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KANDER AND EBB’S

THE RINK

TO PLAY A LIMITED SEASON AT SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE

FROM 25 MAY TO 23 JUNE 2018

 

Jack Maple Productions will stage the first London revival in 20 years of THE RINK by the Tony and Olivier Award-winning John Kander (music) and Fred Ebb (lyrics), the creators of musicals such asChicago, Cabaret, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and The Scottsboro Boys, and a book by Tony Award-winning Terence McNally (Ragtime, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Master Class).  The new production of THE RINK will play at Southwark Playhouse for a limited season from 25 May to 23 June 2018, with a national press night on Tuesday 29 May. This new production will be directed by Adam Lenson and choreographed by Fabian Aloise, with casting, to be announced, by Jacob Sparrow.

 

Anna, an Italian housewife who runs a roller-skating rink on the Eastern seaboard, is about to sell it to developers until her estranged daughter, Angel, returns after a long absence, hoping to save the rink and patch things up with her mother.

 

THE RINK originally premiered on Broadway on 9 February 1984, starring Chita Rivera as Anna and Liza Minelli as Angel.  Rivera won the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for her performance. The show premiered in London at the Cambridge Theatre on 17 February 1988, starring Josephine Blake and Diane Langton as Anna and Angel respectively.

 

Adam Lenson most recently directed 35mm: A Musical Exhibition (The Other Palace) andSuperhero (Southwark Playhouse). His other recent directing credits include Whisper House (The Other Palace), Songs For A New World (St James Theatre, 20th Anniversary Production), The Sorrows of Satan (Tristan Bates Theatre), Disgraced (English Theatre Frankfurt) and Dark Tourism(Park Theatre). In 2016, Adam was the recipient of a Kevin Spacey Artist of Choice Award, for which he is currently developing Wasted, a new rock musical based on the Brontës which had a workshop production at West Yorkshire Playhouse in October 2016.

Adam said of directing THE RINK, “I have long admired the ingenious work of Kander and Ebb and to get to direct this rarely seen masterpiece is a true privilege. Most people are only familiar with their most popular hits Chicago and Cabaret, but The Rink is as innovative as it is underrated and truly pushes the form of musical theatre. I cannot wait for audiences to see this beautiful and complex story.”

Fabian Aloise most recently choreographed the UK National Tour of Our House and the European Premiere of Stephen Schwartz’s Working at Southwark Playhouse. Fabian was resident choreographer on Matilda at the Cambridge Theatre, and associate choreographer on the Australian production. Prior to this, Fabian was associate choreographer to Arlene Phillips on We Will Rock You in Belgium, and associate choreographer to Ann Reinking for US and International tours of Fosse.  He choreographed The 24 Hour Musical at The Old Vic for Kevin Spacey and Jamie Lloyd, and Off-West End productions of Bright Lights Big City and The Drowsy Chaperone.

LISTINGS INFORMATION

25 May to 23 June 2018

Southwark Playhouse
77-85 Newington Causeway
London SE1 6BD

Performance Times:
Monday – Friday 7.30pm
Saturday and Tuesday 3.00pm & 7.30pm
N.B Tuesday 29 May – no matinee performance

Tickets: £25 and £20 concessions (from £14 during previews)

Box Office:  020 7407 0234

Website: southwarkplayhouse.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SouthwarkPlayhouse
Twitter: @TheRinkMusical @swplay

Book by Jonathan Harvey
Directed by Maria Friedman
Designer Tom Pye
Choreographer Tim Jackson

• NEW MUSICAL CHARTING THE LIFE OF DUSTY SPRINGFIELD TO PLAY LIMITED ENGAGEMENTS IN BATH, SHEFFIELD, NEWCASTLE, AND SALFORD FROM JUNE 2018.
• KATHERINE KINGSLEY TO STAR IN THE TITLE ROLE OF DUSTY SPRINGFIELD.

DUSTY, the landmark new musical based on the authorised biography of Dusty Springfield will have its world premiere at Theatre Royal Bath in June 2018 before dates at The Lyceum in Sheffield, Newcastle Theatre Royal, and The Lowry in Salford.

With a fiercely funny and emotionally charged script from BAFTA and Olivier nominated writerJonathan Harvey (Beautiful Thing, Coronation Street), DUSTY will be directed by OlivierAward-winner Maria Friedman (Merrily We Roll Along, Stepping Out) and star KatherineKingsley (Piaf, Singin’ in the Rain) in what promises to be a career-defining performance celebrating the music of a lifetime. Further casting will be announced in due course.

