Home

King’s Theatre, Edinburgh – until 12 May 2019

Reviewed by James Knight

4****

Before JK Rowling, Harry and Hogwarts, there was Jill Murphy, Mildred and Miss Cackle’s Academy for Witches. Mildred Hubble and her friends have had an enduring charm over the years, with various films and TV incarnations, and now Emma Reeves has adapted her adventures for the stage. Reeves is also responsible for the latest TV adaptation on CBBC, so she knows her stuff.

The Worst Witch is essentially a play within a play – Miss Cackle’s Academy is recruiting new students, and so what we see is Mildred Hubble’s first year at the school performed as a school play. It immediately involves the audience, with the actors interacting with them pre-show. The story is instantly recognisable for anyone who has had to start at a new school – rules are confusing, teachers are intimidating and then there’s the fact that you don’t know who anyone actually is. Accident-prone Mildred (Danielle Bird) has arrived at the wrong school, and, despite not actually being a witch, quickly makes friends with Maud (Rebecca Killick) and enemies with Ethel Hallow (Rosie Abraham).

Mildred gets into various mishaps in her first year, to the disgust of Miss Hardbroom (a fearsome Rachel Heaton, evidently loving every moment), and these are only worsened by the arrival of Enid Nightshade (Consuela Rolle), a mischief-loving prankster who has been expelled from seventeen schools. Can Mildred reconcile her friendship with both Maud and Enid? And is something more sinister on its way?

The live music by Luke Potter and performed by Molly-Grace Cutler, Meg Forgan and Megan Leigh Mason (also playing Miss Bat, Fenella and Miss Drill respectively) is fantastic, and wonderfully expressive. The band’s comic timing is perfect, with various magical sounds used to subtle, almost unnoticeable effect, particularly in the potions class. Other highlights include a flying broomstick formation sequence which goes spectacularly wrong, leading to both Mildred and Maud having to fall onto crashmats to get down afterwards (Maud achieves a perfect dismount to my amusement). And despite the assertion of Miss Cackle (Polly Lister) that no magic will be used in the production (health and safety et cetera), this promise goes out the window when her evil twin sister Agatha (also Polly Lister extracting great fun from the two very different sisters) shows up.

The all-female cast is exceptionally strong and provides a spell-tacular evening of entertainment, with enough frivolity to lighten the mood of even Miss Hardbroom. The perfect blend of that other famous child wizard and his own play, and ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’, The Worst Witch is truly magical.

WENDI PETERS, KIMBERLEY WALSH & MATTHEW KELLY

TO JOIN JAY McGUINESS IN

BIG THE MUSICAL

AT THE DOMINION THEATRE

FOR A STRICTLY LIMITED 9-WEEK SEASON

FROM 6 SEPTEMBER TO 2 NOVEMBER 2019

WITH A GALA NIGHT IN AID OF MAKE-A-WISH® UK

ON TUESDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 2019

Wendi Peters, Kimberley Walsh and Matthew Kelly will star as Mrs Baskin, Susan Lawrence and George MacMillan respectively.  They join the previously announced Jay McGuiness as Josh Baskin.  Based on the smash-hit movie starring Tom Hanks, BIG The Musical makes its West End premiere at the Dominion Theatre for a strictly limited nine-week season from 6 September to 2 November 2019, with a Gala Night in aid of Make-A-Wish on Tuesday 17 September.

Wendi Peters is best known for her role as Cilla Battersby Brown in Coronation Street – a role that she played for over four years, returning briefly in 2014.  Wendi plays the recurring character Cook Jenkins in Hetty Feather (BBC) and her other television credits include Queen Shania in Hacker Time (BBC), Kelly in Sadie J (BBC), Marion in Crime Stories (ITV) and ‘Podger’ Pam Jolly in Bad Girls (ITV).  Theatre credits include Princess Puffer in The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Arts Theatre, West End), Grumpy Old Women Live 2 – Chin up Britain (National Tour and Novello Theatre, West End), Vagina Monologues(National Tour), and Martha Watson in White Christmas (Dominion Theatre). Most recently, Wendi could be seen in the National Tours of Salad Days, Quartet, Wonderland and Oh What a Lovely War and as Dorothy Needham in the world premiere of Hatched ‘n’ Dispatched at Park Theatre, London.

