The Royal Exchange Theatre is thrilled to announce that their current smash-hit WEST SIDE STORY will return to the stage in 2020 due to unprecedented popular demand. Recognised as one of the world’s most iconic musicals, tickets for Sarah Frankcom’s reimagining of this Broadway classic, with new choreography by Aletta Collins, have been in high demand from the moment the production was originally announced and were close to selling out before the previews had even begun. Opening last week to critical acclaim and loved by Manchester audiences the Exchange is delighted to confirm that this celebrated production will be back next year running from Saturday 18 April – Saturday 23 May 2020.
Royal Exchange Artistic Director Sarah Frankcom said…
West Side Story was such a radical piece of work when it was first staged and I’m delighted that our new production has caught the imagination of today’s audiences, and that the electricity of it all – the story, the music, the dance – is still so urgent in 2019. The demand for tickets has been incredible so to be able to bring the show back next year and give people another opportunity to see Leonard Bernstein’s masterpiece is fantastic. Our unique in-the-round theatre brings viewers right into the action and to be able to do that all over again with a new audience is really exciting.
Casting for the 2020 production is yet to be confirmed and will be announced in the autumn along with further details of the production and the Spring/Summer season in full. Tickets are on sale to members from today and the public from Tuesday 30 April 2019, it is a stand-alone production and will not form part of the Royal Exchange Spring/Summer 2020 season ticket package.
LISTINGS
WEST SIDE STORY – Listings Information A Royal Exchange Theatre production WEST SIDE STORY Based on a conception of Jerome Robbins Book by Arthur Laurents Music by Leonard Bernstein Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Directed by Sarah Frankcom
Saturday 18 April – Saturday 23 May 2020 Press Night: Wednesday 22 April 7.30pm – The Theatre
Andy Mientus, Declan Bennett, Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, Cedric Neal and John Partridge will star as Patrick, Dale, Inez, Willie and Buddy respectively in the European premiere of new LGBTQ+ musical THE VIEW UPSTAIRS, which runs from 18 July to 24 August at Soho Theatre, with a press night on Tuesday 23 July.
Broadway and television actor and novelist, Andy Mientus will be making his UK theatre debut in THE VIEW UPSTAIRS. He has starred in numerous musicals including the roles of Marius in Les Misérables, and Hanschen in Deaf West Theater’s revival of Spring Awakening, which he also co-conceived with director Michael Arden. He played regular character Kyle Bishop on the TV show Smash opposite Debra Messing, Jack Davenport and Katharine McPhee. Andy can currently be seen in the new NBC/Universal/WGN America series Gone starring Chris Noth, as well as the upcoming anthology series Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings on Netflix.
John Partridge is well known for his extensive TV work, including the long-running and much-loved role of Christian Clarke in EastEnders (BBC), winning Celebrity MasterChef (BBC), participating in BBC1’s gymnastics show Tumble and being a judge on Over the Rainbow (BBC). John began his career at the age of 16 in the original UK tour of Cats and subsequently went on to star as Rum Tum Tugger in both the West End production and the film opposite Elaine Paige and John Mills. John’s other theatre credits include Zach in A Chorus Line (London Palladium), Robert Martin in The Drowsy Chaperone (Novello Theatre), The Fix (Donmar Warehouse) directed by Sam Mendes, Billy Flynn in Chicago (national tour), in Miss Saigon (national tour) and most recently Turai in Tom Stoppard’s Rough Crossing (national tour).
Actor and recording artist, Declan Bennett, is best known for playing the regular role of Charlie Cotton in EastEnders from 2014 to 2017. He was in boyband Point Break before beginning his career on stage, where he has starred in shows such as Jesus Christ Superstar (Open Air Theatre), Once (Phoenix Theatre), American Idiot (St. James Theatre/Broadway), Rent (Nederlander Theatre/Broadway/US National Tour), Fatherland (Lyric Hammersmith) and Kiss of the Spider Woman (Menier Chocolate Factory).
