Category: Uncategorized

TONY AWARD-WINNING BROADWAY MUSICAL

IN THE HEIGHTS

EXTENDS RUN AT KING’S CROSS THEATRE

UNTIL SUNDAY 3 JANUARY 2016

Tony Award-winning Broadway musical In The Heights, which is now in previews ahead of an official opening on Tuesday 13 October, has extended its run at King’s Cross Theatre. Initially booking for a limited 4 week season, the production will now run until Sunday 3 January 2016. In The Heights returns to London following a critically acclaimed sell-out UK premiere at Southwark Playhouse in 2014.

First production images are also released of the cast, which features David Bedella (The Rocky Horror Show) as Kevin, Josie Benson (Sweeney Todd) as Camila, Vas Constanti (Flashdance) as Piragua Guy, Jade Ewen (Sugababes) as Vanessa, Lily Frazer (Cats) as Nina, Victoria Hamilton-Barritt (A Chorus Line) as Daniela, Sam Mackay (Wonder.land) as Usnavi, Antoine Murray-Straughan (Cats) as Graffiti Pete, Sarah Naudi as Carla, Eve Polycarpou (Mother Courage and Her Children) as Abuela, Joe Aaron Reid (Ghost, Broadway) as Benny and Cleve September (professional debut) as Sonny. The cast also includes Jocasta Almgill, Courtney-Mae Briggs, Michael Cortez, Gabriela Garcia, Reiss Hinds, Alexandra Sarmiento, Spin andPhilippa Stefani.

In The Heights is an uplifting and exhilarating journey into Washington Heights, one of Manhattan’s most vibrant communities – a place where the coffee is light and sweet, the windows are always open and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. It’s a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams and pressures, where the biggest struggle can be deciding which traditions to take with you, and which ones to leave behind. With a gripping story and unforgettable Latin and hip-hop infused score, In The Heights is a ground-breaking contemporary musical about what it takes to make a living, what it costs to have a dream, and what it means to be home.

In The Heights opened at Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre in 2008 where it was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards, winning four for Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Choreography and Best Orchestrations. It also won the 2009 Grammy Award for its Original Broadway Cast Album and was nominated for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in Drama.

Lin-Manuel Miranda is the Tony-winning composer-lyricist of In the Heights. He also originated the lead role of Usnavi for which he received a Tony-Award nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. Lin-Manuel is currently starring in the title role in his newest musical Hamilton, which had its world premiere at The Public Theater in January 2015 before transferring to Broadway’s Richard Rodgers Theatre in July 2015. The production has so far received a record-breaking 10 Lortel Awards, 3 Outer Critic Circle Awards, 8 Drama Desk Awards, the 2015 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best New Musical and the 2015 OBIE Award for Best New American Play.

In The Heights is directed by Luke Sheppard whose recent credits include Oliver! (Watermill Theatre), Adrian Mole (Curve Theatre, Leicester), Next Fall (Southwark Playhouse), Peter Pan (Beck Theatre), Mort (Rose Theatre), Bed And Sofa (Finborough Theatre) and Jet Set Go! (Jermyn Street Theatre). Luke is also Associate Director of Matilda in the West End and on Broadway.

It is choreographed by Drew McOnie, who won the 2015 Off West End Award for Best Choreography for his work on In The Heights at Southwark Playhouse. Recent credits include Bugsy Malone (Lyric Hammersmith), Oklahoma! (UK Tour), Chicago (Curve Theatre, Leicester) and Drunk (Bridewell Theatre). Drew is also the Artistic Director of The McOnie Company and an Associate Artist at The Old Vic, for which he is currently creating a new dance-thriller version of Jekyll and Hyde.

 

Tickets start at £19.50, with a selection of best seats available for Under 25s at a special rate of £15 at every performance.

In The Heights is conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda with Music and Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a Book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. It is directed by Luke Sheppard with choreography by Drew McOnie, musical supervision by Tom Deering (Made In Dagenham, From Here To Eternity), set design by takis (Chicago, Curve Theatre), costume design by Gabriella Slade (Alice in Wonderland, Oxford Playhouse), lighting design by Howard Hudson (Adrian Mole, Titanic) and sound design by Gareth Owen. Casting is by Will Burton. It is produced in London by Tristan Baker andCharlie Parsons for Runaway Entertainment Ltd and Paul Taylor Mills Ltd.

 

King’s Cross Theatre is a brand new purpose built theatre at King’s Cross Station. The venue is currently home to The Railway Children which has just extended its run until 3^rd January 2015 and will continue to play in rep with In The Heights. King’s Cross Theatre will also be opening a late night bar to coincide with the run of In The Heights, opening an hour before every performance until late, with live music and DJs after certain performances. 

