Month: June 2018

PW PRODUCTIONS

PROUDLY ANNOUNCE UK AND US TOUR DATES

FOR STEPHEN DALDRY’S

SEMINAL PRODUCTION OF

JB PRIESTLEY’S CLASSIC THRILLER

“AN INSPECTOR CALLS”

OPENING SEPTEMBER 2018

PW Productions are delighted to announce UK and US touring dates for Stephen Daldry’s seminal production of JB Priestley’s classic thriller “AN INSPECTOR CALLS” opening at York Theatre Royal (14 – 22 September 2018), before touring to Cambridge Arts Theatre (25 – 29 September 2018), New Wimbledon Theatre (2 – 6 October 2018), Cheltenham Everyman Theatre (9 – 13 October 2018), Shakespeare Theatre Washington DC(20 November – 23 December 2018), Wallis Annenberg Center Los Angeles (22 January – 10 February 2019),Chicago Shakespeare Theater (19 February – 10 March 2019) and Arts Emerson, Boston (14 – 24 March 2019). Listings details below.

Since 1992, Daldry’s production of “AN INSPECTOR CALLS” has won a total of 19 major awards including four Tony Awards and three Olivier Awards. It has played to more than 4 million theatregoers worldwide and is the most internationally-lauded production in the National Theatre’s history.

Written at the end of the Second World War and set before the First, “AN INSPECTOR CALLS” is a compelling and haunting thriller. The story begins when the mysterious Inspector Goole calls unexpectedly on the prosperous Birling family home, shattering their peaceful family dinner party with his investigations into the death of a young woman.

JB Priestley’s brilliantly constructed masterpiece powerfully dramatises the dangers of casual capitalism’s cruelty, complacency and hypocrisy.

“AN INSPECTOR CALLS” is directed by the world-renowned theatre and film director Stephen Daldry. Stephen’s many theatre credits include “The Audience”, “Skylight” and “Billy Elliot The Musical”. His film credits include “The Hours”, “The Reader” and “Billy Elliot”, all of which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Director. Most recently he has directed several episodes of the Netflix smash hit series “The Crown”, for which he is also Producer.

“AN INSPECTOR CALLS” is designed by Ian MacNeil, with music by Academy Award winning composer Stephen Warbeck and Lighting by Rick Fisher.

“AN INSPECTOR CALLS”

UK AND US TOUR DATES 2018/2019

FRIDAY 14 SEPTEMBER – SATURDAY 22 SEPTEMBER 2018

York Theatre Royal www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

ON SALE NOW

TUESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER – SATURDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2018

Cambridge Arts Theatre www.cambridgeartstheatre.com

ON SALE NOW

TUESDAY 2 OCTOBER – SATURDAY 6 OCTOBER 2018

New Wimbledon Theatre www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-wimbledon-theatre/

ON SALE NOW

TUESDAY 9 OCTOBER – SATURDAY 13 OCTOBER 2018

Cheltenham Everyman Theatre www.everymantheatre.org.uk

ON SALE NOW

TUESDAY 20 NOVEMBER – SUNDAY 23 DECEMBER 2018

Shakespeare Theatre, Washington DC www.shakespearetheatre.org

ON SALE NOW

TUESDAY 22 January 2019 – SUNDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2019

Wallis Annenberg Center, Los Angeles www.thewallis.org

ON SALE NOW

TUESDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2019 – SUNDAY 10 MARCH 2019

Chicago Shakespeare Theater www.chicagoshakes.com

ON SALE NOW

THURSDAY 14 MARCH 2019 – SUNDAY 24 MARCH 2019

Arts Emerson, Boston www.artsemerson.org

ON SALE NOW

Pocklington Arts Centre – 13 June 2018

5*****

Reviewed by Marcus Richardson

On Behalf Of The People came to the Pocklington Arts Centre on the 13^th June. Touring for 2 months with The Melting Shop company, the play explores the mining community post world war 2 and the impacts of the unions. The play explores many topics in such a beautiful way creating believable scenes and characters. The cast of four are treating the venue as a studio even though it was an end on venue I loved this aspect of the show I felt involved and with a smaller audience and cast my role as an audience member was more interactive and heightened.

