The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) today announced that Naomi Sheldon will join The Comedy of Errors company to play the role of Adrianna on tour and at the Barbican this winter. Hedydd Dylan, who currently plays the role of Adrianna, will share the role with Naomi whilst the production is on tour, before leaving the company at the end of November to have her baby, when Naomi will take over permanently for the show’s run at the Barbican.
The production, directed by Phillip Breen (The Provoked Wife, The Hypocrite), opened to critical acclaim at the Lydia & Manfred Gorvy Garden Theatre in July this year and concluded its run in Stratford-upon-Avon earlier this week. The production will next open with indoor performances at The Theatre Royal, Nottingham (22-24 October), The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury (27-30 October), and the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford (2-6 November), before transferring to the Barbican for a strictly limited London run from Tuesday 16 November until Friday 31 December, with a Press Night on Tuesday 23 November 2021. The Comedy of Errors at the Barbican is sponsored by ICBC (London).
Naomi Sheldon says:
“I’m thrilled to be returning to the RSC in their production of The Comedy of Errors, and honoured to be sharing the role with Hedydd Dylan. Playing Adriana as pregnant not only has personal poignancy for me as a new mother of twins, but also adds new complexity and comedy to the role which this production explores so richly. I’m delighted to be job sharing with a mother to be, and this way of working feels very hopeful for working mothers in this industry. The company have been hugely welcoming and I can’t wait to get started on tour, before heading to the Barbican this winter.”
Director Phillip Breen says:
“In the early part of rehearsals we received the wonderful news that Hedydd Dylan, our Adrianna, is pregnant. We hadn’t considered a pregnant Adrianna before rehearsals, but when Hedydd, me and Designer Max Jones discussed the idea, we thought it worked rather well. It raises the stakes on elements of the relationship between Adrianna and Antipholus of Ephesus and accounts for some of the complexities in their relationship but also, ultimately, their great bond, too. It also gives an added dimension to the family reunion at the end. Hedydd and the company have had great fun incorporating this idea into the production. This also means that we have been able to welcome the brilliant Naomi Sheldon to the company on tour, when the two actors will job share before Hedydd leaves the company to have her baby and Naomi – herself a mother to one-year-old twins – takes over permanently for the Barbican. Job sharing like this happens more and more in the profession and is a very welcome development for actors with young families.”
Naomi Sheldon’s previous RSC credits include The Merry Wives of Windsor and The Mouse and His Child. Other theatre credits include: Good Girl (Trafalgar Studios/Roundabout/Old Red Lion); Partners in Crime (Queen’s Theatre); Don’t Waste Your Bullets on the Dead (Vaults Festival); Peter Pan Goes Wrong (Mischief Theatre); The Pride (ATG); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Royal & Derngate); Sex With a Stranger (Trafalgar Studios); Collery Row (Liquid Theatre); The Wind in the Willows (Watermill Theatre); Waiting for Lefty (Theatre Royal Haymarket); Reclining Nude with Black Stockings (Arcola); The Emperor Jones (National Theatre). On screen credits include Malory Towers, Whitstable Pearl, Casualty, Porters, Red Dwarf, Diaries of the Great War, The Hour, Doctors, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Ashes to Ashes, Cla’am and Hi-Lo Joe.
Naomi joins the company which includes; Toyin Ayedun-Alase (Courtesan), Jonathan Broadbent (Dromio of Syracuse), Antony Bunsee (Egeon), Alfred Clay (Dr Pinch), Hedydd Dylan (Adrianna), William Grint (2nd Merchant), Greg Haiste (Dromio of Ephesus), Avita Jay (Luciana), Zoe Lambert (Aemelia), Guy Lewis (Antipholus of Syracuse), Dyfrig Morris (2nd Merchant Bodyguard), Baker Mukasa (Angelo), Patrick Osborne (Balthasar), Rowan Polonski (Antipholus of Ephesus) Nicholas Prasad (Duke Solinus), Riad Richie (1st Merchant) and Sarah Seggari (Luce).
AT SUNDERLAND EMPIRE, FRIDAY 10 DECEMBER 2021 – SUNDAY 2 JANUARY 2022
Sunderland Empire is delighted to announce that the nation’s much-loved actress and entertainer Su Pollard will be returning to thrill pantomime audiences as the Wicked Queen in Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs from Friday 10 December 2021 – Sunday 2 January 2022.
Star of stage and screen Su Pollard made her television debut on Opportunity Knocks, where she came second to a singing Jack Russell dog. Whilst best known as Peggy in the BAFTA Award-winning sitcom Hi-De-Hi, she has played countless roles on stage, television and in film. A true star of pantomimes, Su has appeared in Pinocchio, Aladdin, Jack and the Beanstalk, Dick Whittington, Babes In The Wood, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan and Cinderella…!
