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News: cast announced for A Journey to the Past

Bray Productions Ltd have announced principal and supporting cast members that will be joining Olivier Award winner Maria Friedman in A Journey to the Past, a West End celebration of the works of the Tony Award-winning and world-renowned musical theatre writing team Ahrens & Flaherty. 

The musical celebration, directed by Maria Friedman, will feature a selection of music from the writing duo’s most beloved works, including Maria Friedman reprising her Olivier Award-winning performance of ‘Back to Before’ from Ragtime.  Continue reading “News: cast announced for A Journey to the Past”

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2021 BroadwayWorld UK Awards Shortlist

Best Leading Performer in a New Production of a Musical
Arinzé Kene, Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Lyric Theatre
Beverley Knight, The Drifters Girl, Garrick Theatre
Carrie Hope Fletcher, Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre
Dianne Pilkington, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, UK Tour
Eddie Redmayne, Cabaret, Playhouse Theatre
Ivano Turco, Cinderella, Gillian Lynne Theatre
Jessie Buckley, Cabaret, Playhouse Theatre
Julian Ovenden, South Pacific, Chichester Festival Theatre
Olly Dobson, Back to the Future: The Musical, Adelphi Theatre
Stephanie McKeon, Frozen, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Sutton Foster, Anything Goes, Barbican
Tom Francis, Rent, Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester Continue reading “2021 BroadwayWorld UK Awards Shortlist”

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Film Review: Brighton (2019)

Based on a Steven Berkoff play, Brighton proves a candidate for one of the worst films I’ve ever seen

“We should have gone to Southend”

Sometimes, you just have to say, what the fuck do you think you’re doing. Stephen Cookson’s film Brighton, adapted from Steven Berkoff’s 1994 play Brighton Beach Scumbags, is one of those times. I suppose there is a film to be made about the fragility of British national identity in ageing white heterosexuals but this sure as hell isn’t it.

What’s worse is that you’ve got a top notch cast here. The two main couples having a jaunt back to the town where they met some 40-odd years ago are played by Lesley Sharp and Phil Davis, and Marion Bailey and Larry Lamb, fine actors all, who should be hanging their heads in shame for signing up to this horribly dated and downright nasty piece of work. Continue reading “Film Review: Brighton (2019)”

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Review: The Show Must Go On, Palace Theatre/online

Featuring 18 West End musicals, The Show Must Go On is a concert to remember, featuring a whole host of theatrical talent both on and off the stage

“Just like Dolly Levi, we are back where we belong”

Showcasing 18 West End musicals that are reopening soon or in some cases, have already reopened, The Show Must Go On is a celebratory concert, gathering together so much on- and off-stage theatrical talent in aid of Acting for Others and Fleabag Support Fund.

With Bonnie Langford and Trevor Dion Nicholas hosting and gamely working their way through a multitude of rapid-fire show descriptions, the real MVPs of the night were the orchestra, under Stuart Morley’s direction, and the choir, made up of recent graduates, who enthusiastically put their voices to any number of harmonised accompaniments. Continue reading “Review: The Show Must Go On, Palace Theatre/online”

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News: The Show Must Go On goes digital

The Theatre Support Fund+ are delighted to announce that, due to phenomenal public demand, the final performance of the sold-out run of THE SHOW MUST GO ON! LIVE AT THE PALACE THEATRE will now be streamed as a LIVE broadcast on Sunday 6 June at 7pm.

Theatre fans will be given further opportunity to enjoy the show in its entirety as it is made available to watch on ‘The Shows Must Go On!’ YouTube channel for the seven days following the LIVE broadcast.

