Acclaimed star of stage and screen to headline new production
Tony & Olivier Award winning musical is back in the West End
By original, award-winning creative team
of director Jack O’Brien and choreographer Jerry Mitchell
Performances begin 23 April 2020 | London Coliseum
Michael Ball, the acclaimed star of stage and screen, is to return to his legendary, Olivier Award winning role of Edna Turnblad, as Hairspray the Musical comes to London for a special, strictly limited season in 2020.
The huge hearted, multi-award-winning smash hit musical plays at the magnificent London Coliseum for 12 weeks only, beginning performances on Thursday 23 April 2020. Tickets go on general sale today, Friday 3 May 2019.
Baltimore, 1962. Tracy Turnblad is a big girl with big hair and big dreams. Can she make it on the local TV dance show, win the heart of teen heartthrob Link Larkin and bring everyone together – whatever their colour, size or hairdo? Well if you want a change, you’ve really got to shake things up!
With the original award-winning creative team of director Jack O’Brien and choreographer Jerry Mitchell, and featuring the infectiously feel-good songs “Good Morning, Baltimore”, “Big, Blonde and Beautiful” and “You Can’t Stop the Beat”, this inspirational, fun-loving and fabulously uplifting musical sensation is back and bigger than ever.
The original New York production of Hairspray won three Tony Awards, including Best New Musical, whilst the original West End production won four Olivier Awards, also including Best New Musical, as well giving Michael Ball one of his two Olivier Awards for Best Actor in a Musical.
Further casting is to be announced.
Hairspray is produced by Adam Spiegel Productions & Fiery Angel.
Magical, mysterious and beautiful. Birmingham Royal Ballet have managed to take the original fairy tale once made famous by Disney and transform it into a breath taking ballet. David Bintley has managed to choreograph a beautiful piece; accompanied by Philip Ellis’ orchestra, this is a wonderful production.
Delia Mathews and Tyrone Singleton portly the eponymous characters, Beauty and the Beast. Together, they created beautiful movement on the stage, which showed the brilliance of the choreography and the chemistry they both have. Mathews was spellbinding, her fluidity and elegance on stage was a joy to watch. She showed an array of emotions and was able to capture the audience from her very first moment on stage. Singleton was also great to watch. He was able to command the stage through his aggressive and animalistic manner. Together, their dance was magic, romantic but haunting. The transformation of the beast was executed well, with Singleton and Mathews managing to keep the audience enticed throughout.
The elements that make up this production are phenomenal. From the costume and set, through to the orchestra this was a stunning show. There is no magical talking clock, nor is there a dancing candlestick or a maternal teapot, but there is an enchanted chair! Candlesticks light up without hesitation and teapots fill mugs without being held and statues move in complete synchronisation which this adds to the magic of the show. The costumes were divine, with opulent golds and silvers gracing the stage when the ballroom was in session. The Birmingham Royal Ballet Artists as the Ravens were amazing. Their costumes added to the magic of their dancing, with beautiful tulle to show the wings and elements of black and blue that, when hit with the light, shone through to create a stunning vision on stage. Every member of the cast was superb and were truly brilliant.
The orchestra, conducted by Philip Ellis were magnificent. Each member of the orchestra was stunning and created beautiful music. They captured the audience from the first piano key to the final drum beat and were amazing to listen to. The harpist was a stunning addition and added to the magic of the show. Overall, an amazing orchestra.
This is a must see, if you wish to be transported to a magical land, to see a tale as old as time.
Edmond Rostand gets the Shakespeare in Love treatment in Alex Michalik’s comedy reimagining of the writing of Cyrano de Bergerac. Jeremy Sams’ translation of this French hit is a mix of fantastic farce and maudlin moments.