Su will join the previously announced North East Queen of Comedy, Miss Rory (Boulevard, akaDan Cunningham) who will star as the hilarious Nurse Rorina, and it is time to say ‘Alreet’ once again toSouth Shields comic Tom Whalley,as the sidesplitting Muddles the Jester.
Head out on a pantomime adventure deep into the enchanted forest for Christmas 2021. With a beautiful princess, a jealous Wicked Queen, seven bumbling dwarfs, a naughty nurse, a hilarious jester, and not forgetting a poisoned apple and a Magic Mirror, it’s too tempting not to!
Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs is produced by Martin Dodd for UK Productions and the company behind panto successes at the Sunderland Empire, including recent productions of the high-flying Peter Pan (2018) and enchanting Cinderella (2019).
Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs is at the Sunderland Empire from Friday 10 December 2021 – Sunday 2 January 2022. Tickets priced from just £13* are available in person at the Box Office on High Street West, from the Ticket Centre on 0844 871 3022* or online at www.ATGtickets.com/Sunderland*
* A £3.65 transaction fee applies to telephone and online bookings. Calls cost up to 7p per minute plus your standard network charge.
MORE MUSICALS OLD AND NEW COME TO LEEDS GRAND THEATRE IN 2022
FISHERMAN’S FRIENDS, CHICAGO AND JOSEPH TO RUN AT LEEDS GRAND THEATRE
GENERAL ON SALE MONDAY 27 SEPTEMBER
Leeds Grand Theatre will see the premiere tour of brand new musical Fisherman’s Friends in 2022, alongside returning musical theatre favourites CHICAGO and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, all on sale this week.
CHICAGO: Tuesday 10 – Saturday 14 May 2022
CHICAGO, the ‘sexiest musical ever’ (METRO) is back in Leeds for one week only starring Coronation Street’s Faye Brookes (Dancing On Ice, Grease, Legally Blonde) as Roxie Hart, and West End star Djalenga Scott (Annie, Chicago, West Side Story) as Velma Kelly.
Created by the musical theatre talents of John Kander, Fred Ebb and legendary choreographer Bob Fosse, CHICAGO’s sexy, sassy score with one show-stopping song after another includes Razzle Dazzle, Cell Block Tango, and All That Jazz.
JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT: Tuesday 12 – Saturday 23 July 2022
Direct from two triumphant seasons at the London Palladium, the sensational brand new production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat comes to Leeds Grand Theatre for two weeks only!
The multi-award winning show has been performed in over 80 countries worldwide
and has become one of the world’s most beloved family musicals.
With stars from the London Palladium, Jason Donovan and Jac Yarrow, the multi-award winning show features songs that have gone on to become pop and musical theatre classics, including Any Dream Will Do, Close Every Door To Me, There’s One More Angel In Heaven and Go, Go, Go Joseph.
FISHERMAN’S FRIENDS: THE MUSICAL: Tuesday 8 – Saturday 19 November 2022
Based on the true story of the chart-topping Cornish singing sensations and their hit 2019 movie, Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical is a feel-good voyage about friendship, community and music that will give any land-lover a mighty pair of sea legs.
When a group of Cornish fishermen came together to sing the traditional working songs they’d sung for generations, nobody, least of all the fishermen, expected the story to end on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. They are spotted by a fish-out-of-water music manager on a trip from London, who must learn that there is more to life than selling your sole for 15 minutes of fame.
ALSO ANNOUNCED: THE CAT AND THE CANARY ALL-STAR CAST (23-27 Nov 2021)
Don’t wait until next year to get your theatre fix. Comedy thriller The Cat and the Canary comes to The Grand from Tuesday 23 to Saturday 27 November 2021, featuring an all-star cast including international superstar Britt Ekland (The Man with the Golden Gun, The Wicker Man), pop sensation Anthony Costa, Tracy Shaw (Coronation Street), Marti Webb (Evita, Tell Me on a Sunday), Gary Webster (Minder), Ben Nealon (Soldier Soldier) and Eric Carte (Bouquet of Barbed Wire).
Book online at leedsheritagetheatres.com or call Box Office 0113 243 0808
The silver anniversary of The Space was celebrated in style with a night of specially commissioned plays. The company of 25 rose to the occasion to create a night full of laughter and joy.
Artistic director Adam Hemming and the Chair of St Paul’s Arts Trust, Pradeep Jeyaratnam-Joyner both gave charming speeches celebrating the volunteers and creatives who have been associated with The Space over the past 25 years and looking forward to the future.
The short plays were all themed around silver, beginning with the charming Silver Medals by Isabel Dixon. Directed by Adam Hemming and performed by Elizabeth Schenk and Steven Shawcroft – this is a heartwarming story of two school friends who can’t understand why they are always other people’s second choice at pivotal moments in their life but whose friendship sees them through.
