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Charity singles galore

A trio of charity singles supporting some great causes over Christmas

Martin Dickinson is releasing a cover of ‘You Raise Me Up’  as a charity single for Shooting Star Children’s Hospice. The track is released on Friday 11th December and features an introduction from the marvellous Brenda Edwards and a choir featuring Kimberley Ensor, Charlotte O’Rourke, Louise Young, Jordan Lee Davies and Danny Whitehead.

Two versions of the single will be available – a full version/radio edit and a music video will arrive on streaming platforms including iTunes, Amazon and Spotify.

West End star Alice Fearn, Britain’s Got Talent winner Jai McDowell, performers and musicians from London’s musical theatre scene have come together to release a Christmas Charity single to generate awareness of heart failure, along with raising funds for the Pumping Marvellous Foundation, the UK’s only patient-led heart failure charity.

‘Music will live in our Hearts’ was written by award-winning musical theatre composer and songwriter Pippa Cleary (The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾), lyrics by Mark Nathan, and a choir of West End performersand musicians who donated their time to appear on the single, including Flora Spencer-Longhurst, Laura Barnard, Lee Van Geeleen, Adam Hepworth, Sam Oladeinde, Stephenson Ardern-Sodje, Meesha Turner, Natalie Dunne, Nick Lautman and Ellie Ann Lowe.

You can find at the links below: Amazon Music – https://amzn.to/36PppGi; iTunes – https://apple.co/39MiLT3; Spotify – https://spoti.fi/39JviGZ; and YouTube – https://youtu.be/bFOzpn1LqKk.

And last but by no means least, ‘Christmas Again’ is a new song written by Anna Hale, Joe McNeice and Matthew Spalding and from which all profits will go to Theatre Support Fund+ and will then be distributed to Acting For Others, The Fleabag Support Fund and the NHS COVID-19 Urgent Appeal.

The track features, Mark Anderson, Marc Antolin, Luke Bayer, Tracie Bennett, Norman Bowman, Alex Cardall, Oscar Conlon-Morrey, Matthew Croke, Adam Davidson, Janie Dee, Alice Fearn, Tyrone Huntley, Rachel John, Ryan Kopel, Rebecca Lock, Jack Loxton, Robert Madge, Rebecca McKinnis, Claire Moore, Martha Pothen, Joanna Riding, Clive Rowe, Savannah Stevenson, Noah Thomas, Harriet Thorpe, Sally Ann Triplett and Lauren Ward.

You can buy the song via Apple Music and iTunes, and stream it via Spotify.

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News: A West End Christmas for the MAD Trust

 The Christmas Show Must Go On! 

Put on your sparkles, your reindeer Christmas jumper, switch on the Christmas tree lights and settle down for an evening of festive fun and music.  The Make a Difference Trust has announced A West End Christmas, the most Christmassy Christmas show ever and the perfect antidote to these extraordinary and difficult times.

With a cast of 80 and a 17-piece orchestra, including stars from The Phantom of the Opera, Only Fools and Horses, Wicked, Come From Away as well as the West End Kids, A West End Christmas will also feature special guest performances from Tom Allen, Samantha Bond, Kerry Ellis, Clive Rowe, Oliver Tompsett, Marisha Wallace and Robin Windsor & Anya Garnis. Continue reading “News: A West End Christmas for the MAD Trust”

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News: the Hippodrome to host music, magic and comedy this winter

Fourth Wall Live and The Hippodrome Casino London are thrilled to announce a series of over 40 shows at the Hippodrome Casino this winter. The season runs from 18 November every week for 5 weeks and will include two shows nightly at 7.00pm and 9.00pm.

