London, 4th June 2021:Polydor Records announce the release of ‘Far Too Late’ from the forthcoming album of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella. ‘Far Too Late’ is sung by Carrie Hope Fletcher and is released on 4th June across all DSPs.
‘Far Too Late’ is the latest in a string of acclaimed tracks from the album of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella which is set for release on 9th July. The album, written and produced during lockdown in the UK, features voices from the cast of the highly-anticipated new musical, as well as some soon-to-be announced, high-profile guest vocalists.
The release of ‘Far Too Late’ comes after it was first revealed to audiences in September 2020 with a performance by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Carrie Hope Fletcher in a stripped-back Her Majesty’s Theatre, home to Phantom of the Opera, in London.
The world premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella, the first new production to open after the coronavirus pandemic, will be at the Gillian Lynne Theatre on 25th June. Cinderella is a new romantic musical comedy featuring an original story and book by 2021 OSCAR® winner Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) and lyrics by Tony & Olivier award winner David Zippel (City of Angels). Laurence Connor (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, School of Rock) directs, with choreography by JoAnn M Hunter.
Carrie Hope Fletcher will play Cinderella in this new production. She has starred in Heathers (Theatre Royal Haymarket), The Addams Family (UK Tour), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (UK Tour), Mary Poppins (Prince Edward Theatre), and most recently played Fantine in Les Miserables at the Sondheim Theatre. She is also a bestselling author and social media personality.
Ahead of Cinderella’s arrival at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, the building has been extensively refurbished and renovated, including upgrade works to the auditorium and Front of House.
Daniel Evans directs a co-production between Chichester Festival Theatre and the National Theatre to premiere in 2022
CFT Artistic Director Daniel Evans will direct a co-production between Chichester Festival Theatre and the National Theatre in 2022, at the start of CFT’s 60th anniversary season.
Our Generation by Alecky Blytheisa new and extraordinary verbatim play which follows the lives of twelve young people from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales as they evolve from children to adults.
From interviews gathered over a five-year period, we experience the heartache, the humour and the growing pains of twelve remarkable teenagers, as they navigate their families, their friendships, an exams fiasco and a global pandemic. Our Generation will provide a unique insight into growing up in modern Britain, seen through the eyes of those who are experiencing it right now.
Alecky Blythe wrote the acclaimed verbatim musical London Road, which premiered at the National Theatre in 2011 and later became a feature film. Our Generation will be Daniel Evans’s directorial debut at the National Theatre; as an actor, his work there included Cardiff East, Peter Pan, Troilus and Cressida, Candide and The Merchant of Venice.
Our Generation will open at the National Theatre’s Dorfman Theatre in February 2022 before playing at Chichester’s Minerva Theatre from April 2022.
Our Generation will have set design by Vicki Mortimer, costume design by Kinnetia Isidore, video design by Akhila Krishnan, lighting design by Zoe Spurr, sound design by Paul Arditti, movement direction by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, and music composition, production & direction by DJ Walde.
Booking for the Chichester production will open in February 2022 when CFT’s full 60th anniversary season will be announced.
WISE CHILDREN, BRISTOL OLD VIC, YORK THEATRE ROYAL AND THE NATIONAL THEATRE
CO-PRODUCE EMMA RICE’S WUTHERING HEIGHTS
Wise Children today announces new dates for the world premiere of Artistic Director Emma Rice’s adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, which she also directs, in a coproduction with the National Theatre, Bristol Old Vic and York Theatre Royal. Starring Lucy McCormick as Cathy, this elemental stage adaptation brings new life to the classic story with Rice’s celebrated musical and visual style. The production opens at Bristol Old Vic on 20 October, with previews from 11 October, and running until 6 November, with livestreamed performances in the final week at Bristol. It then transfers to York Theatre Royal, 8 – 20 November, and runs at the National Theatre in 2022 before touring to The Lowry, Theatre Royal Nottingham, Sunderland Empire and King’s Theatre, Edinburgh with further dates to be announced.
Emma Rice said today, “It is with an earthy spring in my step and epic twinkle in my eye that I announce our new plans for Wuthering Heights. So many projects have fallen by the wayside during lockdown that there were times when I lost hope – but there was no need! Wise Children are back; stronger, wiser and grateful for the chance to sing and dance again. The exceptional cast, crew, administrative and creative teams are ready to go and we are fizzing with ideas, dreams and anticipation. Emboldened and humbled by the enforced break, I feel truly lucky. I cannot wait to get back to doing what I love most and to share this thrilling and important piece with the world. It’s time.”
The Yorkshire moors tell an epic story of love, revenge and redemption.
Rescued from the Liverpool docks as a child, Heathcliff is adopted by the Earnshaws and taken to live at Wuthering Heights. He finds a kindred spirit in Catherine Earnshaw and a fierce love ignites. When forced apart, a brutal chain of events is unleashed.
Shot through with music, dance, passion and hope, Emma Rice transforms Emily Brontë’s masterpiece into a powerful and uniquely theatrical experience. Lucy McCormick leads the company of performers and musicians in this intoxicating revenge tragedy for our time.