With café owner Monsieur Honore (Delroy Atkinson) setting the scene for 1895 with historical details of French innovations, we first see poet Edmond Rostand (Freddie Fox) after dismal reviews for his latest poetic play. Championed by Sarah Bernhardt (Josie Lawrence), Edmond despairingly tries to write something new, but is uninspired until a pep talk from Honore. Brash actor friend Leo (Robin Morrisey) needs help wooing Jeanne (Gina Bramhill), a huge fan of poetry. Edmond’s verses and her replies inspire him to write Cyrano, and the opportunity to play such a character is jumped upon by actor Constant Coquelin (Henry Goodman). With gangster producers, a demanding diva of a leading lady and the threat of being closed down before the show even opens, there is plenty of scope for comic misadventure.
The farce is superb, with the versatile set and atmosphere creating a production that feels like Carry On up the Moulin Rouge. Freddie Fox is fantastic as the nervy, socially awkward Rostand – sipping daintily on camomile tea as everyone around him knocks back the absinthe. Henry Goodman makes Coquelin a loveable old ham, desperate for a duel scene to prove he still has youthful vigour. Josie Lawrence is magnificent as the over enunciating Bernhardt and is a scream in her other roles. This is truly an ensemble piece, with director Roxana Silbert and movement director Liam Steel setting up some inspired visuals whether in scenes where Parisians see the Lumiere brothers’ moving pictures or simply moving props around. Seamless stuff. The farce is handled brilliantly, with Nick Cavaliere and Simon Gregor doing their utmost to steal every scene with their broad but hysterical characterisations. What doesn’t work so well is the latter part of act two when the play is actually performed. There are some moments of ridiculous comedy and visual jokes, but watching Coquelin and his cast perform whole scenes that we have already seen formed in comic circumstances just feels dull. Michalik probably wanted to show the reverence for Rostand’s play, but it just drags down the ending – which is lowkey enough as it is. There’s a good 20 minutes that could be trimmed to make this an excellent, evenly paced comedy.
Even with the disappointing ending, Edmond de Bergerac is a funny feel-good show that is well worth a look.
DRYWRITE, SOHO THEATRE AND ANNAPURNA THEATRE PRESENT
FLEABAG
Written and performed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge Directed by Vicky Jones
PHOEBE WALLER-BRIDGE’S MULTI AWARD-WINNING PRODUCTION TO PLAY THE WEST END FOR ITS LAST EVER RUN
FLEABAG WILL RUN AT WYNDHAM’S THEATRE IN LONDON’S WEST END FOR A STRICTLY LIMITED SEASON FROM 20 AUGUST – 14 SEPTEMBER.
TICKETS GO ON SALE AT 3PM TODAY WITH 25% OF TICKETS £25 OR LESS
DryWrite, Soho Theatre and Annapurna Theatre have today announced that the critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning FLEABAG is to play the West End for a strictly limited four week run this summer. Written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge and directed by Vicky Jones, the one-woman show just finished playing to a sold-out house Off-Broadway in New York, and premiered its second season on BBC Three to universal acclaim. The homecoming run will be the last time Waller-Bridge will perform the piece. The play will begin previews on 20 August 2019 with an opening night on Wednesday 28th August 7:30pm at Wyndham’s Theatre. Tickets go on sale to the public at 3pm today, with 25% of tickets at £25 or less.
Soho Theatre and Annapurna Theatre said: “It’s a privilege to have contributed to the journey of FLEABAG with Phoebe thus far and we couldn’t be more pleased the show is returning home to London alongside DryWrite for a West End run.”
FLEABAG was originally produced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Vicky Jones and producer Francesca Moody’s company DryWrite. It previewed at Soho Theatre before its Edinburgh Festival debut in 2013, winning rave reviews and a Fringe First Award. It returned to play the Soho Theatre in London that autumn and was revived by DryWrite and Soho Theatre in 2014 and 2016, as well as touring the UK (2015 and 2018), South Korea (2014) and Australia (2018) and an Edinburgh Festival revival as part of the British Council Edinburgh Showcase (2017). The production also won The Stage Best Solo Performer Award, the Off-West End Award for Most Promising New Playwright and Best Female Performance, and was nominated for an Olivier Award and an Evening Standard Award. In 2019, Annapurna Theatre produced the New York Off-Broadway premiere, co-produced by DryWrite and Soho Theatre. The extended, sold-out New York run earned Waller-Bridge a Drama League Award nomination for Distinguished Performance, a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Solo Show, and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance.