The cast Composed of Ray Ashcroft, Danny Mellor, Kate Wood and Lizzie Frain; the characters are all involved in the mining community, but we focus on the Mason family, George is the patriarch of the family, played by Ashcroft, the character is a proud union man stubborn as a nail, Ashcroft found the essence of the character I felt connected to the character, we could see his hidden emotions and he didn’t have to explicitly display what he was feeling because we were connected to the character. Tom is the son of George, played by Mellor, the character has a lot of development throughout the play, he is the main reason for most of the progression, we learn how his relationship with his father works and the effects of war, his characterisation and the way he interacted with other cast members really created believable bonds on stage. Connie is Tom’s mother and George’s wife, played by Wood, for me her strengths we the emotional reactions to characters and scenes. Last but not least is Liz toms love interest, played by Frain, what she gave to the performance was an energy that the character could feed of such as her interaction between her as mason during a scene where things get heated. The whole cast were phenomenal, the way that they worked with each other and the audience really create a moving and thought-provoking piece of theatre

The staging was clever and due to a minimal but effective set scene changes were quick and seamless, the cast took on the role of scenes changes so on stage we only ever saw four people, I loved the simplicity of this and it made me focus on what the characters were saying and how the actors presented the text. One of my favourite features about the show was the audience being in the round it really brought the audience and cast together as if we were one body, a union ethic.

I loved the play and the actors, for me these shows resonate with me more than larger scale shows. The messages from this play didn’t need to be explicit, they were approached in a way that we understood, I would recommend this show to everyone, I can guarantee that everyone will take away a positive experience and find something in the play that they can relate with.

WEST END PREMIERE OF

SAM SHEPARD’S ICONIC WORK

Production stars Game Of Thrones’ KIT HARINGTON

 

Acclaimed actor JOHNNY FLYNN to play his warring brother

 

Vaudeville Theatre | Performances begin Friday 23 November

Kit Harington and Johnny Flynn are to star in the West End Premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winner Sam Shepard’s ferociously funny, modern classic, True West.

The first UK production of Shepard’s work since his death last summer, True West will play a limited season at the Vaudeville Theatre from Friday 23 November – Saturday 16 February.

Kit Harington – renowned for his leading role in the internationally acclaimed series Game of Thrones – and Johnny Flynn – star of the widely celebrated film Beast and US TV series Genius, and who has just received rave reviews for his performance in the New York transfer of Hangmen – will star as warring brothers Austin and Lee.

Two of the most challenging and sought after roles in modern drama, some of the greatest American and British actors of the last 30 years have played the brothers since the play’s debut in 1980.

Olivier-nominated Matthew Dunster (Hangmen, Love And Money) will direct True West.

Austin is working on a movie script that he has sold to producer Saul Kimmer when Lee stumbles back in to his life. Never content to watch from the sidelines, he pitches his own idea to Kimmer, an action which has far reaching consequences…

Set against the searing heat of the Californian desert, Shepard’s critically acclaimed drama pits brother against brother as a family tears itself apart, exposing the cracks in the American Dream.

Matthew Dunster commented on the announcement of the production:

“There is something dangerous about True West. It’s always unsettled me. I was always scared of reading it. Fearful of its burning content but also of its brilliance. When Sam Shepard died I went back to it and I knew I had to find way of doing it. And I have questions about the play: Is it about two brothers, or is it about how we all grapple with two sides of ourselves, thought by thought, dream by dream? Was the promise of the ‘West‘, or is the promise of any mythical dream, really ‘True’? You need the very best actors to take this kind of play on. You preferably need two actors who can sniff the danger and are prepared to be unsettled and to unsettle. To have Kit and Johnny with me to ask the questions, and to take on these roles in Shepard’s masterpiece, is as exciting as my job gets. I can’t wait!”

 

Kit Harington has starred as Jon Snow since 2011 in the Emmy Award winning HBO drama series Game of Thrones. With 38 Emmy Awards, Game of Thrones is the most decorated show in the ceremony’s history. In 2016, Kit received his first Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

Kit studied drama and theatre at the Central School of Speech & Drama. Before graduating in 2008, he won the lead role of Albert in the National Theatre’s London production of the smash hit War Horse. The production transferred to London’s West End at the New London Theatre, and he stayed with the role until 2009 after which he appeared in Posh, by Laura Wade, at the Royal Court Theatre. In 2016, Harington made his much‐anticipated West End return in the Jamie Lloyd directed production of Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, playing the title role.

In 2018, Harington transitioned into the role of Executive Producer on a miniseries titled Gunpowder. Harington played his real‐life ancestor on his mother’s side, Catholic rebel Robert Catesby who was part of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, the failed scheme by Roman Catholic militants to blow up the House of Lords in London. The series also starred Peter Mullan, Mark Gatiss and Liv Tyler.

His upcoming film projects include the English‐language film from French‐Canadian director Xavier Dolan, The Life and Death of John F Donovan. Past film projects include the HBO sports mockumentary 7 Days in Hell, Sony Pictures Classics drama Testament of Youth and the big‐screen adaptation of the hit British spy series Spooks: The Greater Good. He also lent his voice to the animated film How to Train Your Dragon 2 which won the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2014 and received an Academy Award nomination.