“I am Heathcliff! Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”
With set and costume design by Vicki Mortimer; sound and video by Simon Baker; composition by Ian Ross; movement and choreography by Etta Murfitt;lighting design by Jai Morjaria.
Rice has also adapted and directs Percy and Eleonore Adlon’s Bagdad Cafe, which opens at The Old Vic on 28 July 2021, with previews from 17 July, and runs until 21 August 2021, and will be streamed live for OLD VIC: IN CAMERA 25 – 28 August.
Emma Rice is the proud and excited Artistic Director of her new company, Wise Children. She adapted and directs the company’s forthcoming Bagdad Cafe, and previous productions Angela Carter’s Wise Children (The Old Vic/UK tour) and Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers (Bristol Passenger Shed/UK tour). For the ENO she directed Orpheus in the Underworld. As Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe (2016/18), she directed Romantics Anonymous, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Little Matchgirl (and Other Happier Tales). For the previous 20 years, she worked for Kneehigh as an actor, director and Artistic Director. Her productions for Kneehigh include The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk, Tristan & Yseult, 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, The Wild Bride, The Red Shoes, The Wooden Frock, The Bacchae, Cymbeline (in association with RSC), A Matter of Life and Death (in association with National Theatre), Rapunzel (in association with Battersea Arts Centre), Brief Encounter (in association with David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers Productions), Don John (in association with the RSC and Bristol Old Vic), Wah! Wah! Girls (in association with Sadler’s Wells and Theatre Royal Stratford East for World Stages), and Steptoe and Son. Other work includes the West End production of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Oedipussy (Spymonkey), The Empress (RSC), and An Audience with Meow Meow (Berkeley Repertory Theatre). In 2019 Rice received the UK Theatre Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre.
Lucy McCormick plays Cathy. Her previous theatre credits include Post Popular, Roller Diner, First Love is the Revolution (Soho Theatre), Lessons for Life (Battersea Arts Centre), Dear Elizabeth, Effigies of Wickedness (Gate Theatre), Collective Rage (Southwark Playhouse), Cinderella (Oxford Playhouse), The Naked Truth (UK tour), Splat! (Barbican Centre), and The House of Bernada Alba (Tristan Bates Theatre). Her television credits include This Time with Alan Partridge, and for film, Fast and Furious: Hobbs & Shaw, and Exhibition of a Film.
Created and led by Emma Rice, Wise Children launched in April 2018 and is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation. Based in Bristol, we make ground-breaking work with exceptional artists, and tour across the world. In the dark days of 2020, we led the field in livestreaming, becoming the first UK company to broadcast a full staged production, without social distancing, from a UK theatre after lockdown. Alongside our shows, we run a unique professional development programme, The School for Wise Children, training a new and more diverse generation of theatre practitioners.
Theatres Trust director Jon Morgan has responded to the National Theatre’s news that they will be meeting the baseline standard set out in the Theatre Green Book:
“Theatres Trust is delighted to see the National Theatre committing to the Theatre Green Book Sustainable Productions baseline standard for all its upcoming shows. Since we launched the Theatre Green Book initiative in partnership with ABTT, Buro Happold and others across the sector, there has been an increasing number of theatres trialling the Theatre Green Book in their productions. We would encourage as many theatres as possible to sign up. The Theatre Green Book gives us an industry-wide standard for all aspects of production, buildings and operations as the sector rises to the urgent challenges posed by the climate crisis.”
The National Theatre announces new programming on the South Bank, on tour, on screen and internationally – and launches a major new campaign for its future,National Theatre Together
– All three South Bank theatres will be open for live performances for audiences for the first time since March 2020.
– Rufus Norris directs and is lyricist for brand-new musical Hex, based on Sleeping Beauty this Christmas in the Olivier theatre, with book by Tanya Ronder and music by Jim Fortune.
– Alecky Blythe returns to the NT for the first time since London Road with a new verbatim play Our Generation, a co-production with Chichester Festival Theatre, directed by Daniel Evans.
– The Lyttelton theatre will reopen for audiences in October with a co-production with Birmingham Rep of Ayub Khan Din‘s East Is East, directed by Iqbal Khan, celebrating 25 years since its premiere.
– Clint Dyer, Deputy Artistic Director of the National Theatre, directs and co-writes Death of England: Face to Face with Roy Williams, an original feature film from the Lyttelton.
– The National Theatre Live recording of Folliesreturns to cinemas in September, its first cinema outing since its premiere live broadcast in 2017.
– Returns to Broadway for the acclaimed The Lehman Trilogy, a co-production with Neal Street Productions,and Hadestown, and major tours across the UK and Ireland for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
– Story Seekers launches – a new nationwide creative literacy project for primary schools in partnership with the Unicorn Theatre.
– Public Acts returns with a production ofTheDoncastrian Chalk Circle to open at Cast in Doncaster featuring members of the local Doncaster community.
Friday 4 June 2021
The National Theatre has today announced its programming until the start of next year with productions on all three South Bank stages as well as three major UK tours, two productions on Broadway, a return to cinemas, and a new feature film to be broadcast on television this autumn. In the week the theatre reopened for audiences again, six new productions were announced, and five productions halted by the pandemic were confirmed to return to the South Bank.
