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Edinburgh Festival Theatre – until 7 October 2023

 Reviewed by Rachel Farrier 

5*****

Based on the smash hit 1992 film starring Whoopi Goldberg, this musical production of Sister Act is an absolute riot from start to finish. The framing of the tale of a night club singer who requires to be placed in a convent whilst under police protection is perhaps somewhat flimsy, and the plot exposition is clunky and sometimes slow, but these are really the only drawbacks in an otherwise sparkling (in every way) production. 

It is Landi Oshinowo as the central character of Deloris Van Cartier who holds the show together with a breath taking energy and momentum, and a voice to match. There were perhaps a few opening night nerves in her early scenes but these were soon dispelled as she fully inhabited her effervescent character, who finds her gift for singing displaced from nightclub to convent, and decides to teach her fellow nuns how to really sing. 

There were many other stand out performances throughout the show however, in particular Lizzie Bea as Sister Mary Robert astonishes with the revelation of an exceptional voice as her character undergoes a transformation – her rendition of ‘The life I never led‘ is spine-tingling. Isabel Canning as Sister Mary Patrick and Lori Haley Fox as Sister Mary Lazarus brought moments of laugh out loud hilarity, but it was surprisingly moving to watch the nuns come alive as they learn how to sing with ‘soul’ under Deloris’s tutelage. Alfie Parker as cop Eddie Souther also shines in his role – ‘I could be that guy’ had the audience whopping and applauding mid-song. 

In the hands of veteran star Lesley Joseph as Mother Superior, some fairly predictable dialogue sections were turned into a masterclass in comedy timing – she played the doddery, change-resistant leader of the convent with old-school humour which was lapped up by an appreciative audience.

The set design by Morgan Large is particularly beautiful when it is conveying the inside of the leaky-roofed church – with a stained glass framing which is reflected on the stage itself. The contrast and segue into the equally brilliantly-designed glitzier scenes somehow adds to the energy and pace of the show.

As the show reached its neon, sequin-tastic finale this top quality cast brought the house down. My teenage daughter companion summed up the night as ‘5 star fun’ and the standing ovation from the audience surely demonstrated that many others were in agreement. 

• BRENDA EDWARDS MAKES HER DIRECTORIAL DEBUT AS SHE JOINS PAUL KERRYSON TO DIRECT THE 2024/25 MAJOR UK AND IRELAND TOUR OF HAIRSPRAY ALONGSIDE ACCLAIMED CHOREOGRAPHER DREW MCCONIE.
• PRODUCERS MARK GOUCHER, MATTHEW GALE, AND LAURENCE MYERS ANNOUNCE THE FIRST LEG OF THE 2024/25 TOUR WHICH WILL OPEN AT MANCHESTER PALACE ON 16TH JULY 2024.
• OPEN AUDITIONS WILL TAKE PLACE IN NOVEMBER  2023

Today, producers Mark Goucher, Matthew Gale and Laurence Myers are delighted to announce that Brenda Edwards (Loose Women, ITV; We Will Rock You, London Coliseum) who has previously played “Motormouth” Maybelle in three tours of Hairspray will join the creative team alongside Paul Kerryson (Chicago, Sweeney Todd; Curve Theatre) to direct a new production of Hairspray which will embark on a major national UK and Ireland tour in 2024. Choreographed by Olivier Award winner Drew McOnie (In the Heights, King’s Cross Theatre; Jesus Christ Superstar, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) the major national UK and Ireland tour will open in Manchester at the Palace Theatre on 16th July 2024 and tour through to July 2025.

Open Auditions will be held in November 2023. Please visit the website for more details: www.hairsprayuktour.com

This iconic musical comedy featuring some of musical theatre’s best hit songs including  Welcome To The 60s, You Can’t Stop The Beat and Good Morning Baltimore by Academy Award, Tony and Emmy winning duo Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman will visit venues including: Manchester Palace (16 – 27 July), Wales Millenium Centre, Cardiff (29 July – 3 August), Canterbury Marlowe (6 – 10 August), Liverpool Empire (19 – 24 August), Belfast Grand Opera House (26 – 31 August), Milton Keynes Theatre (2 – 7 September), Southend Cliffs Pavilion (9 – 14 September), Birmingham Hippodrome (16 – 21 September), Edinburgh Playhouse (7 – 12 October), Sheffield Theatres (14 – 19 September), New Wimbledon Theatre (21 – 26 September), Nottingham Theatre Royal (4 – 9 November), Newcastle Theatre Royal (11 – 16 November), Hull New Theatre (18 – 23 November), Bradford Theatres (25 – Sat 30 November), Southampton Mayflower (6 – 11 January), Aberdeen His Majesty’s Theatre (20 – 25 January), Glasgow Kings Theatre (27 Jan – 1 February 2024), Further dates will be announced in due course.