 

Johnny Flynn is an actor, composer and songwriter. Johnny has worked extensively across film, television and theatre. He recently shot a lead role in ITV’s upcoming adaption of Vanity Fair. He most recently starred in Genius: Einstein (National Geographic) – as the young Albert Einstein to Geoffrey Rush’s older. Johnny plays leading role Dylan in Lovesick, the first two series of which are currently streaming on Netflix with a third on the way. Further television credits include Brotherhood (Big Talk/Comedy Central), The Nightmare World Of HG Wells (Clerkenwell Films) and Detectorists (Channel X/BBC4). 

Johnny most recently played the protagonist Pascal in feature film Beast – which received critical acclaim at the Toronto Film Festival this year, previous to its premiere at the London Film Festival. He has also starred in Love Is Thicker Than Water, Clouds of Sils Maria opposite Kristin Stewart and Chloe Moretz, and Song One in which he co-starred with Anne Hathaway. 

Johnny was nominated for ‘London Newcomer of the Year’ at the Whatsonstage Awards (2012) for his performance in The Heretic (Royal Court) and went on to gain his first Olivier Award nomination forJerusalem (West End) that year. Further credits include The Low Road (The Royal Court), Richard III and Twelfth Night (Globe/West End). Johnny’s most recent theatre appearance was a starring role in Martin McDonagh’s hit Hangmen, originating at the Royal Court and later transferring to the West End. He was thrilled to have reprised his role of Mooney in this year’s transfer to New York. 

He has released five albums to date with his band Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit, the most recent being Sillion (2017) which he is currently promoting.

Matthew Dunster is an Olivier-nominated director, a playwright and an actor, and Associate Director at Shakespeare’s Globe.

His directing credits include: The Secret Theatre,  Much Ado About Nothing, Imogen, The Frontline, Troilus and Cressida, Dr Faustus and The Lightning Child (Shakespeare’s Globe), Hangmen (Wyndham’s Theatre & Royal Court, Atlantic Theater, New York), Liberian Girl (Royal Court), The Seagull, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Open Air Regent’s Park), Love’s Sacrifice (RSC), The Love Girl & the Innocent, You Can Still Make a Killing (Southwark Playhouse), Mametz (National Theatre Wales), Before the Party (Almeida), A Sacred Flame (English Touring),Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Royal Exchange Manchester), Mogadishu (Royal Exchange Manchester and Lyric Hammersmith), The Most Incredible Thing (Sadler’s Wells), and The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Royal & Derngate, Northampton).

As a writer his credits include: Children’s Children (Almeida), You Can See the Hills (Royal Exchange Manchester/Young Vic) A Tale of Two Cities (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) and his re-imagining of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Most Incredible Thing (Sadler’s Wells).

Sam Shepard’s first New York plays, Cowboys and The Rock Garden, were produced by Theatre Genesis in 1964. For several seasons, he worked with Off-Off-Broadway theatre groups including La MaMa and Caffe Cino. Eleven of his plays won Obie Awards, including Chicago, The Tooth of the Crime, and Curse of the Starving Class. Other award-winning plays include Fool for Love, True West, A Lie of the Mind, and Buried Child, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1979. In 1986, Shepard was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters and received the Gold Medal for Drama from the Academy in 1992. He was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame two years later. As a writer and director, he filmed Far North and Silent Tongue. As an actor, he appeared in numerous films, including The Right Stuff, Days of Heaven and Resurrection. His final works of prose, The One Inside and Spy of the First Person, were published in 2017, the year of his death.

 

Additional casting and creative team for True West to be announced.

 

True West is produced by Smith & Brant Theatricals and Empire Street Productions.

 

LISTINGS INFORMATION

TRUE WEST

Written by Sam Shepard

Directed by Matthew Dunster

TICKETS

 

Box Office: 0330 333 4814

Group booking line: 0330 333 4817/ [email protected]

Access booking line: 0330 333 4815 / [email protected]

Group rates & concessions apply

Ticket prices start from £15

BOOKING ONLINE

www.TrueWestLondon.com

 

ADDRESS

Vaudeville Theatre

404 Strand

London

WC2R 0NH

 

SEASON DATES

Friday 23 November 2018 – Saturday 16 February 2019

 

PRESS NIGHT

Tuesday 4 December at 7:00pm

 