It has also announced the public launch of National Theatre Together, a new campaign with people at its heart, highlighting the importance of creativity and collaboration with theatre-makers and communities, for young people and audiences. The campaign cements the NT’s commitment to the people of this country and will raise vital funds for the theatre’s ambitious recovery post-pandemic.
Rufus Norris, Director and Joint Chief Executive of the National Theatre, said: “Theatre is a world-class UK industry, and brings with it a bucket-load of economic and social benefits. The National Theatre has a crucial role to play in supporting the nation’s creativity; it’s an incredible place full of amazing people and elicits enormous affection, pride and passion in audiences around the world. National Theatre Together celebrates the work we create with theatre-makers and communities, for young people and audiences – and asks our friends to once again stand with us and equip us to do what we do best: shape a bright, creative future for this nation.”
Together for Audiences
In the Olivier, following Under Milk Wood which begins previews on 16 June, Kae Tempest’s previously announced Paradise, a new version of Philoctetes by Sophocles, will open in August and is directed by Ian Rickson. Featuring an all-female cast, Lesley Sharp will play Philoctetes. In September, Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart will open, directed by Dominic Cooke in a co-production with Fictionhouse. Ben Daniels will perform the role of Ned Weeks, and Liz Carr and Luke Norris join the cast alongside the previously announced Daniel Monks and Danny Lee Wynter.
In the Olivier this December, National Theatre Director Rufus Norris directs Hex, a new musical that goes beyond the kiss that woke the Sleeping Beauty and tells the fairy’s tale, with book by Tanya Ronder, music by Jim Fortune and lyrics by Rufus Norris. Based on the 17th-century folk-tale, this darkly thrilling new version also reunites director Rufus Norris with set and costume designer Katrina Lindsay (Small Island, London Road) following their 2002 critically acclaimed adaptation of Sleeping Beauty,from which Hex is adapted.
The Father and the Assassin, a new play by previous NT writer-in-residence, Anupama Chandrasekhar directed by Indhu Rubasingham will open in the Olivier in early 2022. The play tells the story of how Nathuram Godse was radicalised through the fight for Indian independence, from being a devout follower of Gandhi to becoming his eventual assassin in 1948.
The Dorfman reopened this week with previews of After Life and from September Miranda Cromwell will direct Winsome Pinnock’s play Rockets and Blue Lights, a co-production with the Royal Exchange Theatre where the play had to close in March 2020 having played only three previews. Set across multiple time frames the action moves between the stories of Lou, an actor working on a new film about artist JMW Turner, and Lucy and Thomas, two Londoners coming to terms with the meaning of freedom.
In December, Nancy Medina, recipient of the NT’s Peter Hall Bursary, directs Alice Childress’ ground-breaking play Trouble in Mind in the Dorfman. Taking a satirical look at the white-dominated theatre scene of Broadway in the 1950s, the play follows the story of Wiletta Mayer, an African-American singer and actress searching to make her mark on history as a part of an acting company forced to face the prejudice of the times, on stage and off. Tanya Moodie will play Wiletta Mayer.
In February 2022, Alecky Blythe (London Road) returns to the National Theatre with an extraordinary new verbatim play, Our Generation, which is based on material gathered over five years, following the lives of 12 young people from across the UK. Directed by Daniel Evans, Artistic Director of Chichester Festival Theatre, it is a co-production with Chichester and will play in the Minerva Theatre from April 2022.
In the Lyttelton, following their acclaimed stage productions Death of England and Death of England: Delroy, Clint Dyer, Deputy Artistic Director of the National Theatre, and Roy Williams (Sucker Punch) have written a new feature film Death of England: Face to Face to be broadcast on Sky Arts this autumn. Also directed by Clint Dyer, Death of England: Face to Face will be filmed in the Lyttelton theatre this June, following on from the success of Simon Godwin’s original film Romeo & Juliet which was filmed in the theatre over 17 days during lockdown last year, and broadcast on Sky Arts and PBS in April. Neil Maskell (Peaky Blinders, Small Axe) plays Michael, Giles Terera (Hamilton, Flack) is Delroy and Phil Daniels (I Hate Suzie, Adult Material) is Michael’s father, Alan.
The Lyttelton will reopen for live performances for the first time since closing in March 2020. In October Birmingham Rep’s production of Ayub Khan Din’s play East Is East, directed by Iqbal Khan, in the 25th anniversary year of the play’s premiere at the Rep will open. In November, a new darkly comic play, Manor, by Moira Buffini (The Dig) will open nearly 18 months after it was first scheduled to do so, directed by Fiona Buffini. Nancy Carroll will play the owner of a rundown manor house, which shelters an explosive mix of people during a storm. In April, Emlyn Williams‘ semi-autobiographical drama The Corn is Green gets its first London revival for 35 years with a new production by director Dominic Cooke that will bring the story to a new generation. Nicola Walker will play Miss Moffat with Iwan Davies as Morgan Evans. In February 2022, Emma Rice’s adaptation of Emily Brontë’s masterpiece Wuthering Heights will open following dates in Bristol and York. A co-production with Wise Children, Bristol Old Vic and York Theatre Royal, the show will go on to tour the UK in spring 2022.
