Author: FairyPoweredProductions

The 12^th Annual ‘A West End Christmas’, produced by Theatre MAD in aid of The make A Difference Trust took place last night, 6^th December at St Pauls Covent Garden.  A sparkling spectacle of stars and song, raised over 12,000 pounds

Featuring some of the top West End shows including The Phantom of The Opera, Wicked, Matilda, Miss Saigon, the show opened with West End Kids’ homage to the Tiller Girls, a high kicking routine to We Need A Little Christmas.

There were three songs written especially for the occasion, two by Anderson and Petty and one by Kansley and Lidert beautifully sung by Kieran Brown, Emma Hatton and The M.T.A and Carolyn Maitland.

With her cool jazz band, Joanna Strand did a Christmas Waltz that had the audience swaying, and Summer Strallen sang a beautiful rendition of The Christmas Song with Oliver Ormson. Sabrina Aloueche and aAron Sidwell rocked the church, while Ross William Wild sang and played guitar, accompanied by piano and harp to give a moving version of Hallelujah.

Showstoppers! wowed with their incredible improvisation, and the Blues Brothers donned their shades and shook their tail feathers with the audience clapping along. You can’t keep a good show down, and some of the cast of the Commitments came together to give a hand clapping rendition of Fairy Tale of New York.

The fabulous piano playing and comedy chat of Worbey and Farrell got the second act of to a fabulous start. The lovely Anton Stephans promised he’d “be home for Christmas” and Maria Kesselman’s voice soared as she sang of The Most Wonderful Birthday of All.

Readings by Michael Pennington, Jannie Dee and Michelle Collins complimented the songs beautifully.

Jumping on the underground, directly form their Sunday show, the cast of In The Heights arrived to close the show. With percussion, brass, guitar and drums they rounded the evening off with a roof raising, tow tapping Latin American number Noche De Pas, which was anything but silent.

Improbable in co-production with West Yorkshire Playhouse and Northern Stage present
OPENING SKINNER’S BOX
Great psychological experiments of the twentieth century

• A brand new production in the year that celebrates the 20 years of Improbable

• Based on the book by Lauren Slater. Adapted by Improbable. Co-directed by Phelim McDermott and Lee Simpson. Designed by Laura Hopkins. Lighting designed by Nigel Edwards. Sound designed by Adrienne Quartly

• 2016 also includes: D&D11 at Birmingham Repertory Theatre; Philip Glass’s Akhnaten at ENO and further projects to be announced  

‘Why do we love?  When would we kill? How do we learn?  Why do we believe in the unbelievable? What is memory?  Why do we keep doing things that hurt us?’

These were religious and philosophical questions until about a hundred years ago; then science joined the conversation. According to science, pretty much everything we think about ourselves is wrong.

Inspired by the fascinating and controversial book by Lauren Slater (published in 2004), Opening Skinner’s Box is a whistle-stop tour of the scientific quest to make sense of what we are and who we are, told through ten great psychological experiments and the stories of the people who created them.

Following recent success with their first ever Shakespeare production, The Tempest, Improbable return to Northern Stage before taking this brand new production to West Yorkshire Playhouse.

The Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University is lead commissioner of Improbable’s Opening Skinner’s Box through its Artist Residency Award programme. The work is co-commissioned by Lincoln Center Festival, New York and the Brisbane Festival where the production will tour later this year.

Improbable is one of the UK’s most inventive companies, from intimate, small scale works such as the seminal 70 Hill Lane, to the pioneering and hugely influential Lifegame and massive outdoor spectacles like Sticky, their work is always highly original and entirely unpredictable. The range of projects in their 20th year shows there is no let up in the search for new and theatrically exciting ways to tell stories making these shows a fitting celebration of their many achievements.