PERFORMANCE TIMES

Mondays – Saturdays: 7:30pm

Thursday & Saturday matinees: 3:00pm

Christmas schedule:

w/c 17 Dec Monday – Saturday 7.30pm, Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday 3pm

w/c 24 Dec Thursday – Saturday 7.30pm, Thursday & Saturday 3pm, Sunday 3pm & 7.30pm

w/c 31 Dec Wednesday – Saturday 7.30pm, Monday, Thursday & Saturday 3pm

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook: @TrueWestLondon

Twitter: @TrueWestLondon

Instagram: @TrueWestLondon

#TrueWestLondon

www.TrueWestLondon.com

FOLLOWING A CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED WEST END RUN

DAVID MAMET’S OLIVIER & PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING CLASSIC

 

GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS

 

STARRING MARK BENTON & NIGEL HARMAN

 

WILL TOUR THE UK FROM 14 FEBRUARY 2019

OPENING AT WOKING’S NEW VICTORIA THEATRE

 

 

‘An extraordinary experience… Go see it!’ BBC Radio 4

 

‘Bitterly funny and acutely savage’ Daily Telegraph

 

****

The Guardian, The Times, Daily Mail, Evening Standard, Mail On Sunday, Time Out, Financial Times, The Independent, The Observer

 

After ‘sealing the deal’ with critics and audiences alike during its smash hit West End run, Sam Yates’ unmissable production of one of David Mamet’s greatest and most lauded plays, Glengarry Glen Rosswill embark on a nationwide tour from 14 February 2019 opening at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking. The hard-nosed sales team in this darkly funny classic will then visit Birmingham,Manchester, Milton Keynes, Glasgow, Richmond, Brighton and Cardiff with further tour dates to be announced shortly.

Taking on the memorable roles of salesmen Shelley ‘The Machine’ Levene and the ruthless Ricky Roma are Mark Benton (Waterloo Road, As You Like It, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Hobson’s Choice) and Olivier award-winning Nigel Harman (EastEnders, A Chorus of Disapproval, Shrek the Musical)respectively, with further casting to be announced in due course.

Lies. Greed. Corruption. It’s business as usual.

 

Set in an office of cut-throat Chicago salesmen. Pitched in a high-stakes competition against each other, four increasingly desperate employees will do anything, legal or otherwise, to sell the most real estate. As time and luck start to run out, the mantra is simple: close the deal and you’ve won a Cadillac; blow the lead and you’re f****d.

The production of this trailblazing modern classic has designs by Chiara Stephenson, lighting byRichard Howell and is produced by ATG Productions, Act Productions and Glass Half Full Productions.

Mark Benton’s (Shelley Levene) theatre credits include As You Like It, Invisible Friends, Accidental Death and Devil’s Disciple all at the National Theatre, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Hairspray on UK Tour, Hobson’s Choice at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Railway Children at Waterloo Station, The Wind in the Willows for Northern Stage, As You Like It for Cheek By Jowl on World Tour, Richard III for the RSC, End of the Food Chain at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Cock and Bull at Riverside Studios,Hurly Burly at the Old Vic, The Front Page at the Donmar Warehouse, Kosher Harry at the Royal Court,Comedians at the Lyric Hammersmith and A Day in the Death of Joe Egg at Nottingham Playhouse. His television credits include Shakespeare and Hathaway, Midsomer Murders, Ratburger, The Halcyon, Outnumbered Christmas Special, Drunk History, The Tracey Ullman Show, Damned, Inside No. 9,Summer Here, Father Brown, Strictly Come Dancing, Psychobitches, The Job Lot, White Van Man, George Gently, Waterloo Road, Land Girls, The Fixe, Silent Witness, Coming Up – ‘I Don’t Care’, Hustle,Desperate Romantics, Britannia High, Personal Affairs, Blue Murder, City Lights, Most Sincerely, Clash of the Santas, Soapington, The Street II, I’m With Stupid, Northern Lights, If I Had you, Booze Cruise,Afterlife, Inspector Lynley, Planespotting, Doctor Who, Early Doors, Quite Ugly One Morning,Christmas Lights, Catterick, Born and Bred, Clocking Off, Second Coming, Murphy’s Law, Out Of Control, Crime and Punishment, Preston Front, Micawber, Anderson, Eureka Street, Nature Boy,Gimme Gimme Gimme, Letting Go, Ballykisangel, Randall & Hopkirk Deceased, This is Personal,Barbara, The Jump, The Governor, Finney and Panto! His film credits include The Medusa, Danny and the Human Zoo, Eddie the Eagle, Career Girls, Sea Change, Topsy Turvy, The Lost Son, Never Better,Morality Play, Mister In-Between, Redemption Road, Lighthouse Hill, Breaking and Entering, Flick,Condementia, Beyond the Pole and Imanginarium of Dr Parnassus.

