Liverpool Empire

Come From Away

★★★★★

Welcome to the Rock, specifically to the town of Gander in Newfoundland, the easternmost province in Canada. The town is small and only has around 10,000 inhabitants, but there is an international airport; a leftover from the days when flying transatlantic involved refuelling mid-flight.

Come From Away tells the story of how this small town in Canada welcomed 38 planes full of people (approximately 7,000 people)when the United States airspace was closed in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. For 5 days, the people of Gander provided food, showers, comfort and friendship to the Come From Aways (a term used in Newfoundland to describe people who aren’t from the island) until the flights could leave again.

Wizard of Oz

★★★☆☆

Flying into Liverpool from sell out performances at the London Palladium, musical classic The Wizard of Oz has been given a contemporary twist complete with additional songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

Starring Aston Merrygold of JLS fame as Tin Man and local legend / RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner The Vivienne as the Wicked Witch of the West, this is a colourful, technological masterpiece with stunning sets and costumes.

The key elements of the story are all unchanged. Dorothy (Aviva Tulley) and her dog Toto run away from home just as a tornado hits her Kansas farm. Her and Toto end up transported to Munchkinland in the land of Oz, with the only hope of getting home lying with the Wizard of Oz in Emerald City at the end of the Yellow Brick Road. Along the way, Dorothy meets The Scarecrow (Benjamin Yates), The Tin Man (Aston Merrygold) and The Cowardly Lion (Nic Greenshields). Together, they all embark on a journey of self-discovery whilst battling the Wicked Witch of the West (The Vivienne) who wants nothing more than to take the ruby slippers from Dorothy’s feet.

42nd Street

★★★★☆

Tapping it’s way into Liverpool for a limited time, the UK and Ireland tour of 42nd Street brought Depression-era Broadway glamour in a way that only this classical musical within a musical can.

Based on a 1933 film, which itself is based on an earlier novel, 42nd Street as a stage show originated in the 1980’s and features well-known musical numbers such as We’re In The Money, Keep Young And Beautiful, and the eponymous 42nd Street. There have been numerous revivals over the years, with this latest tour choreographed and designed by Olivier Award winners Bill Deamer and Robert Jones, and directed by Jonathan Church.

Heathers The Musical

★★★☆☆

Heathers is not your standard high school musical. Based on the 1989 film which was intended to be an anti-John Hughes portrayal of teen life, the musical version of Heathers retains all the dark comedy that makes the original film a cult classic, whilst mixing in catchy group numbers and hard hitting solo pieces.

The plot of Heathers is in someways what you would expect from a high school based musical; there’s a clique of girls all named Heather who rule the school, and the nerdy Veronica Sawyer wants to fit in with the popular girls. She ultimately gets her wish, but realises true friendship is more important than popularity. Along the way, Veronica falls for the mysterious bad boy JD who also happens to be a sociopathic vigilante, hell bent on blowing up the school. With Veronica’s involuntary support (a shift away from the source material), JD even manages to murder three students and gets away with it.