Twitter @InTheHeightsLDN

www.intheheightslondon.com

LISTINGS

 

Saturday 3 October 2015 – Sunday 3 January 2016

KING’S CROSS THEATRE

Good’s Way, King’s Cross, London, N1C 4UR

Press Night: Tuesday 13 October, 7.00pm

Performances: Monday Tuesday Thursday Friday 8.00pm, Friday 3.00pm (until 30 October), Tuesday 3.00pm (from 3 November), Saturday 8.30pm, Sunday 6.00pm (except Sun 11 October at 2.30pm)

Tickets: From £19.50 (with a guaranteed selection of £15 tickets per performance for U25)

Box Office: 0844 871 7604 | www.intheheightslondon.com

 

Park Theatre presents

RAPUNZEL

WEST END STAR ROLAN BELL LEADS THE CAST OF PARK THEATRE’S THIRD CHRISTMAS SHOW

SURREAL AND WACKY MUSICAL FUN FOR KIDS AND BIG KIDS ALIKE!

Casting has been announced for RAPUNZEL, Park Theatre’s third Christmas show, with book, music and lyrics by Jez Bond and Mark Cameron, directed by Jez Bond from 3 December – 2 January 2016, with a press night on Monday 7 December.

Olivier-nominated Rolan Bell, most recently seen in the West End in Memphis, We Will Rock You and The Harder They Come, will play ‘King Gerard’; Mark Cameron will play ‘The Great Gazombees’, Aretha Ayeh will play ‘Rapunzel / Queen’, Alex Hope will play ‘Dobson / Prince Corbyn’, and Avita Jay will play ‘Dr Chuff’.

The King and Queen of Püss Püss are looking forward to the birth of their first child when disaster strikes: the Queen falls ill and only a powerful herb, known as Rapunzel, can save the mother and child. The noble Baron Teth offers to locate the herb, but the witch who grows it has her price… Darkness falls across the land as the child is snatched away.

Eighteen years on, Prince Corbyn rides through the forest, he hears singing from an isolated tower. Perhaps all is not what it seems…

Following previous Park Christmas shows Sleeping Beauty in 2013, Jack and the Beanstalk in 2014, Rapunzel will be the third instalment in the ‘Chronicles of Waa’.

Jez Bond explains, “with each fairy tale set in the mythical land of Waa, we have created a world all of our very own, complete with a unique language gestures and greetings – it even has its own flora and fauna! Costumes and settings all add to create this land, which borrows more from Tolkien, Pratchett or Tim Burton than to a traditional English pantomime. We’ve also dispensed with pop songs so common across UK theatres during Christmas, and instead each year present an original musical theatre score.”

Praise for Jack and the Beanstalk and Sleeping Beauty

***** “Park Theatre has raised the stakes with its production of Jack and the Beanstalk”

WHATSONSTAGE.COM

**** “The Princess Bride with a dash of Disney. The eminently hummable original music and lyrics are a hit!” TIME OUT

“A Charming musial that could entertain audiences all year round” BRITISH THEATRE GUIDE

Jez Bond graduated Hull University with a BA Honours in Drama and was awarded the Channel Four Theatre Director Bursary, under which he trained at Watford Palace Theatre. Jez is Artistic Director of Park Theatre – which he founded.

Credits for Park Theatre; Sleeping Beauty, Jack and the Beanstalk (both of which he co-wrote), Adult Supervision and Hurling Rubble at the Sun. Freelance credits include; The Fame Game (Tour of Austria), Sleeping Beauty (Salisbury Playhouse), Oliver! (starring Rowan Atkinson, Oxford), I Have Been Here Before (Watford Palace Theatre), The Twits (Tour of Switzerland), Misconceptions (Hong Kong Arts Centre), Big Boys (Croydon Warehouse), Shot of Genius (Leicester Square), Canaries Sometimes Sing (Kings Head & France) and A Season in South Africa (Old Vic). As a dramaturge he has worked with writers at Soho Theatre, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Royal Court and Young Vic.

Mark Cameron’s acting credits include; TV: Regular characters in Coronation Street; Steel River Blues; Emmerdale; Doctors plus guest roles in Law and Order; Waterloo Road; Casualty; Holby City; Eastenders; The Roman Mysteries; Vincent; Mayo; The Royal; The Bill; Fifty Five Degrees North; Extreme Endurance and Brookside. Film: Credits include: Scar Tissue; The Boss (2012 Reed Festival short film winner); The Damned United; Casanova’s Love Letters; Tomo (Sundance Film Festival Winner) and The Other Side. Theatre: Mathematics of the Heart (Theatre 503 and winner of Brighton Fringe festival – Best Play); Sleeping Beauty (Salisbury Playhouse); The Game of Love and Chance (National Tour); The Breakfast Soldiers (Contact Theatre, Manchester); The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare in the Park); Romeo and Juliet (Cannizaro Park). Mark works extensively as a voice over artist for TV and Radio.