Nigel Harman’s (Ricky Roma) stage credits include A Chorus of Disapproval, I Can’t Sing at the Palladium, The School for Scandal for Theatre Royal Bath, Shrek The Musical at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Celebration at the Gate Theatre, Dublin, True West at Sheffield Crucible, Public Property at Trafalgar Studios, Three Days of Rain at the Apollo Theatre, The Common Pursuit at the Menier Chocolate Factory, The Caretaker at the Tricycle Theatre/Sheffield Theatre/UK Tour, Guys and Dolls at the Piccadilly Theatre, Privates on Parade at the Donmar Warehouse, Three Sisters and My One and Only at Chichester Festival Theatre, Lady in the Van at Birmingham Rep, Much Ado About Nothing &Pirates of Penzance, at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Mamma Mia at the Prince Edward Theatre,Damn Yankees at the Adelphi Theatre and Tommy at the Shaftesbury Theatre. Television credits include Cuckoo 4, Mount Pleasant, Downton Abbey, City of Vice, EastEnders, Hotel Babylon, Lark Rise to Candleford, Miss Marple The Mirror Crack’d, Red Cap and The Outsiders. Nigel’s film work includesPatience, Telstar and Blood Diamond.

Sam Yates’ (Director) directing credits include The Phlebotomist at Hampstead Theatre, Desire Under the Elms at the Sheffield Cruicible, Murder Ballad at the Arts Theatre, Cymbeline with Pauline McLynn & Joseph Marcell at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, East is East with Jane Horrocks & Ayub Khan Din at Trafalgar Studios followed by two national tours, The El. Train with Ruth Wilson at Hoxton Hall, Billy Liar at the Royal Exchange, Cornelius at the Finborough Theatre and 59E59 New York and Mixed Marriage at the Finborough Theatre.

Sam’s screen credits include The Hope Rooms with Ciarán Hinds & Andrew Scott (Rather Good Films, Bill Kenwright Films, winner Grand Prize Future Filmmaker Award, RIIFF 2016); Cymbeline with Hayley Atwell, All’s Well That Ends Well with Lindsay Duncan & Ruth Wilson, and Love’s Labour’s Lost with Gemma Arterton & David Dawson (The Complete Walk, Shakespeare’s Globe). Yates directed two music videos for Ivor Novello-nominated band Bear’s Den, Emeralds and Auld Wives (MTV’s A-list). For radio he directed Ecco featuring Hayley Atwell (BBC Radio 4).

In 2016 he was voted one of Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow having previously featured as rising star in theatre in The Observer, and in GQ Magazine’s Men of the Next 25 years for theatre.

David Mamet (Playwright) is the author of the plays November, Boston Marriage, Faustus, Oleanna, Glengarry Glen Ross (1984 Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics Circle Award), American Buffalo, The Old Neighborhood, Life in the Theatre, Speed-the-Plow, Edmond, Lakeboat, The Water Engine, The Woods, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Reunion and The Cryptogram (1995 Obie Award). His translations and adaptations include Faustus, Red River by Pierre Laville and The Cherry Orchard, Three Sisters andUncle Vanya by Anton Chekov. His films include The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Verdict, The Untouchables, House of Games (writer/director), Oleanna (writer/director), Homicide(writer/director), The Spanish Prisoner (writer/director), Heist (writer/director), Spartan(writer/director) and Redbelt (writer/director). Mamet is also the author of Warm and Cold, a book for children with drawings by Donald Sultan, and two other children’s books, Passover and The Duck and the Goat. His most recent books include True and False, Three Uses of the Knife, The Wicked Son, and Bambi Vs. Godzilla.

LISTINGS

GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS

BY DAVID MAMET

DIRECTED BY SAM YATES

14 FEBRUARY – 4 MAY 2019

UK TOUR

Website: atgtickets.com

DATES AND VENUES

WOKING New Victoria Theatre                                                 atgtickets.com/woking

Thurs 14 – Sat 16 February 2019                                                           0844 871 7645

BIRMINGHAM New Alexandra                                          atgtickets.com/birmingham

Mon 18 – Sat 23 February 2019                                                             0844 871 3011

On sale Monday 25 June

MANCHESTER Opera House                                               atgtickets.com/manchester

Mon 25 – Sat 30 March 2019                                                                             0844 871 3018

On sale Monday 25 June

MILTON KEYNES Theatre                                                 atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes

Mon 1 – Sat 6 April 2019                                                                        0844 871 7652

On sale Monday 25 June

 

GLASGOW Theatre Royal                                                         atgtickets.com/glasgow

Mon 8 – Sat 13 April 2019                                                                        0844 871 7647

RICHMOND Theatre                                                               atgtickets.com/richmond

Mon 15 – Sat 20 April 2019                                                                    0844 871 7651

One sale Monday 25 June

BRIGHTON Theatre Royal                                                        atgtickets.com/brighton

Mon 22 – Sat 27 April 2019                                                                    0844 871 7650

On sale Monday 25 June

 

CARDIFF New Theatre                                                           newtheatrecardiff.co.uk

Mon 29 April – Sat 4 May 2019                                                             029 2087 8889

On sale Friday 7 September

THE RISE OF THE UNDERSTUDY!

