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Soul Sister – theatre review
With no big names or celebrity performers, the real draw of Soul Sister at the Savoy Theatre is its telling of the Ike and Turner story against the backdrop of her legendary and extremely stageworthy songs.
Starring Emi Wokoma and Chris Tummings in the lead roles, the production which transferred from Hackney Empire, has a lot going for it.
A talented cast, the singing was top class, but with songs like Private Dancer, Simply the Best and River Deep, Mountain High hitting the audience hard and fast, a slight lack of development in the script meant the play was in danger of becoming a Tina Turner tribute concert.
Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but myself and my friend who joined me on the night, would have loved to have seen some further – and deeper – development in the script.
Wokoma who works hard to take on the characteristics of Tina, while still managing to make the songs her own, is undoubtedly the star of the show and ultimately keeps it from being the feared tribute concert. She’s definitely one to look out for in the future.
Soul Sister is at the Savoy Theatre until September 29, before touring the UK.
Media Mummy rating: 3 out of 5 stars.
Review: Zootropolis
What’s that you say? A Disney animation exploring racism while being both witty and hilarious?
Well, surprisingly Zootropolis manages to do exactly that with characters voiced by the likes of Jason Bateman, Ginnifer Goodwin, Idris Elba, J K Simmons and Octavia Spencer.
In short, the film is about the determined Judy Hopp (Goodwin) who battles to become the first ever rabbit police academy graduate before teaming up with Nick Wilde (Bateman) to investigate a series of incidents that threaten the city of Zootropolis, where creatures of all types have – up until now – lived together in harmony.
My little one loved the way the two main characters bounced off each other and laughed out loud on several occasions during the film. Even a slight scare, which made half the cinema jump, wasn’t enough to mar her enjoyment.
We watched a special preview screening of the animation in Leicester Square, joined by VIPs – David Haye, Vanessa Feltz, Linda Robson, Sinitta and Jenni Falconer – and their children.
Judging from the round of applause as the film ended, Zootropolis is set to be a hit with both adults and children alike – as the content was covered with the seriousness needed for the themes explored, but at the same time, the relationship between the characters ensured it was a fun watch.
Spread the Love – not Covid – with the 2020 Charity Gifting Appeal
2020 is definitely the year which made us realise how important it is to think of others and those less well off.
While many of us now have the choice to spend Christmas with our loved ones, feasting on turkey and opening multiple gifts around the tree – many people will not have that option.
And so it was great to hear that leading gift retailer Thumbs Up has partnered with Great Ormond Street Hospital and The Salvation Army to create the 2020 Charity Gifting Appeal and donate a massive 2,000 presents to those who might not otherwise receive anything for Christmas.
To help them carry out their target Thumbs Up are asking people to contribute just £5 for postage and packaging.
The donation will see each individual receive a package full of presents worth £30.
You read that right people! All they’re asking is for £5 towards postage and packaging!
Times are hard, but if you feel you can help please visit thumbsup.com to choose from four different packs (Teen Girls 12-17, Teen Boys 12-17, Male or Female 18+).
Spread the love this Christmas (not Covid!).
Sammy’s Great Escape – film review
I guess as a mother I should find it easy to judge if my daughter is enjoying a film or not, but during the screening of Sammy’s Great Escape, she certainly had me guessing…
She alternated between loudly naming all the creatures she could see; to jumping out of her skin once or twice; pointing at the screen to say ‘I don’t like it, I want to go home’ and at any pause in dialogue or musical interlude shouting ‘yeah! It’s finished now – can we go home?’
So on this basis, I’ll have to give the film, a sequel to A Turtle’s Tale: Sammy’s Adventures, a mixed review. This time around we follow two turtles who end up stuck in a giant aquarium in Dubai and their young grandchildren who are faced with the task of setting them free.
The bright colours made the movie very appealing, but for my daughter’s age group (she’s just about to turn 3!) I thought at times it was a little too intense with its loud noises and things going wrong, which was made clear by the atmospheric music, so a child of any age would know something scary was about to happen.
I’m glad we stayed to see the film through – as that night I had to contend with her quoting from the film, repeating the words of a crazy fish stuck in an aquarium, ‘They’re all looking at me! I can see them all looking at me!’ (Let’s just ignore the fact that my little one found some sort of affinity with the film’s crazy character…) – but to be honest, if we’d been in a local cinema and not just trekked into Leicester Square, we’d probably have left about 20 minutes in.
So, overall verdict? Sammy’s Great Escape is probably better suited to slightly older kids – maybe 4 upwards – but that’s obviously for individual parents to judge.