The National Theatre also confirms today the return to Broadway for the acclaimed The Lehman Trilogy, a co-production with Neal Street Productions, alongside the previously announced Hadestown, and three major tours across the UK and Ireland are planned.
The first is for the internationally acclaimed production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, adapted by Simon Stephens from Mark Haddon’s best-selling novel, directed by Marianne Elliott,which will celebrate its 10th year in 2022. Then The Ocean at the End of the Lane based on the best-selling novel by Neil Gaiman, adapted by Joel Horwood and directed by Katy Rudd, will tour in 2023. David Eldridge’s Beginning, presented by Lee Dean & Theatre Royal Bath Productions in association with Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch, directed by Polly Findlay and Joe Lichenstein, will be revived at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch in September followed by a UK tour, with casting to be announced.
The Lehman Trilogy by Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power and directed by Sam Mendes will return to the Nederlander Theatre on Broadway in the autumn, with Adrian Lester joining Simon Russell Beale and Adam Godley as the Lehman brothers. The production then visits San Francisco and Los Angeles with casting to be announced. Hadestown, with music, book and lyrics by Anaïs Mitchell, directed by Rachel Chavkin returns to the Walter Kerr Theatre on Broadway from September with a North American tour in October. A South Korean production will open in Seoul in August.
Follies will be returning to cinemas for the first time since its original National Theatre Live broadcast to cinemas in 2017. After sold-out runs in the Olivier in 2017 and 2019 and winning Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival, it will now be playing in cinemas around the world from this September. Stephen Sondheim’s legendary musical is directed by Dominic Cooke (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, NT) and features a cast of 40 and an orchestra of 21.
On the National Theatre’s streaming platform, National Theatre at Home, two new titles are launching today: the Bridge Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Old Vic Theatre’s All My Sons. Consent will now be available with audio-description. New productions are added each month and there are now 23 productions available on the platform.
Together with Theatre-Makers
While the theatre has been closed, the National Theatre’s New Work Department has continued to provide vital support for artists, hosting virtual readings and socially distanced workshops for new plays under development. The department is even more committed to opening up our doors to artists and theatre-makers from across the whole breadth of the UK, to support the sector to flourish after the devastation of 2020. Starting later this year, the NT will begin a new programme Generate, which will see a significant increase in partnerships with artists, venues and producers across the UK. At least a third of the New Work Department’s capacity and resource each year will now be committed to developing ideas, with the specific focus on work to be produced outside London.
Continuing our support for theatre-makers across the UK, this year the Linbury Prize 2021, in partnership with the Linbury Trust, will provide 12 brilliant designers starting out in the industry with bursaries and the opportunity to gain first-hand experience through a design associate placement alongside an established designer on a variety of productions around the country. Chosen by a panel of four judges, applications are open to theatre design graduates or post-graduates, from graduating classes 2020 and 2021.
Lisa Burger, Executive Director and Joint Chief Executive of the National Theatre, said: “This year has seen us face a risk like no other as theatre-makers have left the industry in their droves following a year of little work. Our New Work Department has continued to provide vital support for artists over this challenging year, and as we look to the future, we commit to sharing our skills and expertise with the nation, with at least one third of our capacity dedicated to fuelling stages beyond the NT. And, as we once again employ artists and craftspeople for our stages in London and on tour, we remain resolute in our commitment to world-leading work that empowers artists, develops specialist theatre-skills for the future and respects our environment.Theatre-makers create stories we’ll never forget. Together we can empower artists and craftspeople to make world-leading work.”
The National Theatre is continuing to make its work as sustainable as possible by committing to adopting the baseline principles of the Theatre Green Book for all productions over the next 12 months. The Theatre Green Book is an initiative developed during lockdown by UK theatre-makers from across the sector and backed by leading industry bodies to help move theatre towards sustainable practice. It provides a common standard to work to and maps out theatres’ path towards zero carbon.
Together for Young People
In response to the impact on children’s learning following a year of significant disruption and challenges caused by the pandemic, the NT today launches Story Seekers,a new nationwide creative literacy project in partnership with the Unicorn Theatre. Story Seekers will set children on a mission to find, tell and share important stories for this time, culminating in the creation of their own filmed storytelling performances to share with their school community and beyond. Available for free to state primary schools, the six-week programme includes filmed theatre performances directed by Justin Audibert, Artistic Director of the Unicorn, to guide pupils through the quest, workshops and performances by leading professional storytellers and training and resources to support teachers to lead the project.
From this summer, the National Theatre will begin working with young people most affected by the pandemic on a new nationwide project, Speak Up, as part of the NT’s Theatre Nation Partnerships programme. Young people will work in collaboration with local artists and teachers to lead creative projects in response to issues that are most important to them. The pilot project, funded by The Mohn Westlake Foundation, will begin with seven schools across Sunderland, in partnership with Sunderland Empire and Sunderland Culture; Greater Manchester, in partnership with The Lowry; and Wakefield with Theatre Royal Wakefield, with aspirations to expand across all six Theatre Nation Partnership areas reaching tens of thousands of young people over the next three years.
