Why this man is not bigger than he currently is, is beyond me.
I have seen Daniel in various shows over the years including Avenue Q, High Society, West End Recast and The Famished Land and have always been blown away by his vocal and acting talents. He can belt out big ballads, softly sing haunting melodies and reduce audiences to fits of laughter in comical numbers.
All this and more he delivered during the one-off show at the Delfont Rooms in the Prince of Wales Theatre, part of their 'An Evening With . . . ' series of late night shows.
Daniel talked in between the numbers about the song choices and stories behind the songs themselves, showing himself to be a regular guy who just wants people to enjoy the songs he sings. He sang a range of songs from musicals, Disney, pop songs and even an original number based on a poem written by Daniel himself.
Throughout the show he was joined by guest singers Lauren Samuels, Rebecca Lock and Lee Mead.
Lauren Samuels, who was his co-star in a recent production of Love Story, sang a haunting number from the aforementioned show before they sang duet together again from Love Story. They were supported by 3 others from the production playing stringed instruments to accompany the singing.
Rebecca Lock sang a duet with Daniel from The Book of Mormon - Baptise Me. Having not seen the show I am not sure if the song is meant to be a comical farce, but that is how it was performed and this had the audience in fits of laughter.
Towards the end of the show, Daniel was joined by Lee Mead, his onetime Joseph rival, and they sang the Fiyero / Elphaba duet As Long As You're Mine from Wicked. It really should not have worked, but it did.
The show ended with a personal favourite of mine, No Day But Today from Jonathan Larson's RENT, which almost reduced me to tears.
Remember the name because I predict that someday soon Daniel Boys will be achieving big things in the world of musical theatre  and perhaps even beyond.

This is a show I have waited a long time to see. I fell in love with the soundtrack back in the 90s, but never got to see the show itself.
Because of this I went in with the highest of expectations. I know the music inside out, I have sung the songs myself for auditions, I have watched Madame Butterfly at The Royal Albert Hall knowing Puccini's opera was the basis for the story of Miss Saigon. And I have to say, despite everything, my expectations were not only met, there were blown out of the water.
I sat enthralled as the action unfolded in front of me, as the girls danced, the soldiers groped and the Engineer, well, engineered!
The first act was long, but never lost pace. The staging was superb, with scenes changing around as the action continued. The helicopter scene was a thing of brilliance, they even had fans blowing onto the audience (or at least they did in the stalls where I was sat), to imitate the down draft of the blades. Another amazing scene was during the song The Morning of The Dragon. A whole cast master class on stage presence.
Every single cast member held their own on a stage filled with exceptional talent. Jon Jon Briones shone as the Engineer and brought a sense of manic humour and underlying brutality to the role. The American Dream scene was so well played it didn't seem out of place at all.
Eva Noblezada as Kim and Alistair Brammer as Chris had me shivering as they sang their duets in the first act. Such amazing chemistry between the two added to the realness of their scenes.
Both Hugh Manard as John and Kwang-Ho Hang as Thuy played their roles with precision. Manard switched from the brash soldier to the considered diplomat very well and Thuy was played with an air of evilness that role needs.
Tamsin Carroll as Ellen sang amazingly well in the second act, although I was not altogether convinced of the relationship between her and Alistair as Chris. Somthing just didn't look or feel quite right.
A special mention has to go to Rachelle AnnGo as Gigi. Her reactionary acting in every scene she was in was second to none.
Miss Saigon tells an epic story of love, war and separation. I would not suggest  this show for children or anyone of a sensitive disposition. Scenes of simulated sex, erotic dancing and continued swearing are found throughout the show.
However f you are not offended by such things, it is all acting after all, and you want to come out of the theatre feeling exhausted both emotionally and physically, then Miss Saigon is for you. Miss Saigon is showing at the Prince Edward Theatre on Old Compton Street in London.

Viva Blackpool is located just off the main promenade in Blackpool and promised to be a night of singing, dancing and comedy, which is exactly what it delivered. The show itself is split into two sections and lasts about 3 hours.

Leye D Johns acts as the comic compere at the start of the show and in between the guest artist singers and Viva dancers. He also sings a wide range of songs with a good amount of audience and participation. Throughout the show he appears in a range of costumes and guises including a tiger, a horse, a headmaster and Prince! Self-deprecating and quick to answer any hecklers, this veteran stage performer held the audience captivated whenever he was on stage, which couldn't have been easy with the at times stoic audience that was in on the night I went!
My favourite moments of his were his rendition of 'Kiss' dressed as Prince, the Madness medley and the incredibly silly, but so much fun, nursery rhyme section!
The guest artists I saw were Emma Wright and (I believe) Andy Mudd, (he was not listed in the programme).
Emma's voice rang out loud and clear whether she was singing ballads such as Emeli Sandé's 'Clown' or more up-tempo numbers like Beyoncé's 'Single Ladies'. Her voice never faltered and she performed each song exceptionally.
Andy also sang with power, feeling and clarity. His songs came from a various decades and included 'Mack the Knife', 'Love Train', 'Shine' and 'Happy'. Again all were performed with enthusiam and talent. He even managed to fit in attempts at comedy asides to the audience which, for the most part, were received well.
The Viva dancers must be very fit ladies. As mentioned the show lasts almost three hours and they are involved for a large majority of it. The dance styles ranged from classic cabaret moves, salsa, ballet to more contemporary movements. They stayed in sync with each other and at times danced in character to suit the music.
Claiming to be a family friendly show, but advise parents although the show is not rude, it has elements some would deem unsuitable for children. Perhaps it was because the artists knew there were no children in the audience, but I would suggest the show unsuitable for those under 13. Campness and innuendo are abound throughout the show, which also contained a small amount of swearing, but not until a while into the show after the compere had appeared to suss out the audience.
Despite an occasional skip in the music, therough which the artists excellently recovered, the production held together well and flowed almost seamlessly from song to dance to comedy interlude and back.
If you don't mind some camp comedy and up for a party night out, then this is possibly the Blackpool show for you.