OTHER PROJECTS IN IMPROBABLE’S 20TH YEAR INCLUDE:

AKHNATEN | 4 – 18 March 2016 | English National Opera
Following the huge success of Satyagraha, the Glass / McDermott combination returns to the Coliseum with an opera that explores the life and religious convictions of the Egyptian pharaoh, and forms the last of Philip Glass’s trilogy of ‘portrait’ operas in which he looks at figures from the fields of science (Einstein), politics (Gandhi) and religion (Akhnaten).

D&D 11 | 9-11 January 2016 | Birmingham REP Theatre
Join the conversation about the future of theatre at the annual Devoted and Disgruntled event. This year we’re taking it to the regions, partnering up with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre for the first time ever.

LISTINGS INFORMATION
OPENING SKINNER’S BOX UK DATES:

22 – 30 April: Northern Stage, Newcastle
Northern Stage Barras Bridge, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear NE1 7RH
Times: 19:45
Tickets: £14.50 / £12.50 (concs.)
Booking: northernstage.co.uk / 0191 230 5151
Press Night: Thursday 28 April

5 – 14 May: West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds
West Yorkshire Playhouse, Playhouse Square, Quarry Hill, Leeds, LS2 7UP
Times: 14:00 /14:30 / 19:45 (see website for details)
Tickets: £10 – £29
Booking: wyp.org.uk / 0113 213 7700
Press Night: Friday 6 May

Opening Skinner’s Box is supported by a Wellcome Trust Arts Award

TONY AWARD-WINNING BROADWAY MUSICAL

IN THE HEIGHTS

NOMINATED FOR 9 WHATSONSTAGE AWARDS

INCLUDING BEST NEW MUSICAL

The 2016 WhatsOnStage Awards nominations have been announced today, with In The Heightsreceiving nominations in 9 categories, the highest number of nominations for any one production.

Nominations were received in every eligible category, for Best Actor in a Musical (Sam Mackay), Best Actress in a Musical (Lily Frazer), Best Supporting Actor in a Musical (David Bedella), Best Supporting Actress in a Musical (Victoria Hamilton-Barritt), Best New Musical, Best Direction (Luke Sheppard), Best Choreography (Drew McOnie), Best Set Design (takis) and Best Lighting Design (Howard Hudson).

In The Heights is now playing at King’s Cross Theatre following a critically acclaimed sell-out UK premiere at Southwark Playhouse in 2014. Initially booking at King’s Cross Theatre for a limited 4 week run, it has been extended until Sunday 10 April 2016.

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.

The cast 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 and Philippa Stefani.

In The Heights is directed by Luke Sheppard whose recent credits include Casa Valentina(Southwark Playhouse), Oliver! (Watermill Theatre), Adrian Mole (Curve Theatre), Next Fall (Southwark Playhouse), 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 forIn The Heights at Southwark Playhouse. Recent credits include The Lorax (Old Vic), Hairspray (UK Tour), Bugsy Malone (Lyric Hammersmith), Oklahoma! (UK Tour), Chicago (Curve Theatre) 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 £22.50, 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 also home to The Railway Children which will play in rep with In The Heights. King’s Cross Theatre features a late night bar at performances 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

Click here to view the trailer

Fiery Angel presents
PLAYS AT THE GARRICK
KENNETH BRANAGH THEATRE COMPANY

A YEAR OF UNMISSABLE THEATRE

• FULL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR INDHU RUBASINGHAM’S TRICYCLE THEATRE PRODUCTION OF RED VELVET

• AS PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED, ADRIAN LESTER REPRISES THE ROLE OF IRA ALDRIDGE AT THE GARRICK FROM 23 JANUARY UNTIL 27 FEBRUARY 2016

• THE CAST FOR LOLITA CHAKRABARTI’S PLAY INCLUDES AYESHA ANTOINE, SIMON CHANDLER, ALEXANDER COBB, MARK EDEL-HUNT, EMUN ELLIOTT, CHARLOTTE LUCAS, CAROLINE MARTIN AND AMY MORGAN

The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company has announced the full cast for Red Velvet, the third production in the inaugural Plays at the Garrick season. The production, which originally premiered at the Tricycle Theatre in 2012 before transferring to St Ann’s Warehouse in New York in 2014, will play at the Garrick Theatre from 23 January until 27 February 2016. Red Velvet is written by Lolita Chakrabarti with direction by Indhu Rubasingham and stars Adrian Lester as Ira Aldridge.