This Precious Stone Set in the Silver Sea by Mike Carter and directed by Neil Sheppeck, is a delight for Shakespeare lovers, with Danica Corns, Faye Maughan and Esther Mackay playing three actors at tech rehearsal for a production of Richard II that hasn’t sold a single ticket. As the actors discuss the choice of play – everyone prefers the other Richard apparently – and whether they should continue with rehearsal, the script becomes a frantic Name the Play game as quotes fly back and fore.
Every Cloud by Grace Chapman, directed by Sepy Baghaei and performed by Tice Oakfield and Raphael Von Blumenthal is a quirky meeting between two strangers as one desperately tries to get to his best friend’s wedding. The odd man he asks for directions makes Charlie think he’s losing his mind, but eventually gives him direction in his life choices too. Weird and wonderful.
Silver Palms by Francis Grin, directed by Charlotte Everest and performed by Damian Cooper, Pradeep Jeyaratnam-Joyner and Faye Maughan is another funny tale of friendship as two friends take a post-divorce break in Thailand. After being thrown out of every place they visit – including a temple – for their drunken behaviour, they visit a fortune teller. Peter pays extra for a happy reading to help his friend feel better, but things don’t go to plan. The tone shifts nicely at a rapid pace throughout the short narrative, and there are many laugh out loud moments.
Silver Bullet by Annie Fox, directed by Matthew Jameson and performed by Anthony Cozens, Ali Perotto and Chloe Wade is the silliest of the plays, and ended the night on a high. As a renowned expert on lycanthropy gives a lecture in The Museum of the Unknowable, her assistant is giving a young woman a private tour of the newest exhibits. The tone is definitely more Carry on Screaming than Hammer, and the invented myth surrounding the Space building is a hoot – or should that be a howl? – resulting in the entire company up on stage dancing to Werewolves of London.
A fantastic communal ending to a night celebrating the creative community of The Space. Here’s to many more years to come!
Uptight and organised Rupert (Huw Parmenter) describes the story of the day he met uninhibited Alex (Gemma Lawrence) and their relationship. Cordelia O’Neill’s clever and witty script reveals in the latter part of the play that we are not the true audience for Rupert’s story telling as the couple deal with life changing tragedy.
The early stages of the relationship are sweet and funny, with lots of embarrassingly real awkwardness. When Alex finds out she is pregnant, she is convinced that the baby will be a girl and arguing over the name seems to take priority over more practical preparation. The horror of the baby being stillborn is portrayed with gut-wrenching simplicity and clarity, while the aftermath is signalled beautifully by the way their characters interact in early scenes. These are two people who love each other passionately, but never really listen to each other or compromise – hiding behind humour when things get tricky. After the death of their son, they talk, but don’t communicate. Alex is consumed with grief and guilt – unable to shake the idea that the baby died because she hadn’t got everything ready for his birth – and begins an unending mission to decorate the baby’s room. Meanwhile Rupert deals with the practicalities but can’t even say their son’s name.
Cordelia O’Neill has created charming and recognisable characters and their reactions to the tragedy are very real. Big belly laughs are scattered amongst the heartbreak, and there is no magical solution for the couple, just the slightest glimmer of light shining through the darkness of their grief. Director Kate Budgen maintains a brisk pace, pausing just enough on the devastating moments without halting the momentum of the narrative. Parmenter is sweet and funny as Rupert, making his eventual emotional breakdown even more hard-hitting. Lawrence is charmingly spiky as Alex in the early scenes, and absolutely devastating as the grieving mum.
This exquisitely balanced play is an honest and searing portrayal of grief and life after tragedy but is also laugh out loud funny.
Jason Robert Brown’s musical chronicle of a failed relationship never fails to delight, and in the hands of director Jonathan O’Boyle moving from the intimacy of Southwark Playhouse to the wide expanse of the Garrick Stage has somehow intensified the emotional rush of the show.
Ambitious writer Jamie (Oli Higginson) and Cathy (Molly Lynch), an aspiring actress, meet in New York, fall in love, get married and break up. Jamie’s meteoric rise to fame and Cathy’s struggle to land an acting job while she deals with her conflicted feelings about enjoying his fame and finding her own purpose in life lead to jealousy and arguments – which would probably make a decent musical. But Jason Robert Brown makes things more interesting by showing the couple’s five-year relationship in opposite trajectories. Cathy begins the show at the end of their relationship, with Molly Lynch’s heart-breaking rendition of Still Hurting, while Jamie’s side of the relationship begins when they first meet.
The action takes place around, and on, a revolving piano, with giant L5Y illuminated lettering separating the band from the action. The lighting changes for each character at different stages of the relationship – providing another layer to the emotional hit of the lyrics. Lee Newby and Jamie Platt’s set and lighting design adds so much in such a subtle, intuitive way to the storytelling.
The actor/musicians are simply incredible. Higginson and Lynch are vocal magicians, exude charisma and have amazing chemistry, even though they don’t physically interact until the gorgeous numbers in the middle of the show – their wedding. They both nail the comedic numbers, bursting with the energy and excitement of a new relationship. The songs near the end of the relationship are where they both shine – with Jamie’s cockiness finally fading to show the conflict and empathy inside as Higginson will make you sob through Nobody Needs To Know. The final number, contrasting Cathy’s joy and excitement with Jamie’s sad acceptance that they were never meant to be ends the show with an emotional rush that will make you long for more.