STEPH PARRY TO TAKE OVER IN STAR ROLE

In the week that 42^nd Street celebrates the 500^th performance of its run, the producers have announced that Steph Parry is to now take the iconic role of Dorothy Brock in the show at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. The actress shot to fame last week when she stepped up from understudy in one show to suddenly play the starring role in another musical playing down the road.

Steph’s casting in the star role is a rare case of life imitating art – 42^nd Street tells the story of a young actress being given her shot at stardom after the leading lady is injured, and charts the understudy’s rise from showgirl to star.

Last week Steph was preparing for her understudy role in 42^nd Street when she was called by the company manager of Mamma Mia, after the leading lady was forced off stage with an injury. Rather than see the audience sent home, Steph stepped into the shoes of the injured actress to ensure that the show did indeed go on.

Following this, Steph has now been awarded the starring role of Dorothy Brock, following in the footsteps of Lulu who has been playing the legendary diva in the five-star production. The role has also previously been taken by Sheena Easton. Steph’s first performance will be Monday 9^th July.

42^nd Street is playing at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. The production is directed by the show’s co-author Mark Bramble (whose other hit shows include Barnum, Treasure Island, The Three Musketeers The Grand Tour) and director of many award-winning previous productions of 42^nd Street on Broadway and around the world.

42nd STREET is the song and dance, American dream fable of Broadway and includes some of the greatest songs ever written, such as ‘We’re In The Money’, ‘Lullaby of Broadway’, ‘Shuffle Off To Buffalo’, ‘Dames’, ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’, and ‘42nd Street’.

With an all-singing, high-kicking cast of over 50 on the West End’s largest stage, 42^nd Street is the biggest show in town.

42nd Street is presented in London by Michael Linnit and Michael Grade together with The Global Group of Companies for Gate Ventures with Executive Producer Johnny Hon.

Leeds Grand Theatre – until 7 July 2018

5*****

The green carpet was out in Leeds to welcome a very full house to see Wicked on its current leg of the UK tour.

Telling the untold story of the Witches of Oz, Gregory Maguire’s novel lays the foundations for Frank L Baum’s Wizard of Oz.   With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz’s, Winnie Holzman’s book brings Wicked to the stage.

Giving flesh to the bones are Helen Woolf as sweet and sugary, but power hungry and ambitious Glinda the Good and the current alternate, Nikki Bentley as the verdant but vulnerable Elphaba.

As we see Elphaba’s sad childhood; her guilt that she feels it’s her fault her sister Nessa Rose (Emily Shaw) is in a wheelchair, her father’s hatred of her, her struggle to fit in whilst people shun her purely because of her skin colour, it’s hard not to feel sorry for her.  

Bentley is phenomenal, Wicked is not an easy score but she hits every note with perfection.  Her Defying Gravity was every bit the crowd pleasing show stopper it is meant to be.  However it’s the softer songs where both she and Woolf shone and their beautiful duet of For Good was a heartfelt rendition.  But Woolf showed a more tender side of Glinda in the heartbreak moments of Thank Goodness and her reprise of I’m Not That Girl, where she realises she has lost her love Fiyero (Aaron Sidwell) to her best friend

Kim Ismay’s Madam Morrible is suitably evil, using Elphaba’s talent to further her own career.  Whilst some play this part in an over the top, pantomimesque way, Ismay was subtle and understated giving more depth to a character who has no redeeming features.  Alongside Steven Pinders Wizard, a charlatan conman who is also after using Elphaba, the pair do finally meet their comeuppance.

With appearances by the Tin Man (Iddon Jones), a brief glimpse of the Lions tail, the Scarecrow and Chistery, the flying monkey (Jack Harrison- Cooper) only Dorothy is not witnessed on stage.

The overwhelming message of Wicked is friendship and acceptance.  Just because someone is a different colour doesn’t necessarily make them bad.  Ideals we should all adhere to.