As a writer Mark has worked with Jez Bond a number of times before, co-writing Sleeping Beauty and Jack and the Beanstalk (Park Theatre) as well as over a hundred sketches for TooBigToPlay (also with Mark Gillis). He is currently working on a number of sitcoms and comedy-dramas for television.

Rolan Bell’s theatre credits include: Memphis (West End); We Will Rock You (West End and 40th Anniversary International Arena tour); Ragtime, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); Fela!, and Liberation Day (National Theatre); 1936 (Arcola); The Harder They Come – nominated for Best Newcomer, What’s On Stage Award (Playhouse, Theatre Royal, Stratford East and Barbican); An African Cargo and An Evening of Soul Food (Greenwich Theatre); Carmen Jones (Royal Festival Hall); The Lion King (Disneyland, Paris); Cinderella and Jack and the Beanstalk (Cambridge Arts Theatre). Television credits include: Doctors, series regular in Eastenders and WPC 56 (BBC).

Aretha Ayeh’s theatre credits include: Love Me Tender (No.1 UK Tour); Barnum (Chichester Festival Theatre); Dick Whittington and his Cat (Lyric Theatre Hammersmith); Pendragon (Rose Theatre Kingston); Red Hunter (Youth Music Theatres UK); and Orvin-Champion of Champions (National Youth Musical Theatre). Film and TV credits include: Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them (Warner Bros. David Yates); The Quiet Ones (Hammer Films); Russell T Davies’s Cucumber (Channel 4).

Avita Jay’s theatre credits include: Spare (New Diorama Theatre), Toad (Southwark Playhouse), Sunday Morning at the Centre of the World (Southwark Playhouse, Battersea Arts Centre), The Merry Wives of Windsor (National Tour), Londonee (Rich Mix), Secret Cinema’s Brazil, Unsung (Wilton’s Music Hall), The Tragicomedy of Mac-Beth (National Tour), Warde Street (Park Theatre), Pioneer (National Tour), Peer Gynt (Crossrail Place) and The Man Who Found His Freedom (The Space Theatre). TV and Film credits include: Emmerdale (ITV), L8R (BBC2), Generation Z (Matador Pictures) the Bollywood feature London, Paris, New York and Twenty8K (Formosa Films). Avita also regularly narrates audiobooks and is a reader for InterAct Stroke Support.

Alex Hope’s theatre credits include: History Boys (National Tour); First Episode (Jermyn Street Threatre); The Witness and Riot Squat (Thrive Theatre). Alex recently filmed Outlander for Left Bank Pictures.

www.parktheatre.co.uk

Box office: 02078706876

 

LISTINGS

Performances: 3 December – 2 January 2016

Tuesday – Saturday NB performance times vary, check website for details

Previews: 3, 4, 5 December

Booking: www.parktheatre.co.uk 020 7870 6876

Prices: Adults £20/25, concs £23 / £18

£15 Tuesdays Residents with N. London postcode or Under 25s

Family tickets (any four family members) £90 / £70

Schools £8.50 – School groups bookable via the box office by phone

Pay What You Can The second Tuesday and any matinee. Bookable from one hour before the performance, in person at the box office. One ticket per person. Subject to availability.

Radio Metro Arena, Newcastle – Tuesday 5th Oct 2015.  Reviewed by Rebecca, age 9 years

There were lots of children dressed up as their favourite Disney character, they were playing with dolls and light up toys that they had brought and everyone was very excited listening to the Disney music. When the introducer started to talk about when the show was going to start there was a buzz going round the arena, then Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto and Donald came on the ice and everybody cheered.

They introduced Toy Story, the green soldiers came out first and did a really cool dance, there were loads of them but they kept in time, marching on the ice without anyone falling over. The costumes were amazing; Lotso, Ham, Rex and Slinky were gigantic characters. Ken and Barbie did a great dance with lots of lifts, Kens hair was plastic like it was painted his head. Lots of cardboard children came running through the nursery and started pulling Mr and Mrs Potato Heads eyes and nose. Woody and Jess were there too, they all did lots of the songs to tell the story it was really good.

The next story was Ariel; it wasn’t as long as Toy Story.  Children from the audience had a chance to take part as they got in a boat that was pulled along the ice by two fish. The costumes were very colourful and exciting and it was hard to find a particular one to look at as they were all amazing. A massive Ursula came on to steal Ariel’s voice, she was quite scary, and a great affect was the scroll used to get Ariel’s voice, it came down on a wire from the ceiling! Actual real bubbles appeared from the ceiling as well, it was like really being under the sea.