The full cast includes: Ayesha Antoine (Connie), Simon Chandler (Bernard Warde/Terence), Alexander Cobb (Henry Forrester/Casimir), Mark Edel-Hunt (Charles Kean), Emun Elliott (Pierre Laporte), Charlotte Lucas (Ellen Tree), Caroline Martin (Halina Wozniak/Margaret Aldridge) and Amy Morgan (Betty Lovell).

Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, 1833. Edmund Kean, the greatest actor of his generation, has collapsed on stage whilst playing Othello. A young black American actor has been asked to take over the role. But as the public riot in the streets over the abolition of slavery, how will the cast, critics and audience react to the revolution taking place in the theatre?

Ayesha Antoine has previously appeared on stage in A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes, The House That Will Not Stand (Tricycle), The Ghost Train (Royal Exchange), We Are Proud to Present… (Bush),Tartuffe (Birmingham Rep), Absurd Person Singular, My Wonderful Day, Surprises, (Stephen Joseph Theatre), Madblud, FamilyMan, Cinderella, Red Riding Hood (all Theatre Royal Stratford East), Big White Fog (Almeida) and The Firework Maker’s Daughter (Lyric Hammersmith). Ayesha’s television credits include appearances in Doctor Who, Holby City, Grange Hill, The Billand Skins.

Simon Chandler began his career as Private Simmonds in Richard Attenborough’s 1977 film A Bridge Too Far. He has since appeared in the films Vera Drake, Perfume: The Story of aMurderer, The King’s Speech and The Iron Lady. On stage his work includes Cause Célèbre (Old Vic), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Garrick), Democracy (Wyndham’s) and the Women, Power and Politics Season at the Tricycle.

Alexander Cobb’s theatre credits include The Seagull (Headlong), The Magistrate (National Theatre), Goodbye to All That (Royal Court), Two Gentlemen of Verona (Royal & Derngate),Wasted (Paines Plough/Latitude). Alexander has been seen on screen in Indian Summers, Ripper Street, The Mimic, Call the Midwife, Mr. Selfridge, Doctors and Parade’s End.

Mark Edel-Hunt’s previous stage appearances include When We Were Women (Orange Tree),The Late Mattia Pascal (Raw Material), Time and the Conways (Nottingham Playhouse),Cleopatra (King’s Head), The American Plan (St. James, Bath Theatre Royal), Chariots of Fire(Gielgud, Hampstead Theatre), The Importance of Being Earnest (Rose Theatre Kingston, Riverside Studios, New Wolsey) and The Syndicate (Chichester Festival Theatre). Mark’s television credits include Call the Midwife, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Kidnapped andMistresses.

Emun Elliott has previously appeared in theatrical productions such as A View From the Bridge(Young Vic), Measure for Measure (Almeida), Blackwatch (National Theatre of Scotland),Captain Oakes’ Left Sock (Royal Court) and Ubu the King (Dundee Rep). In addition to his work on stage, Emun’s television credits include The Paradise, Threesome, Labyrinth, Game of Thrones and Inspector George Gently.

Award winning actor and director Adrian Lester OBE started his career with a string of successful West End productions including Fences, Six Degrees Of Separation, As You Like It andCompany before landing the lead role in Mike Nichol’s movie Primary Colors.  Other movie credits since include The Day After Tomorrow, Maybe Baby, Born Romantic, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Dust, Final Curtain, Doomsday, Scenes of a Sexual Nature, Starting Out in the Evening, As You Like It and Case 39.  Adrian is also well known for his TV work including playing ‘Mickey Bricks’ in the long running BBC1 series Hustle, with other TV credits including When Romeo Met Juliet, Merlin, Sleep with Me, Ghost Squad, Being Human, Bonekickers and the US series Red Band Society and Girlfriends.  He has appeared on stage as Henry V and Othello at the National Theatre, played Peter Brook’s Hamlet at the Bouffes Du Nord and starred in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in London’s West End.  Adrian has recently completed filming the lead role in Undercover, a new 6 part drama for BBC1 and AMC due for transmission spring 2016.