The series will feature stars from the world of musical theatre, comedy and magic with all tickets priced £20. Audiences will be safely socially distanced following the most up-to-date safety guidelines. There will be 130 tickets on sale per show and tickets go on sale soon. Sign up at www.fw-live.com for advance presale and further announcements. Continue reading “News: the Hippodrome to host music, magic and comedy this winter”

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September theatre news, the UK version

Chichester Festival Theatre has announced their Autumn plans and it looks to be a good’un. It includes:
– Sarah Kane’s Crave, directed by Tinuke Craig and starring Erin Doherty and Alfred Enoch, staged in a socially distanced Festival Theatre for 10 performances and live streamed to digital audiences
– for Christmas, a series of festive concerts (including one with Rebeccas Caine and Trehearn), followed by Chichester Festival Youth Theatre in a new version of Pinocchio by Anna Ledwich, directed by Dale Rooks
– Michael Ball, Sheila Hancock and Patricia Routledge in conversation with Edward Seckerson
– cabaret and comedy including Frisky & Mannish, The Black Cat Cabaret, Barely Methodical Troupe, Rich Hall, Suzi Ruffell, Russell Kane and Rosie Jones
– music ranging from a celebration of Sondheim with West End stars, to a song recital by Kate Royal, a new concert from Joe Stilgoe and a portrait of Rachmaninoff with Henry Goodman and Lucy Parham Continue reading “September theatre news, the UK version”

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Review: Hello Harry! A Celebration of 40 Years at Stage Door

Just a quickie for the infusion of pure joy that was Hello Harry! A Celebration of 40 Years at Stage Door

Amid the constant shower of shit that passes for news about theatre at the moment, this online concert to celebrate the incredible 40 year career of Harry Gabriel, the Shaftesbury Theatre’s Stage Door Keeper, was an absolute ray of sunshine.

Put together by Giles Terera, the guest list was truly astonishing, featuring a veritable who’s who of the theatre world, all connected one way or another with Harry through the 40 years of shows he has seen pass through the Shaftesbury Theatre. Continue reading “Review: Hello Harry! A Celebration of 40 Years at Stage Door”

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News: even more black MT talent turning it up for TURN UP!

Theatrical superstars Sharon D. Clarke, Noma Dumezweni, Clive Rowe, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Johnnie Fiore, Brenda Edwards, Zaris-Angel Hator, Rachel Adedeji, Aisha Jawando, Norm Lewis, Brittney Johnson, Brandi Chavonne Massey and Joe Aaron Reid and more join the lineup for TURN UP! , a live stream event supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.

The live stream event is streaming for The Bail Project, The Okra Project, The Black Curriculum and UK Black Pride – in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

TURN UP! will stream on Friday 10th, Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th July at 7.30pm prompt.  The performance streamed on Sunday 12th July will be captioned. Tickets cost £10 for one stream/show, or you can watch all 3 nights for £25, all profit (after streaming costs and applicable taxes) will be split between our four charities, tickets are available now from club11.london/turn. Continue reading “News: even more black MT talent turning it up for TURN UP!”

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News: the Shaftesbury Theatre announces all-star concert Hello Harry!

The Shaftesbury Theatre has announced Hello Harry! – A Celebration of 40 Years at Stage Door – an online concert to celebrate the incredible 40 year career of Harry Gabriel, our night Stage Door Keeper. The concert will stream on YouTube on the 15th July at 7:30pm, with an incredible guest list of performers.

All of these performers are connected with the Shaftesbury and with Harry. The concert will feature stories and songs from shows that have been on our stage over the last 40 years and beyond. Continue reading “News: the Shaftesbury Theatre announces all-star concert Hello Harry!”

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Review: Kings of Broadway 2020

Jule Styne, Jerry Herman & Stephen Sondheim get a worthy lockdown tribute in Kings of Broadway 2020

“Knock-knock! Is anybody there?”

There certainly was a whole lot of people there as the online concert of Kings of Broadway 2020 in support of NHS Charities Together and Acting for Others brought a large dose of classic musical theatre back into our lives. Expertly marshaled by musical director and pianist Alex Parker, the choice to spotlight Black Lives Matter through a recital of Maya Angelou’s ‘And Still I Rise’ was a good one, even if it showed the relative caucasity of the main line up. Continue reading “Review: Kings of Broadway 2020”