Kimberley Walsh rose to prominence in the record-breaking girl band Girls Aloud. During their 10 years together, the group achieved twenty consecutive top ten singles in the UK, including four number ones, with over 4.3 million single sales and 4 million albums sold in the UK alone.  In 2012, Kimberley was runner up in Strictly Come Dancing.  As an actress, Kimberley has starred as series regular Rebecca in Disney’s The Lodge, played Claire Butterworth in the second series of Channel 4’s Ackley Bridge, and appeared in children’s movies Horrid Henry and All Stars.  In the West End, she starred as Princess Fiona in Shrek The Musical, Jovie in Elf the Musical, and joined Denise Van Outen for a week-long run at Cadogan Hall in Sweet Charity.

Matthew Kelly’s many television credits include the award-winning thriller Cold Blood, Benidorm, Bleak House and Moving On,although heis probably best known for presentingYou Bet! and Stars in their Eyes.His West End appearances include the original Stanley in Funny Peculiar (a role he had created at the Liverpool Everyman), Waiting For Godot with Ian McKellan and Roger Rees, Tim Firth’s play Sign of the Times, the musical Lend Me A Tenor! and as Lennie in the Birmingham Repertory Theatre’s production of Of Mice and Men at the Savoy Theatre, for which he won the Olivier Award for Best Actor.  His other most recent theatre credits include W.H. Auden/Fitz in the first revival of Alan Bennett’s The Habit of Art, Pride & Prejudice (Regents Park Theatre & UK Tour), The Jew Of Malta, Volpone and Love’s Sacrifice for the RSC, TOAST (Park Theatre & 59E59 in New York), the musicals Spamalot and Legally Blonde(National Tours), Troilus and Cressida (Shakespeare’s Globe) and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Trafalgar Studios,London). 

Jay McGuiness originated the role of Josh Baskin at the Theatre Royal Plymouth in 2016.  Jay came to fame as part of the successful boy band The Wanted.  His fame widened when he won Strictly Come Dancing in 2015 with professional dancer Aliona Vilani.  He and fellow bandmate Siva won last year’s celebrity version of Channel 4’s Hunted, raising money for Stand Up To Cancer.  Jay is also a regular contributor to the BBC’s The One Show and is currently starring in Rip It Up – The 60’s in London’s West End until June.

BIG is a joyous, heart-warming musical about 12 year-old Josh Baskin who longs to be big.  When a mysterious Zoltar machine grants his wish, he finds himself trapped inside an adult’s body and he is forced to live and work in a grown-up world, but his childlike innocence has a transforming effect on the adults he encounters.

With music by David Shire and lyrics by Richard Maltby, BIG has a book by John Weidman and direction and choreography by Morgan Young.  Associate choreographer is Helen Rymer, orchestrator and musical supervisor Stuart Morley, set and costume designer Simon Higlett, lighting designer Tim Lutkin, video designer Ian William Galloway, and sound designers Terry Jardine and Avgoustos Psillas, wig and hair designer Richard Mawbey, musical director Jeremy Wootton, illusions by Chris Fisher, casting directors Natalie Gallacher CDG for Pippa Ailion Casting and Sarah Bird CDG, and general management by David Pearson for Encore Theatre Productions Ltd.

Based on the Twentieth Century Fox Film BIG written by Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg, Michael Rose, Damien Sanders and Paul Gregg for Encore Theatre Productions Limited present the Theatre Royal Plymouth production of BIG.

LISTINGS INFORMATION

BIG

6 September – 2 November 2019

Dominion Theatre

268-269 Tottenham Court Road

LONDON W1T 7AQ

Box Office 0845 200 7982

Tickets from £29.50 (£1 from every ticket sold will be donated to Make-A-Wish® UK)

Performances Monday to Saturday 7.30pm*, Thursday & Saturday 2.30pm(*7pm on 17 September)

Website www.BigTheMusical.co.uk  

 #BigTheMusical 

NEW EPISODES OF THE TRAP DOOR PODCAST INCLUDE TAMARA HARVEY AND

MARCUS BRIGSTOCKE

The Trap Door podcast today announces upcoming episode guests, including West End director Tamara Harvey on May 15, and comedian Marcus Brigstocke on June 12. Other announced guests include Paul Ready and Harry Peacock.

On the next episode, Tamara Harvey sits down with host Sophie Black to talk about having children later in life, and the challenges of beginning her tenure as Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd as a brand new mum: “I suddenly realised I was in the very privileged position of having a job and therefore not worrying about whether people weren’t going to employ me in the immediate future because of being a mum. Therefore, probably, I had a responsibility to talk about it, and to breastfeed in auditions, and to breastfeed in board meetings, and to talk about those challenges. And it’s something’s that continued to feel important to continue to talk about it… it just feels like all of us have got to start talking about it more.”