Brenda Edwards said:

“I couldn’t be more thrilled to be invited by the producers to make my directorial debut on the show as a co-director with Paul Kerryson. Hairspray, and this production in particular, has been such a huge part of my life. The show’s story and themes are as relevant as ever and I cannot wait to hold the open auditions to discover a new cast and work together to present a vibrant new production of this timeless musical for everyone to enjoy.”

Mark Shaiman (Composer/Co-Lyricist) said:

“Brenda Edwards has been a part of the Hairspray family since she took on the role of “Motormouth” Maybelle in 2015 and hearing that she is co-directing the latest tour is music to my ears. The strength and soul that Brenda brings to both her performances and her life have already made me a fan and I hope a friend for life, and I can’t wait to see how she brings her personal perspective to our show. Brava Brenda!”

Spanning a career of more than 18 years across television, film and stage, Brenda Edwards rose to fame following her success on The X-Factor in 2005. In 2006, she was presented with the Screen Nation Award for Favourite Reality TV Star and went on to become a regular panellist on ITV’s Loose Women as well as presenting BBC’s Songs of Praise and ITV’s Carols at Christmas (both in 2021). In 2022 she began working as a presenter for QVC, with whom she has since created her own clothing line, BeU by Brenda Edwards.

Brenda’s extensive career on the stage has seen her play iconic roles including Killer Queen in We Will Rock You (Original UK Tour, West End and London Coliseum), Mamma Morton in Chicago (West End and UK Tour) and “Motormouth” Maybelle in Hairspray (UK Tour). Other highlights include sold out concerts at the world-famous Ronnie Scott’s, London’s Pigalle Club, and at the Barbican for Brenda Edward’s Gospel Christmas produced by Raymond Gubbay. Brenda is proud to have independently released her Debut Album Bring It Back (check website for details).

Completing the creative team is Set and Costume Design by Takis, Lighting Design by Philip Gladwell, Sound Design by Ben Harrison, Musical Supervising and Arrangement by Ben Atkinson, Musical Direction by Richard Atkinson, Projection Design by George Reeve, Casting by Grindrod Burton and Resident Direction by Juliet Gough.

After breaking box office records and delighting audiences in the West End, on Broadway and on the big screen since 1988, the timeless story of Hairspray centres around heroine Tracy Turnblad, who has big hair, a big heart, and big dreams to dance her way onto national TV, and into the heart of teen idol Link Larkin. When Tracy becomes a local star, she is able to use her newfound fame to fight for liberation, tolerance, and interracial unity in Baltimore. But can she win equality – and Link’s heart – without denting her ’do?

Hairspray is a musical based on the 1988 film of the same name which starred Divine and Ricki Lake by cult filmmaker John Waters. With music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan, Hairspray originally opened to rave reviews on Broadway in 2002 and subsequently won eight Tony Awards. The production opened in London at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 2007 and won four Laurence Olivier Awards including Best New Musical. Proving to be an international success, Hairspray has also played in South Africa, Japan, South Korea, China and Dubai. Following the musical’s phenomenal success on stage, a film of the musical was released in 2007 which starred John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer and James Marsden.

Hairspray is produced by Mark Goucher, Matthew Gale, and Laurence Myers.  

Hull New Theatre – until 7th October 2023

Reviewed by Dawn Bennett

5 *****

David Ian for Crossroads Live and Work Light Productions with Nederlander Producing Co.Uk and Michael Watt presents The Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre Production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

With lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber this musical is over 50 years old but you would have never known how old it was while watching it last night. The staging, choreography and costumes of this revamped musical gave it a very modern feel and the performances of everyone was just magnificent.

Jesus Christ Superstar covers the last 7 days of the life of Jesus (Ian McIntosh) and how he was betrayed by Judas (Shem Omari James). The other main characters were Mary (Hannah Richardson), Pilate (Ryan O’Donnell), Caiaphas (Jad Habchi) and Annas (Matt Bateman) they were all magnificent their voices and harmonies in the songs were unreal you could have heard a pin drop in the auditorium when they sang.

