s life as been one of amazing ups and a fair few downs but his infectious good humour and love of life with few, if any regrets, finds a man both content with his life and extremely proud of his achievements.

The current tour is the third in a series of shows that focuses mostly on each of his three books, though very loosely, as Baker is prone to fly off in the opposite direction as he recalls something witty or interesting that he’d forgotten or the current situation prompted.

Starting with a brief (hardly!) refresh, pool cue in hand, Baker was a bundle of energy from the off, constantly on the move, and at times you felt you were at Centre court at Wimbledon watching as he ran up steps on some imaginary Fitbit.

Always prominent in his shows is his father affectionately known to all as Spud. A character that looms large in his life and an obvious influence on the young Danny, brought lovingly back to life in the excellent Cradle To The Grave TV series with comedian Peter Kay playing the larger than life patriarch Spud.

Much of the second half of the show centred on his TV career from Daz commercials to TGI Fridays, where he told the tale of how he sacked the Foo Fighters from one show after the group used their appearance to kick off during their performance. ranting and swearing and coming off stage smug in thinking that their performance would cause outrage, only to be told by Baker that their ‘live’ appearance wasn’t live but just a run through and the actual show wouldn’t be broadcast for another hour. The Foo Fighters were unceremoniously booted out without appearing.

Baker also recalls hilariously his time spent in Australia as a contestant on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity, debunking the myth that they were dumped in some tropical forest but rather a TV set on the outskirts of Sydney surrounded by camera teams, production and catering crews. The disappointment of being the first out of the jungle was tempered by being left to slum it in an extremely plush hotel with everything paid for by the ITV ‘dollar’ with a handsome fee to boot.

Baker rushed through as best he could before the 11pm curfew but touchingly ended the evening with a quite emotional tribute to his wife Wendy as he described their early distant courtship, the despair of finding his soulmate unhappily married and eventually running off together with Baker and Wendy flying to the US where he was to interview Earth Wind and Fire. The rest is history and the happiest of endings.

Tony Woolway

Dial M for Murder.

The opening night of Dial M for Murder at Cardiff’s New Theatre was a fantastic experience as soon as you walk in through the doors of the majestically beautiful new theatre which was a first for me and I am itching to get back to. The guest experience from collecting the tickets to sitting down was absolutely fantastic. As soon as I got my tickets, I headed to the bar and enjoyed a nice pre show drink in a cosy environment where you can tell everyone was excited to enjoy the night's entertainment. Heading to my seat and I was awestruck by the amazing set design of the apartment in which the play takes place in, created by David Woodhead and realistically lit by Lizzie Powell it was so so easy to forget that you weren't in an isolated theatre and not transported to the warm glow of London in the 60’s.

The story started with Margot Wendice (Diana Vickers) amidst a year long affair with Max Halliday (Michael Salami) who has just returned from america. The two try their best to keep their love for each other a secret from Margot's husband, Tony Wendice (Tom Chambers) the two lovers exchange letters and burn them after reading to ensure Maximum secrecy except Tony manages to find a letter in Margot's handbag. All seems well in their lives until Margot leaves the flat with Max and we truly see what this affair is doing to Tony as his plans start to work in his favour.

Tony tricks an old school friend of his, Captain Lesgate (Christopher Harper) to come over to his flat and through a series of exchanging private information about Margot, Tony now has lesgate under his spell and asks him to kill Margot as to stop the heartbreak of his wife cheating on him behind his back. Lesgate manages to enter the house and attacks Margot nearly killing her but Margot manages to attack lesgate instead, thus putting a spanner in Tony's plan.

This was a great place to  have the interval as it had me in suspense for the 2nd part and to ask myself what is the outcome now? What will Tony do to fulfil his plan?

Still in the same set as the first half, we are introduced to the inspector who is dealing with the murder of lesgate. Inspector hubbard (also christopher harper) is a totally different character both in body language and in mannerisms to lesgate despite being played by the same actor. Harper does a fantastic job as the inspector. He knows his work and knows the procedures and yet he’s comedic too. For me I would watch the play again just for Inspector Hubbard as his dialogue is so beautifully performed and his energy across the stage/room is reminiscent of Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock with a childish hint of Matt Smith's Doctor Who. 

Through a fantastic manouvre of red flashing lights and psychedelic soundtrack, we learn that Margot is charged with the murder of lesgate and is immenintly sentanced to hang for her crimes. Tony, back at the flat is chipper as he can see out his plan and the blame is shifted from a quick little murder to under the influence of the law. Inspector hubbard manages to reacquaint himself with Max and he also manages to sneak Margot back home as hubbard is convinced he has the right master plan that Tony used to kill his wife. The soundtrack when Tony approaches the front door really had me on the edge of my seat and I had no idea what to expect when the cast confronted each other. The play ends on Margot walking out the door as a free woman. No worries about her past but confronting life one step at a time.

I had only seen a trailer for the film of Dial M for Murder which left me fresh to experience what the plot had to offer me. In order to get the full 5 stars from me I would've considered microphones for the actors as a lot of emotion was lost from trying to project their voices to the top row of the audience. Tony Wendice for me could have done with a little bit more of a sinister edge to his character as he is planning a murder after all. Or maybe that adds to the character that he can so quickly and energetically plan a murder. Who knows who is really safe around Tony. Overall I was surprised how brilliant this production was. A brilliant theatre, cast and environment mixed with an intricately planned murder and how quickly the master mind must think of lies when the initial plan goes wrong was a fantastic joy of an evening and this production is surely one to see on its UK tour

Review by Jordan Simmons

Review - Groan Ups @ The New Theatre Cardiff.

Mischiefs theatre’s return to the stage was always going to have some rather large shoes to fill. With an impressive run of shows such as ‘The show that goes wrong’ theatregoers who know their work will be sat in their seats waiting with the anticipation that can only come from knowing you’re going to proper belly laugh for the next couple of hours.

It must be a huge relief then, that their new show about a group of kids growing up is as outstandingly hilarious as advertised. 

The show starts with the announcement that a group from year 2 (that’s around six years old) will be doing a presentation about their weekends. When an ensemble cast of adults make their way up onto the stage your mind is in two places, will this be great or will this be cringe-worthy adults playing children, the former is certainly true in this case. As soon as the cast begins, the auditorium is filled with contagious energy as they skip and bounce their way through the first scene of the play introducing us to the different characters. 

As the play goes on we are taken from one outrageous childhood scenario to another as the cast grows up through the various school years. Including awkward teen flirting and kissing. 

The cast is simply sublime, with comic timing that delivers each joke, punch line, and physical gag with the same expertise as expected from any world-class comedian. 

The dynamic this ensemble has is truly enchanting from start to finish, Matt Cavendish’s portrayal of the awkward and lonely Simon is definitely not one to miss. The same can be said of any of the cast as their energy carries you through the next two hours and twenty minutes, without once taking your eyes off of them. 

The stage design is spectacular with the perspective being manipulated to make the actors look like small toddlers and shrinking as the play travels through the years. 

As things come to a head, the characters have more emotional strings to pull at and when those moments are exquisitely delivered they affect you even more. 

A truly outstanding piece of theatre that I would be extremely happy to purchase tickets for again. 

Reviewed by - Robin Hannagan-Jones