Fighting daily with the chaos, joy and absurdity that only parenting can bring, seasoned radio producer Sophie Black launched the podcast The Trap Door, talking to comedians, actors, writers and other people in the public eye about the emotional impact of having children, and how it has altered the relationships with their partners, families, careers and sense of self.

Recently released episodes include BAFTA winning actress Katherine Parkinson, star of the Oliver Award-winning production Home, I’m Darling; and actress and comedian Hayley Jayne Standing.

Katherine Parkinson talked to Sophie about balancing motherhood with being in a West End show, and pursuing acting opportunities as a new mother (https://bit.ly/2DztCip): “When my youngest was born I decided to get quite fat in pregnancy and enjoy myself because I was looking forward to a long period off, and then this big sexy job came through, Humans, and I was like literally sort of in a bowl of triple choc M&S cereal, breastfeeding her thinking ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to be on camera in a few minutes!” 

Hayley Jayne Standing spoke about her struggles in getting pregnant, and working throughout the traumatic experience of terminating her non-viable pregnancy (https://bit.ly/2Vl94oR): “I was booked in to this BBC writers’ week away to Preston… I had the termination on the Saturday and I still went on this writing thing on the Monday to Thursday where you were like pitching your ideas and stuff, and I didn’t tell anyone what had happened. I just went to this thing in the middle of nowhere and just kept it to myself. I felt it was the right thing to do because I thought it was a good opportunity for work and I didn’t want to turn it down! But actually, it was a bit crazy because I’d dealt with something quite emotional and yet I was pitching for Cbeebies and CBBC shows”

You can subscribe to The Trap Door via Apple iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, audioBoom and all other major podcast hosts.  New episodes will be available every other Wednesday.

To listen to the podcast, please go to: www.thetrapdoor.net

From May 15, The Trap Door will be sponsored by Bea & Co., a unique London members’ agency specialising in providing families and organisations with excellent child care from the highest quality creative people.

Sophie Black regularly produces the highly successful podcasts Nick Clegg’s Anger Management and Remainiacs and frequently contributes audio stories for BBC Radio 4’s Short Cuts. She has worked as a radio producer for almost 20 years starting off at BBC GLR and leaving there to help launch BBC 7 in 2002.  Since then she has produced radio programmes, podcasts and short-form content across all the major BBC radio networks and independent outlets including the award-winning Prison Radio Association. In 2014 she produced Raw Meat Radio, a 3 hour Chris Morris special for BBC Radio 4 Extra which received much critical acclaim. 

Sophie is also a comedy writer – she was nominated for the Edinburgh Best Newcomer Award in 2006 as part of a sketch group called Fat Tongue and went on to appear in TV shows such as 10 O’Clock Live, Anna & Katy, The Royal Wedding Crashers, Lee Kern’s Celebrity Bedlam and Comedy Shuffle.  She also wrote, starred in and produced the film Single White Feline for the BBC which went on to get over 3 million hits online.

Artwork by Henry Petrides

Twitter: @TrapDoorPodcast

Instagram: @trapdoorpodcast

CHARLES VENN TO JOIN

NEIL AND KATYA JONES

IN

SOMNIUM: A DANCER’S DREAM

SADLER’S WELLS 20 – 22 JUNE 2019

British actor and 2018 Strictly star Charles Venn is to join the cast of SOMNIUM: A Dancer’s Dream, the explosive dance show starring World Latin Showdance Champions and Strictly professionals Neil and Katya Jones which comes to Sadler’s Wells in London for a limited season from 20 – 22 June 2019. Charles will be taking on the role of Richard Porter, Neil and Katya’s former dance coach who narrates the show’s story of how a boy from Britain and a girl from Russia met, fell in love and overcame the odds to become dance stars.

Actor Charles Venn plays a regular role in BBC’s Casualty playing Jacob Masters. He was also a recent quarter finalist contestant on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. Other TV credits include Miranda, (BBC), The Musketeers(BBC), Eastenders (BBC), Moving On (LA Prods), Dream Team (Sky), Holby City (BBC) and The Bill (ITV). His theatre credits include Kingston 14 (Theatre Royal Stratford), The First Wife (Soho Theatre), Annie Get Your Gun(Young Vic) and Ali the Great (Soho Theatre). Film credits include Monochrome (Electric Flix), Ghost Recon Alpha (RSA Films), Wrong Turn 3 (20th Century Fox), The Dark Knight (Warner Bros), The Bourne Ultimatum(Universal) and Return to the House on Haunted Hill (Warner Bros). 