This musical is told by song and the lyrics really speak for themselves with very well-known songs such as “I don’t know how to love him” “Superstar”, “Gethsemane” and many others. The band under Musical Director Michael Riley played at the back of the stage and were visible to the audience and this really added to the rock concert vibe. The band were excellent and the sound levels spot on. I have never watched this musical before and I was able to hear every word that was sung which really added to my enjoyment.

The ensemble was a joy to watch, their singing, dancing and acting were off the scale. The choreography (Drew McOnie, Associate Chorographer Ashley Andrews and Resident choreographer Christopher Tendai) was definitely some of the best I’ve seen and the ensemble and the rest of the cast danced it to perfection. At some points it was difficult to know where to look as they all danced with such power and expression.

Normally, when I review, I write notes that remind me of who was good, and what stood out in the production looking back today at what I’d written I’d put “stunning”, “jaw-dropping”, “heartfelt” “spectacular” and I think I was right…this is a production not to be missed!

Death Note The Musical 

to release West End concert cast recording

Following ten sold out performances at London’s Palladium and Lyric theatres, the London Concept Album of Death Note The Musical is coming!

The original producers of the critically acclaimed Death Note, The Musical: In Concert are thrilled to announce the 17-track album is to be released by Ghostlight Records, with a date to be announced imminently. 

The forthcoming release will be produced by the legendary Nigel Wright (Evita film, Sunset Boulevard, Jesus Christ Superstar LIVE), co-produced by production musical supervisor, Katy Richardson (Six the Musical, Bonnie and Clyde West End and cast recording), and engineered by Nick Pugh.

The album will feature the stars of the original Palladium concert, including Broadway legend Adam Pascal (as Ryuk), Joaquin Pedro Valdes (Light), Dean John Wilson (‘L’), Aimie Atkinson (Rem), Frances Mayli McCann (Misa Misa) Rachel Clare Chan (Sayu) and Christian Ray Marbella (Soichiro).

Palladium/Lyric ensemble members featured on the album include Jade Copas, Charlotte Coggin, Eu Jin Hwang, Jessica Lee, Nick Len, Jojo Meredith, Boaz Chad, Marcel Li-Ping and Yojiri Ichikawa, with additional singers to include Ying Ue Li, Yuki Sutton, Nicola Espallardo, Gracie Lai, Rumi Sutton, Ethan Le Phong, Leon Hong, and Aaron Teoh.

The ground breaking musical, which premiered in Japan in 2015, and is the winner of the 2022 Best Musical Korea Musical Awards, has a score by Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Bonnie & Clyde) with lyrics by Jack Murphy, book by Ivan Menchell, and orchestrations and arrangements by Jason Howland. The London concert production was directed by Nick Winston, with music supervision by Katy RIchardson, and was music directed and conducted by Chris Ma.

Based on the best-selling Japanese manga series of the same name by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata / Shueisha, the story follows Light Yagami, a bright but dissatisfied high school student in Tokyo who comes across a discarded notebook owned by Ryuk, a mythological god of death. Discovering he can kill anyone by just writing their names in the supernatural notebook, Light takes justice into his own hands by filling the notebook with names of the nation’s most wanted criminals. But a detective only known as ‘L’ is soon tracking him down…

Composer Frank Wildhorn says “After the amazing debut of Death Note in Japan and winning Best Musical in Seoul in 2022, the phenomenon that is Death Note The Musical London beginning with the concerts is thrilling to see the reaction and the passion from the fans! I’ve been doing this a while now and this kind of enthusiasm brings me back to the early days of Jekyll and Hyde.

He continues, “It was always a dream of mine to bring my manga shows West and to share them with a Western audience in English. Ivan, Jack, and I are so grateful to our producers in Japan, London, and New York, who gave us the chance for our ‘voice’ to be heard. What an adventure…and we’re just getting started!”

Alongside Ghostlight Records, Mr. Wildhorn serves as an Executive Producer of the Album, along with the original UK concert producers Carter Dixon McGill, Haley Swindal/Pinnacle Productions, Louis Hobson/Indie Theatrical, and Horipro. They are joined by Van Dean and Michael Croiter/Yellowstone and Steve Swindal, with associate producers Carolyn Anthony, Greg A. Deluca, Tamara & Peter Erickson and Kenneth Novice.