Victoria Hamilton-Barritt’s wide range of theatre credits include Kate in The Wild Party (The Other Palace), Joan in Miss Littlewood (RSC), Narrator in Murder Ballad (Arts Theatre), Daniella in In The Heights (Kings Cross Theatre/Southwark Playhouse), Diana Morales in A Chorus Line (London Palladium), Gypsy Rose Lee/Louise in Gypsy (Curve), Rizzo in Grease (Piccadilly Theatre) and Alex Owens in Flashdance (Shaftesbury theatre, No.1 Tour).
Cedric Neal was a semi-finalist in The Voice, 2019 on ITV1, as part of Team Tom. Cedric has starred in Motown the Musical (Shaftesbury Theatre), played alongside Audra McDonald in the 2012 Tony award-winning Broadway production of Porgy and Bess, and, most recently, performed as the Arbiter in Chess (London Coliseum).
Also in the cast are Carly Mercedes Dyer (Hadestown, Dreamgirls, Memphis) as Henri, Gary Lee (Flashdance, Ghost) as Freddy, Joseph Prouse (Hadestown, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Jersey Boys) as Richard and Derek Hagen (The Twilight Zone, 20th Century Boy & Carousel) as Cops/Realtor. Casting for the role of Wes to be announced.
The musical opens in present day when Wes, a young fashion designer buys an abandoned space, not realising this had been the UpStairs Lounge, a vibrant ’70s gay bar in the French Quarter of New Orleans, which, in 1973, was burned down in an arson attack, killing 32 people, and making it the worst attack on the LGBTQ+ community until the 2016 shooting at The Pulse nightclub in Orlando. THE VIEW UPSTAIRS brings to life this forgotten community and takes the audience on an exhilarating journey of seduction and self-exploration, celebrating the lives of those forgotten, while featuring a soulful, rock and jazz score.
THE VIEW UPSTAIRS opened to rave reviews Off-Broadway in 2017, where Entertainment Weekly described it as “a moving homage to LGBT culture, past and present”, and the musical gained support from some of the LGBTQ+ community’s biggest advocates, including RuPaul. There is an original cast recording available on Broadway Records.
The London production of the musical is one of ten that have been and are being mounted around the world between 2017 and 2019. As well as a triumphant run Off-Broadway, THE VIEW UPSTAIRS has enjoyed multiple regional US productions and a recent Australian premiere.
The musical is written by young up-and-coming artist Max Vernon and will be directed in London by Jonathan O’Boyle (Aspects of Love, Pippin, Hair), with choreography by Fabian Aloise (Evita at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2019, The Rink, Our House, Working). The show will have set and costume design by Lee Newby, lighting design by Nic Farman, sound design by Adam Fisher, with casting by Will Burton CDG.
THE VIEW UPSTAIRS is produced in London by Jack Maple & Brian Zeilinger for Take Two Theatricals and Ken Fakler, with Creative House Productions and Associate Producers Ben Lockwood and Sue Marks.
Angelique is seventeen and her mother is in prison while her father (or “sperm donor”) has moved on with his new family and is uninterested. Stuck in the care system, but now with a decent and fair foster carer, the main focus of Angelique’s life is her college floristry course and her dreams of becoming a success, with her own little shop so that she and her mum can be comfortable. Angelique’s boyfriend Mickey owes money to his gang leader, Rampage, and wants Angelique to help him cover his debts.
Written and performed by Emma Dennis Edwards, Angelique’s story isn’t, sadly, that unusual, but is told in an extraordinarily powerful and intimate way that deserves a wider audience. Dennis Edwards is an incredible performer, slipping between prose and verse, and in and out of different characters effortlessly. She draws the audience in through the first part of the play with her bubbly, honest and funny introduction to Angelique. As things get darker, this results in the audience being much more vocal with their gasps and tuts than usual, as if they were sitting listening to a friend chatting.