Joining Charles, Neil and Kayta onstage are a host of international dancers. 

Italian dancer Simone Arena has travelled the world performing with Burn The Floor. He has appeared on the Italian dance TV show Amici and performed on Strictly Come Dancing in Blackpool.

Portuguese dancer Renato Baros Nobres was the winner of Hip Hop International 2018. Hehas performed onDancing with the Stars, Eurovision Song Contest (2014 and 2019), The Voice, the Golden Globes, The X Factor,Portuguese Idol and with Madonna.

Australian champion Jeremy Basile is the current British National Professional Latin Show Dance Champion. He has appeared on Dancing with the Stars Australia and has performed on international tours of Burn The Floor(2010-2016). 

British dancer Kate Basile (alongside her husband Jeremy) is the current British National Professional Latin Show Dance Champion. She is the previous British Closed Ballroom world champion and has represented Britain in two World Championships. She has also performed on international tours of Burn The Floor (2013- 2016). Dancing clearly runs in the family as she is also Neil’s cousin.

Michael Danilczuk became Polish national champion in 2014 with his partner Jowita.  He has appeared on So You Think You Can Dance (Poland) and Poland’s Got Talent. He is currently performing with Burn The Floor.

British dancer Kerri-Anne Donaldson holds 7 National, 5 International and 2 British Open titles. She reached the semi-final of Britain’s Got Talent with her troupe Kings and Queens in 2013. For several years she worked as a choreographer for the French version of Strictly Come Dancing and now works on the UK show.

Giada Lini is an Italian Show Dance champion and represented Italy in the World Championships in 2013. She won the Show Dance World Cup in 2014. For 3 years she performed on the Italian dance TV show Amici and has toured the world with Burn The Floor. She has danced on Strictly Come Dancing in Blackpool and London (her partner is Strictly professional Graziano Di Prima).

Jowita Przystal became Polish national champion in 2014 with her partner Michael.  She has appeared on So You Think You Can Dance (Poland) and Poland’s Got Talent. She is currently performing with Burn The Floor.

British dancer Korina Travis has held numerous Ballroom and Latin titles including British Under 21 Latin champion, Amateur Latin South of England Champion and Manhattan DanceSport Championships Under 21 Latin Champion. She was also the Junior Solo Cheerleading champion in 2004. She was runner up on the BBC’s Dinky Dancing Competition in 2006.

Break-dancer Chris Arias completes the main cast alongside 8 dancers from The Vale School of Dance in Stockport. Each performance will also see 15 new dance students take part in one number. The students are from Performers College, Bird College, Dance Connection and All Stars Academy, taking the cast up to 37.

Directed and choreographed by Neil Jones, SOMNIUM: A Dancer’s Dream tells the story of a boy from Britain and a girl from Russia who met, fell in love and overcame the odds to become dance stars. Starring real life couple Neil and Katya Jones and a company of dancers, the show features vivid storytelling and sensational Latin and ballroom choreography to produce a dance show like no other. It also depicts a complicated modern love story, exploring how the path of love doesn’t always run smoothly. SOMNIUM was originally created for Lichfield Festival and has been re-worked for this London run.

Born on a British Army camp in Germany, Neil is a creative and innovative choreographer as well as dancer.  Katya was born in St Petersburg, Russia and started dancing at the age of 6. In 2008 she formed a partnership with Neil and they went on to marry in 2013 before becoming World Champions

                     

StrattonOakmont Productions Ltd presents

By Jordan Belfort
Adapted and Directed by Alexander Wright
 

• WORLD PREMIERE IMMERSIVE PRODUCTION OF THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, BASED ON JORDAN BELFORT’S INFAMOUS MEMOIR, AS MADE FAMOUS BY THE OSCAR-WINNING MOVIE BY MARTIN SCORSESE STARRING LEONARDO DICAPRIO, TO OPEN IN CENTRAL LONDON IN SEPTEMBER 2019
   
• FROM THE TEAM BEHIND THE GREAT GATSBY, THE UK’S LONGEST RUNNING IMMERSIVE SHOW
   
• TICKETS NOW ON SALE AT WWW.IMMERSIVEWOLF.COM

The Wolf of Wall Street is coming to London in a brand new immersive production based on the memoir of the infamous ‘90s New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort, as depicted by Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie of the same name by Martin Scorsese. The world premiere production will plunge audiences into a world of greed, power and excess, bringing to life the highs and lows of Jordan Belfort’s millionaire lifestyle in a night of Class A entertainment. Adapted and directed byAlexander Wright (The Great Gatsby), the show will preview in a central London location, from 5 September 2019. Further casting and venue details will be announced in due course.

