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Some musicals news from the last week

News about new musicals in Leicester and Maidstone, plus concerts in the West End and Chiswick 

The line up has been confirmed for the first concert of the series for Monday Night at the Apollo – which will be performed in front of a socially distanced audience at the Apollo Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue on Monday 24 May, and simultaneously livestreamed to viewers at home via the theatre discovery platform Thespie.

Aimie Atkinson (Six, Pretty Woman), Cassidy Janson (&Juliet, Beautiful), Lucie Jones (Waitress, Rent), Cedric Neal (Chess, Motown the Musical) and Julian Ovenden (South Pacific, Downton Abbey) will join on-stage for an intimate night of music and theatrical chat, featuring ovation worthy performances of songs from their favourite genres with host Greg Barnett (Miss Littlewood, Swallows and Amazons). Continue reading “Some musicals news from the last week”

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Some theatre news from the last week

New interview series from the NT, Julius Caesar and Sunset Boulevard reappearing digitally and Hushabye Mountain coming to the Hope Mill

© Louise Haywood-Schiefer

The National Theatre announced a new interview series Life in Stages, profiling some of the biggest names in British theatre. The series, which will be free to watch, will launch on the National Theatre’s YouTube channel on Thursday 22 April at 7pm BST with each new episode added at the same time every Thursday.  

The first episode boasts Olivia Colman and Director and Joint Chief Executive of the National Theatre Rufus Norris. The second episode on Thursday 29 April will feature Romeo & Juliet co-stars Josh O’Connor and Jessie Buckley. On Thursday 6 May the third episode puts Adrian Lester and Meera Syal together. Details of further episodes from this series will be announced later this month.  Continue reading “Some theatre news from the last week”

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Review: Disenchanted

Musical revue Disenchanted takes a deeper look at the lives of Disney princesses and whether happy ever after is all that

“One more once upon a time and I swear I’ll go insane”

Revisiting fairytale endings and reclaiming female historical narratives will be familiar to fans of Into the Woods and SIX but Dennis T Giacino’s Disenchanted attempts to tackle both in an ambitious if patchy musical comedy. Returning to some of the characters so familiar from our storybooks, the show gives them new voice to explain what life as a ‘princess’ is really and how the stories we’ve been told don’t necessarily reflect ‘reality’.

In some ways, this is powerfully effective. You can’t help but hear echoes of Thandiwe Newton’s recent decision in Badroulbadour’s story of how her name and ethnicity were changed in order to become a secondary character in Aladdin. Or nod at Mulan’s recognition that the reason she’s one of the only princesses not to end up with a partner is because she’s a lesbian. Throw in commentary on typical cup size and waist measurements and you see how much social conditioning has gone on through this mode of storytelling. Continue reading “Review: Disenchanted”

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Album Reviews: Amélie The Musical / Cases / After You

A trio of cast recording reviews covers musicals Amélie The Musical, Cases and After You – each one a winner in its own way

“I have always thought I’d see the world”

© Pamela Raith Photography

True story, listening to the cast recording of Amélie The Musical for the first time last summer caused the biggest eruption of tears I’d had all pandemic long. It’s a show I’ve loved from the Watermill Theatre, to its UK tour and thence to The Other Palace, and none of its charm has been lost onto its move onto record here (it has been released on CD as of 1st April). Daniel Messé’s score and his lyrics with Nathan Tysen are charmant in the extreme, embracing the quirkiness of the central character but rooting her in a deep emotional truth of social awkwardness. Audrey Brisson was deservedly nominated for an Olivier and leads the ensemble beautifully, Chris Jared and Caolan McCarthy taking moments to shine too. And I swaer, if there’s another 79 seconds that is as achingly gorgeous as ‘How To Tell Time’, I will manger mon béret. Continue reading “Album Reviews: Amélie The Musical / Cases / After You”

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Review: Ordinary Days

Pickle Productions’ new version of Adam Gwon’s Ordinary Days is streaming via The Theatre Cafe now

“I’m simply letting breakfast stir my soul”

Adam Gwon’s four-hander Ordinary Days is one of those musicals that keeps popping up every couple of years and for good reason, since its affecting and uplifting spirit really is rather lovely and, evidently, enduringly timeless. This production by Pickle Productions was destined for a Spring tour but as with so many others, has had to pivot. Staged and filmed in a theatre in Norfolk, it is now available for streaming via The Theatre Cafe.

