Manford proves he can do it on a cold Tuesday night in Stoke!

Curtains is a musical whodunnit. Jessica Cranshaw(Nia Jermin), star of the new Broadway-bound musical Robin Hood, has been murdered on stage on opening night. This means the whole cast and crew are suspects, cue local detective and huge musical fan, Frank Cioffi (Jason Manford) to solve the case.

Curtains is a comedic musical that is both dark humoured and creative.

The show is funny throughout its running time, and effortlessly switches between big musical scores and quick fire dialogue.  You have to keep up with script.

The whole cast come together and you can tell the onstage chemistry blends well with each character delivering punchy material and memorable comic performances.

A real strength of Curtains is the depth it gives to its main characters. Every single one had their own satisfying way, giving the actors something to sink their teeth into.

Special shoutout to Samuel Holmes’ performance of director Christopher Belling, he made sure to bring the house down with each part.

Jason Manford gives a charming performance in the lead role, and its clearly obvious with his background, he is more comfortable joking than jiving, gives a strong leading performance that holds all the different narrative threads together.  He proves he can do it on a cold Tuesday night in Stoke!

It is always difficult with muscials to deliver consistant numbers throughout, but leaving the theatre I did remember most of the songs from the play.

The stand out song amongst them all is, In the Same Boat (Complete). 

The only issue I had with Curtains is the pacing.  Even though there are plenty of laughs throughout, I just felt the show was a little too long.

There were a few gunshots at unexpected times that made me and the audience jump and laugh at the same time.

Overall, Curtains is a very enjoyable and clever comedy musical that will have you tapping your feet and laughing out loud throughout.

Curtain runs at The Regent Theatre, Hanley until Saturday 7th December.