Jordan Belfort. Stock-market millionaire at 26. Federal convict at 36. By day he made thousands of dollars a minute. By night he spent it as fast as he could. 


Stratton Oakmont is hiring. The FBI is closing in. You’re either with him or you’re against him.

Jordan Belfort, The Wolf of Wall Street, said: “You’ve read the book, you’ve seen the film, now you can experience The Wolf of Wall Street in person. It’s going to be the greatest f**king show you’ve ever seen. Get your fun coupons now.”

Louis Hartshorn and Brian Hook of Stratton Oakmont Productions Ltd, said: “The Wolf of Wall Street is a fascinating account of the extremes of capitalism and hedonistic behaviour and how obsession with money can bring humanity to its knees. Creating this show in an immersive format is mind blowing – there’s no better way to tell this story. We’re building a world over four storeys in central London featuring iconic 1990s’ New York, trader schemes and even supercars. You’ll be able to eat in our restaurant, drink in our bars, trade with Jordan, or work for the FBI. Our guests can expect the outrageous, the spectacular and the downright ridiculous.”

The Wolf of Wall Street is presented by Stratton Oakmont Productions Ltd and comes from the minds behind The Great Gatsby – the longest-ever running immersive show in the UK which continues an open-ended run in London Bridge, as well as playing in other cities across Europe. Producers Louis Hartshorn and Brian Hook’s current shows also include Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 The Musical in the West End and Amelie The Musical (UK Tour). The Wolf of Wall Street is adapted and directed by Alexander Wright.

Tickets are now on sale at www.immersivewolf.com

Tim Firth and Gary Barlow’s 

Calendar Girls The Musical 

comes to Birmingham Hippodrome for the first time

Tim Firth and Gary Barlow’s Calendar Girls the Musical will reveal all when it comes toBirmingham Hippodrome for the very first time from Tuesday 28 May –Saturday 8 June 2019.

Leading the cast is beloved star of stage and screen, Lesley Joseph. Although perhaps best known for playing Dorien Green in the ITV sitcom Birds of a Feather, alongside Pauline Quirke and Linda Robson, Lesley has a wealth of theatrical experience to her credit. Most recently she starred as Frau Blücher in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein at the Garrick Theatre, a role which earned her an Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical.

Lesley Joseph is joined by Sarah Jane Buckley (Blood Brothers and Hollyoaks) as Annie,Sue Devaney (Dinnerladies, Casualty, Coronation Street, Mamma Mia!) as Cora, Julia Hills(Broadchurch, The Archers) as Ruth, Judy Holt (Cold Feet, Scott & Bailey) as Marie andLisa Maxwell (Loose Women, Hollyoaks, The Bill) as Celia and Rebecca Storm (Evita, Les Miserables, Chess) as Chris.

Calendar Girls The Musical is inspired by the true story of a group of ladies, who decide to appear nude for a Women’s Institute calendar in order to raise funds to buy a settee for their local hospital, in memory of one of their husbands, and have to date raised almost £5million for Bloodwise. This musical comedy shows life in their Yorkshire village, how it happened, the effect on husbands, sons and daughters, and how a group of ordinary ladies achieved something extraordinary.

Gary Barlow and Tim Firth grew up in the same village in the North of England and have been friends for 25 years.  With Take That, Gary has written and co-written 14 number one singles, has sold over 50 million records worldwide and is a six times Ivor Novello Award winner.  Tim has won the Olivier Award and UK Theatre Award for Best New Musical, and the British Comedy Awards Best Comedy Film for Calendar Girls.

The cast also includes Phil Corbitt as John, Ian Mercer as Rod, Sebastian Aberneri as Colin, Alan Stocks as Denis, Pauline Daniels as Lady Cravenshire, Ellie Leah as Miss Wilson, Danny Howker as Danny, Isabel Caswell as Jenny and Tyler Dobbs as Tommo.

