Goodnight, Oscar review: Will & Grace star Sean Hayes is magnetic August 7, 2025 Goodnight, Oscar review and star rating: ★★★★ It’s fairly obvious why writers turn to televisual ratings to source their intrigue: every scribe knows the pain of having their stories or subjects exploited to reach bigger audiences. File Goodnight, Oscar next to a litany of West End hits on the subject, including Network at the National [...]
More West End streets to be pedestrianised under Crown Estate plans July 3, 2025 Plans to pedestrianise more streets in London’s West End have been proposed via a partnership between King Charles’ property firm and a local authority. The Crown Estate and Westminster City Council intend to turn Regent Street St James’s into a traffic-free space while greatly enlarging the pedestrian area at Piccadilly Circus. The proposals also include [...]
Harry Potter and the theatre owner’s record profit June 24, 2025 The group which owns the theatre behind Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has achieved a record profit for its latest financial year. Nimax Theatres has posted a pre-tax profit of £10m for the 12 months to 29 September, 2024, new accounts filed with Companies House have revealed. The total comes after the business reported [...]
Business rates to hammer the West End: ‘This whole policy is nuts’ June 16, 2025 A rise in business rates for more expensive properties is set to hammer valuable areas like London’s West End, a leading investment firm has warned. The policy, which aims to bring down business rates for small properties by raising them for large properties, has been slammed as “unlikely to save the high street” and likely [...]
Stereophonic play review: Fleetwood Mac musical is a sensation June 15, 2025 Stereophonic play review and star rating: ★★★★★ Stereophonic is a mighty test of endurance. At three-and-a-half hours, there are points in the Herculean one-hour-fifty-minute first act where the audience unanimously agree to give up and start chatting. I’ve never seen so many people escape to the loo. On this level, Stereophonic is one great meta [...]
The Brightening Air: Unbearably tense and brilliantly acted April 29, 2025 After seeing The Brightening Air at the Old Vic, I left the theatre with the overwhelming urge to seize control of my own destiny. It follows an extended family as they prepare to meet after a long time apart. The occasion: the birthday of the blind ex-clergyman Father Pierre. It is a play in which [...]
Tourist tax: Lisa Nandy says Labour may ‘explore’ restoring VAT free shopping April 16, 2025 Lisa Nandy has said the government “could explore” restoring VAT free shopping after hearing “very loud and clear” the calls from the industry to scrap the so-called tourist tax. The culture, media and sport secretary told Elle UK magazine that fashion was in the “soul of the nation” and ministers recognised its “centrality” to the [...]
The Phantom of the Opera closure slashes profit at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s empire April 1, 2025 The closure of The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway led to sales and profit at the entertainment empire owned by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber being slashed during its latest financial year, it has been revealed. London-headquartered The Really Useful Group has reported a turnover of £36.5m for the year to 30 June, 2024, down [...]
Will rising costs kill off Savile Row’s renaissance? March 25, 2025 On a Wednesday morning earlier this month, there was plenty of activity on the shop floor at the Georgian townhouse that plays home to Richard James’ bespoke suit-making. One staff member is on the phone discussing colours and time frames, another getting a glass of water for a customer in the changing room, and smartly [...]
Plans approved for £600m Euston Tower revamp March 21, 2025 British Land’s plans to strip and redevelop Euston Tower in a £600m project have been approved by Camden Council. The tower, which was originally built in 1970 and sits next to Euston station, will undergo a complete revamp with new office space, restaurants and terraces. “We are delighted to receive planning consent for this incredible [...]