Charlotte Lucas has previously appeared on stage in The Distance (Sheffield Crucible and Orange Tree), Absence of War (Headlong), If Only (Chichester Festival Theatre), Red Velvet(Tricycle & St Ann’s Warehouse, New York), Posh (West End and Royal Court), The Changeling(Young Vic), Yes, Prime Minister (West End), Fast Labour (West Yorkshire Playhouse and Hampstead), World’s End (Trafalgar Studios), Called to Account, Darfur – How Long is Never?and Fabulation (both Tricycle). Charlotte’s television credits include Jamaica Inn, Casualty, Doctors, Midsomer Murders, The Bill, Judge John Deed and Holby City.

Caroline Martin’s stage credits includes Medea (National), A Doll’s House (West End, Brooklyn Academy of Arts), The Merchant of Venice (RSC, Almeida), Macbeth (RSC), House of Special Purpose (Chichester Festival Theatre), Othello (Cheek By Jowl – nominated for Ian Charleson Award), The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (RSC). Caroline has appeared in television shows such as 5 Days (BBC/HBO), Foyles War (Greenlit Rights), He Knew He was Right (BBC), Byron(BBC), Inspector Lynley Mysteries (BBC), Poirot (Granada). Caroline has also appeared in Mike Leigh’s Happy-go-lucky.

Amy Morgan’s previous stage credits include The Beaux Stratagem (National Theatre), The Broken Heart (The Globe), An Ideal Husband (Chichester Festival Theatre), Once A Catholic(Royal Court Liverpool and Tricycle), Trelawny of the Wells (Donmar Warehouse), The Country Wife (Royal Exchange), Hay Fever (West End), Inadmissible Evidence (Donmar Warehouse), The Taming of the Shrew, To Kill A Mockingbird (Theatr Clwyd), Deepcut (Sherman Cymru) and 24 Hours Plays (Old Vic). Amy has previously appeared on television in Mr Selfridge, Father Brownand The Royal.

Lolita Chakrabarti is an award-winning playwright and actress. Red Velvet earned her the Charles Wintour Evening Standard Award and the Critics Circle Award in 2012 after it opened at the Tricycle Theatre. Lolita’s previous stage credits include Last Seen – Joy (Almeida Theatre).  Lolita trained as an actress at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has carved out an innovative, long running career. Her work as an actress for the past twenty five years spans both stage and screen. She has appeared in a string of recent television dramas including J K Rowling’s A Casual Vacancy, Jekyll and Hyde, My Mad Fat Diary 3.  January will also see Lolita as blacksmith Lila in the epic new ITV drama Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands.

Indhu Rubasingham has been the Artistic Director of the Tricycle Theatre since 2012. Productions as Artistic Director include: Red Velvet (Evening Standard Award and Critics’ Circle Award), A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes, Multitudes, The House That Will Not Stand, Handbagged(Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, West End transfer 2014, UK tour 2015) and Paper Dolls. Indhu also recently directed The Motherf**cker with the Hat(National Theatre) which was awarded Best Play at the 2015 Evening Standard Theatre Awards.

The Winter’s Tale, Harlequinade / All On Her Own, Red Velvet, The Painkiller, Romeo and Juliet and The Entertainer make up the inaugural seven play season of work for the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company.

The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company, in partnership with Picturehouse Entertainment, will broadcast three productions of its year-long Plays at the Garrick season live to cinemas worldwide. Romeo and Juliet will be broadcast live on 7 July. Participating cinemas can be found at branaghtheatrelive.com

Sutton Theatres presents:

Bitter Pill Theatre presents:

Cockpit Theatre 5 & 6 December.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

The 2007 Fringe First Award-winning Scarborough is unfortunately very much like the relationships it portrays – shallow and unmemorable.