FLEABAG was adapted into a BBC Three Television series in partnership with Amazon Prime Video in 2016 and earned Phoebe a BAFTA Award for Best Female Comedy Performance. The series was also nominated for a Gotham Independent Film Award, Television Critics Association Award and Critics Choice TV Award, among other accolades. The BBC and Amazon renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on BBC Three earlier this year and will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, May 17th. Waller-Bridge also created and wrote the first season of the celebrated BBC America television series “Killing Eve,” which was nominated for an Emmy, Golden Globe and 15 BAFTA TV Awards.
FLEABAG is a rip-roaring look at some sort of woman living her sort of life. Fleabag may appear emotionally unfiltered and oversexed, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. With family and friendships under strain and a guinea pig café struggling to keep afloat, Fleabag suddenly finds herself with nothing to lose.
Fleabag is produced by DryWrite, Soho Theatre and Annapurna Theatre.
LISTINGS FLEABAG
Written and performed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge Directed by Vicky Jones Designer: Holly Pigott Lighting Designer: Elliot Griggs Sound Designer: Isobel Waller-Bridge Wyndham’s Theatre, Charing Cross Rd, London WC2H 0DA www.fleabagwestend.co.uk
A German Life is a new play by Christopher Hampton and directed by Jonathan Kent, drawn from the life and testimony of Brunhilde Pomsel, a secretary in Berlin during the 1930s who eventually ends up becoming a secretary in the German Propaganda Department run by Joseph Goebbels. The play is drawn from the testimony Pomsel gave when she finally broke her silence shortly before she died to a group of Austrian filmmakers, and from their documentary with the same title. The secret ingredient of what is a great premise is unequivocally the marvellous Maggie Smith, who returns to the stage for the first time in 12 years as Pomsel at the tender age of 84.
And now the superlatives can begin. Maggie Smith is an absolute triumph: not in a dramatic flair of artistic tour de force way but, more, in an understated, delicate and vague fashion. Smith sits alone in a chair clutching her glasses for the whole performance but whatever the inverse of physical theatre is, she does it and holds the audience riveted for 1hr and 40 minutes without taking a single step. We are in “conversation” with her as an elderly woman.
We learn about her life as a teenager, working her way up Goebbels department, fast tracked for her excellent shorthand skills. At times, her account of what she did is full of banality and almost a wilful naivete to ignore the horrors that are happening around her – she stumbles as she tries to remember the name of Kristallnacht. At other points, it is difficult not to sympathise with the hopelessness of her situation and her sadness. Her own prejudices creep out from time to time too…”they looked like Mongolians with slitty….well you know” rendering her a dichotomy. Is she hero or anti-hero – the fact is, like most people she is somewhere in the middle, a bit of both.
Her lack of anger at and her abdication of responsibility for what her nation has done to the Jews and a determination to accept the unacceptable without question is uncomfortable and rather depressingly relevant today in our political landscape. She describes herself as “apolitical” – an ordinary girl carried along by the events of the time. Her apathy towards what is going on resonates!
This does not feel like a play but a genuine conversation with an elderly lady. She is often vague and hesitant in her delivery, stumbling as she recalls events in her life. Smith’s sense of timing and pause are just immaculate. At 84, she may well have been slightly playing for time (what a feat just to even learn the lines) but it never felt like that for a moment.
The set (by Anna Fleischle) is just Pomsel’s living room but somehow throughout the piece, it moves from feeling totally unassuming to quite corrupt. Equally the lighting design (by Jon Clark) is ostensibly extremely natural but as we reach the end of the war, the lighting is reduced to a simple spot on Smith.