Ghostlight Records has become the leading independent force in Original Broadway Cast Recordings – building a library of over 200 records over the past 23 years, featuring some of the most successful Broadway musicals and solo albums by Broadway’s brightest stars. Founded by Grammy Award winner Kurt Deutsch, Ghostlight has won Grammy Awards for The Band’s Visit, The Book of Mormon, In the Heights, and Beautiful – The Carole King Musical. Ghostlight has also released solo albums from Patti LuPone, Kelli O’Hara, Sutton Foster, Billy Porter, and more. The label continues to support the new generation of musical theater composers and has developed extensive relationships with Jason Robert Brown, Michael John LaChiusa, and David Yazbek, as well as Lin-Manuel Miranda, Pasek & Paul, Tom Kitt, Joe Iconis, and Shaina Taub. Ghostlight Records is part of the Arts Music division at Warner Music Group. GhostlightRecords.com 

DEATH NOTE THE MUSICAL – CD TRACKS

0. Overture  – Ensemble

1. Where Is The Justice? – Light/Professor/Ensemble

2. They’re Only Human – Rem/Ryuk

3. Hurricane Light/Ensemble

4. Kira – Ryuk/Ensemble

5. Ready Or Not Misa/Ensemble

6. We All Need A Hero – Misa/Sayu

7. The Game Begins –  ‘L’

8. There Are Lines Light/Soichiro

9. Mortals and Fools – Misa/Rem

10. I’ll Only Love You More Misa/Ensemble

11. The Way Things Are – ‘L’

12. Honor Bound-  Soichiro

13. Playing His Game – Light/’L’

14. Borrowed Time – Misa

15. When Love Comes – Rem/Ensemble

16. Requiem -Ensemble

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THE DRIFTERS GIRL PRODUCTION TEAM ON PUTTING FAYE TREADWELL INTO THE SPOTLIGHT

Having made its world premiere at Newcastle Theatre Royal in 2021, followed by nightly standing ovations at the Garrick Theatre in London’s West End, The Drifters Girl, the remarkable story of one of the world’s greatest vocal groups, returns to Newcastle Theatre Royal Tue 14 – Sat 18 Nov 2023.

Save The Last Dance For Me, Under The Boardwalk and Saturday Night At The Movies gave The Drifters huge hits on both sides of the Atlantic. Yet, despite selling more than 200 million singles and 100 million albums worldwide, relatively little was known about the vocal group’s history, and before The Drifters Girl musical, even less was known about Faye Treadwell – the woman who (alongside her husband George) helped turn them into a global phenomenon.

Producer Michael Harrison, originally from Wallsend, whose current productions include The Bodyguard, The Wizard of Oz, Crazy For You and Annie, as well as Newcastle Theatre Royal’s annual pantomime, had heard all the hits and was intrigued by the narrative behind songs including Kissin’ In The Back Row Of The Movies and Stand By Me but admitted he “didn’t know very much about the group or about Faye herself.”

“When I tracked down her daughter Tina, I told her that I’d love to create a musical about The Drifters and she was the one who said, ‘If you’re gonna tell the story of the group, you really wanna tell the story of my mother’.” He smiles. “I thought ‘I’m sure you would say that’ but then I heard Faye’s story and realised that Tina was right.”

Against all odds, Faye became the leading black, female record producer of the time and relocated the The Drifters to the UK in the early 1970’s, tapping into a new market and giving them another 20 years of hits.

“None of us ever met Faye and we didn’t know what kind of a personality she was, so we needed Tina to give us a little bit of that meat on the bone.” Michael notes. “There are some explosive moments in the show which are about the boys, but at the heart of it is this extraordinary woman.”

The Drifters Girl opened in 2021 with Beverley Knight in the lead and Michael was confident that he had a hit on his hands. “Beverley attached herself to the show very early on, so when I went to West End theatre owners and said ‘I’ve got Beverley Knight in a musical with the soundtrack of The Drifters’ it was quite an easy sell. And when it opened the audiences were brilliant and we had people coming back again and again.”

On the UK tour, Michael is excited for audiences to see Carly Mercedes Dyer as Faye Treadwell. “We’re really lucky to get her,” he says of the Olivier Award nominee for Anything Goes. “You need a powerhouse vocalist in the role as well as a great actress, and Carly is both.”

