about me
Hi! My name is Finlay and I am an independent theatre reviewer from Greater Manchester, who loves seeing as much theatre as possible, both in the North West and travelling down to London to enjoy West End theatre.
Being raised on a diet of Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, it was always inevitable that one day I'd fall in love with theatre. This eventually happened after seeing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in the West End in 2016, which became my first true musical obsession (as evidenced by the mildly embarrassing Oompa Loompa cosplay seen below!)
It was while performing in the pit orchestra for a school production of Hairspray and Shrek the Musical that I lost the denial of being a 'theatre kid', and over the following lockdowns went down the rabbit holes of Les Mis, Hamilton and Wicked (as every theatre obsessed person starts out by doing).
Things took a turn when I first discovered Stephen Sondheim by stumbling across the 2007 pro shot of Company; to put it lightly, my world was changed. Sondheim's work opened my eyes to the true capability of musical theatre, and I went on to write an academic paper on the philosophical capabilities of his writing and listening to his music far too much. Beyond Sondheim, I've grown to love the work of Jason Robert Brown, Maury Yeston, Kander & Ebb and Rogers & Hammerstein.
My Favourite Musicals
1. Company
2. Sunday in the Park with George
3. Cabaret
4. Les Misérables
5. Into the Woods
6. Parade
7. Standing at the Sky's Edge
8. The Book Thief
9. A Chorus Line
10. Sunset Boulevard
11. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
12. Ragtime
13. West Side Story
14. Titanic the Musical
15. Amelie