Wicked is on in Leeds until 7 July and on tour around the UK until January 2019 www.wickedthemusical.co.uk/uk-tour

DISNEY’S ALADDIN WILL WELCOME NEW GENIE
MICHAEL JAMES SCOTT FOR SIX WEEKS THIS SUMMER!

It is announced today that Trevor Dion Nicholas, who has starred as Aladdin’s London Genie since the hit musical opened in 2016, will join the show’s US Tour for a limited engagement this summer, during which time he’ll play his hometown of Pittsburgh, before returning to the West End. Trevor will be swapping places with American musical theatre star Michael James Scott, who is currently wowing audiences on tour across the US as Genie and will play the role in the London production of Aladdin between 17 August – 30 September 2018.

This marks Michael James’ return to the London stage for the first time in eight years since he made his West End debut in the Broadway transfer of Hair at the Gielgud Theatre in 2010.

Michael James was a member of the original Broadway company of Aladdin in 2014 as standby Genie and Babkak, and originated the role of Genie in the Australian production when it opened in Sydney in 2016. Michael received a prestigious Helpmann Award in 2017 for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for his work in the Australian tour. His numerous previous theatre roles include the original Broadway productions of Something Rotten!, The Book of Mormon, Elf – The Musical, The Pirate Queen, Mamma Mia!, All Shook Up and Tarzan. Michael has also appeared in Jersey Boys(Las Vegas), Aida (St. Louis) and the 2010 revival of Hair (Broadway and West End) and is also amember of the critically acclaimed group The Broadway Boys and the Grammy-nominated Broadway Inspirational Voices.

Michael James Scott said: “Playing this iconic role of Genie has taken me all over the world, something I never even dreamed of. My ‘Genie Brother’ Trevor Dion Nicholas has raved about his time in London, so to be a part of this awesome Genie swap and return to play the West End again is an enormous Genie-sized gift. I just can’t wait!”

Trevor Dion Nicholas said: “My time here in the West End has been absolutely incredible so far, and I am beyond proud to call London my new home. Still, being presented with the chance to perform this phenomenal show as Genie in Pittsburgh is something I cannot pass up. In a city so close to where I grew up, having an audience full of family and friends, is another dream come true. Michael James Scott is such a wonderful performer and friend to me, I know he and the London audiences will have an absolute blast with each other this summer!”

Aladdin opened to critical acclaim at the Prince Edward Theatre on 15 June 2016. Tickets are now on sale for performances up to and including 9 February 2019 for individuals and 1 June 2019 for group bookings. For further details please visit www.aladdinthemusical.co.uk

Aladdin features the timeless songs from the 1992 animated film as well as new music written byTony®, Olivier© and eight-time Academy Award® winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Little Shop Of Horrors). With lyrics from Olivier Award and two-time Oscar® winnerHoward Ashman (Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid), three-time Tony and Olivier Award, three-time Oscar winner Tim Rice (Evita, Aida), and four-time Tony Award nominee Chad Beguelin (The Wedding Singer), and a book by Beguelin, Aladdin is directed and choreographed by Tony and Olivier Award winner Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon).

Now in its fifth record-breaking year on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theater, Aladdin’s global presence has grown to six productions on four continents, and it has been seen by more than 7.2 million people to date. The show opened at Tokyo’s Dentsu Shiki Theatre Umi in May 2015, had its European premiere in December 2015 at the Stage Theatre Neue Flora, Hamburg, began performances in August 2016 in Australia and launched its North American tour in Chicago in April 2017.

Aladdin is designed by Olivier and seven-time Tony-winning scenic designer Bob Crowley, five-time Tony-winning lighting designer Natasha Katz, Olivier and two-time Tony-winning costume designerGregg Barnes and sound designer Ken Travis. Casting is by Jill Green CDG.

The production team also includes illusion designer Jim Steinmeyer, hair designer Josh Marquette and makeup designer Milagros Medina-Cerdeira. The music team is headed by music supervisor and music director Michael Kosarin, who also created the vocal and incidental music arrangements, joined by orchestrator Danny Troob and dance music arranger Glen Kelly.

ALADDIN
Prince Edward Theatre
28 Old Compton St
London W1D 4HS

Box Office number: 0844 482 5151
www.aladdinthemusical.co.uk

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Sheffield Lyceum – until 16 June 2018

Reviewed by Lottie Davis-Browne

3***

It’s a snowy December, 1933 when twelve year old Stella Saxby wakes from her bed in Saxby Hall, the families large estate (although not quite as well known as the likes of Chatsworth House etc but still a grand stately home none-the-less), she discovers that she is wrapped in bandages and her Aunt Alberta informs her that she has been in a coma and that both her parents died following a tragic car accident. Stella is sole heir to Saxby Hall, however Aunt Alberta has other ideas and is plotting to trick Stella to sign the Hall over to her and will stop at nothing to achieve her goal. Along with her trusted companion – Wagner, a giant owl the evil Alberta certainly lives up to her moniker as being awful, showing no sympathy and lacking morals, having chosen to fight on the German side in World War One, simply because she preferred the colours of their uniforms!