Featuring many of Dusty Springfield’s blazingly soulful pop hits, including I Only Want to Be With You, Son of a Preacher Man and You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, DUSTY celebrates the extraordinary and vivacious woman whose timeless voice immortalised her as “one of Britain’s most successful female singers” (The Telegraph)

DUSTY originates from the notes and memoirs of the late singer’s close friend and manager Vicki Wickham, as well as conversations with her lifelong personal assistant Pat Rhodes, and friend and record company executive Tris Penna.

London born Dusty Springfield’s career started in the late 1950’s. She soon became known across the world for her soulful voice and iconic look with hits spanning four decades. Her 1969 masterpiece ”Dusty In Memphis’ is considered one of the greatest albums of all time and Dusty has been inducted into both the US Rock and Roll and UK Music Halls of Fame.

Jonathan Harvey wrote his first play in 1987, and has since written over 15 more, including Babies, Boom Bang-A-Bang and Beautiful Thing, which was later made into an acclaimed film. He has been the recipient of the Evening Standard, George Devine and John Whiting Awards, and his work has been both Bafta- and Olivier-nominated. Jonathan’s extensive television writing includes Coronation Street, on which he has worked since 2004, Beautiful People and Gimme, Gimme, Gimme. He has also written for shows as diverse as Rev, Shameless, At Home With The Braithwaites, The Catherine Tate Show and Tracey Ullman’s Show. He has also published five novels and been hailed as ‘the new theatrical voice of his generation’.

Best known as a three-time Olivier Award winning star of the musical stage, director Maria Friedman made an astonishing directorial debut in 2012 with a hugely acclaimed production of Merrily We Roll Along which won Best Musical at the Evening Standard Awards 2013, the Olivier Awards 2014 (for which Maria was also nominated for Best Director of a Musical), and the Critic’s Circle Award 2013. She went on to direct High Society at The Old Vic in 2015 and recently Stepping Out at the Vaudeville Theatre.

Katherine Kingsley has received widespread critical acclaim and multiple Olivier and WhatsOnStage award nominations. Theatre credits include playing Marlene Dietrich in Piaf (Donmar), Christine Colgate in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Savoy Theatre London, Manchester Opera House and Aylesbury Waterside Theatre), Helena in Michael Grandage Company’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Noël Coward Theatre), Lina Lamont in Singin’ In The Rain (Palace Theatre London and Chichester Festival Theatre) and The 39 Steps (Criterion Theatre). On screen credits include the film Genius as well as appearances on The Bill, Casualty and Bad Education.

DUSTY is produced by Eleanor Lloyd Productions in association with Tris Penna and Vicki Wickham. Eleanor Lloyd Productions is currently presenting Witness for the Prosecution at London County Hall. Recent projects include Nell Gwynn with Gemma Arterton, Olivier Award for Best Comedy (Apollo), Fantastic Mr Fox Winner Best Presentation of Touring Theatre – UK Theatre Awards (NST Theatres & Tour), 1984 (Playhouse, 2014, 2015 & 2016, Hudson Broadway), My Night with Reg, Olivier Nomination for Best Revival (Apollo) and Handbagged, Olivier Nomination for Best Comedy (Vaudeville and UK tour).

LISTINGS

DUSTY
THE NEW DUSTY SPRINGFIELD MUSICAL
Book by Jonathan Harvey
Directed by Maria Friedman
Designer Tom Pye
Choreographer Tim Jackson

WEBSITE : DustySpringfieldMusical.com
SOCIAL: @DustyTheMusical

TOUR SCHEDULE

Saturday 23 June – Saturday 7 July 2018
THEATRE ROYAL BATH 
*Online booking from 2 November 2017*
www.theatreroyal.org.uk | 01225 448844
Tickets from £23.00
Evenings performances at 7.30pm
Matinee performances on Saturday 30th June, Thursday 5th July and Saturday 7th July at 2.30pm.(no performance Monday 25th June).

Wednesday10 July – Saturday 14 July 2018

SHEFFIELD LYCEUM THEATRE
*On Sale from early 2018*
www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk | 0114 249 6000
Tickets from £18.00
Evening performances at 7.45pm
Matinee performances on Thursday and Saturday at 2.30pm

Tuesday 17 July – Saturday 21 July 2018
NEWCASTLE THEATRE ROYAL 
* General on sale from 10 November 2017*
www.theatreroyal.co.uk | 08448 112 121
Tickets from £19.50
Evening performances at 7.30pm
Matinee performances on Wednesday and Thursday at 2pm and Saturday at 2.30pm

Tuesday 24 July – Saturday 28 July 2018
THE LOWRY, SALFORD
* General on sale from 20 October 2017*
www.thelowry.com | 0843 208 6000
Tickets from £14.50
Evening performances at 7.30pm
Matinee performances on Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm

Newcastle Theatre Royal will debut a very special performance this Remembrance Sunday, 12 November. Created by the UK’s military community Unspoken is based on real-life stories and is the heart-breaking tale of lives shattered and changed forever by war. 