In the original production Matt Henry (Olivier award winner for Kinky Boots) played Clyde McPhatter, who was among The Drifters’ founding members back in the early 1950s. For the tour he’s the associate director, working in tandem with director Jonathan Church in helping restage the show for regional theatres as well as rehearsing the new cast.

He was fascinated by Faye as “such a force within the music industry” and also by discovering songs that he knew from parties and weddings were by the group. “As we were putting the show together, and I realised, ‘Oh, that’s a Drifters song’ and ‘Wow, that’s also a Drifters song’.”

Once it was up and running he was thrilled by audience reactions

As the show heads out on the road, Matt is confident theatregoers around the country will be equally nostalgic, entertained and intrigued. “They are guaranteed a great night out and I’m sure they’ll enjoy the trip down memory lane. It’s such a fun, exciting show and The Drifters are such an iconic group. Their music is still so beloved.”

Most of the group numbers are done as performances, as The Drifters would have done in concert or the studio, whereas Faye’s songs express what she’s thinking or feeling. “So, we’ve taken several musical forms and found our own unique way of blending music with storytelling,” director Jonathan Church notes.

With great music incorporated in ingenious ways, he promises: “Audiences are in for a great time. It’s a celebration of the music of The Drifters along with an incredibly rich, dramatic story. Faye was such a trailblazer and what I hope the show does is tell a story that a lot of people don’t know with a lot of great music that they know really well.”

When asked what he sees as the band’s legacy, Jonathan marvels: “An extraordinary number of songs over many decades that when you hear them, they bring a smile to your face or remind you of a certain moment… but I think the most extraordinary thing about them is Faye Treadwell’s role in their success. With The Drifters Girl I’m glad to see her in the spotlight.”

The Drifters Girl plays at Newcastle Theatre Royal from Tue 14 – Sat 18 Nov 2023. Tickets can be purchased at www.theatreroyal.co.uk or from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 0191 232 7010.

Presented by Howard Panter for Trafalgar Theatre Productions

THE LINCOLN CENTER PRODUCTION OF

THE RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN MUSICAL

AHEAD OF THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO LONDON’S WEST END

FURTHER UK TOUR DATES ANNOUNCED FOR THE

CURRENT SELL OUT TOUR OF

THE OLIVIER AND TONY MULTI AWARD-WINNING MUSICAL

STARRING CALL THE MIDWIFE’S

HELEN GEORGE

CONGRESS THEATRE – EASTBOURNE

13 DECEMBER – 23 DECEMBER 2023

LOWRY THEATRE – SALFORD

9 JANUARY – 13 JANUARY 2024

DOMINION THEATRE – LONDON

20 JANUARY – 2 MARCH 2024

Music by RICHARD RODGERS

Book and Lyrics by OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II

Directed by Tony Award Winner BARTLETT SHER

“I doubt I will ever see a better production in my lifetime”

WALL STREET JOURNAL

TICKETS ON SALE NOW FROM KINGANDIMUSICAL.CO.UK

Ahead of the smash-hit musical sensation THE KING & I opening at London’s Dominion Theatre in January 2024, further dates have been added to the current sell out UK tour in Eastbourne and Salford starring Helen George as Anna. Helen is known to millions as Trixie Franklin in Call The Midwife, which returns to BBC One later this year for a Christmas special and a new 2024 series.

Helen George will be reunited with her co-star Broadway and film actor Darren Lee, who played The King on Broadway, as she returns to the stage to reprise the lead role she played earlier this year to sold out theatres across the UK. Both have received rave reviews for their performances.

Directed by Bartlett Sher (South Pacific / My Fair Lady / To Kill A Mockingbird), this Rogers and Hammerstein musical masterpiece will play at the Eastbourne Congress Theatre from 13 December – 23 December and then at Salford’s Lowry Theatre from 9 January – 13 January, alongside the previously announced dates before heading to London’s Dominion Theatre on 20 January for a strictly limited six-week season.

Helen George said: “I am so delighted to continue to play the formidable Anna Leonowens in this incredible production of The King and I am thrilled to bring the show to Eastbourne and Salford ahead of the West End season. I think it so important to bring big lavish West End productions to the regions – Salford and Eastbourne are in for a real treat!”

Following the original Broadway smash-hit run at the Lincoln Center Theater, a sold-out season at the London Palladium (which resulted in the biggest live global event cinema release of 2018) and two record-breaking UK and International tours including Japan, this gloriously lavish production will be brought to the audiences once again by an internationally renowned creative team under Tony Award-winning Bartlett Sher and feature a world-class company of over 50 talented performers and a full-scale orchestra.