In Edinburgh, the play was presented in a flat, with a tiny audience following Angelique from room to room. The constraints of a more traditional performance space, and larger audiences means that this intense intimacy isn’t possible in the Bunker, but director Rachel Nwokoro has used the available space sympathetically. The usual side seating areas become performance stage areas for Dennis Edwards to move through, and some of the remaining seating is replaced by cushions. Audience members are invited up to try flower arranging, as Dennis Edwards watches in amusing despair, and when the action moves to Mickey’s flat for a party, the audience are invited down to sit on the stage around a mattress. This creates a fantastic feeling of community that swiftly changes to an uncomfortable and unnerving sense of voyeurism and horror as the events of the night are described.
Dennis Edwards holds the audience in the palm of her hand, capturing the innocent joy and peace Angelique finds in her beloved flowers – one of the only sweet things in her life – and her reluctant admiration for the two strong women in her life – her college tutor and her foster carer. Angelique’s struggle to deal with becoming an adult, and the pressure from her peers is portrayed beautifully, as is the evil, selfish manipulation of her boyfriend Mickey. Her performance as Mickey is inspired – the body language and the vocals conjuring up sneers and intakes of breath from the audience as Mickey tries to manipulate Angelique. The depiction of sexual assault and the consequent shaming of the victim is unsensational and brutal, and Angelique’s inability to tell anyone about what happened, and her self-disgust, are heart-breaking and send a vital message to those who question why victims don’t come forward.
There is no happy ending for Angelique, just her survival and her dream, always brightened up by her connection with her flowers. The doubt that she may just be a hopeless dreamer like her mum is strong, but you become so invested in this character, even after such a short time, that you leave hoping she finds her sunlight.
Brilliantly staged, written and performed, Funeral Flowers is an incredible, important and unforgettable piece of theatre. Simply phenomenal.
Charles Court Opera carry the audience away on waves of delight with their latest production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore. With a talented cast of eight, the glorious silliness of the story doesn’t feel diminished, with the lack of a large chorus allowing the ridiculous characters to shine.
The H.M.S. Pinafore becomes a brightly coloured submarine, with Rachel Szmukler’s charming design feeling like a set from CBeebies. Captain Corcoran runs a tight ship and is thrilled when the First Lord of the Admiralty, Sir Joseph Porter, wishes to marry his daughter Josephine. Josephine is in love with a lowly able seaman, Ralph Rackstraw, but knows that she must marry a man of suitable station. When the couple finally declare their love for each other their plan to elope is thwarted by dastardly Dick Deadeye, but this leads to a typical last-minute G&S twist that sorts everything out for the protagonists so that it all ends on a jolly note. Fluffy nonsense of the highest order.
With only three able seamen, and Sir Joseph’s gaggle of female followers cut down to one sister, one cousin and an aunt (carried around in an urn and emoted to by the hilariously expressive Catrine Kirkman as Cousin Hebe), there is plenty of room onstage for Damian Czarnecki’s quirky choreography, handled with great humour by the cast and capturing the celebratory tone of the production.
As the young lovers Ralph and Josephine, Philip Lee and Alys Roberts are outstanding, with Roberts’ beautiful voice soaring in her emotional solos. Joseph Shovelton is a hoot as Sir Joseph, like the lovechild of David Brent and Leslie Phillips, acing the pompous comedy of the character and his undeserved rise to a position of clueless power. Matthew Palmer impresses as Captain Corcoran, and his scenes with the irrepressible Jennie Jacobs as Little Buttercup are fantastically awkward. The crew is rounded off by Matthew Kellett as Dick Deadeye (cartoon villainy of the highest order) and the wonderfully physical Hannah Crerar as Bobstay.
Accompanied only by David Eaton on piano, the cast’s voices work together magnificently. Energetic, uplifting and hilarious, this show is a visual and aural delight.
We’ve all looked for love in the wrong places, but Bobby (Linus Karp) is looking in pet shops and zoos. The excruciating morning-after conversations/monologues that Bobby has in his attempts to bond with his four-legged friends are painfully funny and sweet.
Rob Hayes’ script is so sensitive and unsensational, and Katherine Armitage’s direction so sympathetic, that poor Bobby’s neediness becomes (almost) understandable. You can’t help but like Bobby – even though you’d never ask him to cat sit.