The one-off production will be the culmination of a five week theatre project run by the Bravo 22 Company, The Royal British Legion’s recovery through the arts programme, and is being delivered in partnership with the Newcastle Theatre Royal and The Drive Project.

 

The cast includes veterans who’ve suffered life-changing injures as well as family members with a loved one in the forces. Writer Gary Kitching has based the script on their real life memories and experiences and created a rare theatrical work, a hilariously heart-wrenching tale of love, loss, loneliness and hope.

 

Kitching, who has 20 years’ acting experience, including projects with young offenders said: “It’s their stories and if I can write something they are proud to perform then my job is done. It’s their ability to get on and deal with whatever is thrown at them, and their ability to find humour in the darkest places. I think they will surprise, entertain and move a lot of people.”

 

Unspoken follows in the footsteps of several hugely successful theatre and art projects that Bravo 22 company has run over the past six years. Its debut, The Two Worlds of Charlie F, received standing ovations throughout its West End run in 2012 and went on to tour the UK and Canada, including a critically acclaimed visit to Newcastle Theatre Royal in 2014. Furthermore, in December last year, 30 members of Newcastle’s Armed Forces community performed and produced sell-out show Wor Stories at the Theatre, another breathtaking production based on real life experiences.

 

Bravo 22 Company was created by Alice Driver in partnership with The Royal British Legion, the Ministry of Defence and the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 2011 to help improve self-awareness, confidence, self-esteem and motivation in order to aid personnel with individual paths to recovery.

 

Directing the show will be Newcastle Theatre Royal Artistic Director Phil Hoffmann.

Phil said: “For the last two years, the Learning Department has been working in partnership with The Drive Project and The Royal British Legion (RBL) to deliver projects for Wounded, Injured and Sick Service Personnel, veterans and their families. Last year we delivered Wor Stories – a regional project with participants from the NE, but in January we began working on Unspoken – a much larger project.”

 

Most of the cast of Unspoken have taken part in previous Bravo 22 Company projects and one of the stars is former Royal Marine Tip Cullen.  After 30 years as a commando Tip left the army in 2015.  His first acting break came in Bravo 22’s Boots at the Door in Plymouth in 2015, but he has since gone on to appear in various Hollywood films including Spielberg’s ‘Ready Player One’ and Kingsmen 2. He’ll join this Bravo 22 cast fresh from filming in Canada.

 

Alice Driver, Founder and Managing Director for The Drive Project, commented; “The Bravo 22 Company journey has been incredible to oversee.  Six years on from our first performance and around 230 people have been through this process. Reuniting cast members from all over the country for this performance is really special for me. What makes this type of theatre unique is not only what the audience gets out of seeing a show based on real life experiences but also how the cast grow in confidence, form new friendships and use the stage as a platform for their voice”

 

Unspoken was commissioned to support RBL’s national campaign of Remembrance, moving into 2018 which marks 100 years since the end of WWI.

 

As such, Newcastle Theatre Royal will be used as a focus for the regional Remembrance campaign which will feed into the national campaign. As well as having official RBL poppy sellers outside the theatre in the run up to the production on the 12 November, a major new art installation will be positioned on the Theatre’s terrace between 25 October – 13 November. Created by award-winning artist Mark Humphrey the sculpture features a 3m tall ‘Centenary Soldier’ standing on a plinth of limestone sourced from the Somme.  The figure is inspired by the iconic ‘Unknown Soldier’ in Paris and will provide a centre point for the city’s Remembrance activities.

 

Unspoken is also one of the cultural highlights of Newcastle Freedom City 2017, a city-wide programme commemorating the 50th anniversary of Dr Martin Luther King being awarded an honorary degree by Newcastle University.

 

Unspoken is at Newcastle Theatre Royal for ONE NIGHT ONLY on Sunday 12 November 2017 at 7pm. Tickets are from £10 and can be purchased from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 (Calls cost 7ppm plus your phone company’s access charge) or book online at www.theatreroyal.co.uk

King’s Head Theatre, 115 Upper Street, Islington, London N1 1QN
Wednesday 10th January – Saturday 3rd February 2018

In an exciting new revival from the winners of the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award 2016 (Life According to Saki), Steven Berkoff’s masterpiece East opens 2018 at the King’s Head Theatre, where it made its London debut in 1975.

Full of wit, lust, and fury, East remains a startlingly original and influential piece of theatre – a triumphant shout of youth and energy. Its language veers from Shakespearean verse to the depths of profanity without missing a beat, teeming with life in all its murk and glory.