This really is the most wonderful piece of theatre which I think in a “Laurence Olivier as Henry V” kind of a way will be remembered and treasured forever.
“THE PRINCE OF EGYPT” TO OPEN IN THE WEST END IN FEBRUARY 2020
NEW MUSICAL BASED ON THE DREAMWORKS ANIMATION FILM WILL OPEN AT
LONDON’S DOMINION THEATRE FOR A 32-WEEK ENGAGEMENT
FEATURES 10 NEW SONGS WRITTEN EXCLUSIVELY FOR THE STAGE BY STEPHEN SCHWARTZ
TOGETHER WITH HIS SONGS FROM THE FILM INCLUDING ‘WHEN YOU BELIEVE’
TICKETS GO ON PUBLIC SALE AT 10AM ON 3 JUNE 2019
DreamWorks Theatricals (a division of Universal Theatrical Group), Michael McCabe and Neil Laidlaw are proud to announce that THE PRINCE OF EGYPT, the new stage musical based on the celebrated DreamWorks Animation film and featuring the Academy Award®-winning song When You Believe, will begin performances at London’s Dominion Theatre on Wednesday 5 February 2020, with an official London premiere on Tuesday 25 February 2020, for a limited 32-week engagement. Tickets will go on public sale at 10am on Monday 3 June 2019. Ticket buyers can register now for priority information at www.ThePrinceOfEgyptMusical.com
With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked) and a book by Philip LaZebnik (Mulan and Pocahontas), THE PRINCE OF EGYPT is directed by Scott Schwartz (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) and choreographed by Sean Cheesman (So You Think You Can Dance). Casting and full creative team to be announced.
Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked is one of the most successful stage musicals of all time and has already been seen by nearly 10 million people at London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre and 60 million people worldwide. Later this year, the original Broadway production will become the 5th longest running Broadway show in history.
THE PRINCE OF EGYPT features 10 new songs written by Stephen Schwartz, together with 5 of his acclaimed songs from the DreamWorks Animation film, including Deliver Us, All I Ever Wanted, Through Heaven’s Eyes and the Academy Award®-winning When You Believe.
Journey through the wonders of Ancient Egypt as two young men, raised together as brothers in a kingdom of privilege, find themselves suddenly divided by a secret past. One must rule as Pharaoh, the other must rise up and free his true people; both face a destiny that will change history forever.
A milestone in cinematic achievement, DreamWorks’ The Prince of Egypt captivated movie audiences across the world and recently celebrated its 20thAnniversary. Hailed as “an outstanding artistic achievement” (Variety) and “a stunning film” (The Guardian), it remains one of the most beloved and acclaimed animated feature films of all time.
The Academy Award®-winning song When You Believe, recorded by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey in 1998, went on to become a global hit. In 2007, Simon Cowell selected it as the winner’s single for the UK’s popular TV show The X-Factor, spending three weeks at the top of the UK charts.
The new stage adaptation of THE PRINCE OF EGYPT originally premiered at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley (winner of the 2019 Regional Theatre Tony Award®) and Fredericia Teater Denmark.
LISTINGS INFORMATION
THE PRINCE OF EGYPT – A New Musical
DOMINION THEATRE, 268-269 TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD, LONDON W1T 7AQ
32 WEEKS ONLY from Wednesday 5 February until Saturday 12 September 2020.
London premiere Tuesday 25 February 2020 at 7.00pm.
Winner of the Best Fringe Theatre at the 2019 Stage Awards, The Barn Theatre’s upcoming production of the classic comic thriller, The 39 Steps, which opens at the Cirencester theatre in July 2019, will now transfer to the Theatre Royal Windsor from 12 – 17 August 2019. The production launches the theatre’s Built By Barninitiative, transferring shows from the venue across the UK.
Based on John Buchan’s 1914 spy thriller The Thirty Nine Steps and adapted for the stage by Patrick Barlow, The 39 Steps will be directed by Joseph O’Malley, with designs by Mike Leopold. Further creatives and full casting to be announced in due course.