The critical acclaim for Bartlett Sher’s production has been phenomenal. When the show opened at the London Palladium in 2018, West End critics heaped praise: the Daily Mail “left the London Palladium on a bright cloud of music”, while the The Times awarded the show “Five stars for a sumptuous King and I” declaring it “a hit” whilst The Daily Telegraph concurred proclaiming the show “looks and sounds ravishing”. Another five stars were awarded from the Sunday Express, Daily Express and the Financial Times called it “simply spellbinding”.

Set in 1860s Bangkok, The King and I tells the story of the unconventional and tempestuous relationship that develops between the King of Siam and Anna Leonowens, a British schoolteacher whom the modernist King, in an imperialistic world, brings to Siam to teach his many wives and children.

The King and I is a sumptuous, timeless romance from the golden age of musicals, adored by the public and critics alike – and boasting one of the finest scores ever written, including Whistle a Happy Tune, Getting to Know You, and Shall We Dance.

LISTINGS INFORMATION

Congress Theatre, Carlisle Road, Eastbourne, BN21 4BP. 13 December – 23 December 2023

Performances: Tuesday – Sunday at 7:30pm

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday matinees at 2.30pm. Sunday at 4.00pm

Helen George will perform on 15th January, both performances on 16th January 19th January and both performances on 20th December.

Lowry Theatre, The Quays, Salford, M50 3AZ. 9 January – 13 January 2024

Performances: Tuesday – Saturday at 7:30pm

Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday matinees at 2:30pm.

Dominion Theatre, 268/269 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 7AQ. 20 January – 2 March 2024

Performances: Tuesday – Saturday evening at 7:30pm

Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm

Helen George will not perform on 6th February and 20th February

Website: KingandIMusical.co.uk

Twitter: @thekingandiuk

Facebook: @thekingandiuk

Instagram: @thekingandiuk

FULL CAST JOINING

CATHERINE TATE & DAVID

THRELFALL

IN THE ENFIELD HAUNTING

ANNOUNCED

Paul Unwin’s new play

based on the extraordinary true story

of one of the most famous poltergeist events in the world

Performances begin 30 November at The Ambassadors Theatre, London

Watch Catherine Tate on The Graham Norton Show

this Friday to find out more

The full cast joining Catherine Tate and David Threlfall in The Enfield Haunting, a new play based on one of the most famous poltergeist events in the world, is announced today (Tuesday 3 October 2023). 

Written by Paul Unwin, and directed by Angus Jackson, The Enfield Haunting will play at Brighton Theatre Royal and Richmond Theatre, before moving to The Ambassadors Theatre in London for a limited West End season from 30 November 2023 until 2 March 2024.

Tickets from www.enfieldhauntingplay.com.

Catherine Tate, who is renowned for her TV, film and theatre work, including her current BBC series Queen of Oz, The Catherine Tate Show and Donna Noble in Doctor Who alongside David Tennant, will play Peggy Hodgson, a single mother who tries to protect her three children from something that is incomprehensible and deeply disturbing.

David Threlfall, who played Frank Gallagher in the highly acclaimed TV series Shameless, is an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company (he played Don Quixote in the RSC’s production) and last year was nominated for a Tony Award for his role in Martin McDonagh’s The Hangman, plays Maurice Grosse, a ghost hunter.

They are joined by:  Ella Schrey-Yeats (Secret Invasion, The Witcher, His Dark Materials) as Janet Hodgson, Grace Molony (Artemis Foul, Layla, Mary Queen of Scots) as Margaret Hodgson, Jude Coward Nicoll and Noah Leggott sharing the role of Jimmy Hodgson, Mo Sesay (Murphy’s Law, Vera, Endeavor) as Rey, Neve McIntosh (Shetland, Ripper Street Stan Lee’s Lucky Man) as Betty Grosse, Daniel Stewart (Silent Witness, Law and Order, Star Trek: the Next Generation) as Writer/Old Man and Understudy Maurice,  Stacha Hicks (David Brent: Life of the Road, Call the Midwife, Casualty) as Understudy Peggy and Betty and Jasmine Spence as Understudy Janet and Margaret.