Working his way through a dog, cat, goat, monkey and bear, Bobby’s reactions in the afterglow are exactly as you’d expect if there was a human in his bed. He plans their future, apologises for any comments that could be misconstrued as sexist (speciesist?) and anthropomorphises their imagined responses. Just as you begin to feel comfortable, a stark reminder of the species is thrown in – eliciting belly laughs and squirms alike. The scene with the monkey prostitute is especially well written, with Bobby imagining a grooming story for the creature that is in turns hysterical and horrifyingly familiar.
Linus Karp gives Bobby a pathetically defiant edge under the pitiful neediness and is wonderful in the moments when he thinks he has offended an animal. His body language when making gauche compliments is simply adorable. As Bobby’s past is gradually revealed, Karp becomes more and more fragile, until the final scene where the laughs dry up and the dark sadness that drives Bobby’s life is portrayed with understated but devastating skill – a simply brilliant performance that never loses its grip on the audience.
Awkward Conversations is quirky, funny and very, very moving – grab a ticket while you can.
The ultimate jukebox musical has crashed into Bristol and you are guaranteed for a party!
The story depicts two young people, Sherrie and Drew who wind up working together in a downtrodden bar named the ‘Bourbon Room’ and immediately begin to feel love for each other. Sherrie (Jodie Steele) is an aspiring actress who lands a waitressing job in the bar to cover her bills; while Drew (Luke Walsh) is an aspiring Rock Singer. After a less than romantic and somewhat awkward date, the pair part as friends, leading Sherrie to become a stripper in a gentleman’s club, where she meets one of her past lovers, Rock Star Staycee Jaxx (Antony Costa). Eventually, after much contemplation and a lot more singing, Drew and Sherrie end up rekindling their once powerful love.
This production is an amalgamation of stereotypical sex, drugs and Rock’n’roll with some immense talent and strength both vocally and physically. The show begins like you are in the audience of a major rock concert and immediately transports you back to the 1970’s – where everything is encouraged!
The stand out performance was undoubtedly Lucas Rush as ‘Lonny’, the outrageously eccentric Narrator of the show. He captured the audience from the get-go and not once, did he relinquish his control over us! He was funny, sexy, surprising and an extremely talented man! Breaking the fourth wall at any moment possible, he managed to bring tears of laughter to all privileged to be in the auditorium!
As a charismatic character, Regina (Rhiannon Chesterman) had stunning vocals that perfectly suited the rock genre. Her rendition of We’re Not Going to Take it left me fully speechless as she effortlessly soared through the score! Along with Andrew Carthy as ‘Franz’ an outrageous German, these two had spectacular rapport, that led to the audience howling with laughter! A perfectly cast pair! Steele and Walsh as Sherrie and Drew displayed outstanding vocals and perfectly matched harmonies – they enhance this very predictable and loose story line with phenomenal vocal abilities. Antony Costa as Stacee Jaxx also showed his vocal prowess and added to the story.
Zoe Birkett as Justice, the owner of the gentleman’s club where Sherrie is eventually recruited to has one outstandingly powerful voice. Her soul and passion radiated through into the audience and was easy to see why she was cast!
If you are in need of a little transportation to the good life, a full rock’n’roll show or just an amazing night, Lonny is sure to be waiting in Bristol for you!
Imitating the Dog’s Heart of Darkness takes Joseph Conrad’s 1902 novella and tells it all over again with some substantial changes made to characters and location. Imitating the Dog, known for their innovative approach to theatre, combine technology and live performance, creating a graphic-novel-style story which is filmed on a green screen before the audience using two onstage cameras and projected onto hanging screens above. With compelling visuals and a plot adapted for a 2019 audience, Heart of Darkness is slick, stylish and intelligently crafted.
The original story, influential yet controversial, followed detective Charles Marlow along the river Congo, into the heart of the Congo Free State, created and controlled by European colonisers, where forced labour was used to exploit locals and natural resources. Cutting off hands, the burning of villages and severing heads was commonplace in the Congo Free State, mutilation used as a method of control by Europeans. However, this version lifts the horrors inflicted by Europeans on Africa, dumps into Europe and tells the tale as though Europeans have inflicted such horror on themselves instead.