Iwan Lewis, Artistic Director, The Barn Theatre, said, “It was always part of the long-term strategy as a producing house to look at opportunities to transfer our ‘Built By Barn’ shows and give them life beyond The Barn Theatre. This is the first of many and a very exciting development in our future growth.”
The Barn Theatre has been building a reputation since its opening just over a year ago, as an exciting, innovative producing house, and hopes to build on this success by providing its audience with a mix of challenging, entertaining and topical theme across its programming.
The 39 Steps is part of The Barn’s 2019 season of in-house productions, and runs at The Barn Theatre from 10 July – 10 August. The season includes four other in-house productions: one of Michael Morpurgo’s finest works, The Butterfly Lion, which finishes a highly successful run on 4 May; William Shakespeare’s classic history, Henry V, directed by Hal Chambers and starring Aaron Sidwell andLauren Samuels, which runs from 22 May – 22 June; the award-winning musical Daddy Long Legs, running from 2 October – 2 November; and a reimagining of Charles Dickens’ festive masterpiece, A Christmas Carol, from 27 November – 4 January.
A cast of four, deftly take on a Hitchcock classic, The 39 Steps, in a wonderfully inventive comic-thriller parody adaptation of John Buchan’s 1915 novel.
The 39 Steps follows the incredible adventures of our handsome hero Richard Hannay, complete with stiff-upper-lip and British gung-ho spirit as he encounters dastardly murders, double-crossing secret agents, and devastatingly beautiful women. The show is a frantic farce, jampacked with slapstick humour, a barrage of accents and hat-swaps culminating in chaos and calamity.
This wonderfully inventive and gripping comedy thriller features four fearless actors, playing 139 roles in 100 minutes of fast-paced fun, thrilling action and a colossal number of costume changes. Madcap hilarity for all the family!
Joseph O’Malley’sdirecting credits include The Hound of the Baskervilles (Barn Theatre), The Ugly Duckling and Other Stories (UK Tour) and Seeds of Change (Lion and Unicorn). Joseph’s assistant director credits include One Minute (Barn Theatre) and Significant Other (Vaults, Waterloo). Other upcoming productions include The Hound of the Baskervilles (UK Tour) and A Christmas Carol (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre).
THEATRE ROYAL WINDSOR LISTINGS INFORMATION
The 39 Steps
Presented by Barn Theatre by arrangement with Edward Snape for Fiery Angel Ltd.
Theatre Royal Windsor
Monday 12 August – Saturday 17 August 2019
Written by John Buchan
Adapted by Patrick Barlow
From an original concept by Simon Noble and Nobby Dimon
Directed by Joseph O’Malley
Address: Theatre Royal Windsor, 32 Thames Street, Windsor, SL4 1PS
Box Office: 01753 853 888
Ticket Prices: From £19.50
Performances: Mon-Sat 8pm, Thurs 2.30pm, Sat 4.45pm
Rupert Gavin and Dan Colman for Incidental Colman, Mallory Factor for Hill Street Productions and Trafalgar Theatre Productions in association with Tulchin Bartner Productions present
BRAINIAC LIVE!
AN ACTION-PACKED HOUR OF EXPLOSIONS, EXPERIMENTS AND A LITTLE BEYONCÉ, BRAINIAC LIVE! WILL PLAY FOR FOUR WEEKS ONLY AT THE GARRICK THEATRE THIS SUMMER
TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW FOR SHOWS WHICH COMMENCE ON 31 JULY AND PLAY UNTIL 1 SEPTEMBER 2019
FIRST SEEN ON STAGE IN 2008, BRAINIAC LIVE! HAS PLAYED TO MORE THAN 400,000 PEOPLE OF ALL AGES, ALL OVER THE WORLD
Brainiac Live! is delighted to announce that the show that laughs in the face of science is coming to London’s West End for a strictly limited season from 31 July to 1 September 2019. Tickets forBrainiac Live! are on sale today from the Garrick Theatre Box Office.