I think I would probably pay to watch Oli Higginson and Molly Lynch sing fast food menus at each other, but they are phenomenal in The Last 5 Years. We are so lucky to have another chance to see this cast perform this wonderful show in the West End – don’t miss it.
Le Navet Bete Theatre Company, based in Exeter, are back in York again and are playing a few shows at the York Theatre Royal, this time with Dracula: The Bloody Truth. I was lucky enough to catch them in York last year with another production, a month before our very first lockdown, and I was looking forward to their return.
Directed by John Nicholson, with only four actors, Dan Bianchi, Nick Bunt, Al Dunn and Matt Freeman, playing forty characters, Dracula: The Bloody Truth is the story how Dracula is real and not fiction, as Bram Stoker would have you believe.
Professor Van Helsing employs three idiotic amateur actors to recreate his story and for once and for all, the truth will prevail and “The Bloody Truth” will come out. We are taken on a journey across Europe, from Transylvania to the gothic seaside town of Whitby, which is just up the road from us.
The set was dated, with a faded curtain, dodgy brickwork and battered doors, creating the perfect backdrop, and was used to great comedic effect. It was full of chaotic costumes changes, delayed sound effects and collapsing scenery. The latter was executed with terrific humour and ingenuity and “fixed” with the same amount of hilarity. Unexpected uses of props, some which were faulty, just cemented the madness of the show. The play is full of slapstick, cheesy jokes and there are mishaps and mistakes aplenty, but are they really mistakes or part of the show?
This physical comedy theatre company has been performing together since 2008 and you can tell. They have great chemistry and bounce off each other, playing on their separate strengths. All four brought energy to their characters, with some dynamic portrayals and great use of the audience, especially one unfortunate/fortunate member, depending on how you look at it.
Le Nevet Bete translates to The Dumb Turnip, but this troupe are anything but and have delivered another rip roaring, madcap and hilarious show, a perfect antidote as the nights draw in. Thoroughly entertaining and highly recommended to watch, if given the chance!
Due to overwhelming demand, lead producer Colin Ingram together with Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, the creators of the Back To The Future film trilogy, are delighted to announce that BACK TO THE FUTURE The Musical’s performances at the Adelphi Theatre in London’s West End will extend to 3 July 2022. Tickets on sale now. The musical, which had its opening night on Monday 13 September, has had an incredible reaction from the public and been rewarded with 5 star and 4 star reviews.
BACK TO THE FUTURE The Musical stars Roger Bart and Olly Dobson as ‘Dr Emmett Brown’ and ‘Marty McFly’ respectively with Hugh Coles as ‘George McFly’, Rosanna Hyland as ‘Lorraine Baines’, Cedric Neal as ‘Goldie Wilson’, Aidan Cutler as ‘Biff Tannen’, Courtney-Mae Briggs as ‘Jennifer Parker’, Will Haswell as ‘Dave McFly’, Emma Lloyd as ‘Linda McFly’ and Mark Oxtoby as ‘Strickland’. Also in the cast are Rhianne Alleyne, Amy Barker, Matt Barrow, Joshua Clemetson, Jamal Crawford, Bessy Ewa, Morgan Gregory, Ryan Heenan, Cameron McAllister, Alessia McDermott, Laura Mullowney, Nic Myers, Shane O’Riordan, Katharine Pearson, Justin Thomas, Melissa Rose and Tavio Wright.
Based on the Universal Pictures/Amblin Entertainment film, BACK TO THE FUTURE The Musical has a book by Bob Gale and new music and lyrics by Emmy and Grammy Award-winning Alan Silvestri and six-time Grammy Award-winning Glen Ballard, with additional songs from the film including The Power of Love and Johnny B. Goode.
Marty McFly is a rock ‘n’ roll teenager who is accidentally transported back to 1955 in a time-travelling DeLorean invented by his friend, Dr Emmett Brown. But before he can return to 1985, Marty must make sure his high school-aged parents fall in love in order to save his own existence.
BACK TO THE FUTURE The Musical is directed by Tony Award-winning director John Rando (Urinetown, On The Town), alongside the multi Tony and Olivier Award-winning design team of Tim Hatley (set and costume design), lighting design by Tim Lutkin, lighting consultant Hugh Vanstone, Gareth Owen (sound) and Finn Ross (video), with choreography by Chris Bailey, musical supervision and arrangements by Nick Finlow and Illusions by Chris Fisher. Orchestrations are by Ethan Popp and Bryan Crook, with dance arrangements by David Chase. Casting is by David Grindrod Associates.
Sony Music Masterworks will release this autumn the Original Cast Recording of BACK TO THE FUTURE The Musical.