Filmed by National Theatre Live, the world’s most iconic musicals return to the West End stage with a stunning concert performance that audiences can watch from the comfort of their homes for free; exclusively via the hugely popular ‘The Shows Must Go On!’ YouTube channel:  youtube.com/theshowsmustgoon. Continue reading “News: The Show Must Go On goes digital”

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News: The Show Must Go On line-up revealed

Theatre Support Fund+, the team behind ‘The Show Must Go On!’ campaign and MZG Theatre Productions are delighted to announce 18 West End shows and an all-star musical theatre cast coming together for a unique one-off concert in the biggest West End celebration this summer in THE SHOW MUST GO ON! LIVE AT THE PALACE THEATRE from 2 – 6 June 2021.

All shows which appear on the iconic The Show Must Go On! design will be performing alongside Pretty Woman and a West End debut performance from Back To The Future. This will be the first time in history these West End musicals will come together for one night of pure joyous entertainment which celebrates the wealth of talent in London and includes a multi award winning creative team, over 50 performers and an orchestra made up of some of the finest musicians in London. Continue reading “News: The Show Must Go On line-up revealed”

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News: concerts announced, warning given

I thought Liam Tamne’s tweet thread about diversity was worth flagging up ahead of today’s concert announcements as talk about change is proving awfully cheap compared with actually actioning it…

The West End Does… team returns to the stage with West End Does: Christmas 2020 at Cadogan Hall on 13th December. They promise a socially distanced West End Christmas extravaganza, featuring stars of the West End performing songs and carols with Louise Dearman, Killian Donnelly, Rachel John and Oliver Tompsett announced as headliners and special guests to be announced in the coming weeks. Continue reading “News: concerts announced, warning given”

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News: September theatre news gathers apace

Lockdown may have returned but theatres are boldly looking ahead – the David Tennant-starring Good and Six the Musical are moving theatres, Haydn Gwynne is back and The Last Five Years extends at the Southwark Playhouse

CP Taylor’s Good, starring David Tennant, Fenella Woolgar and Elliot Levey and directed by Dominic Cooke, which was due to open this October, has announced new dates for 2021 and a new run at the Harold Pinter Theatre.

Produced by Fictionhouse and Playful Productions, Good was originally scheduled to begin performances at the Playhouse Theatre on Tuesday 6th October. Due to the current global situation, the production was postponed and will now preview at the Harold Pinter Theatre from Wednesday 21st April  to Saturday 17st July 2021.

Current ticket holders will be given priority for the new dates and do not need to do anything. The point of purchase will be in touch with ticket holders to reschedule or refund their booking. Extra tickets for the new dates for Good at The Harold Pinter Theatre go on sale at 10am, Monday 12 October 2020. Continue reading “News: September theatre news gathers apace”

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Lockdown treat: SIX – The worldwide cast of Queens and 3000 fans perform a lockdown collaboration

A bonus extra Friday treat as this one couldn’t wait – ALL the queens of SIX unite!

All performers gave their time for free to create this video so they would love it if you would consider donating a small amount to a charity that you think might need your help during this time. Below is a short list of suggestions:
?? Acting for Others: https://www.actingforothers.co.uk
?? Actors Fund: https://www.actorsfund.org
?? Support Act: https://www.supportact.org.au 

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Review:The State of Things, Brockley Jack

“If only I could start to realise I’m not the only one who feels like they’ve been left behind”

Austerity bites. And it seems like it often bites hardest on the arts, government thinking considering them a luxury rather than a necessity as libraries and those relying on arts funding have been finding out to their cost. And in Thomas Attwood and Elliot Clay’s new musical The State of Things, it is a group of seven Sutton Coldfield teenagers, preparing for their music GCSE performance, who find that the A-Level music course onto which they all want to progress is being cut from the timetable in a cost-cutting measure.

Being teenagers means that they quickly get up in arms to protest the decision to their headteacher (known as Maggie – the school is an academy…) but being teenagers, they’re also horny af and wrestling with the weight of the world on their shoulders, sometimes all at the same time. Thus the political mixes with the personal (affectingly so in the case of Hana, who faces huge responsibilities at home due to her mother’s health issues), inconsequential daily drama with sincerely felt fear for the future. Continue reading “Review:The State of Things, Brockley Jack”