East catapults us into the rowdy youth of Mike and Les as they fight over Mike’s girl Sylv and become unexpected allies. Assaultive, riotously funny, and entirely unapologetic, we are lured into their tall-tales of felony and bravado and we come to recognise their brutal kind of charm. Sylv knows her most potent weapon is her sexuality, but she still has the spit and pluck to level with the boys. Meanwhile, Mum and Dad live separate inner lives, both coming alive in the flickering light of memories, recalling lives they once led – or wish they had.

Bringing East to life at the King’s Head Theatre will be Russell Barnett (Hamlet, The Riverside Theatre; The Tempest, The Drayton), Jack Condon (Housed, The Old Vic; Clybourne Park, RADA; Scuttlers, RADA), James Craze (The Beginning of the End, Hull Truck Theatre and Theatre N16; Home Theatre, Theatre Royal Stratford East; Ernie – a One Man Play by James Craze), Debra Penny (Our Country’s Good, National Theatre; Flowers of the Forest, Jermyn Street Theatre; Martha Josie
and the Chinese Elvis, Bolton Octagon and tour) and Boadicea Ricketts (professional debut). Carol Arnopp (Freelance keys, RTÉ Concert Orchestra; Children’s Musical Director, The Magic Flute, Cork Opera House) will take the role of the pianist and musical director.

Director Jessica Lazar comments, East’s characters are violent and relentless and sometimes grotesque, but they are also electrically funny, brutally charming. They leap from frustrated dreams and fantastic nightmares to punch-drunk reality and back again. They don’t ask to be pitied. East resonates so powerfully in the mood of 2017/18 because Berkoff sought to turn “a welter of undirected passion and frustration into a positive form”. But it is also, put simply, a
brilliant play.

Berkoff’s East still feels amazingly relevant today as it yanks us into interior worlds, rioting in unfulfilled dreams and explosions of longing, leaving no room for polite middle ground. Although set in Berkoff’s hometown of London, he has explained that East could be set on any east side of any city.

East will be directed by Life According to Saki director Jessica Lazar. Set and costume will be by Anna Lewis, a Jerwood Young Designer, MGC Futures Bursary Holder, and Offie Nomine (Costume Design – After October, Finborough). Sound and lighting will be by Dublin-based David Doyle, previous winner of the Best Theatre Award at the Adelaide Fringe and the NSDF Commendation for Lighting Design at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Last chance to see

Tony and Emmy Award Winner

STOCKARD CHANNING in

Final weeks

Strictly limited season ends 18 November

 

                                                                        “Absorbing, finely acted”           “Deeply satisfying drama”

                                                     ★★★★                              ★★★★

                                                                                                                                                    The Daily Telegraph                                                                       Mail on Sunday

 

“Intelligent, genuinely funny and human”

★★★★★

The Upcoming

 

Also starring

FREEMA AGYEMAN, LAURA CARMICHAEL

JOSEPH MILLSON & DESMOND BARRIT

 

By ALEXI KAYE CAMPBELL

Directed by JAMIE LLOYD

Trafalgar Studios until 18 November 2017

 

Audiences have until 18 November to see Hollywood and Broadway icon Stockard Channing star in the new critically acclaimed production of Olivier Award winner Alexi Kaye Campbell’s drama Apologia, (“sharply satirical and searching” Mail on Sunday) at Trafalgar Studios. Directed by the multi-award winning Jamie Lloyd (“with flair” The Times), Apologiahas received standing ovations throughout its run and is not to be missed.

 

Tony and Emmy Award winning actor Channing (“superb” Evening Standard) performs in this haunting play about family and its secrets alongside co-stars Freema Agyeman (“terrific oomph” The Times) and Laura Carmichael, (“excellent” The Guardian) who was recently nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a New Production of a Play in the BroadwayWorld UK Awards for her role.  Completing the cast are Joseph Millson (“powerfully restrained”British Theatre) and Olivier Award winner Desmond Barrit (“hilarious” Mail on Sunday). 

 

Apologia sees Channing performing in the West End for the first time in over a decade.  Channing’s hugely popular film and TV credits include starring roles in The West Wing, The Good Wife, her Oscar® and Golden Globe nominated role in Six Degrees of Separation, and the iconic role of Rizzo in the film Grease. An acclaimed Broadway and West End star, Channing’s most recent performances on Broadway, It’s Only a Play and Other Desert Cities(a “peerless” performance – NY Times, for which she was nominated for her seventh Tony Award), have affirmed her position as a true theatrical legend.

 

Apologia is a compelling, witty, topical and passionate play about the importance of family, generations, secrets and warring perspectives. Critics have been overwhelmingly positive in their response, and Apologia has received four star reviews across The Arts Desk, City AM, The Daily Express, Daily Telegraph, Evening Standard, Mail on Sunday, Metro, and The Times. London Theatre calls it “smart, powerful and poignant”, The Stage describes it as“funny, defiant and moving,” while Metro says, “Channing triumphs. Gripping.”