Following the huge success and demand for the National Theatre Collection which makes the best of British Theatre available to the education sector across the globe in partnership with both Bloomsbury Publishing via their platform Drama Online, and renowned EdTech leader ProQuest, available on their Alexander Street platform, a second Collection will be added, starting with ten titles in September. This will include Inua Ellams’ Three Sisters (a co-production with Fuel), Arthur Miller’s All My Sons from the Old Vic and Headlong and The Seagull from Chichester Festival Theatre. A further ten titles will complete this second collection in February 2022, including the addition of Winsome Pinnock’s Rockets and Blue Lights (a co-production with the Royal Exchange Theatre). Available for free to state schools across the UK, 71 per cent of state secondary schools have already signed up to the resource.
It is also announced today that, to support schools globally, a new partnership with the New York City Department of Education and Bloomsbury Publishing will provide access for public schools across New York to the National Theatre Collection for free, aiming to reach 30,000 students and teachers across three years, as well as creating educational materials to support teachers and engage students. The project is piloting with 20 schools and will launch fully in autumn 2021.
These programmes complement an existing multi-faceted national programme of learning projects that focus on igniting the creativity of tens of thousands of young people across the UK aged 4–21 years old.
Together with Communities
Having been postponed last year, Cast in Doncaster will host the third Public Acts production in August 2022, The Doncastrian Chalk Circle, a newly adapted version of Bertolt Brecht’s classic play by Chris Bush, directed by Public Acts Associate Director, James Blakey, with music by Ruth Chan and design by Hannah Sibai. Featuring 80 performers from our community partners b:friend, Conversation Club, Edlington Community Organisation (ECO), darts and Cast Young Company, joined by a company of professional actors and musicians and cameo appearances from local performance groups, this new version is an adventurous tale of belonging, full of passion, spectacle and plenty of Yorkshire grit and humour.
This August Bank Holiday weekend, the Doncaster community will also perform a new, immersive show The Tale of Wild Heather: A Cabaret at Cast with audiences invited to share a celebratory feast on Cast’s main stage whilst being engaged in a forgotten Doncastrian myth. Written by Jasmin Mandi-Ghomi, directed by Associate Director, Public Acts, James Blakey and designed by Hannah Sibai, the story is co-created by the community company and features performances from local artists.
Lisa Burger said: “The National Theatre works with thousands of people across the country every year. Over the past four years, our flagship community programme Public Actshas demonstrated the extraordinary acts of compassion and unity that can be achieved through theatre. The National Theatre has the convening power to further unite communities by working in sustained partnerships with community organisations, schools and theatres throughout the UK. Our partnerships will encourage theatre-going nationally and create truly inspirational participatory projects that galvanise communities and ignite the creativity of young people across the country. Nothing brings us together like theatre.”
Michael Harrison is thrilled to announce the cast for Disney’s Bedknobs and Broomsticks, which will make its world premiere as an exciting new stage musical this Summer on a major UK & Ireland Tour.
Performances begin at Newcastle Theatre Royal on Saturday 14 August 2021, with the UK Tour recently extended through to May 2022. The tour includes a 5-week Christmas season at Leeds Grand Theatre.
Dianne Pilkington will star as Miss Eglantine Price, the mysterious lady that the three orphaned Rawlins children are evacuated from wartime London to live with. Dianne’s West End credits include Les Miserables,Wicked, Mamma Mia and Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein.
Charles Brunton will play Emelius Browne. Charles starred in the iconic role of Miss Trunchbull in Matilda both in the West End and on Broadway. Other credits include Love Never Dies, Chess and Scrooge.
The rest of the company includes Mark Anderson, Jessica Aubrey, Georgie Buckland, Kayla Carter, Jonathan Cobb, Jacqui Dubois, Matthew Elliot-Campbell, Sam Lupton, Rob Madge, Vinnie Monachello, Nathaniel Morrison, Conor O’Hara, Sadie-Jean Shirley, Robin Simoes Da Silva, Emma Thornett and Susannah Van Den Berg.
The Rawlins children will be played by Dexter Barry, Izabella Bucknell, Haydn Court, Poppy Houghton, Evie Lightman and Aidan Oti.
Enter a world of magic and fantasy with Disney’s classic movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks. With the original songs by the legendary Sherman Brothers (Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), including Portobello Road, The Age Of Not Believing, The Beautiful Briny and new music and lyrics by Neil Bartram and book by Brian Hill, Bedknobs and Broomsticks will be brought to life by award-winning theatre-makers Candice Edmunds and Jamie Harrison.
When the three orphaned Rawlins children are reluctantly evacuated from wartime London to live with the mysterious Eglantine Price, they have no idea what adventures lie ahead. Upon discovering Eglantine to be a trainee witch, they join forces to search for a secret spell that will defeat the enemy once and for all. Armed with an enchanted bedknob, a bewitched broomstick and a magical flying bed, they encounter surprising new friendships on their journey from Portobello Road to the depths of the beautiful briny sea.
This magical musical starts its UK Tour this year….it’s time to start believing!
Bedknobs and Broomsticks is produced by Michael Harrison by special arrangement with Disney Theatrical Productions.