Calendar Girls the Musical comes to Birmingham Hippodrome for the very first time fromTuesday 28 May –Saturday 8 June 2019, for tickets visit birminghamhippodrome.com or call 0844 338 5000 (4.5p per minute plus your phone company’s access charge). 

WINNER OF PETER HALL EMERGING ARTISTS FELLOWSHIP FAY LOMAS DIRECTS OUT OF THE DARK

Rose Theatre Kingston presents

Out of the Dark

By Suzy Gill

Directed by Fay Lomas

30 October 2019 – 2 November 2019

With the critically acclaimed Captain Corelli’s Mandolin currently running, Rose Theatre Kingston today announce Out of the Dark, a debut play written by Suzy Gill. Fay Lomas, winner of the 2019 Peter Hall Emerging Artist Fellowship, an annual award introduced to commemorate the legacy of Sir Peter Hall,directs.Out of the Dark opens at the Rose Studio on Wednesday 30 October and runs until Saturday 2 November 2019.

There’s the space that’s all around us — enclosing the Earth, full of galaxies, moonbeams and meteors, planets and probably other life forms. And then there’s the space inside Lily’s head. Where the matter simply stopped forming.

Lily. He. And She. A fledgling family. A family who are suddenly faced with the unexpected, when, at 6 months, Lily is diagnosed with a rare neurological condition with potentially life-changing consequences.

Out of the Dark is a lyrical, honest and tender exploration of their family life as they begin tentatively to orbit the struggles and triumphs that come following the discovery that Lily’s brain did not quite form the way that He and She anticipated.

Fay Lomas said today, ‘I’m really excited to be able to bring Suzy’s deeply moving and human story to life at the Rose this autumn. Suzy is an extraordinary wordsmith, and her play takes its audience on a journey that moves between minds and meteors in the blink of an eye. Our collaboration on this play started at a workshop (with the company Scene Gym) back in early 2018. So we’re both delighted that the Rose’s invaluable support has meant we can now share this work with a public audience in Kingston.’

Alongside Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, which embarks on a UK tour until 29 June, this year the Rose also present their annual Christmas production The Snow Queen, adapted and directed by Ciaran McConville. In addition, they welcome visiting productions including The Lovely Bones; Posh; smash hit musical Six and parody musicalFriendsical. For family theatre, Julia Donaldson’s and Alex Scheffler’s The Gruffalo and Tabby McTat return along with a new version of Kes Gray and Jim Field’s Oi Frog!

Fay Lomas is an emerging theatre director working across the Midlands and London. Her directing credits include The Crucible (Royal & Derngate Northampton Community Company), The Winter’s Tale (St Peter’s Church, Northampton), Bérénice (The Space) and Blood Wedding (The Bread and Roses). In addition, she has directed new, short plays at Arcola Theatre, Theatre503 and Southwark Playhouse. As an assistant director her credits include The Model Apartment (Ustinov Studio), Macbeth (National Theatre/UK tour), Trouble in Mind (Print Room), Death of a Salesman (Royal & Derngate Northampton/UK tour), Great Expectations (Royal & Derngate Northampton), Annie Get Your Gun (Sheffield Theatres) and Half Life (Theatre Royal Bath).

Suzy Gill is an actress, poet and playwright based in London. She graduated from the University of East Anglia in 2011. Extracts of her writing have been produced by Pint-Sized Plays, (​First Time, The Bunker), SLAM King’s Cross (​The Fox) and at the Old Red Lion (​Twilight Zone). She regularly performs and produces Spoken Word nights across London. These have included; Hollaback (Theatre N16), SLAMinutes (The Arcola), and the post-show event for ​Collective Rage at the Southwark Playhouse. Her spoken word poem, Systematic Problems went viral after it was published by the Huffington Post and publicised by BBC3. 

MENIER CHOCOLATE FACTORY ANNOUNCES

THE EUROPEAN PREMIÈRE OF

THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY

The Menier Chocolate Factory present

The UK première

THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY

Book by Marsha Norman

Music & Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown

Directed by Trevor Nunn; Designer: Jon Bausor; Lighting Designer: Tim Lutkin

Sound Designer: Gregory Clarke; Musical Supervisor/Director: Tom Murray

12 July – 14 September 2019

With The Bay at Nice currently running at the Menier and Fiddler on the Roofplaying at the Playhouse Theatre, the Menier Chocolate Factory today announces the European première of the musical of Robert James Waller’s bestselling novel The Bridges of Madison County in a new staging by Trevor Nunn. The production opens on 23 July, with previews from 12 July, and runs until 14 September. Booking opens for supporters of the Menier today – 7 May, with public booking on 13 May at 9am.

