Supporting the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund Featuring over 150 performers and musicians, reunited from across the world to present a truly unique, memorable and breath-taking performance of ‘All That Jazz’ from the legendary Kander and Ebb musical Chicago. Bringing together former Broadway, West End and International Tour company members, ‘All That Jazz’ provides plenty of razzle dazzle, featuring award winning stars that played the roles of Velma Kelly, Roxie Hard and Billy Flynn including Ute Lemper, Sally Ann Triplett, Debbie Kurup, Bonnie Langford, Sue Kelvin, Ian Kelsey, Michael Greco, David Hasselhoff, Annette McLaughlin, Gaby Roslin, and many more.
News: cast albums for The Little Prince, HouseFire and Treason
A trio of cast album announcements from the last couple of weeks offers a different way to help support theatres in these trying times
Nicholas Lloyd Webber and James D. Reid have launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise £200,000 for a special recording of The Little Prince musical album and provide over 70 people in the theatre industry with jobs during the current COVID-19 pandemic
Richard E. Grant, Kevin McKidd, Sierra Boggess, Tracie Bennett, Amara Okereke and Lorna Want will all lend their support to the project by playing principal cast members. Emma Lindars, Emma Harris, Sarah Ryan, Alison Arnopp, Janet Mooney, T’Shan Williams, John Addison, Oliver Lidert, Michael Pickering, James Gant and David Durham will also be part of the cast.
Audiences can choose from a range of available rewards from the crowdfunding campaign whilst also creating essential jobs. The full list of awards can be found here: https://www.indiegogo.com/
News: Jenna Russell joins A Night at the Musicals
Jenna Russell will join Christina Modestou as a live special guest for A Night at the Musicals on Sunday, 25 October 2020 at 7pm.
This performance will be live streamed while it plays to a socially distanced audience in The Large using a multi-camera set-up, broadcast globally with unlimited £10 tickets available up until 18 October 2020, increasing to £15 from 19 October 2020 during show week. There is only one chance to catch the performance; it will not be available to catch-up with afterwards. There are live socially distanced audience tickets available to purchase for £22 for those who can make it to the venue. Continue reading “News: Jenna Russell joins A Night at the Musicals”
News: October UK theatre news update
We’re beginning to see the fruits of some more of the lockdown programming that has seen theatres across England respond in a variety of impressive ways
Nottingham Playhouse’s Unlocked Festival continues to rocket up the must-see list as it announces more details. Their local writing commission has ended up with two winners – Wayward Thread’s Hand Me Down and Lapelle’s Factory’s Shuck, both of which will now receive work-in-progress performances as part of the festival.
Casting has also been announced for James Graham’s Bubble, which will star the marvellous Pearl Mackie and the equally marvellous Jessica Raine. They join the likes of Mark Gatiss and Jade Anouka reading ghost stories on
Halloween, new work from Naomi Obeng and a concert starring Rosalie Craig, Sandra Marvin and Jodie Prenger. Continue reading “News: October UK theatre news update”
News: Tristram Kenton’s stage archive – the Open Air Theatre edition
I’m loving this deep dive that the Guardian is doing into Tristram Kenton’s archive, this time taking a turn into the many Open Air Theatre productions he has been witness to. Highly recommended:
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/gallery/2020/aug/19/great-outdoors-the-magic-of-regents-park-open-air-theatre-in-pictures
Photos: Tristram Kenton
News: Open air theatre casting news aplenty
St Anne Comes Home, St Pauls Church
29th-30th August
Iris Theatre’s summer season continues with this new folk musical by Jack Miles, which numbers Jordan Castle (The Light in the Piazza), Rebecca McKinnis (Dear Evan Hansen), and Mathew Craig (The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4) in its cast.