Funny Girls, at its heart, is a drag revue show. However that simple phrase does not come anywhere close to describing the amazing extravaganza I saw. Funny Girls is a cabaret revue show, staged in a bar which used to be a cinema, a short walk from Blackpool Tower.
The evening consists of several cabaret style mini-shows spaced throughout the evening, performed on a stage behind the bar, with music played in between by the fabulous compere, DJ Zoe.
Zoe is everything you would expect from a compere at a drag show: sassy, quick-witted and hilarious. She engaged the audience excellently, taking requests for people celebrating birthdays, anniversaries or other special events, and mercilessly ribbing them in the process.
There were 8 performers during the cabaret acts, (9 if you include Zoe herself who participates in a few of the numbers), 4 boys and 4 girls. All of whom are obviously very skilled dancers / performers and bring their own personalities and energies to the different dance routines throughout the evening.
The vast majority of the dance routines are original, creative and hilarious to watch as the girls and boys interact in a typically outrageous gay way - expect spanking, exposed skin and the occasional mimed sexual act!
The routines ranged from the typical flamboyant drag performance (feathers & big headdresses), fantastic dancing (Irish, Flamenco & Salsa), comedy routines which had the audience in fits of laughter, and shows of amazing acrobatic strength and dexterity with one of the girls performing an excellent routine on silks.
One highlight for me was the hilarious 'Sound of Music' parody with the performers dressed as Maria and the Von Trapp children (and as there are only 3 boys in the Von Trapp family, one - Stephen - dressed as one of the little girls, and throughout the whole performance did a brilliant act of not being too happy about this!).
The last part of the show, which lasted a full 30 minutes and consisted of a range of the most popular routines from the last 20 years, was seamless despite the numerous costume changes (I think I counted 8 costumes for some of the cast) and flowed beautifully from scene to scene, with music spanning the decades from the 60s (The Beatles / Lulu) to the 90s (The Spice Girls).
A special mention goes to Miss Amber who played an excellent Maria and Sporty Spice, Dan and Paul who bought the character of Emcee to life, and Stephen who (I say unashamedly) as well as being a fantastically talented dancer was simply gorgeous to look at especially when stripped to just his pants!
If you are open-minded, don't mind a bit of smutty humour and adult comedy, and are up for a fun evening out in Blackpool, then Funny Girls is a must see.

A workshop production, showing for one evening only, at The Greenwood Theatre, Kings Collge London, Sunday 3rd August 2014.

Book & Concept by James Paterson after the novel by Elizabeth Byrd.
Music by Jennifer Whyte.
Lyrics by Robin Whyte.

Rehearsed and put together in one week, I was not expecting such a polished performance.
The sizeable cast, despite many holding and occasionally referring to scripts, held me captive throughout with the confident delivery of both prose and song.

The simple use of the staging area, combined with minimal scenery and projected images served the production well, enabling the audience to focus fully on the story of 'Moira McFlaherty', played by Zoe Rainey with a sense of truth and depth of feeling, and her family during the Irish Potato Famine of 1845.
The true horrors of this period were played out well, with care and thought, interspersing the rawness of fear, starvation and death with humour, acts of kindness and love.

To pick out but a few moments and/or actors for praise is difficult due to the superb quality of the assembled cast; however it would be amiss of me if I didn't try!

David Haydn as 'Tyrone Schwartz' was outstanding in his rendition of the lilting Irish folk song Come Sing Me A Song. Another heartfelt song was Pick Any Star, sung by Matthew Gent as 'Liam Lennihan', the love interest of Moira.
A special mention must also go to Joanna Riding, whose spitting and screaming 'Miss Finnigan' was played with such precise hatred, Michael Joseph's 'Jesus Finnigan', the loveable rogue with a liking for a drink and storytelling (The Pudden Song being another Act 1 highlight) and the comedic styling of Karen Mann and Anne Smith as 'Annie Dumbie' and 'Granny Cullen' respectively.

Musically, The Famished Land was spot on. The mix of instruments worked well to transport the audience and gave an authentic Irish feel to the production.
There were a few bars of a song in the 2nd act which brought to mind the musical CATS, a fact that detracted slightly from the scene, and for me the song Trio didn't quite work as the 3 parts merged rather than stood separately, but this may have been a sound issue.
However this did not detract from a superb score which contained some musical numbers which I left the theatre humming.

All in all, The Famished Land was an enjoyable and engaging piece of musical theatre and has the potential, given the right circumstances, and deserves to do well.