 

Kristin Miller (Channing) a firebrand liberal matriarch of a dynamic family is presiding over her birthday celebrations. An eminent art historian, Kristin’s almost evangelical dedication to her career and her political activism has resulted in her sons – Peter, a merchant banker, and Simon, a writer – harbouring deeply rooted and barely suppressed resentments towards her. The fissures in her relationship with them are brought to the fore by the recent publication of her memoir.

 

As the evening unfolds through barbed humour, Kristin’s family and friends, and ultimately Kristin herself, question their achievements and choices, and whether they were worth the sacrifices they made. In the increasingly fragmented political turmoil of today’s landscape these questions have never seemed more relevant and will strike a chord with audiences.

 

Apologia is produced by Howard Panter for Trafalgar Entertainment Group, DB Productions and Broadway’s Dodger Theatricals.

 

The producers of Apologia are also delighted to continue Jamie Lloyd’s pioneering commitment to ensuring that tickets to the highest quality West End dramas remain affordable and accessible, particularly to younger audience members: 

 

·         TODAYTIX £15 RUSH EXCLUSIVE: In partnership with TodayTix, a daily rush scheme sees the front row for every performance sold at £15, allowing people to access the best seats via the app.  

 

·         £25 UNDER 25 RATE: A general under 25s rate of £25 (redeemable for any standard-priced seat, subject to availability at time of booking) is also available throughout the run forevery performance Monday – Thursday. This rate is available through ATG Tickets.

 

Dates:                                 Runs until Saturday 18^th November
Performances:                 Monday – Saturday at 7:30pm, Thursday and Saturday matinees at 2:30pm

Access Performances:   Wednesday 13^th September and Wednesday 4^th October
Box Office:                        www.atgtickets.com/trafalgarstudios / 0844 871 7632                                
Ticket Prices:                    From £15
Twitter:                            @ApologiaPlay  @TrafStudios        

Arcola Theatre, 18 October – 18 November.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

4****

Over one night in a 1953 New York hotel room, the lives of four American icons collide. None of the characters are ever named, simply billed as The Actress, The Professor, The Senator and The Ball Player – as the public defines them by their fame. Albert Einstein is being badgered by Senator McCarthy to testify before the House Committee for Un-American Activities while Marilyn Monroe is nearby posing for that iconic subway grate photo. She bursts into Einstein’s room determined to impress with her knowledge. The scenes between the unlikely pair aren’t quite When Albert met Marilyn, although her breathless reaction after she has demonstrated the theory of relativity (using toy trains, balloons and Mickey Mouse ears) rival THAT diner scene.

The cast don’t attempt impressions or caricatures, instead using subtle nods to the public image of Monroe and Einstein. Alice Bailey Johnson effortlessly shows Monroe’s vulnerabilities and sad understanding of the image she has built, making her reversion to this image in front of McCarthy even more touching. Simon Rouse’s Einstein is a masterclass in stillness. He allows the showier roles to shine, then steals the scene with a shrug and an arch one-liner. Rouse also reveals Einstein’s guilt and despair at life to seep through without losing the determined twinkle in his eyes. Oliver Hembrough is full of bluster as the fading baseball star, a ball of frustrated energy and anger who longs for a quiet family life with his wife. Tom Mannion is simply vile as McCarthy – that’s a compliment, honestly – smarmy and wheedling but occasionally slipping and spitting out threats as his true character emerges. His dislike of the famous, and probably everyone on earth who doesn’t think as he does, leads him to solipsism (once he’s discovered the word in his daily quest for knowledge), resulting in a fantastically ridiculous confrontation with DiMaggio as the sportsman tries to prove he is real.

When Terry Johnson wrote Insignificance, an aging wooden actor was president, now an aging orange TV reality show creation is president, but director David Mercatali doesn’t need to up the Trump stakes in this play. Sadly, nothing seems to have changed – McCarthy snarling about being a God-lovin’, gun-totin’ Wisconsin boy says it all really. Mannion does use the Trump finger loops when he is being most duplicitous, making the character even more unpalatable, but also highlighting the long line of political pantomime villain personas that the public love to hate. Fame is fleeting, and there’s always someone waiting to take your place in the public arena.

There’s not much action in this wordy play, just bedroom farce style entrances and exits, but the script is so good, and the cast so convincing that it doesn’t matter. There are lovely moments with Einstein’s friend’s cat, and the riffs on Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle are the plays main message – that we change what we are observing – and Marilyn Monroe is surely one of the saddest examples of that fact.

MARK PUDDLE IN ASSOCIATION WITH PAUL TYRER & JAMIE CLARK FOR TBO PRODUCTIONS

PRESENT THE SALISBURY PLAYHOUSE PRODUCTION OF IRA LEVIN’S

DEATHTRAP

STARRING JESSIE WALLACE & PAUL BRADLEY

A brand new production of Ira Levin’s Tony-nominated classic thriller Deathtrap comes to Richmond in the final dates of its UK tour, from Tuesday 14^th – Saturday 18^th November.