Then it was half time, plenty of things to buy from the stalls and get extra candy floss or popcorn. Soon everyone was back buzzing for the next part of the show.

Mickey and Minnie welcomed us back again with the clever idea of driving a car on the ice as if they were going on holiday, however they broke down and as if by magic Mater appeared! Then what I thought was really good was that Sally and Lightning McQueen came on and there was lots of sparklers and fake fireworks which really gave realistic car noises. There was a scene with lots of cars dancing on the ice but this went on for quite a long time, the tricks were good but I found this scene a bit boring after a while. This time there were traffic lights in the ceiling!

Next it was everyone’s favourite…FROZEN…again great effects, realistic market carts, a water fountain, castle backdrop, drapes, rising staircase, snow falling down, snowflakes light up the ice. They even managed to make everything look like it turned to ice with a thin curtain coming down over the castle and blue lighting. The highlight of the costumes were Elsa and Anna’s light up cloaks, it was like the cloaks reacted with the emotions of the story e.g. when Anna got turned to ice her cloak turned blue. Olaf was very cute, sadly no Sven the reindeer which I think was a shame.

Overall it was a fantastic show, the special effects were awesome, the characters were very realistic and I can’t wait for the next Disney on Ice show!!

LIFT have announced the first seven shows in their 2016 festival which runs from 2 June to 2 July.

Billed as London’s largest international performance festival, productions will take place at the Barbican, the Royal Court Theatre and Sadler’s Wells.

LIFT’s artistic director Mark Ball commented: “Many of these shows reflect, remember and celebrate old and new worlds, bringing people from different countries together and creating new communities on stage which tell us about the richness of the world, the joy of connection and the power of belonging.”

---

At the Barbican

• Forced Entertainment’s Complete Works: Table Top Shakespeare will run 1 to 6 March. To celebrate the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, Forced Entrainment which will condense and perform all of Shakespeare’s plays on a tabletop using a cast of everyday objects.

• Odéon–Théâtre de l’Europe present Phaedra(s) which will run 9 to 18 June. Directed by Poland’s Krzysztof Warlikowski, Phaedra(s) stars French film actress Isabelle Huppert. This new production is based on Sarah Kane’s Phaedra’s Love and incorporates extracts from J M Coetzee’s novel Elizabeth Costello as well as new material from Lebanese-Canadian playwright Wajdi Mouawad.

• Blitz Theatre Group’s Late Night will run from the 15 to 18 June. Billed as “emotive and poetic, with a quiet stillness”, the show focuses on the past and the future and of a Europe in ruins.

At the Royal Court Theatre

• Leading Argentinian writer, director and actress Lola Arias returns to LIFT following her 2014 premiere of The Year I Was Born. Her new show, The Islands explores the fallout from the Falklands. From June 2016, exact dates to be announced.

• Constanza Macras presents Open for Everything. Berlin’s DorkyPark and Roma musicians and performers contemplate Europe’s last nomadic tribe. June 2016 – exact dates to be announced.

• The Migration Commissions is a series of newly commissioned works by international and UK artists, created in response to the refugee and migrant crisis and performed in unlikely spaces journeying around the Royal Court Theatre building. June 2016 – exact dates to be announced

At Sadler’s Wells

• Frank Van Laecke and Alain Platel bring En avant, marche! from 16 to 17 June. The show takes inspiration from local music groups from communities across Europe. At every venue, the four actors and seven musicians will be joined by a local brass band or marching band on stage.

The cast of the 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show have reunited over in America for an interview with US talk show Today.

Tim Curry (Dr Frank N Furter), Susan Sarandon (Janet) , Barry Bostwick (Brad), Meat Loaf (Eddie) and Patricia Quinn (Magenta) came together for the first time in 25 years. See below for the interview in full.

“I’ve had to do the Time Warp on numerous occasions,” Sarandon explained and added that filming was not without its difficulties. “I got pneumonia and we were in a house, they hadn’t put the roof back on and it was leaking and open and it was winter.”

Curry’s original idea for the oddball Dr Frank N Furter was rather different to how it came to be on screen. “Originally I played him as a German,” he explained. “Then one day I was on a London bus and heard a woman say ‘Do you have a house in town?’ and I thought ‘that’s it, he should sound like the Queen’. It changed everything”.

The film was a flop when it was first released, but has since become one of the most successful and loved cult movies ever.

The Rocky Horror Show musical first opened in 1973 at the Royal Court in London and was recently revived by original writer Richard O’Brien for a UK tour. O’Brien starred as The Narrator in the recent London run of the production.

BREAKIN’ CONVENTION ’16 International Festival of Hip Hop Dance Theatre – Sadler’s Wells & National Tour, April to June 2016.

Sadler’s Wells’ critically acclaimed international festival of hip hop dance theatre, Breakin’ Convention, is back, with performances from UK and international companies and crews.