Lauren and Daz are spending Daz’s birthday weekend on a romantic break in Scarborough. It’s Daz’s 16th birthday, Lauren is his (almost) 30 year old PE teacher. It is unclear who is the teenager and who is the adult at first, until Lauren tries to end the relationship and Daz becomes more childlike as he struggles to cope.

The second act is a word for word replay of the first, with the genders swapped. Aiden is the PE teacher in a relationship with pupil Beth. This idea has great potential, but the writing is just not good enough to sustain the audience’s interest for a second time. Presenting the play in the round only serves to emphasise this – the underwhelmed faces of some audience members were a little distracting.

Fiona Evans has written the play from a neutral viewpoint. The adults are not portrayed as predatory, but any person who justifies beginning a relationship with a child with the words “you made the first move” should be forced to wear the Childcatcher’s outfit in public. Evans obviously doesn’t want to colour the audiences opinions about the characters, but this neutrality results in bland, one dimensional, forgettable characters with clichéd motivations. The adults were in underage relationships with teachers themselves, and are insipid and needy, lacking the emotional intelligence and maturity to ever attract people their own age, while the children are from unhappy homes with a drunken, philandering father, and are looking for love and stability in all the wrong places. It reads like some cheesy American TV movie.

With bolder writing and characterisation this play could have something important to say – as it is, it is sadly lacking. With all the recent scandal about certain judges giving lenient sentences to female teachers and carers, the issue of the abuser’s gender could have been explored with much more finesse, but Scarborough adds nothing to the debate.

Ava Pickett and Charlie Tantam do their best with the script and the limited characters, and are equally convincing as teenagers and adults, delivering some very sweet moments – usually in dialogue free sections. Let’s just say that the most memorable line of the play is actually a quote from “Mystic Pizza”.

There are a few nice touches to highlight the gender differences. Daz give his teacher a topless photo of himself, while Beth’s teacher receives a photo of her in school uniform. As the adults disengage from the children Lauren is constantly moving towards Daz to comfort him, while Aiden does his best to keep the bed between him and Beth at all times, never touching her. But still – nothing profound or worthwhile comes from sitting through the second act.

Paraphrasing one of my old school reports – Scarborough had great potential, but ultimately turned into a no-hoper.

Now that’s how a proper teacher communicates with teenagers!

NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS VIENNESE STYLE

The London Gala Orchestra and special guests welcome in the New Year in style on Monday 4 January at Darlington Civic Theatre.

A very special event will take place at Darlington Civic Theatre on Monday 4 January 2016. It marks the twenty fifth year of New Year’s Day music making by the London Gala Orchestra.

The orchestra’s stunning New Year show has become an integral part of thousands of people’s annual celebrations across the country but it started almost by accident.

Twenty five years ago, the orchestra’s manager, Wilf Goddard, suggested to a promoter that Viennese music, reflecting all the glamour and romance of the annual New Year’s Day Ball in Vienna, would be good for the start of the year. This proved to be so and it wasn’t long before he was organising the concerts himself, developing them into a musical experience that audiences have returned to again and again.

This year’s concert will be no exception. Packed full of traditional classics by the Strauss family you will experience the Austrian love affair with music – romantic waltzes, passionate songs, toe tapping polkas and feel-good tunes. The compere this year will be tenor Andrew Rees who will be joined by glamorous soprano Natasha Day. Stephen Ellery, who made such an impact last year with his debut appearance, will take the helm as music director.

Throw in special effects, lots of fun, laughter and excitement as well and you will take away memories that will last a lifetime. It’s where your fabulous 2016 begins!

New Year In Vienna is at Darlington Civic Theatre on Monday 4 January, 7.30pm Tickets* £20 & £22

To book contact the Box Office on 01325 486 555 or visit www.darlingtoncivic.co.uk

*Includes a £1 restoration levy