Back to the Future the movie was released in 1985, starring Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd as Dr Emmett Brown. The film grossed $360.6 million (£279 million) at the box office worldwide and the total box office for all three films in the Back to the Future franchise was $936.6 million (over $1.8 billion in today’s money).
BACK TO THE FUTURE The Musical is produced by Colin Ingram, Donovan Mannato, Frankel/Viertel/Baruch/Routh Group, Hunter Arnold, Gavin Kalin Productions, Playing Field, Crush Music, CJ ENM, Teresa Tsai, Ivy Herman/Hallee Adelman, Robert L. Hutt, Universal Theatrical Group, Ricardo Marques, Augury, Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, in association with Kimberly Magarro, Stage Entertainment, Glass Half Full Productions/ Neil Gooding Productions.
Website: BackToTheFutureMusical.com
Twitter: @BTTFmusical
Instagram: @BTTFmusical
LISTINGS INFORMATION
BACK TO THE FUTURE The Musical
Adelphi Theatre
Strand
Covent Garden
London WC2R 0NS
Current booking period to 3 July 2022
Group Bookings available to 23 October 2022
Performances: Mondays, Wednesdays – Saturdays at 7.30pm, Wednesday & Saturday matinees at 2.30pm, Sundays at 3pm
Christmas Schedule:
MONDAY
13/12/2021
7.30PM
WEDNESDAY
15/12/2021
7.30PM
THURSDAY
16/12/2021
7.30PM
FRIDAY
17/12/2021
7.30PM
SATURDAY
18/12/2021
2:30PM & 7.30PM
SUNDAY
19/12/2021
1.00pm & 6.00PM
TUESDAY
21/12/2021
2:30PM & 7.30PM
WEDNESDAY
22/12/2021
2:30PM & 7.30PM
THURSDAY
23/12/2021
2:30PM & 7.30PM
SUNDAY
26/12/2021
4.00PM
MONDAY
27/12/2021
2:30PM & 7.30PM
TUESDAY
28/12/2021
2:30PM & 7.30PM
WEDNESDAY
29/12/2021
2:30PM & 7.30PM
THURSDAY
30/12/2021
7.30PM
FRIDAY
31/12/2021
2.30PM
SUNDAY
02/01/2022
3.00PM
MONDAY
03/01/2022
2.30PM
Tickets: from £19.55
Please book via the website: BackToTheFutureMusical.com – no booking fees
Book with confidence. For maximised flexibility customers can exchange their ticket free of charge up to at least 24 hours prior to the event.
EXTRA MATINEES ADDED FOR THE FINAL WEEKS OF THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED SHOW OF THE YEAR
BROADWAY STAR RACHEL YORK AND
TONY & OLIVIER NOMINEE HAYDN GWYNNE JOIN THE CAST
BARBICAN THEATRE UNTIL SATURDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2021
ON SALE NOW FROM ANYTHINGGOESMUSICAL.CO.UK
A MAJOR NEW PRODUCTION OF THIS CLASSIC MUSICAL COMEDY WITH A FULL COMPANY
OF OVER 50, INCLUDING A FULL-SIZED ORCHESTRA AND 14 TAP DANCING SAILORS!
Music and Lyrics by COLE PORTER
Original Book by P.G. WODEHOUSE & GUY BOLTON
and HOWARD LINDSAY & RUSSEL CROUSE
New Book by TIMOTHY CROUSE and JOHN WEIDMAN
Directed and Choreographed by
Tony Award Winner KATHLEEN MARSHALL
Broadway star Rachel York and Tony and Olivier nominee Haydn Gwynne will join the cast of critically acclaimed ANYTHING GOES for the final weeks before the show must end on Saturday 6 November. However, due to phenomenal public demand for tickets, the “SHOW OF THE YEAR“ (Daily Telegraph) has added two extra matinee performances on Wednesday 27 October and Wednesday 3 November.
ANYTHING GOES opened this summer at London’s Barbican Theatre, audiences have been on their feet, giving this multi Tony Award winning show multiple standing ovations night after night. Described as the “musical equivalent of sipping one glass of champagne after another“ (The Times) and is “delightful, delicious, and as buoyant as helium“ (Evening Standard). Featuring a 50 strong cast and ensemble of the finest we have to offer on the London stage including tap dancing sailors and a full-sized live orchestra, this five star hit new production of Anything Goes “immediately joins the pantheon of great classic musical revivals“ (The Telegraph). ANYTHING GOES continues to play to sell out houses, as audiences flood through the Barbican Theatre doors to witness this truly spectacular musical comedy.
Broadway star Rachel York (Head Over Heels, Victor/Victoria) will reprise her acclaimed portrayal of Reno Sweeney (first performance 12 October) and Tony & Olivier nominee Haydn Gwynne (Billy Elliot – West End and Broadway, Camilla in Channel 4’s The Windsors) will play Evangeline Harcourt (first performance 19 October). They will join Tony, Olivier & BAFTA Award Winner Robert Lindsay (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) as Moonface Martin and musical actor Gary Wilmot (Chicago) as Elisha Whitney who have been wowing audience since the show opened in July.