Now in its 13th year, this tremendously popular Sadler’s Wells Production is once more hosted and curated by Associate Artist Jonzi D. Following the annual festival at Sadler’s Wells over the May bank holiday, Breakin’ Convention will then tour to eight venues across the UK during May until Wednesday 1 June 2016.

Breakin’ Convention has established itself as one of the major highlights on the British dance calendar and is one of the world’s greatest celebrations of hip hop culture.

The main London festival on Saturday 30th April and Sunday 1st May sees Sadler’s Wells’ foyer transformed with live DJs, freestyle dance jams, graffiti exhibitions, workshops from top international artists and live aerosol art. The participatory activities take place pre-show and during the interval.

For the fourth year running Breakin’ Convention takes it back to the roots of hip hop on bank holiday Monday 2nd May with Park Jam, an outdoor party suitable for all the family in Spa Fields Park.

The tour line-up includes three international acts who were highlights of last year’s festival including France’s Antoinette Gomis, who presents Images, an atmospheric solo inspired by the music of Nina Simone and Civil Rights. Antoinette’s signature style originates from her background as a founder member of the all-female Zamounda crew from Paris. Spain’s award-winning Iron Skulls crew present the surreal Sinestesia – A dynamic work where these skilled dancers morph into post-apocalyptic survivors. World Champion bboy crew The Ruggeds from the Netherlands will perform the high octane Adrenalin on the National Tour.

Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Jonzi D is the founder and Artistic Director of Jonzi D Projects and Breakin’ Convention. A dancer, spoken word artist and director, he is the foremost advocate for hip hop and has changed the profile and influenced the development of the UK British hip hop dance and theatre scene over the last two decades. Jonzi D is a graduate from the London Contemporary Dance School and a former Associate Artist at The Place. He has toured his own work internationally and is regularly invited to judge international dance competitions.

Jonzi D devised and directed TAG… Just Writing My Name in 2006, IVAN in 2006 and Markus the Sadist, a rap theatre piece in 2009. All pieces successfully toured the UK to critical acclaim. He has also devised, choreographed and featured in various hip hop inspired fashion shows.

Earlier this year Jonzi D performed The Letter at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe and also featured on TedEX Warwick and spoke at the European Commission forum on creativity and diversity.

Full Breakin’ Convention line-up to be announced Spring 2016. Check www.breakinconvention.com for updates.
Tickets on sale Monday 9th November 2015
A Sadler’s Wells Production
http://www.sadlerswells.com/

Breakin’ Convention ’16
International Festival of Hip Hop Dance Theatre
Sadler’s Wells, London, EC1R
Saturday 30 April – Monday 2 May 2016
Performances: Saturday 30 April & Sunday 1 May at 6pm (pre-show activities from 4pm)

Breakin’ Convention National Tour dates
Saturday 7 May CAST, Doncaster
Tuesday 10 May Colston Hall, Bristol
Saturday 14 May Playhouse, Whitley Bay
Tuesday 17 & Wednesday 18 May Nottingham Theatre Royal
Saturday 21 May Blackpool Grand, Blackpool
Tuesday 24 May Corn Exchange, Kings Lynn
Saturday 28 & Sunday 29 May Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury
Wednesday 1 June Bournemouth Pavilion, Bournemouth

Sheila Hancock and Jenna Russell are to star in the European première of acclaimed musical Grey Gardens, winner of 3 Tony Awards & nominated for a further 7, along with 12 Drama Desk Awards on Broadway, from the team behind Titanic and Grand Hotel.

Based on an iconic 1975 documentary, Grey Gardens, with Book by Doug Wright, Music by Scott Frankel, Lyrics by Michael Korie, tells the spectacular rise and fall of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s aunt and cousin, Edith and Edie Bouvier Beale.

Starting in 1941 at an engagement party at Grey Gardens, the Bouvier’s mansion in East Hampton, Long Island, the musical tracks the progression of the two women’s lives from American aristocrats to reclusive social outcasts living in such squalid conditions, in a home overrun by cats, that the Health Department deemed the mansion ‘unfit for human habitation’.

Grey Gardens, produced by Danielle Tarento and directed by Thom Southerland, the award-winning team behind Grand Hotel, Titanic, Parade and Mack & Mabel, is to open for a 6-week season in The Large at Southwark Playhouse from Saturday 2 January, 2016. Press night is on Thursday 7 January at 7.30pm.

Further cast to be announced.