Based on the much loved, popular science entertainment TV show, the live show is a breathless, fun and fact-filled exploration of the weird and wonderful world of science, that through a series of high energy experiments delves fearlessly, and perhaps a little foolishly, into the mysteries of science. Expect exploding dustbins, supercharged spinning chairs and the ultimate Airzooka challenge!
Since 2008 Brainiac Live! has played to packed houses across the UK, blowing the minds of hundreds of thousands of children and their families. Headlining top sciences festivals as well performing in theatres across the globe, the live show has thrilled fans of all ages.
Andy Joyce, Number 1 Brainiac and director of the show said: “After performing the show across the UK and everywhere from Abu Dhabi to Australia, we are so excited about bringing the show back to the heart of London at the Garrick Theatre. I can’t wait to see the amazement on the children’s faces, when they see our daredevil experiments but remember DON’T DO THIS AT HOME!”
HAIRSPRAY THE MUSICAL UK TOUR Directed by Paul Kerryson Choreographed by Drew McOnie
HAIRSPRAY THE MUSICAL TO TOUR AGAIN IN 2020-21
(c) Darren Bell
Producers, Mark Goucher and Matthew Gale confirmed today that his smash hit production ofHairspray will go out on tour again in 2020. The tour will visit Manchester, Bradford, Blackpool, Northampton, Aylesbury, Birmingham, Glasgow and Liverpool, with further locations to be announced soon. The tour will extend into 2021 and follows two extremely successful tours in 2015/16 and 2017/18.
Featuring the iconic music and lyrics by Academy Award, Tony and Emmy winning duo Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, this much-loved musical comedy is choreographed by Olivier Award-winning Drew McOnie with direction from Paul Kerryson.
It’s Baltimore 1962, where Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, is on a mission to follow her dreams and dance her way onto national TV. Tracy’s audition makes her a local star and soon she is using her new-found fame to fight for equality, bagging local heartthrob Link Larkin along the way.
Hairspray is a musical based on the 1988 film of the same name which starred Divine and Ricki Lake by cult filmmaker John Waters. With music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan, Hairspray originally opened to rave reviews on Broadway in 2002 and subsequently won eight Tony Awards. The production opened in London at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 2007 and won four Laurence Olivier Awards including Best New Musical. Proving to be an international success, Hairspray has also opened in South Africa, Japan, South Korea, China and Dubai. Following the musical’s phenomenal success on stage, a film of the musical was released in 2007 which starred John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer and James Marsden.
Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough – until May 2nd 2019 before continuing National Tour
Reviewed by Sara Garner
4.5****
The Edit is a 90-minute play about two people who have not seen each other or spoken to each other after the traumatic breakup of their relationship two years ago.
We journey with Nick (Jamie Wilkes) and Eleana (Meghan Treadway) as they explore what went wrong in their relationship. It has all the usual suspects of blame, infidelity, money issues, resentment, trust and forgiveness. Where did it all go wrong and can they ever get past this to accept what happened so that they can move on? Does the past define your future?
Such is the quality of the writing and acting that the audience feels like it is watching a real couple go through these events. The whole 90 minutes flowed effortlessly to an extent that it could have be adlibbed throughout as it was so natural. From this you sense the power of the emotions.
The Edit is beautifully written by Sarah Gordon and acted by Jamie Wilkes and Meghan Treadway who must have been shattered after such an emotional performance.
Nick and Eleana dancing to David Bowie songs during which the actors were silent but communicated a great deal through movement alone. This is a wonderful reminiscing scene of their past relationship between them.
A very simple but believable sets design adds to the ambience of the play. We could not find fault with the writing, acting or staging, it was a true privilege to have the opportunity to watch The Edit.
Anyone that has been through the trauma of a relationship breakup with be able to connect with the nuances that were portrayed in The Edit and theatre is the perfect medium to explore this.