Francesca is an Italian immigrant housewife living a happy existence on a farm in the American Midwest.  However, when her family go off to the Iowa State Fair, she meets Robert Kincaid, a National Geographic photographer on assignment filming bridges in the area.  Their initial friendship develops into a brief but passionate affair which has devastating consequences on all of their lives. 

Winner of the Tony Awards for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations, this is one of Jason Robert Brown’smost ravishing and unforgettable shows.

The productionsees Trevor Nunn renew his collaboration with the Menier – he previously directed Fiddler on the Roof (currently running at the Playhouse Theatre),Lettice and Lovage, Love in Idleness (also West End), A Little Night Music (also West End and Broadway) and Aspects of Love for the company.

Marsha Norman is a playwright and screenwriter. Her theatre credits include Master Butcher’s Singing Club, Third and Oak: The Laundromat, Night, Mother – Pulitzer Prize Winner for Drama­, The Secret Garden – Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical, The Red Shoes, The Color Purple, Getting Out, The Pool Hall, The Holdup, Traveler in the Dark, Sarah and Abraham, Loving Daniel Boone, Trudy Blue and Last Dance. Her television credits include In Treatment; and for film, Night, Mother, Face of a Stranger, A Cooler Climate, Custody of the Heart and The Audrey Hepburn Story.

Jason Robert Brown is a three-time Tony Award winning composer and lyricist. His theatre credits include 13,The Last Five Years – which was also adapted into a film in 2015 starring Anna Kendrick, Parade – which won a Tony Award for Best Score, Honeymoon in Vegas, Songs for a New World and Urban Cowboy – which he co-wrote with Jeff Blumenkrantz.

From 1968 to 1986, Trevor Nunn was the youngest ever Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, directing over thirty productions, including most of the Shakespeare canon, as well as Nicholas Nickleby and Les Misérables.  From 1997 to 2003, he was Artistic Director of the National Theatre, where his productions included Troilus and Cressida, Oklahoma!, The Merchant of Venice, Summerfolk, My Fair Lady, A Streetcar Named Desire, Anything Goes and Love’s Labour’s Lost. He has directed the world premières of Tom Stoppard’s plays Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia and Rock n Roll; and of Cats, Sunset Boulevard, Starlight Express and Aspects of Love by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Other theatre includes Timon of Athens, Skellig (Young Vic); The Lady From The Sea (Almeida Theatre); Hamlet, Richard II, Inherit the Wind (The Old Vic), A Little Night Music (Menier Chocolate Factory, West End and Broadway), Cyrano de Bergerac, Kiss Me Kate (Chichester Festival Theatre); Heartbreak House, Flare Path, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Tempest (Theatre Royal, Haymarket); Scenes from a Marriage (Coventry & St James), All That Fall (Jermyn Street & New York); A Chorus of Disapproval and Relative Values (West End).  Work for television includes Antony and Cleopatra, The Comedy of Errors, Macbeth, Three Sisters, Othello, The Merchant of Venice and King Lear, and on film, Hedda, Lady Janeand Twelfth Night. 

This production is produced in association Michael Harrison and David Ian.

Listings Information                                                                                     The Bridges of Madison County

Booking opens for supporters of the Menier on 7 May, with public booking on 13 May

Venue:                                Menier Chocolate Factory

Address:                             53 Southwark Street, London, SE1 1RU

Press performance:         23 July at 8pm

Dates:                                 12 July – 14 September 2019

Times:                                 For the performance schedule, please see the website

Box Office:                         020 7378 1713 (£2.50 transaction fee per booking)

Website:                        www.menierchocolatefactory.com (£1.50 transaction fee per booking)

Tickets:                               Prices vary, as below from discounted preview tickets to premier seats. With the emphasis on ‘the sooner you book, the better the price’:

A meal deal ticket includes a 2-course meal from the pre-theatre menu in the Menier Restaurant as well as the theatre ticket.

www.menierchocolatefactory.com

Twitter: @MenChocFactory

Grand Opera House York – Saturday 5th May 2019.