Sheila Hancock (Edith “Big Edie” Ewing Bouvier Beale)
Sheila’s extensive career spans theatre, radio, television and film, and she is also now enjoying a career as a features presenter and as a writer includingThe Two of Us which won the British Book Award for Author of the Year, and her debut novel Miss Carter’s War. Her recent theatre roles in London include Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret (Olivier Award, Clarence Derwent Award), Mother Superior in Sister Act the Musical (Olivier nomination); Emmie Packer in Barking in Essex and ‘Mum’ in The Anniversary (a role played by Bette Davis while Sheila played the daughter-in-law, in the film version); Maitre Suzanne Blum in The Last Duchess (Hampstead), and Meg in The Birthday Party (Lyric Hammersmith). She was in the original London productions of Annie and Sweeney Todd (Olivier nomination), and Rose in Gypsy at West Yorkshire Playhouse (TMA Best Actress Award). In New York, as Kath in Entertaining Mr Sloane (Tony nomination).

Jenna Russell (Edith “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale)
Jenna won the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Sunday in the Park With George. She made her Broadway debut in the show and was nominated for the Best Actress in a Musical Tony Award, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical and the Drama League for Distinguished Performance Award. She won the 2008 Theatre World Award for Broadway Debut Performance. Previously she was nominated for the Best Actress in a Musical Olivier Award for Guys and Dolls. Her other extensive West End roles include Urinetown, Di, Viv and Rose, Martin Guerre, Follies and Les Miserables.

Thom Southerland (Director)
Thom was longlisted Best Newcomer in the 2011 Evening Standard Awards for Parade. He was named Best Director at the 2011 The Offies – Off West End Theatre Awards – for Me And Juliet at the Finborough. He directed Grand Hotel, Titanic, Victor/Victoria, Mack & Mabel and Parade (Southwark Playhouse); Jerry Herman’s The Grand Tour (Finborough) The Mikado (Charing Cross Theatre), Daisy Pulls It Off, Irving Berlin’s Call Me Madam! (Upstairs At The Gatehouse); the European première of I Sing!, Divorce Me, Darling!, Annie Get Your Gun, The Pajama Game and sold-out all-male adaptations of Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore and The Mikado (Union); Noël and Gertie (Cockpit); the European première of The Unsinkable Molly Brown (Landor); and the European première of State Fair (Finborough & transfer to Trafalgar Studios). His latest production is The Smallest Show on Earth (Mercury Theatre, Colchester & tour) .

Danielle Tarento (Producer and Casting Director)
Danielle was named Best Producer at the 2012 Off West End Awards and won Best Off West End Production at the 2014 Whatsonstage Awards and Best Musical Production at the 2014 Off West End Awards for Titanic at Southwark Playhouse. She has also produced Pure Imagination: The Songs of Leslie Bricusse (St James Theatre), Grand Hotel, Dogfight, Victor/Victoria, Mack & Mabel, Parade, Company and Three Sisters at Southwark Playhouse; Taboo (Brixton Clubhouse); The Pitchfork Disney (Arcola); Burlesque, Drowning on Dry Land (Jermyn Street); Noël and Gertie (Cockpit). She is co-founder of the Menier Chocolate Factory and co-produced all in-house shows 2004 – 2006, including Sunday In The Park With George, which received a West End transfer and 5 Olivier Awards.

LISTINGS
Danielle Tarento presents the European Premiére of GREY GARDENS
Book by Doug Wright
Music by Scott Frankel
Lyrics by Michael Korie

Based on the film Grey Gardens by David Maysles, Albert Maysles, Ellen Hovde, Muffie Mayer and Susan Froemke
Presented by arrangement with JOSEF WEINBERGER LIMITED

Southwark Playhouse
The Large
77-85 Newington Causeway
London SE1 6BD
Box Office: 020 7407 0234
Saturday 2nd January – Saturday 6th February
www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Around the World in 80 Days, which will run at the St. James Theatre from 26th November 2015 to 17th January 2016. Leading the cast in the role of Phileas Fogg will be Robert Portal, who, in challenges reminiscent of Fogg’s own quest, has rowed 3000 miles across the Atlantic in The Talisker Whisky Challenge and took part in the Marathon des Sables, running over 150 miles of the Sahara Desert in six days, raising money for charity on both occasions.

Simon Gregor will play Passepartout, with Tony Gardner as Inspector Fix, Shanaya Rafaat as Mrs Aouda and Eben Figueiredo and Tim Steed in the ensemble. The final two ensemble members are to be announced in due course.

The production will be directed by Lucy Bailey and composed by Django Bates, as previously announced. Set design is by Anna Fleischle (Hangmen, Royal Court Theatre), lighting by Chris Davey and sound by Mic Pool. The producers are Simon Friend Entertainment, St. James Theatre Productions and Ros Povey Productions.