The show follows 4 young-ish New Yorkers on a seemingly unremarkable day. But as Deb looks for her thesis notes and Warren for a purpose, as Jason moves in with Claire and Claire checks out emotionally, Gwon makes us look at how the vast majority of life is lived in the ‘ordinary’ and how the ongoing search for happiness is tied up in the many everyday decisions that on their own, might not seem to count for much. Continue reading “Review: Ordinary Days”

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Review: Now or Never, Barn Theatre online

There are some good performance in Matthew Harvey’s Now or Never, the latest online show from the Barn Theatre but I’m not sure the song cycle format entirely works

“We could still make it to Paris”

What would you do if there was only a week left to live? That’s the question facing the seven people in Now or Never, a new song cycle written by Matthew Harvey. Continuing the Barn Theatre’s inventive forays online, with a non-stop, one-shot, one-night-only production that is over and done with in a scant 30 minutes.

Get a dog? Connect with loved ones? Go to Paris? Reach out to those long estranged? Harvey’s writing covers the emotional gamut and fits his self-identified brief of writing about responses to global adversity without writing specifically about the pandemic. And with it being just half an hour, it has that feeling of shining bright like a star. Continue reading “Review: Now or Never, Barn Theatre online”

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News: get some Pride at the Palace in June

For one night only (7th June), a host of Queer stars from the West End and beyond come together to celebrate their Pride in a spectacular concert.

Pride at the Palace celebrates our wonderful LGBTQIA+ community in all it’s glory with a set list that includes multiple Queer anthems, as well as songs you simply won’t be able to resist getting up and dancing to! Continue reading “News: get some Pride at the Palace in June”

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Musical news aplenty

Following its opening at the Watermill Theatre, a critically acclaimed sell-out tour in 2019, a highly successful Christmas season at The Other Palace in 2019, a Grammy nomination and 3 Olivier Award nominations, Amélie The Musical arrives in the heart of the West End this summer. Following the government roadmap announcement, tickets are on sale now for a socially distanced audience at the Criterion Theatre from Thursday 20 May. Olivier-nominee Audrey Brisson (The Elephantom, Pinocchio and Pericles (National Theatre), The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk (Kneehigh), and The Grinning Man
(Bristol Old Vic)), will return to the role of ‘Amélie’.

The five–time Oscar®-nominated film will be brought to life once again by a cast of actor-musicians and set to a critically acclaimed re-orchestrated score. With music by Hem’s Daniel Messé, lyrics by Nathan Tysen and Daniel Messé and book by Craig Lucas, Amélie The Musical is directed by Michael Fentiman. The full cast includes Sioned Saunders as Gina, Flora Spencer-Longhurst as Georgette, Rachel Dawson as Amandine/Philomene, Oliver Grant as Lucien/Mysterious Man, Chris Jared as Nino Quincampoix, Caolan McCarthy as Hippolito/Elton John, Samuel Morgan-Grahame as Joseph/Fluffy, Kate Robson-Stuart as Suzanne, Jack Quarton as Blind Beggar, Jez Unwin as Raphael/Bretodeau and Johnson Willis as Collignon/Dufayel. Nuwan Hugh Perera, Miiya Alexandra, Robyn Sinclair and Matthew James Hinchliffe complete the ensemble. Continue reading “Musical news aplenty”

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News: Chichester Festival Theatre announces summer plans

Artistic Director Daniel Evans and Executive Director Kathy Bourne have announced that Chichester Festival Theatre will reopen its doors with its summer musical: Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific, running from 5 July – 4 September. 

Daniel Evans directs Gina Beck (Nellie Forbush), Julian Ovenden (Emile de Becque), Joanna Ampil (Bloody Mary), Keir Charles (Luther Billis) and Rob Houchen (Joe Cable). Continue reading “News: Chichester Festival Theatre announces summer plans”