Reviews

Given these shorts are all only about two minutes long this is harmless enough project but you do keep asking yourself what the point is. The animation is of course excellent but the lack of voices on a couple of them is a real shame and a few seem like deleted scenes from the parent movie that were rightly excised.

For me the most interesting part was the popcorn themed variations on the Luxo Jr. opening logo.

Neil Hannon is an eccentric, witty and extremely likeable host for this half hour documentary retrospective on his band The Divine Comedy. Highly recommended for anyone with even a passing interest in the group and a must see fans.

Seeing Neil Brand walking through the crowds of the West End and Broadway is likely to trigger waves of nostalgia for the viewer in 2021 with theatres shut and facing an uncertain future. First broadcast four years ago when Musical theatre was on top of the world it would be interesting to see Neil do a follow up post pandemic to see how things are recovering.

As for the three-part series itself it covers the major themes of the last 100 or so years in the history of Musical theatre, concentrating on some of the key shows with interviews with experts and some of the creative people behind them. He also deconstructs some of the best known or most innovative songs along with the help of a talented bunch of modern performers. Brand is knowledgeable and a talented piano player and composer in his own right and is an amiable host.

Of course three hours isn't nearly enough time to cover the subject matter but it's a good place to start and a reminder of why going out to see a show is such a treat for so many.