Robert Portal’s recent theatre credits include Communicating Doors (Menier Chocolate Factory), Grand Guignol (Theatre Royal Plymouth), This Was a Man (Finborough Theatre), A Little Hotel On The Side (Theatre Royal Bath), The Doctor’s Dilemma (National Theatre), Henry IV, The Rivals, The Transit of Venus, Loves Labours Lost and The Merchant of Venice (all RSC). His film credits include Iron Lady (Pathe), Mr Turner (Thin Man Films), The King’s Speech (SeeSaw Films) and My Week With Marilyn (Trademark Films).

Simon Gregor previously worked with director Lucy Bailey on King Lear (Theatre Royal Bath) and The Taming of the Shrew (RSC). Other theatre credits include: Things We Do For Love (Theatre Royal Bath), American Psycho (Almeida Theatre), To Kill a Mockingbird (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Uncle Vanya (Belgrade Theatre Ltd), The Miser (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester), The 39 Steps (Tricycle Theatre) and The Late Henry Moss (Almeida Theatre). Simon also played the role of Moustache in the film Welcome to the Punch, directed by Eran Creevy. Other film credits include The Statement (Odessa Films), Bodywork (Automatic Films), Last Seduction II (Specific Films) and The Island on Bird Street(M & M Prods). Television credits include Ripper Street, Da Vinci’s Demons and Doctor Who.

Tony Gardner’s theatre credits include The Rivals (Theatre Royal Bath, tour and Theatre Royal Haymarket), Bedroom Farce (Rose Theatre and Duke of Yorks) and When There’s a Will (English Touring Theatre). Television credits include The Tracey Ullman Show, Fresh Meat, Last Tango in Halifax, My Parents are Aliens, Bremner Bird & Fortune, The Thick of It, Lenny Henry in Pieces, Cold Feet, The Armstrong and Miller Show, Lee Evans – So What Now and Drop The Dead Donkey. Film credits include Cockneys Vs Zombies and Mad, Sad and Bad.

Shanaya Rafaat’s recent theatre productions include King Lear (Shakepeare’s Globe & Tour), Twelfth Night (CustomPractice), The Illusion (Southwark Playhouse), The Malcontent (White Bear Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (RSC & World Tour). She has also featured in the television shows Dr Who (BBC), Lewis (ITV) and Silk II (BBC). Films include Schadenfreude (Simon Pickup), Honeycomb Lodge (Honeycomb Lodge Ltd), and Complicit (Many Rivers Complicit Ltd).

Eben Figueiredo’s recent theatre productions include 15, 16, 17 (Old Vic New Voices), Peter Pan (Regents Park Theatre) and Pitcairn (Chichester/ Out of Joint). Other productions include Courting Drama (Theatre Reneegade), The Suit (The Young Vic), East End Girls and Dream Girls (Italia Conti).Eben has also worked on a wide variety of National Youth Theatre productions including Speakers House Event, Matt Smith Project, Social Inclusion Project, Olympic Welcoming Ceremony and Diana Bliss Tribute.

Tim Steed’s theatre credits include The Crucible (Manchester Royal Exchange), The Merchant of Venice (Almeida), Hero (Royal Court), Rocket to the Moon (National Theatre), Salome (Headlong), Much Ado About Nothing (Open Air Theatre), Pride (Royal Court) Oliver (Edinburgh NYT) and An Inspector Calls (Garrick Theatre). Television credits include Wolf Hall, The Great Fire, Fresh Meat, London Irish, Twenty Twelve and Peep Show. On film, Tim has appeared in The Imitation Game, Franklyn and Dark Ride/D.O.D.

The majestically mysterious, fabulously wealthy Phileas Fogg wagers his life’s fortune that he can circumnavigate the globe in just eighty days. Join Fogg and his loyal valet, Passepartout, as they voyage from the misty alleys of Victorian London to the exotic subcontinent and the wild west in a race against the clock. A cast of eight play more than 100 characters in this high-spirited, imagination-filled escapade for all the family.

 

LISTINGS
St. James Theatre
12 Palace Street, London SW1E 5JA
Box Office: 0844 264 2140
www.stjamestheatre.co.uk
Dates: Thursday 26 November 2015 – Sunday 17 January 2016

Theatre Royal Stratford East plays host to Big Time! In Concert, which is a joyful celebration of the life and work of the maestro of British musicals and pop music, Lionel Bart, for three performances only this October, 2015.

Big Time! In Concert charts Lionel’s life from childhood to his first forays into song writing, on to his time with Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop Company and subsequent West End successes and failures. Best known for writing Oliver!, he was the first British songwriter to have success in the American charts penning hits for Cliff Richard, Tommy Steele, Shirley Bassey, Anthony Newley, Adam Faith and a host of others, as well as being the original manager of The Rolling Stones.