Reviewed by Michelle Richardson

5*****

For Christmas and New Year just gone, my husband and I had the holiday of a lifetime, we went cruising. Setting off from Southampton on the QM2, we went across to New York before jumping ship and hopping onto another around the Caribbean, then back on to the QM2. On getting back onboard the QM2, all the chatter was about how great The Barricade Boys were, who had performed the night before, I was gutted that I had missed their performance by one night. To my delight I then found out that they were coming to York and I would be given the opportunity to see them, and it was a delight.

Local boy Scott Garnham co-founded the group with Simon Schofield several years ago to showcase the male voices from the musical Les Misérables. Since then they have travelled all over the world and are frequently performing on cruise ships, of which the standard of entertainment on some are superb, I have been on a few so have first-hand experience. The Barricade Boys consist of four members, which can and do change. For this performance I got to see Scott and Simon, accompanied by Kieran Brown and Dougie Carter.

Hitting the stage with a live four-piece band in place, the boys looked very dapper and slick and straight away we were treated to I Dreamed a Dream. At this stage I must admit I was not convinced, they all have such powerful voices, but the sound was a bit distorted, maybe the acoustics weren’t quite right for this size of theatre, for this particular tune, I’m no expert. I’m glad to say this was not an issue for the rest of the performance, the complete opposite in fact.

We were treated to a bit of Blues Brothers, before the boys were joined on stage by Kirkham Henry Performing Arts Choir, which Scott is an alumni of, to perform A Million Dreams from the Greatest Showman. What followed was a mixture of Motown, Reach Out being a favourite of mine, used to listen to this on my mum’s vinyl when I was growing up, to rock, pop, ballads, you name it this show had it. One poignant moment was the dedication to the Armed Forces with Bring Him Home from Les Misérables which bought a cheer from the audience. Hit close to home that one, I have been a “wife of” a soldier for many years and have been left at home many a time whilst he was away on operations.

The show was awash with highlights but I must mention the tribute to the Jersey Boys and Simon with his falsetto, plus another favourite of mine, My Eyes Adore You, a song I only came to know after the release of the Jersey Boys film. This was not the best bit of the show, no way, that came towards the end, in the form of Bohemian Rhapsody. The boys, and band, led by the very talented James Doughty, literally blew my socks off, it was absolutely fantastic, I cannot express how good it was. I was straight on my feet and it thoroughly deserved the standing ovation it received. They sang the song in its entirety and did justice to the name of Queen and Freddie Mercury. I saw Queen perform about 18 months ago, best concert I have ever been to, and they would have been an excellent addition to an already fab show. Now that’s a suggestion, how about the boys performing with Queen?

All four had incredible voices, harmonising beautifully with each other, their personalities shining through. The camaraderie, fun on stage was fantastic, so infectious to watch, by a talented group of performers. A great evening full of Uptown Funk and flossing, Oh what a night!!

The Actor’s Church, Covent Garden – 3 May 2019

Reviewed by Claire Roderick

3***

Fluffy Top Productions take a light-hearted look at the highs and lows of parenthood, charting the struggles from pregnancy to parenting stroppy teenagers. Writers Emily and Pete Moody find the comedy in every stage of journey, and their songs are catchy and insightful.

The cast of nine, all wearing bright T-shirts that are familiar to any adult who’s had to sit through children’s shows, are energetic and talented, although they were poorly served by the sound balance in the church as many audience members couldn’t hear the clever lyrics over the music.

There are some sketches in between the songs that link in with the stage of parenthood the revue has reached, and these are a little hit and miss. The characters and situations are instantly recognisable, from the natural birthing zealot to school gate parents and the insane pressure and oneupmanship of young children’s birthday parties. There is also a brilliantly observed piece about translating what teachers REALLY mean in school reports.

The revue is generally well-paced but slightly overlong, with the first few songs of act two feeling like they should be grouped with those from act one as there is a big jump to parenting older children halfway through the act. I understand why the writers wanted to show the complete story of raising children right up to adulthood, but as funny as the teenage songs are, I can’t help but think that the show would be more satisfying if it was more of a Parenthood – Part 1 and ended pre-teen years, or cut some of the songs in act one to even the show out a little. A bit of a Sophie’s Choice for the writers there. Although the grandparents’ gleeful song about karma should definitely stay in!

Full of upbeat, funny songs and some very witty sketches, Parenthood has the makings of an excellent show with a few tweaks and trims. A fun and relatable night out.