Deathtrap is a truly satisfying spine-chiller that is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. One of the most successful plays in its genre, it promises an ingenious maze of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the very end. The production will star Paul Bradley (Holby City and EastEnders) in the role of Sidney Bruhl and BAFTA nominee Jessie Wallace (EastEnders, Redwater and Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T’Be) as Myra Bruhl.

Sidney Bruhl (Bradley), a once- successful writer of stage thrillers, is in the grip of chronic writer’s block. Out of the blue, young playwright Clifford Anderson sends Bruhl one of the only two copies of his brilliant new whodunit, Deathtrap. Desperate to set Broadway alight once more, Sidney spies his chance to invite Clifford to his remote country home. Oh, and to bring the only other copy of Deathtrap with him! If Bruhl can kill the newcomer and pass the play off as his own, he could once again be the toast of Broadway.

Written by the award-winning playwright and author Ira Levin (Rosemary’s Baby, The Stepford Wives andCritics Choice), Deathtrap is directed by the newly appointed Artistic Director Designate of Nottingham Playhouse Adam Penford (The Boys in the Band, A Small Family Business and in June 2017, Committee at the Donmar Warehouse), and returns following a limited run at Salisbury Playhouse.

Deathtrap is a masterpiece of seat-gripping suspenseful writing, and continues to hold the record as the longest running thriller in Broadway history. It was subsequently made into a smash-hit film starring Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve.

Deathtrap is produced by Mark Puddle in association with Paul Tyrer and Jamie Clark for TBO Productions. Costume and set design is by Morgan Large, with lighting by James Whiteside, sound by Max Ringham, video design by Duncan McLean.  Presented by special arrangement with Samuel French Ltd.

Leed Grand Theatre – until 28 October 2017 and on tour around the UK

4****

The beautiful Grand theatre has been transformed into the Kit Kat club for the completely stunning but very dark new tour of Cabaret.

Deeply disturbing, the depravity and bleakness of Cabaret, is a snapshot of the dark underbelly of Berlin as the Nazis start their rise to power in the 1930s – before they stamped out the riotous anything-goes decadence portrayed at the Kit Kat Club.

Louise Redknapp is an attractive but wholesome Sally Bowles and puts over the big numbers with great assurance. But she never plumbs the emotional depths of the role. Whilst there is real desperate hope in Maybe This Time, and she seems to comes over as a plucky survivor, rather than someone teetering on the edge of despair.  In this, her first stage role, she can belt out the numbers with her amazing voice, but more time in the role will help her to gain confidence with her acting.  

Charles Hagerty’s Clifford Bradshaw, is the American bisexual writer who falls in love with Sally.  He is excellent in the role, capturing the character’s disgust at the rise of Nazism and his joy when he believes that he and Sally may have a child together. You never feel that this mismatched couple are head-over-heels in love however, the relationship between the old landlady, Fraulein Schneider (Susan Penhaligon), and her Jewish admirer Herr Schultz (Lionel Haft) proves far more touching thanks to lovely autumnal performances from them both.  The tender way in which Schultz, a greengrocer who sweetly courts her with bags of fresh fruit is both beautiful and gently romantic.  

Will Young was born to play Emcee, with wonderfully over the top mannerisms, switching from fey and funny to threatening, to lovelorn and bereft with consummate ease. You can’t take your eyes off him when he is onstage.  Young hits every queasy level of the oily and sardonic charm in a man who, as the still-shocking final moment makes clear, doesn’t see that he’s about to be steamrolled by some of the darkest forces in European history.  His voice is gorgeous. His belligerent shouting of “To me!” of the faux-Nazi anthem Tomorrow Belongs to Me rings out with defiance but also self-delusion and his vocals are sublime as he manipulates the Kit Kat ensemble as if they were puppets on strings, dancing to his tune. The parallel with Hitler and the German population becomes unmistakable.

The ensemble are very good performing Javier De Frutos’s choreography with athletic beauty.   The onstage band are terrific playing Kander and Ebb’s glorious musical numbers.  Rufus Norris’s production never shies away from the growing menace as the people of Berlin enjoy their final year of freedom and decadence before the Nazis take power.  

This is not a happy ending, the whole cast are damaged and the final 20 minutes of the show are shocking. The camp glamour of the pre-war Kit-Kat Club is gradually stripped away. The bare brick wall of the theatre is revealed. The fantasy is over.  Young’s Emcee flits through the detritus, singing the ghostly I Don’t Care Much which will give you goose-bumps, the chorus are lined up against the back wall, their shivering nakedness a sharp contrast with the strutting, vampish displays of their bodies in earlier scenes.  The symbolism obvious and thought provoking.