Producer Sir Howard Panter said: “I am delighted that Rachel York and Haydn Gwynne will be joining this glorious production of Cole Porter’s classic musical. London audiences already cannot get enough of this joyous and uplifting great musical – so much so we have had to add extra shows to cope with the demand. Both Rachel and Haydn are wonderful actors and our audiences are in for a treat indeed when they join Robert Lindsay, Gary Wilmot and the rest of our hugely talented Anything Goes company, orchestra and crew”.
ANYTHING GOES has music and lyrics by Cole Porter, an original book by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton with Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse and a new book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman. This production is directed and choreographed by three time Tony Award Winner Kathleen Marshall.
The musical also stars Samuel Edwards (Les Misérables / Wicked) as Billy Crocker, Nicole-Lily Baisden (The Book of Mormon / Let’s Face The Music) as Hope Harcourt, Haydn Oakley (A Christmas Carol / An American in Paris) as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh and Carly Mercedes Dyer (West Side Story/Chicago) as Erma.
When the S.S. American heads out to sea, etiquette and convention head out the portholes as two unlikely pairs set off on the course to true love… proving that sometimes destiny needs a little help from a crew of singing sailors, a comical disguise and some good old-fashioned blackmail. This hilarious musical romp across the Atlantic featuring a collection of some of theatre’s most memorable songs – including ‘I Get A Kick Out of You’, ‘Anything Goes’, ‘You’re the Top’, ‘Blow, Gabriel, Blow’, ‘It’s De-Lovely’, ‘Friendship’ and ‘Buddie Beware’ – will take you back to the Golden Age of high society on the seas. ANYTHING GOES is set to sail away with audiences all over again.
★★★★★
‘Makes you gasp in wonder and laugh till it hurts. Pure class.’
Daily Telegraph
★★★★★
‘The show of the year. I would give it six stars if I could’
Daily Telegraph
★★★★★
’The musical equivalent of sipping one glass of champagne after another’
The Times
★★★★★
‘When a musical packs this much energy and spectacle, nothing else goes!’
Daily Mail
★★★★★
’Bubbly wit and stylish fun. It shimmers and sparkles.’
The Times
★★★★★
‘Anything Goes offers the delirious delight of a musical in full sail’
Financial Times
RACHEL YORK
(Photo by Michael Short/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
Rachel is a dynamic and versatile actress most recently seen on Broadway in the musical Head Over Heels. Other Broadway theatre includes: City of Angels, Les Misérables, Victor/Victoria (Drama Desk Award) with Dame Julie Andrews, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sly Fox with Richard Dreyfuss, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Jonathan Pryce, and Disaster! The Musical created by Seth Rudetsky. Rachel played Reno Sweeney in Kathleen Marshall’s Tony-award winning production of Anything Goes (Helen Hayes Award) on Broadway and the US National tour.
Other US national tours include Camelot (Carbonell Award) opposite Michael York as well as Kiss Me, Kate opposite Rex Smith. Rachel returned to the role of Kate for the West End production. Rachel played the dual roles of Edith Bouvier Beale and ‘Little’ Edie Beale in the Los Angeles production of Grey Gardens opposite Betty Buckley. Other highlights include, Putting It Together (Manhattan Theatre Club) also with Julie Andrews, Dessa Rose at Lincoln Center opposite LaChanze, Turn of the Century opposite Jeff Daniels directed by Tommy Tune at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago and The Odd Couple with Jason Alexander and Martin Short.
Rachel has been a soloist worldwide including appearances with the New York Pops; the National Symphony under the direction of conductor Marvin Hamlisch; the Los Angeles Philharmonic; The Philly Pops; the San Francisco Symphony; the Jerusalem Philharmonic, and multiple appearances at Carnegie Hall.
Recent television appearances include recurring roles on Fox’s Filthy Rich and CBS’s FBI: Most Wanted. Rachel has also appeared on Prodigal Song, The Mick, Power, Elementary, Hannah Montana, Frasier, Reba, Numb3rs, Close to Home, Spin City, among many other film and television credits. She also turned heads on television with her courageous portrayal of Lucille Ball in the CBS movie, Lucy.
Rachel’s album, Let’s Fall in Love, was named one of the Top Ten Vocal CDs of the year by Talkin’ Broadway.