C-o-n-t-a-c-t, outdoors in London
31st August – 10th October
C-o-n-t-a-c-t is an immersive outdoor performance with a 3D sound design which audiences will listen to on their own headphones,The play will see performances from Charles Angiama (The Exonerated; My Week with Marilyn), Louis Bernard (Radieuse Vermine), Chloe Gentles (Beautiful – The Carol King Musical), Max Gold (Endeavour; Poldark), Richard Heap (Buried Child; The Summer Before Everything), Aoife Kennan (ITV’s Victoria; For Services Rendered), Katja Quist (Earthquakes In London) and Laura White (The Play That Goes Wrong). The cast will alternate between three London locations; Tower Bridge, Greenwich and Clapham Common.
Roles We’ll Never Play, Turbine Theatre
13th September
The Turbine’s summer season will feature this one-off concert with performers delving deep into their wishlists – the company includes Natalie Paris, Tom Duern, Rhianne-Louise McCaulsky, Rodney Vubya, Lauren Byrne, Bernadette Bangura, Luke Bayer, Idriss Kargbo, Courtney Bowman, Michael Mather, Matthew Croke, Kelly Agbowu, Elander Moore, Eve Norris and Pearce Barron.
The Last Five Years, Minack Theatre
14th-19th September
Omar F Okai’s production of Jason Robert Brown’s two-hander will star Emma Kingston (Evita, In The Heights) as Cathy and Waylon Jacobs (Hamilton, Memphis) as Jamie.
News: The Barn Theatre Presents – The Music of Dominic Powell
The Barn Theatre has announced the cast for their sixth virtual concert, The Barn Theatre Presents: The Music of Dominic Powell, which will celebrate the work of musical theatre composer Dominic Powell (Cases).
The concert, which will be hosted by Barn Theatre producer Jamie Chapman Dixon, is the sixth edition of the Barn Theatre in Cirencester’s virtual concert series, The Barn Presents:, which celebrates the work of British musical theatre writers.
The concert will feature performances from Andrew Patrick-Walker (Brooklyn, Bat Out of Hell) and Maiya Quansah-Breed (Six) who were cast in the 2020 production of Dominic Powell’s musical Cases at The Other Palace’s Studio space, which was unfortunately cancelled due to the pandemic. Continue reading “News: The Barn Theatre Presents – The Music of Dominic Powell”
News: an all-star ‘Make Them Hear You’ in support of #BLM
150 musical performers from across the West End and Broadway have come together to perform a stellar version of “Make Them Here You” from Ragtime in support of Black Lives Matter and the Stopwatch campaign.
The video is raising funds for the StopWatch campaign, which combats the racist and disproportionate use of stop and search since 2010. You can donate here.
News: The Other Palace virtual musical cycle casting announced
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Have you seen this amazing video announcing the full line up for Part One of @OnHopeSongCycle put together by the multi talented @MattPowellicus with music by the equally multi talented @jimbarne of @TheSeason19 & @StilesandDrewe fame??? #community #newwriting pic.twitter.com/bFQl4YbHhC
— Victoria Saxton (@V_Saxton) April 24, 2020
Album Reviews: Singing You Home / Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again / Vanara the Musical
This trio of album reviews covers Singing You Home: Children’s Songs for Family Reunification, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018 Film Soundtrack) and Vanara the Musical
“Ay, ay, ay, ay, canta y no llores”
Regardless of your politics, Singing You Home: Children’s Songs for Family Reunification is a really rather lovely album of bilingual children’s songs. But in this day and age nothing is not political and the current US administration’s policy of child separation is a genuine atrocity that it is hard to know how to respond. Laura Benanti had the nous to conceive this project though and produced it with Mary-Mitchell Campbell and Lynn Pinto, and a whole host of the great and good of the American musical theatre. Thus this is more than just your usual set of lullabies – Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mandy Gonzalez crooning on the Mexican song ‘Cielito Lindo’, Audra McDonald shining on Jason Robert Brown’s ‘Singing You Home’, Kristin Chenoweth’s ‘Beautiful Dreamer’, well worth the investment for this uniquely exceptional cause. Continue reading “Album Reviews: Singing You Home / Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again / Vanara the Musical”