Built on the legacy of West End Cares, (est. 1990), the Make A Difference Trust was founded for the sole purpose of supporting those in the theatre community suffering the devastating effects of living with and losing loved ones to HIV AIDS. In that time, the trust has raised millions of pounds and supported hundreds of projects and people. In just one year alone, January 2019 – 2020 we made grants totalling almost one quarter of a Million pounds. We have built schools, medical centres, we have supported 56 Dean Street, funded self-testing for the theatre community, peer support, we bought fridges for people to store their meds, supported HIV positive children in the UK and Sub-Saharan Africa, too many to list here, but a list of which we should all be very proud.
Over the past few years, the board of the Make A Difference Trust have been thoughtfully considering the changing landscape for people living with HIV and AIDS in the UK. While HIV has by no means gone away, we are so proud of how far society has come since we established the Make a Difference Trust.
While we as a charity could see we were non longer needed to provide funds for palliative care or medicines and thankfully those living with HIV began to see greater support than was available to the wider community in the early years of the crisis, there was still an exponential need for support amongst the theatre community. Support we were able to provide, thanks to the support that was shown to us, from that very same community.
While the loss to individuals and the theatre community in the UK has been heartbreaking over this time, the UK is one of the first countries to meet the UNAIDS 90-90-90 target, and London was the first global city to exceed the 95-95-95 target.
For our community, the landscape has changed.
Then, 2020 saw a new pandemic; Covid-19. The effect on the theatre community was once again devastating, with theatres closing and the community losing their livelihoods. MAD Trust responded to this pandemic with an Emergency Relief Fund for those onstage and off. Once again, the theatre community came together, and we continued to raise funds via online events.
Whilst these events have continued to bring in funds, as pledged, every penny received from these initiatives, goes directly to help those in the UK theatre community affected by theatre closures as a result of the crisis.
Almost all the money we raise is through our theatre events, and so, we have found ourselves with significantly diminishing unrestricted funds this year. Our last fundraising event was December 2019. As a charity, we have never held substantial reserves, believing that the money raised was to support those in need. Now thankfully theatres are slowly reopening, at different paces and with different performance times. However, we believe it will be some time before theatres are able to support our events, which has made fundraising for the Trust unsustainable.
It is for this reason and with a heavy but proud heart that we bow out and lower the curtain on the Make A Difference Trust, taking with us memories that we can all cherish, Michael Ball wielding his razor at 2012 West End Eurovision, and Imelda Staunton with her marigolds, cleaning up the ‘blood’. Brian May popping in to play at A West End Christmas, the standing ovations, the after show parties the friendships and laughter we have shared. And what we cherish most, the good that we have done and the help we have given over the years.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the incredible support we have received form you all.
On behalf of myself and the board of trustees, I would like to thank you all for your enthusiasm, dedication and passion that has made the MAD events such a success. You have joined together to cheer, applaud, and stamp your feet in evenings of pure joy. You have supported and celebrated the best of the West End. Your support through the years has been a wonderful thing, and has shown that what we do together, truly makes a difference. With warmest wishes,
Melanie Tranter Chair/Trustee Make A Difference Trust.
David Ian in association with Barry and Fran Weissler are delighted to announce that West End and TV star Darren Day will play ‘Billy Flynn’ in the forthcoming UK and Ireland tour of the international musical sensation CHICAGO opening at the King’s Theatre, Glasgow on Saturday 11 September 2021. Darren joins the previously announced Faye Brookes as ‘Roxie Hart’, Sinitta as ‘Mama Morton’, Divina De Campo as ‘Mary Sunshine’, Djalenga Scott as ‘Velma Kelly’ and Joel Montague as ‘Amos Hart’. Tour schedule and casting details below. www.chicagothemusical.com
The cast will also include Ishmail Aaron, Michelle Andrews, Gabby Antrobus, Delycia Belgrave, Joel Benjamin, Tanisha-Mae Brown, Daniel Clift, Callum Fitzgerald, Emily Goodenough, Billie Hardy, Aaron Jenkins, Liam Marcellino, Theo Reece, Hollie Jane Stephens and Harrison Wilde.
Darren Day’s many West End credits include the title role in Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium, Tony Parker in Copacabana at the Prince of Wales Theatre, and Danny Zuko in Grease at the Cambridge Theatre. His UK touring theatre credits include the leading roles of Kashoggi in We Will Rock You, Frank n Furter in The Rocky Horror Show, Tick in Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical and Don in Summer Holiday. Darren’s numerous TV credits include Danny Houston in Hollyoaks, David Wilde in Doctors and Will Morgan in Stella. He was a contestant on the very first series of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! and a finalist on Celebrity Big Brother.
Faye Brookes (Roxie Hart) recently reached the final of this year’s series of ITV’s Dancing On Ice. She is best known for her role as Kate Connor in ITV’s Coronation Street, for which she won a National Television Award. Her theatre credits include Princess Fiona in Shrek and Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, both on national tour, Ann/Edna in That Day We Sang directed by Victoria Wood at Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Liesl in The Sound of Music at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and Frenchy in Grease at the West End’s Piccadilly Theatre. Faye’s other TV credits include Agnes Franklin in Our Girl and Helena in Atlantis, both for the BBC.