Joseph Conrad’s tale is critiqued in this stage version by the cast who break from the narrative to debate themes that arise from the novel. As they discuss the racist depiction of Africa by the author, it is decided, on stage, that a change of roles should take place. The river is replaced by a road through a ravaged Europe which has never recovered from war and where cities and towns have been replaced by forced labour camps, a raw and brutal form of capitalism. Charles Marlowe (Keicha Greenidge) is replaced by a woman from Kinshasha, who is paid to journey through these camps to find Kurtz, the man renowned for running his camp most efficiently, in order to learn his methods before his death. With Marlow tasked to return to Kinshasha with the blue prints for expansion of this horrific system, she must make an important and potentially fatal decision.
Spliced with lip synced scenes from Apocalypse Now and a scathing condemnation of the Joseph Conrad original by author Chinua Achebe, Heart of Darkness manages to recreate a classic in a modern and thought-provoking way. It is unashamedly political, with modern day nationalist leaders and groups projected onto the screens and a cast playing out a fierce debate on how British history is taught and how the continent of Africa is depicted. Heart of Darkness is intelligent, fearless and will have you shifting uncomfortably in your seat.
Southern Belles, uniting two ground-breaking one-act plays by Tennessee Williams, will headline the King’s Head Theatre’s 2019 Queer Season, running from 24 July to 24 August. Southern Belles is directed by Jamie Armitage, co-director of the multi Olivier nominated musical Six, a graduate of King’s Head Theatre’s Trainee Resident Director’s scheme and now a Junior Associate, as well as a Resident Director at the Almeida Theatre.
And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens was never performed in Williams’s lifetime, owing to its openly gay characters. Williams wrote the play in 1957, after his Broadway successes with Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. It charts the heart-breaking encounter between an extraordinary drag queen and a troubled sailor in 1950’s New Orleans and explores the boundaries of love, passion and heartbreak.
Something Unspoken was written in 1958 and debuted as part of a double bill with Suddenly, Last Summer. In Something Unspoken, tensions between a wealthy Southern spinster, Miss Cornelia Scott, and Grace, her loyal secretary of 15 years, boil over in a confrontation that exposes their complex, unacknowledged and romantic yearning for each other.
And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens and Something Unspoken will be presented together for the very first time. Poignant, unexpected and shimmeringly beautiful, Southern Belles are startling tales of love, loneliness and longing, which cast a light on the lives of those forced to hide their true feelings from society.
Director Jamie Armitage said, “My career began at the King’s Head Theatre and I am unbelievably excited to be returning there this summer with two exquisite plays by Tennessee Williams which have never been paired together before. These stories of unspoken love and desire speak to the most basic human need to feel genuinely connected. My hope is that audiences will be as enchanted by these beautiful plays as I am.”
Producer, Michelle Barnette, said,“The King’s Head Theatre has a long history of producing plays that really hone in on the queer experience. With Southern Belles, we have a wonderful opportunity to feature an unspoken love story between two women and address a time in the not-too-distant past where being gay was a punishable offence. We’re very proud to be producing this beautiful double bill as the headliner of our Queer Season, telling two stories of humanity at its finest: when it’s trying to find the way to be its most honest, most emotionally open, self.”
Southern Belles will be designed by Sarah Mercadé, with lighting design by Ben Jacobs.
Southern Belles is co-produced by the King’s Head Theatre and Making Productions.
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Southern Belles
Two one-act plays by Tennessee Williams
24 July – 24 August 2019
King’s Head Theatre
115 Upper Street
London N1 1QN
Performances: Tuesday – Saturday at 7.00pm, Saturday & Sunday at 3.00pm* (*no 3.00pm matinee on Saturday 27 July)
In the Willows brings Kenneth Grahame’s 1908 classic story of Wind in the Willows straight into the 21st century with a bang.