The stage set mainly comprises of three large “pillars” which rotate to change from doors to staircases and the library of Saxby Hall.

It’s really quite difficult to describe the set but visually it’s utter genius and whisks you into the weird and wonderful world of eccentric Aunt Alberta and makes one feel like you’ve done a sort of Alice In Wonderland trick and fallen into some magical world. Another favourite in the set (other than the fabulous puppetry of Wagner the owl by Roberta Bellekom and the puppets of Alberta and Stella in a particular scene) is the splendid replica vintage Rolls Royce in which Stella attempts to make her escape in.

When Stella meets Saxby Hall ghost Soot, a cockney chimney sweep who ended up “brown bread” (that’s “dead” to you and I!) when someone lit a fire whilst he was cleaning the halls chimney and “burnt mi’ bum!’, the pair, realising something isn’t quite as it seems with the so called accident which resulted in her parents death and her Aunts attempts to get Stella to sign over Saxby Hall to her, the pair decide to turn into their own version of Sherlock Holmes and Watson to solve the mystery once and for all and attempt to break free from the awful Aunt and save Saxby Hall.

I have yet to read any of David Walliams’ books, therefore was unsure what to expect. Admittedly I was a tad disappointed as there were far too many similarities with Roald Dahl characters/storylines – Aunt Alberta reminded me too much of the Trunchbull – a mannish power driven woman with little compassion for others (the Trunchbull’s first name is Agatha, again a bit too similar to Alberta). Some of Walliams’ books use artwork by Quentin Blake, who also did artwork for Roald Dahls’ books. A scene in this production reminded me of the chokey in Matilda amongst several other elements that felt too much like they were trying to mimic or copy Roald Dahl. Personally I found the story too unoriginal and felt somewhat deflated.

However, granted the naff toilet jokes (which even failed to raise a giggle from the hundreds of children in the audience) plus the un-original storyline, the production was made enjoyable by Timothy Speyer as the title character – the comical tartan bloomers and matching suit jacket and the copper hair which seemed to have a mind of its own who even seemed scary to the adults! Granted that this is a children’s book I certainly would not recommend anyone under the age of ten watching this production, there’s bits in it which are quite dark and scary and not ideal for younger or sensitive children. Aunt Alberta is a towering inferno of a woman and Speyer really brings out the scary wicked side of Aunt Alberta, this deranged cold hearted woman who thinks of her own desires before her family. It wasn’t long until I’d really warmed to the character, whereas I struggled to warm to her niece and orphan Stella Saxby (Georgina Leonidas) – who seemed to think the only way to connect with the children in the audience was to be a bit too shouty and over the top. Ashley Cousins on the other hand as ghost Soot was loveable, portraying a young boy beautifully, from his voice to his mannerisms you soon forgot that the role was obviously played by somebody much older than the character portrayed.

Although the laughs were far and few between, it was Richard James as Gibbon, the eccentric and slightly deranged Butler of Saxby Hall. Granted not the best Butler in the world, constantly getting things wrong, from hoovering the carpet with a lawn mower he finally proves his worth by stepping in to help Stella save Saxby Hall. Gibbons was the only character I particularly connected with in the story, the rest being somewhat of a disappointment.

If you or your child are a fan of David Walliams’ books then this is most certainly worth catching on tour. Otherwise on what is a very rare occasion for me, I would say give this one a miss!

 

David Walliams’ Gangsta Granny Comes to City

Award-winning children’s story brought to life at Hull New Theatre

Theatre is about to get a whole lot more interesting for youngsters in the city as the award-winning stage adaptation of David Walliams’ bestselling book Gangsta Granny comes to Hull New Theatre.

It’s Friday night and Ben knows that means only one thing – staying with Granny! There will be cabbage soup, cabbage pie and cabbage cake and Ben knows one thing for sure – it’s going to be sooooooooo boring.

But what Ben doesn’t know is that Granny has a secret – and Friday nights are about to get more exciting than he could ever imagine, as he embarks on the adventure of a lifetime with his very own Gangsta Granny.

Presented by the acclaimed producers of Horrible Histories, Birmingham Stage Company (BSC), tickets for Gangsta Granny are on sale now. Book at the Hull City Hall Box Office, call 01482 300 306 or visit our website www.hulltheatres.co.uk.