HAYDN GWYNNE
Haydn Gwynne is a multi-award winning actor whose work spans the stage, television and film. She first came to prominence in the BBC adaptation of David Lodge’s Nice Work in 1989, and Channel 4’s Drop The Dead Donkey. Since then she has starred in series such as Peak Practice, Mersey Beat (for which she won Royal Television Society awards) and HBO’s Rome, as well as guest-starring in shows including Sherlock, Ripper Street, Poirot, and the C Word. She was last seen as Matron in the BBC adaptation of David Walliams The Midnight Gang, and in her role as Camilla in Channel 4 comedy The Windsors. She has recently finished shooting The Canterville Ghost for BBC studios. On stage, Haydn is a four-time Olivier Award nominee for her performances in Billy Elliot the Musical (which she also performed on
Broadway), City of Angels, The Threepenny Opera and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. She played Margaret Thatcher in The Audience with Helen Mirren, and Elizabeth In Richard III for the Old Vic and BAM New York, and has worked often for the RSC, most recently as Volumnia in Coriolanus in Stratford and the Barbican. She played Lady Wishfort in The Way of the World for the Donmar Warehouse, and before the pandemic, appeared at The Minerva Theatre, Chichester starring in Hedda Tesman, a new play updating and re-imagining Hedda Gabler 30 years into her marriage, followed by a new play for the National Theatre: The Welkin by Lucy Kirkwood which opened a few weeks before the theatres were closed. Last year saw much recording of radio from her bedroom including reading Richard Osman’s best seller ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ for Radio 4, but she was lucky to appear in a new play, Renaissance by Charles Ward, performed in the open air, followed by rehearsing Copenhagen for Bath Theatre Royal which was due to open the day of the November lockdown, but which finally got its run in Bath and on tour this summer.
CREATIVE TEAM
Kathleen Marshall – Director & Choreographer
Derek McLane – Set Designer
Jon Morrell – Costume Designer
Hugh Vanstone – Lighting Designer
Jonathan Deans – Sound Designer
Stephen Ridley – Music Supervisor
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Barbican Theatre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS
Final performance: 6 November 2021
Performances: Tuesday – Saturday at 7.30pm, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 2.30pm
Running time: approximately 2 hours 30 minutes, including interval
Bridgerton star JONATHAN BAILEY returns to the London stage for the first time since Olivier Award winning performance in the acclaimed production of Company
Rising star JADE ANOUKA (His Dark Materials BBC, Shakespeare Trilogy at the Donmar Warehouse) returns to the West End
Veteran of stage and screen, PHIL DANIELS (Quadrophenia, This House at the National Theatre) completes the stellar cast.
To be directed by Olivier and Tony Award winner
MARIANNE ELLIOTT
Performances begin 5 March 2022 | Ambassadors Theatre
Taron Egerton,Jonathan Bailey, Jade Anouka and Phil Daniels star in C O C K, the first West End production of Mike Bartlett’s Olivier award winning play about love and identity.
Directed by Tony and Olivier award winning Marianne Elliott, it will have a limited run at the Ambassadors Theatre in London from Saturday 5 March 2022 to Saturday 4 June 2022.
Tickets go on sale today (from 10am on Friday 24 September 2021).
‘The fact is that some of us like women and some like men and that’s fine that’s good in fact that’s good, a good thing, but it seems to me that you’ve become confused.’
John (Jonathan Bailey) is happy in himself and with his boyfriend (Taron Egerton), until one day he meets the woman of his dreams (Jade Anouka).
In a world full of endless possibilities why must we still limit ourselves with labels?Mike Bartlett’srazor sharp play redefines the battle of the sexes as we know it.
Marianne Elliott said ‘I feel so excited to be working on this beautifully crafted and hilarious play by Mike Bartlett. It keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout. A truly theatrical piece in that it asks the audience to enter the imagination of the storytelling – as only live theatre can do. It’s also all about the acting so to have such a talented, highly experienced, stellar cast is an absolute dream!’
Mike Bartlett added: ‘I love Marianne Elliott’s work and have done for a long time, so I’m thrilled to be able to collaborate with her on this revival. Especially with this incredible cast, which I know will bring both a fresh take and vast experience to a play about love, identity and the passionate human being.”
Taron Egerton won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Sir Elton John in Rocketman and also recorded the original song for the film I’m Gonna Love Again with Sir Elton which went on to win Best Original Song at the Academy Awards. He will next be seen starring in Blackbird, a limited series drama for Apple TV alongside Paul Walter Hauser, Tetris directed by Jon S. Baird and produced by Matthew Vaughn for Apple + and is also set to star in Claire Denis’ romantic drama thriller Stars at Noon, opposite Margaret Qualley. Egerton shot to fame when he played Gary ‘Eggsy’ Unwin in Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman: The Secret Service and reprised the role in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Other credits include Eddie the Eagle, Testament of Youth, Legend, Sing, Robin Hood, and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. On stage he has appeared in The Last of the Haussmans at the National Theatre and Tommy in No Quarter at the Royal Court Theatre.