This version has great fun copying characters and traits from the original and transforms them with caricatures from any typical high school and dresses them with hip-hop street culture. With vibrant energy, engaging music and lyrics and an abundance of colourful costumes to match throughout the whole performance a marriage of hip-hop and musical theatre styles works so well.
The Willows is a senior school in a rough area. Mole (Victoria Boyce) starts a new school, she is struggling to fit in and communicate. Overseeing it all is Badger (Clive Rowe), the kindly teacher who asks streetwise and sassy Ratty (Zara Macintosh), to look after the panicky new kid. Toad (Harry Jardine) is the likeable, flashy kid. The story of Toad moved to the classroom is seamless. They are supported by 3 pink rabbits, a be-spectacled Owl, a very tall Otter and a camp, long-legged Duck decked out in fabulous yellow! We have a band of Weasels who are a street gang lead by their Chief (Matt Knight) in long red coat and beanie. Everyone gets a moment in the limelight and it is difficult to take your eyes off any one of them. Its difficult to single out a particular cast member as everyone produced a stella performance.
The River Bank is the local club and the Wildwood is a broken housing estate. William Reynolds’s set cleverly allows for the familiarity of Badger’s small home and the open spaces needed for the cast to perform the dance-offs and set pieces at The Riverbank youth club. Movement and dance routines are tight and well-choreographed with special lighting effects and slow motion adding theatrical subtleties. Characters set the scenes as part of their performance, thus distracting the audience from possible dull set changes and gaps. You can tell a lot of thought has gone into transferring this classic tale into the 21st Century.
Harry Jardine is cast perfectly as Toad with the right blend of entertainment, warmth and likeability, He raps are on point with Chief Weasel playing the part of the “bad” rapper. Sean Miley Moore is superb as Duck, bringing a lot of energy and sass to his performance.
The characters and situation are modern and at the heart of it, themes of friendship, good conquering bad and respect. If you want to see an old classic re worked into a highly engaging, high energy show with powerfully and emotional singing, hip hop and street dancing, great set design and fantastic choreography then go so In the Willows
Grand Opera House York until Saturday 20th April 2019.
Reviewed by Marcus Richardson
4****
The Sound of Music is a timeless classic, with Julie Andrews playing the iconic Maria in the film. The show follows Maria, a postulant, who has trouble conforming to the Abbey life, so she is sent away to be the governess of seven children. York Stage Musicals have decided to bring this show to life at the York Grand Opera House. YSM is one of several amateur dramatic groups with a very good reputation. The last show I saw of theirs was Priscilla Queen of the Desert, which I enjoyed, so I did go into this show with some high expectations, that’s for sure.
The whole cast worked incredibly as a chorus, with the nuns opening the numbers with, what I can only describe as an angelic performance. Although the nuns open the show with saintly songs we soon meet Maria played by Joanne Theaker, who has previous extensive experience with YSM. We first meet the character as she sings The Sound of Music; Theaker, maybe just a wee bit older than the original Maria, does a splendid job of creating a character that is both gentle and adventurous, but then again how do you describe a character like Maria?
The Von Trapp children were played by team So La Ti Do on the night I went to watch the show, with Liesl being played by Louise Henry every night of the run. The children do an incredible job on stage both singing Do-Re-Me and having enough presence to create characters and be seen by the audience. The father of the Von Trapp family is played by Callum O’Connell, who at first is cold and uniformed, but as the play goes on we see him open up and fall in love. Now although the whole cast sang amazingly, I do have to note the ability of Rowan Kitchen, who played the Mother Abbess, she is only 21 years old, what a spectacular voice.
The stage was simple and was decorated by six pillars, the only negative thing I have to note about the stage is that the steps are too deep, which made it look a bit odd as some of the children struggled to climb up the steps, and some of the nuns struggling up the stairs. The costumes were just as you could expect from The Sound of Music, nothing looked out of place or wrong. The scene changes took a bit longer than I wanted, however this is very minor.
It was just as good as my previous experience with YSM, the standard of their performances are incredibly high considering it’s am-dram. I would completely recommend this show as it’s a classic you can sing along to and enjoy the music. Eggsellent show to catch for this Easter weekend.