Joining Paul Unwin and Angus Jackson on the creative team are:  Lee Newby (Set and Costume Designer), Neil Austin (Lighting Designer), Carolyn Downing (Sound Designer), Paul Kieve (Illusions Consultant), Sophie Holland, CDG (Casting Director), Laura Cubitt (Movement Director), Kate Godfrey (Voice and Dialect) and Roberta Zuric (Assistant Director).

The Hodgsons had no idea what a poltergeist was when, in the summer of 1977, furniture and toys started moving of their own accord. They were an ordinary, working-class family, who lived in a North London council house at 284 Green Street, Enfield, but for the next eighteen months became the centre of one of the most famous poltergeist events in the world.

Janet, the possessed sixteen-year-old, was nearly pulled out of a window. The local ‘lollipop lady’ saw her floating six feet in the air in an upstairs room and Janet was found fast asleep in a neighbours’ bed. There are tapes of Janet growling for hours in a voice that doctors said would destroy a sixteen-year-old girl’s vocal cords after a few minutes.

Paul Unwin’s new play is the story of one night in the spring of 1978 when events were approaching a climax. Based on the first-hand accounts of one the one the ghost hunters, The Enfield Haunting is the true story of what happened when Peggy Hodgson tries to protect her three children from something that is incomprehensible, deeply disturbing and is hurtling to a terrifying conclusion.

Maurice Grosse was one of the ghost hunters. A kind and protective man, he was determined to help the Hodgson’s but as the night unfolds it slowly becomes clear that he is searching for something that he is convinced that only Janet can help him find.

Writer Paul Unwin said: ‘Before Guy Lyon Playfair the poltergeist expert died in 2018, I spent a long afternoon with him in his basement flat in Earls Court. He and Maurice Grosse had spent months with the Hodgson family trying to protect them, but also make sense of what was going on. What Guy told me was terrifying. So much of what appears to have happened was impossible to fake and yet at the centre of the whole thing were real people trying to make sense of their lives. The Enfield Haunting is a psychological ghost story. It is a ghost story for now.’

Paul Unwin co-created the world’s longest running medical drama, Casualty (alongside Jeremy Brock). He has directed extensively for TV, including, Shameless, Five Little Pigs, Messiah, Combat Hospital and Breathless.  As a theatre director his work includes:  Arthur Miller’s The Man Who had all the Luck at Bristol Old Vic (where he was Artistic Director) and the Young Vic, and The Misanthrope for Bristol Old Vic and the National Theatre.  His other plays include This Much is True and The Promise. His films include The American and Elijah.

The Enfield Haunting is produced by MarketStall Productions, The Development Partnership, Smith & Brant Theatricals, Gavin Kalin Productions, Sayers & Sayers Productions Ltd. and Eilene Davidson Productions.

http://ulsteramericanplay.com/

Instagram: @ulsteramericanplay

Facebook: @ulsteramericanplay

TikTok: @ulsteramericanplay

X: @SecondHalfProds

Second Half Productions present
ULSTER AMERICAN
Written by David Ireland

Directed by Jeremy Herrin

• Woody Harrelson, Andy Serkis and Louisa Harland to star in David Ireland’s award-winning social satire. 
• Directed by Jeremy Herrin, Ulster American will preview at Riverside Studios from 4 December 2023 – 28 January 2024 with opening night on Wednesday 13 December 2023.
• Tickets go on general sale from 10am on 12 October 2023, with priority booking open from 10am on 10 October 2023. For priority access please sign up at http://ulsteramericanplay.com/. 

Second Half Productions has today announced a new production of award-winning playwright David Ireland’s (Cyprus Avenue, The Lovers) Ulster American. Jeremy Herrin will direct following his recent acclaimed productions of A Mirror and Best of Enemies.

Emmy Award-winner and Academy Award -nominee Woody Harrelson (True Detective, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) returns to the London stage for the first time in almost two decades, to play Oscar-winning American actor Jay Conway. BAFTA and Emmy award-winner Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Batman) will star as English director Leigh Carver and Louisa Harland (Derry Girls, Dancing at Lughnasa) will star as Northern Irish playwright Ruth Davenport in David Ireland’s brutally funny play. 

Ulster American will feature set and costume design by Max Jones, lighting design by Oliver Fenwick, sound design by Emma Laxton, casting by Jessica Ronane CDG with Nicky Allpress as Associate Director.

An Oscar -winning American actor, an English director and a Northern Irish playwright are about to begin rehearsals for a new play — one that could transform each of their careers. But when it turns out that they’re not on the same page, the night threatens to spiral out of control.