This production is just the complete musical package- a rare piece of musical theatre, challenging as well as entertaining.  On tour around the UK, you must get a ticket

 

Salisbury Playhouse – until 28 October 2017.  Reviewed by Sharon McDonald Armitage

4.5****

Ian Hislop and Nick Newman’s theatre adaptation of their successful television drama The Wipers Times is based on a true story of British soldiers who during WWI published a newspaper in conditions that have been well documented as being ghastly. Using typical British trench humour; as would be expected from Hislop, whose humour is well established as a captain on BBC’s quiz show Have I Got News For You and as editor of the satirical Private Eye magazine, we are shown how despite adversity the British Army never fails to keep its sense of humour.

The unlikely coming together, in Ypres, of two young officers: Captain Roberts (James Dutton) and Lieutenant Pearson (George Kemp) over an abandoned printing press and the luck of Sergeant Tyler (Dan Mersh) an ex-printer when in Civvy Street, surely doesn’t seem possible, but indeed it was. Based on a true story of soldiers from the 24^th Division of the Sherwood Foresters The Wipers Times (named after the mispronunciation by the soldiers of the town of Ypres) was a journal that poked fun at the war and those involved in it. When Captain Dutton announced he wanted the journal to be “something like Punch but with jokes” the audience quickly picked up on the satirical tone of not only the production but of what the journal was trying to achieve. As such The Wipers Times became extremely popular with not only front line troops but even those back home in England.

The serious nature of life in the trenches is lightened by interjections of Vaudeville moments. Designer Dora Schweitzer’s atmospheric set depicts not only the claustrophobic nature of life in the trenches but accompanied by James Smith’s lighting makes the switch to Vaudeville punchy and funny and highlights the satirical nature of what The Wipers Times was all about. The neon lights hanging over the barbed wire of the trench juxtaposes the humour and tragedy in equal measure and provides an opportunity to visually represent the spoof adverts that The Wipers Times was renowned for.

This cast is full of talent, with Dutton and Kemp epitomising what appears to be on the surface a jolly hockey sticks humorous approach to the war. There is superb timing from Dutton in delivering both comic and poignant lines with an equal and natural skill, which makes his performance all the more believable.  Kemp too gives a strong performance as the foil to Dutton and the two men play off against each other with consummate ease.

A question that needs asking is how can the impact of a few flimsy pieces of paper mean so much not only to those responsible for creating it, but to those that read and enjoy it? Surely it is immeasurable? However, the use of such satire and gallows humour was clearly just what was needed to uplift the spirits in such dreadful conditions. The same can be said for this show; humour at its best which lifts the soul and with Armistice Day fast approaching The Wipers Times is a show everyone should experience.

Great show, great cast, great production!

 

 

ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER’S OLIVIER AWARD-WINNING

S C H O O L   O F   R O C K  –  T H E   M U S I C A L

WELCOMES NEW ADULT CAST

WWW.SCHOOLOFROCKTHEMUSICAL.COM

Today, 23 October 2017, rehearsals begin for the new West End cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’sOlivier award-winning production of School of Rock – The Musical.  Stephen Leask, having played the role of alternate Dewey since May this year, will now lead the cast as Dewey Finn from 15 November 2017, as the show enters its second year in the West End.  Joining Leask at the New London Theatre will be Alan Pearson as Ned Schneebly, Michelle Francis as Patty Di Marco, currently a member of the ensemble, and Craig Gallivan as the alternate Dewey Finn.  Florence Andrews will continue as Rosalie Mullins alongside the three teams of thirteen kids who make up Dewey’s band.  The ‘grown up’ cast is completed by ensemble members Nick Butcher, Cassandra McCowan, Jessica Louise Parkinson, Andy Rees, Cameron Sharp, Jake Sharp, James Smoker, Wendy Somerville, Andrew Spillett, Hannah Stratton and Alex Tomkins with swings, Paul Kemble, Laura Medforth, Billy Mitchell, Tasha Sheridan and Joshua St. Clair.

 

To vote for School of Rock – The Musical which has been nominated for the 2017 Evening Standard Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical visit bbc.co.uk/radio 2.  Voting closes on 29 October 2017 at 11.59pm and the winner will be announced at the Evening Standard Awards on 3 December 2017.

 

On 6 November 2017 School of Rock – The Musical will host this year’s BBC Radio 2’s BBC Children in Need Gala. Hosted by Ken Bruce with the charity’s mascot Pudsey, at least 50% of the proceeds from the Gala will go to BBC Children in Need’s 2017 Appeal going on to make a difference to the lives of disadvantaged children and young people across the UK.  Tickets range from £50 – £140 and are available from schoolofrockthemusical.com.