Jonathan Bailey won an Olivier Award for his ground-breaking role of Jamie in Marianne Elliott’s West End revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s musical Company. Jonathan plays Viscount Anthony Bridgerton in the Netflix’ period drama, Bridgerton, a role he is reprising in the second series scheduled for release in 2022. His other TV credits include the ITV series Broadchurch, Leonardo da Vinci in Leonardo, Me and Mrs Jones, Doctor Who and WIA (all for the BBC) and Crashing and Chewing Gum for Channel 4. His theatre credits include David Hare’s South Downs, American Psycho at the Almeida Theatre, The York Realist at The Donmar Warehouse, and King Lear (alongside Sir Ian McKellen) for Chichester Festival Theatre.
Jade Anouka’s recent TV credits include Ruta Skadi in BBC/HBO’s His Dark Materials, Channel 5’s The Drowning and ITV’s Cleaning Up. Her film credits include Ear For Eye, Fisherman’s Friends and Last Christmas. In theatre Jade has played the title roles in Hampstead’s Olivier nominated The Phlebotomist and Queen Margaret at The Royal Exchange. Other theatre credits include Moon On A Rainbow Shawl at The National Theatre, Doctor Faustus in the West End and the Donmar Warehouse Shakespeare Trilogy where she played Mark Antony in Julius Caesar, Hotspur in Henry IV and Ariel in The Tempest. She wrote, directed and co-starred in a short film – Her & Her for BBC’s Culture In Quarantine series which has since got in to 23 film festivals.
Phil Daniels’ early films include Anoop and the Elephant, Bugsy Malone, Breaking Glass, Scum and the central role of Jimmy in Quadrophenia. He starred in a 1985 British snooker musical, Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire. More recent films include playing the voice of Fletcher in Chicken Run, Free Jimmy, Freebird, Vinyl and The Hatton Garden Job. He narrated tracks Parklife and Me, White Noise on the Parklife and Think Tank albums for Blur. On TV, he played Kevin Wicks in EastEnders and appeared in Sunnyside Farm, Time Gentlemen Please, and Rock and Chips. His theatre credits include: The Merchant of Venice, The Jew of Malta and A Clockwork Orange for the RSC, This House for the National Theatre, King Lear at Chichester Festival Theatre and Thenardier in Les Miserables in the West End.
Mike Bartlett is a multi-award-winning writer for both stage and screen. His five part drama series Doctor Foster won the National Television Award for Best New Drama and was seen by almost 10 million viewers. Other television work includes Life, Doctor Foster series 2, King Charles III, Sticks and Stones, Trauma,Press, Doctor Who and The Town. Bartlett’s stage plays include: Vassa, Albion and Game for the Almeida Theatre, Snowflake forArts at the Old Fire Station; Wild at Hampstead Theatre; the Olivier Award winning King Charles III at the Almeida Theatre, Wyndham’s Theatre and Music Box Theatre in New York (also winner of the Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play 2014); An Intervention for Paines Plough and Watford; Bull at Sheffield Theatres, Off Broadway and the Young Vic (Winner of Best New Play at the National Theatre Awards 2013); Medea for Headlong, Glasgow Citizens, Watford Theatre and Warwick; Chariots of Fire at the Hampstead Theatre the Gielgud Theatre in the West End; 13 at National Theatre; Cock for the Royal Court; Decade for Headlong; Earthquakes in London for Headlong and the National Theatre; Love, Love, Love for Paines Plough, Plymouth Theatre Royal, the Royal Court, Roundabout Theatre Company, New York and the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre; Contractions for the Royal Court and Crucible Theatre, Sheffield; My Child for the Royal Court; Artefacts for the Bush Theatre and Honest for the Theatre Royal Northampton.
Marianne Elliott recently directed Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Company at the Gielgud Theatre. It won four Olivier Awards including ‘Best Revival of a Musical’. Its Broadway transfer will re-open (following the Covid shutdown) in New York this autumn. Her other shows for Elliott & Harper include the Olivier Award winning Death of a Salesman (co-directed with Miranda Cromwell) in the West End and at the Young Vic. For the National Theatre she directed the Olivier and Tony award-winning Angels in America (in London and on Broadway), the Olivier and Tony-award-winning The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (at the NT, West End, on Broadway and on tour). She co-directed the world-wide hit War Horse alongside Tom Morris (at the NT, West End on Broadway and on tour). She received a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for War Horse. On winning the Tony Award for Curious Incident in New York, Marianne became the first woman in Broadway history to have won two Tony Awards for Best Direction of a Play. Other productions at the NT include The Light Princess, Women Beware Women, Port, Saint Joan (Olivier Award for Best Revival, South Bank Show Award) and Pillars of the Community (Evening Standard Best Director Award). Elliott recently directed two of the episodes of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads for the BBC.
Joining Marianne Elliott on the creative team are: Designer Merle Hensel, Lighting Designer Paule Constable, Sound Designer Ian Dickinson, Composer Femi Temowo, Movement Director Annie-Lunette Deakin-Foster, Casting Director Charlotte Sutton, Vocal Coach Hazel Holder and Associate Director Chloe Christian.
C O C K is produced by Elliott & Harper Productions.