Sinitta (Mama Morton) is an international recording artist having released 15 hit pop records including So Macho, Toyboy and Cross My Broken Heart. No stranger to the stage, she has appeared in the West End productions of Cats, Little Shop of Horrors, Hair, Smokey Joe’s Café and as the female lead in Mutiny! Since the mid-00s Sinitta has remained in the spotlight becoming a mentor to young emerging talent as Simon Cowell’s right-hand woman on The X Factor.
Divina De Campo (Mary Sunshine) is a seasoned British drag queen and singer who was recently crowned runner up on the first Series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. Known for her high soprano and four -octave range, Divina has been featured on ITV’s The Voice and the BBC’s All Together Now.
Djalenga Scott’s (Velma Kelly) West End credits include Lily St Regis in Annie at the Piccadilly Theatre, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the New London and Chicago at the Adelphi, Cambridge and Garrick Theatres. Her other credits include Anita in the national tour of West Side Story, Rizzo in Grease at Curve Leicester, Magenta in The Rocky Horror Show and Carmen in Fame, both on European tours, the US tour of Batman Live and Bombalurina in Cats at Kilworth House. Djalenga’s screen credits include Scarlett/Esme in Trapped for the BBC and Alexandra in the film I Give It A Year.
Joel Montague (Amos Hart) most recently appeared as Ogie in the West End production of Waitress at the Adelphi Theatre and Mendel in Falsettos at The Other Palace. His many other West End credits include School of Rock at the New London Theatre, Funny Girl at the Savoy Theatre and Menier Chocolate Factory, Urinetown at the Apollo and St James Theatres and Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace. His UK touring credits include Fat Friends The Musical, Sister Act The Musical, and Eddie and Dr. Scott in The Rocky Horror Show. He also played Gangster 2 in Kiss Me, Kate at the Sheffield Crucible and Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls at the Theatre Marigny in Paris.
Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, CHICAGO is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago’s slickest criminal lawyer to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just as easily be ripped from today’s tabloids.
Created by the musical theatre talents of John Kander, Fred Ebb and legendary choreographer Bob Fosse, CHICAGO’s sexy, sassy score includes the show-stopping songs “Razzle Dazzle”, “Cell Block Tango”, and “All That Jazz”. Winner of six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards and a Grammy, CHICAGO is the longest running American musical in Broadway and West End history.
Since it opened in New York in 1996, CHICAGO has played in 36 countries worldwide and has been performed in English, Dutch, German, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, French, Danish, Japanese and Korean. Worldwide it has been seen by an estimated 33 million people, grossed over $1.7 billion and played over 32,500 performances.
CHICAGO, which is based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins, has a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1996 Broadway revival of CHICAGO was choreographed by Ann Reinking in the style of Bob Fosse, directed by Walter Bobbie, and produced by Barry and Fran Weissler.
CHICAGO UK AND IRELAND TOUR LISTINGS 2021 – 2022
SATURDAY 11 SEPTEMBER – SATURDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2021
Faye Brookes – Roxie Hart, Darren Day – Billy Flynn, Sinitta – Mama Morton, Divina De Campo – Mary Sunshine, Djalenga Scott – Velma Kelly & Joel Montague – Amos Hart.
Faye Brookes – Roxie Hart, Darren Day – Billy Flynn, Sinitta – Mama Morton, Divina De Campo – Mary Sunshine, Djalenga Scott – Velma Kelly & Joel Montague – Amos Hart.
Faye Brookes – Roxie Hart, Darren Day – Billy Flynn, Sinitta – Mama Morton, Divina De Campo – Mary Sunshine, Djalenga Scott – Velma Kelly & Joel Montague – Amos Hart.
Faye Brookes – Roxie Hart, Darren Day – Billy Flynn, Sinitta – Mama Morton, Divina De Campo – Mary Sunshine, Djalenga Scott – Velma Kelly & Joel Montague – Amos Hart.
Faye Brookes – Roxie Hart, Darren Day – Billy Flynn, Sinitta – Mama Morton, Divina De Campo – Mary Sunshine, Djalenga Scott – Velma Kelly & Joel Montague – Amos Hart.
Faye Brookes – Roxie Hart, Darren Day – Billy Flynn, Sinitta – Mama Morton, Divina De Campo – Mary Sunshine, Djalenga Scott – Velma Kelly & Joel Montague – Amos Hart.
Faye Brookes – Roxie Hart, Darren Day – Billy Flynn, Sinitta – Mama Morton, Divina De Campo – Mary Sunshine, Djalenga Scott – Velma Kelly & Joel Montague – Amos Hart.
Faye Brookes – Roxie Hart, Darren Day – Billy Flynn, Sinitta – Mama Morton, Divina De Campo – Mary Sunshine, Djalenga Scott – Velma Kelly & Joel Montague – Amos Hart.
Faye Brookes – Roxie Hart, Darren Day – Billy Flynn, Sinitta – Mama Morton, Divina De Campo – Mary Sunshine, Djalenga Scott – Velma Kelly & Joel Montague – Amos Hart.