For some time, Theatre Royal Stratford East was his home where he worked with Joan Littlewood creating the classic Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T’Be. By 1964 he had gone on to have an unprecedented 5 West End hit shows. However by the mid-1960s Bart’s excessive lifestyle combined with drug and alcohol addiction saw his first failure and decline into obscurity. He re-emerged when Cliff Richard and the Young Ones had chart success with Livin’ Doll in 1986 and also won a Lifetime Achievement Ivor Novello award that same year.

Come (transferring to the West End and North American tour) and the Olivier nominated The Big Life.

This joyful production is set to a playlist of classic Bart songs including I’d do Anything, Do you Mind, Livin’ Doll, Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T’Be and Consider Yourself among many others.

The cast includes BAFTA award winner Jessica Hynes (Spaced, The Royle Family, W1A, The Norman Conquests) Neil McDermott (EastEnders, Shrek, The Sound of Music), Lee Ryan (Blue), Sonny Jay (Loveable Rogues), Tony Howes, David Charkham and 60’s music and theatre star Grazina Frame (Every Day’s a Holiday, Blitz!). Accompanied by a 14 piece orchestra, Big Time! is a concert framing of the extraordinary life and work of Lionel Bart featuring 27 songs including familiar classics and unheard gems.

Theatre Royal Stratford East is one of the most prolific developers and producers of new musical theatre in the UK, with its work transferring nationally and internationally. Musicals brought to stage over the last ten years include The Infidel The Musical, the UK Theatre Award-nominated Glasgow Girls and West End transfers The Harder They Come and Olivier nominated The Big Life, which was the first black British musical to transfer to the West End.
Running time: approximately 2 hours 15 minutes (including interval)

Theatre Royal Stratford East, Gerry Raffles Square, London E15 1BN

LAST CHANCE TO SEE ORESTEIA AT TRAFALGAR STUDIOS

Universally critically acclaimed production has final performance on November 7th

Cast includes Lia Williams, Angus Wright and Jessica Brown Findlay

Robert Icke’s visceral adaptation has been hailed as the theatrical event of the year

There are just four more weeks for audiences to catch the Almeida Theatre’s critically acclaimed production of Oresteia, by Aeschylus.  The production, re-imagined for the modern stage by Almeida Associate Director Robert Icke (The Fever, Mr Burns, 1984), transferred to Trafalgar Studios in August, following a sold-out run at the Almeida Theatre.

Robert Icke’s Oresteia has been heralded as one of the theatre events of the year, creating a style of theatre-going that is the theatrical equivalent of binge-watching – audiences continue to be captivated by the epic and mesmeric style of the production. The contemporary relevance and prescience of the classic piece is brought sharply to life in Icke’s bold and immediate production. The cast at Trafalgar Studios includes Lorna Brown, Jessica Brown Findlay, AnnieFirbank, Joshua Higgott, Luke Thompson, Jonathan McGuinness, Oliver Ryan, Luke Thompson, Lia Williams, Angus Wright and Hara Yannas.

Orestes’ parents are at war. A family drama spanning several decades, a huge, moving, bloody saga, Aeschylus’ greatest and final play asks whether justice can ever be done – and continues to resonate more than two millennia after it was written.

Oresteia opened at the Almeida in June 2015 to public and critical acclaim, as the inaugural production in the theatre’s Almeida Greeks season.

Oresteia is directed by Robert Icke, designed by Hildegard Bechtler, with light by Natasha Chivers, sound by Tom Gibbons and video by Tim Reid. Casting is by Julia Horan CDG.

Robert Icke is the Almeida’s Associate Director, where his new version of Uncle Vanya will premiere in February 2016, he most recently directed The Iliad, The Fever and Mr Burns. Other Almeida credits include 1984, a co-production with Headlong and Nottingham Playhouse co-created with Duncan Macmillan, for which he won the 2014 UK Theatre Award.  Robert was previously Associate Director at Headlong.

The transfer of Oresteia is produced by Almeida Theatre, Sonia Friedman Productions and Ambassador Theatre Group.

 

LISTINGS INFORMATION

ORESTEIA
by Aeschylus
A new adaptation by Robert Icke
Directed by Robert Icke

August 22nd – November 7th
Final performance November 7th
Mon – Sat at 7pm
Thu and Sat Matinees at 1pm

Trafalgar Studios
14 Whitehall, London SW1A 2DY

Standard ticket prices £29.50 – £49.50.

Premium tickets also available.

Book online www.atgtickets.com/trafalgarstudios
Phone: 0844 871 7632
Groups 0844 871 7644
Access 0844 871 7677
Ticketmaster (24 hour booking line) 0844 847 2345
Or in person at the box office

Book online www.almeida.co.uk
Phone: 020 7359 4404 (10am – 6pm)
Or in person at the box office (Almeida Theatre, Almeida Street, London, N1 1TA)