Continuing the countrywide search for kids to ‘join the band’, further open auditions will take place in London on 8, 10, 20 and 22 November 2017. If you’re between 8 – 12 years old and play the drums, keys or the electric or bass guitar, registration and further details can be found at www.schoolofrockthemusical.co.uk/opencall or by contacting Jessica Ronane Casting at[email protected]

Now booking to 13 January 2019, School of Rock – The Musical opened in November last year and is one of four Lloyd Webber shows – with Phantom of the Opera, Evita and Jesus ChristSuperstar – which have played concurrently in the West End this year.  The West End production of School of Rock – The Musical is the recipient of the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music, and in August this year the production welcomed a new group of kids who play live music on stage at each performance.

Before joining the School of Rock company Stephen Leask’s previous theatre credits include Robin Hood at The Egg, Theatre Royal Bath, One Man, Two Guvnors at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, A Little Hotel on the Side for Theatre Royal Bath, Potted Panto at the Vaudeville Theatre, The Secret Garden for Birmingham Rep and Troilus and Cressida for the Royal Shakespeare Company.  Leask is a member of the Merely Players, a theatre company dedicated to producing accessible productions of Shakespeare.  His television appearances include Nightmares, Doctors, Our World War, The Intern and EastEnders.

 

Florence Andrews’ West End theatre credits include the role of Glinda in the Really Useful Group’s production of The Wizard of Oz at The London Palladium, Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre andOnce The Musical at the Phoenix Theatre.  She played the leading role of Candy in Miss Atomic Bomb at the former St. James Theatre as well as A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Mikado, both at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough.

 

Alan Pearson has recently completed a run in Alice’s Adventures Underground at the Waterloo Vaults. His other theatre credits include One Man, Two Guvnors for the National Theatre, The Mitford Girls at Chichester Festival Theatre, Avenue Q at the Gielgud and Wyndham’s Theatres,Hamlet at the Donmar Warehouse and Jack and the Beanstalk  at the Palace Theatre, Watford.

 

Michelle Francis’ theatre credits include Mack & Mabel and Oklahoma! for Chichester Festival Theatre, Jersey Boys at the Piccadilly Theatre and Prince Edward Theatre, The Importance of Being Earnest at the former St James’ Theatre, Finding Neverland at Leicester Curve and Shrek The Musical at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. 

Craig Gallivan is best known on television for playing Luke in the British comedy drama Stella, a role he has played for over 50 episodes.  His theatre credits include Billy Elliot The Musical at the Victoria Palace Theatre, Crime and Punishment for the National Theatre, Days of Significance for the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Long, The Short and the Tall for Sheffield Theatres and the UK Tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  His other television work includes Torchwood II, Footballers Wives and Footballers Wives: Extra Time.

Based on the iconic hit movie and with a rocking new score by Andrew Lloyd Webber, School of Rock – The Musical follows slacker and wannabe rock star Dewey Finn turn a class of straight-A 10 year old students into an ear popping, riff scorching, all conquering rock band!  Dewey poses as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school to make ends meet, and when he discovers his fifth graders’ musical talents, he enlists his class to form a rock group and conquer the Battle of the Bands. As Dewey falls for the beautiful headmistress, can he and his students keep this special assignment secret as they learn to fully embrace the power of rock?

Based on the smash hit 2003 film of the same title, School of Rock features music from the movie, as well as new music written by Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyrics by Glenn Slater and a book by Julian Fellowes.  School of Rock – The Musical is directed by Laurence Connor with choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter, set and costume designs by Anna Louizos, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Mick Potter, music supervision by John Rigby with Matt Smith as musical director.

 

Produced by Paramount Pictures, the 2003 hit film School of Rock was directed by Richard Linklater and starred Jack Black in a career-defining performance.

School of Rock — The Musical is produced in the West End by Andrew Lloyd Webber for The Really Useful Group and Warner Music Group & Access Industries with Madeleine Lloyd Webber as Executive Producer.

LISTINGS INFORMATION

Theatre:                  New London Theatre, 166 Drury Lane, London WC2B 5PW

Dates:                    now booking to 13 January 2019

Running time:          approximately 2 hours 30 minutes including interval

Box Office:                0844 811 0052

Performances:          Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7.30pm, Thursday and Saturday 2.30pm, Sundays at 3pm, Please check website for Christmas schedule

Prices:                    from £15.00, Student rush tickets for £10 on Wednesday evening, Rolling On Line Weekly Lottery £15, All ticket prices include a £1.50 restoration levy.  No booking fee via official box office channels

Website:                 www.SchoolOfRockTheMusical.co.uk

Twitter & Instagram: @SchoolofRockuk

Facebook:               facebook.com/schoolofrockmusical