Faye Brookes – Roxie Hart, Darren Day – Billy Flynn, Sinitta – Mama Morton, Divina De Campo – Mary Sunshine, Djalenga Scott – Velma Kelly & Joel Montague – Amos Hart.
Was it Miss Scarlet, with the revolver in the dining room, or was it Professor Plum, with the lead pipe in the library…?
Producers Joshua Andrews and Stuart Galbraith of Kilimanjaro Theatricals, in collaboration with their US producing partners Work Light Productions, Lively McCabe Entertainment & The Araca Group, are pleased to announce that Cluedo, a new stage play based on the classic Hasbro detective board game loved by generations and the hit 1985 Paramount film CLUE, is to tour the UK between January and July 2022. Based on the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn, the play is written by Sandy Rustin with additional materials by Hunter Foster and Eric Price and for the UK production, Mark Bell. Tickets are on sale now from Cluedostage-play.com.
When Miss Scarlett, Professor Plum, Mrs Peacock, Revered Green, Mrs. White and Colonel Mustard all arrive at a country house one dark and stormy evening, they are concerned to find they have all received the same mysterious invitation from Lord Boddy. What’s clear is that they all have something to hide and the mystery and hysteria grows, as the inhabitants and guests of Boddy Manor start being killed, with a variety of familiar weapons, leaving everyone to wonder, who will be next! Casting will be announced soon.
This UK premiere production is directed by Mark Bell, director of the award winning The Play That Goes Wrong and A Comedy About A Bank Robbery and just like the game, it promises audiences of all ages a nostalgic, fun and thrilling evening of entertainment.
This hilarious spoof of a thriller, will keep you guessing right up to the finale as both the audience and actors onstage try to work out whodunnit…. with what… and where!!
Cluedo 2022 UK Tour Dates
W/C 24 January 2022 Bromley: Churchill Theatre – ON SALE
W/C 07 February 2022 Norwich: Theatre Royal – ON SALE
W/C 14 February 2022 Cambridge: Arts Theatre – ON SALE SOON
W/C 21 February 2022 Woking: New Ambassadors – ON SALE
W/C 28 February 2022 Nottingham: Theatre Royal – ON SALE
W/C 07 March 2022 Richmond: Richmond Theatre – ON SALE
W/C 14 March 2022 Coventry: Belgrade Theatre – ON SALE SOON
W/C 21 March 2022 Leeds: Grand Theatre – ON SALE SOON
W/C 04 April 2022 Cardiff: New Theatre – ON SALE
W/C 11 April 2022 Shrewsbury: Severn Theatre – ON SALE
W/C 25 April 2022 Bath: Theatre Royal – ON SALE SOON
W/C 02 May 2022 Birmingham: Alexandra Theatre – ON SALE
W/C 09 May 2022 Edinburgh: Kings Theatre – ON SALE
W/C 16 May 2022 Southampton: Mayflower – ON SALE
W/C 30 May 2022 Milton Keynes: Milton Keynes Theatre – ON SALE
W/C 06 June 2022 Leicester: Curve Theatre – ON SALE SOON
W/C 13 June 2022 Brighton: Theatre Royal – ON SALE
W/C 20 June 2022 Malvern: Festival Theatre – ON SALE
W/C 26 June 2022 Salford: Lowry Theatre – ON SALE
W/C 04 July 2022 Glasgow: Theatre Royal – ON SALE
W/C 11 July 2022 Wolverhampton: Grand Theatre – ON SALE
W/C 25 July 2022 Belfast: Grand Opera House – ON SALE SOON
The Greatest Play in the History of the World, written by Ian Kershaw, is a one woman show starring his wife Julie Hesmondhalgh, famous for her role as Hayley in Coronation Street.
The set is relatively simple, the stage reasonably dark, but we can see two metal racks, virtually reaching up to the ceiling, filled with sporadic white boxes. In the middle there are a few lights, emitting am ambient glow. The flooring, which carries on up the back wall, is a glittery dark carpet.
Hesmondhalgh sets about telling the story using the boxes behind her. They are shoe boxes and the footwear in them, represent different “cast members”. There’s a pair of carpet slippers, Tom, who lives on Preston Road and wakes up at 4.40am to find that time has stood still. At first, he thinks he is the only one that this is happening to, as all is black outside, until he sees a light in the house opposite and finds a woman, Sara, wearing an oversized t-shirt staring back at him. A connection is made. Another couple enter the scene, the elderly Forshaws, who are building something in their garden, with talk about Facebook and the local neighbourhood watch scheme. What unfolds is a love story, with a touch of fantasy, and a twist at the end. The story is intertwined with intermittent voice recordings, about Voyager’s Gold Record, sent up into space in 1977.
As a 70 minute monologue, Hesmendhalgh is impressive, holding the audience’s rapt attention. She is so warm and genuine, and has heaps of charisma, delivering a joyful performance. Even though York Theatre Royal is quite a large theatre, this show was very intimate, you almost felt that she was talking just to you.
Whilst the title of The Greatest Play in the History of the World, appears to be ambiguous, there is a reference to it within the script. Maybe not the greatest play but worth a watch to see Hesmondhalgh at work