Power dynamics, cultural identity and the perils of being a woman in the entertainment industry; nothing is off limits in this pitch-black comedy.

Jeremy Herrin says: “I’m delighted that this rollercoaster of a play has summoned such a stellar roster of talent to join us for this pitch black comedy at the beautifully refurbished Riverside Studios. 

I’ve always admired David Ireland’s fearlessness and the way he manages to skewer pretension in its many guises. 

It’s an honour to bring the legend that is Woody Harrelson to London; to welcome Andy Serkis back to the stage after so much success in the movies; and to enjoy the brilliant Louisa Harland going toe-to-toe with them both. 

It’ll be a thrilling evening and I can’t wait to see our audience’s reaction to this explosive show.”

Ulster American will run at Riverside Studios for 8 weeks from 4 December, with opening night on 13 December. Tickets start at £30 with 50 available at that price for every performance. Second Half Productions will also offer 200 free tickets to West London NHS staff through their partnership with Tickets for Good. Tickets will go on general sale at 10am on 12 October with priority booking open from 10 October. For priority access please sign up at http://ulsteramericanplay.com/. 

Ireland’s critically acclaimed play received its world premiere in 2018 at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh. It is the recipient of the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award and the Scotsman Fringe First Award.

WOODY HARRELSON’s rare mix of intensity and charisma consistently surprises and delights audiences and critics alike in both mainstream and independent projects. Most recently Harrelson’s performance in Martin McDonagh’s, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri earned him a 2018 Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He was previously nominated by the Academy, the Golden Globes® and SAG Awards® in the category of Best Actor for his portrayal of controversial magazine publisher Larry Flynt in Milos Forman’s The People vs. Larry Flynt. His portrayal of a casualty notification officer in Oren Moverman’s The Messenger garnered him a 2010 Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actor. 

Harrelson next joins Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum in the Greg Berlanti-directed film Project Artemis for Apple Original Films, set around the 1960s space race. Harrelson recently completed shooting Suncoast alongside Laura Linney, a drama written and directed by Laura Chinn in her directorial debut for Searchlight Films.

Harrelson recently starred opposite Justin Theroux in The White House Plumbers, a five-part limited series for HBO Max. Harrelson starred in Bobby Farrelly’s sports comedy for Focus Features, Champions, based on the Goya Award winning Spanish film Campeones. Harrelson can be seen in Ruben Ostlund’s English language ensemble film Triangle of Sadness which made its world debut at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival where it received an eight-minute standing ovation and won the Palme D’Or. 

Other recent film credits include Columbia Pictures’ action-comedy The Man From Toronto starring opposite Kevin Hart; Sony Pictures Venom: Let There Be Carnage as Cletus Kasady opposite supervillain ‘Carnage’ played by Tom Hardy; Netflix’s The Highwaymen with Kevin Costner and Kathy Bates; Midway opposite Mandy Moore; Lucasfilm’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, Shock and Awe and LBJ  both directed by Rob Reiner; The Glass Castle co-starring Naomi Watts; the third instalment of the Planet of The Apes, entitled War for the Planet of the Apes directed by Matt Reeves; Fox Searchlight’s critically acclaimed The Edge of Seventeen; Wilson with director Craig Johnson; Now You See Me 2 for director Jon Chu; and  Triple Nine for director John Hillcoat. 

Harrelson wrote, directed, produced and starred in an unprecedented live feature film Lost in London, which was broadcast live into theatres nationwide on January 19, 2017. The comedy also stars Owen Wilson and Willie Nelson. 

Other highlights from Harrelson’s film career include Rampart with director Oren Moverman; Ruben Fleischer’s box office hit, Zombieland as well as the 2019 sequel Zombieland: Double Tap; Out of the Furnace starring opposite Christian Bale and Casey Affleck; The Hunger Games film series; Now You See Me; The Grand; No Country For Old Men; A Scanner Darkly; A Prairie Home Companion; Seven Pounds; The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio; North Country; Transsiberian; The Thin Red Line; Welcome To Sarajevo; Natural Born Killers; Indecent Proposal; White Men Can’t Jump and was recently seen as the on screen host for director Pete McGrain’s powerful political documentary Ethos. 

On television, Harrelson most recently reprised his role as ‘Archie Bunker’ in two episodes of the Critics’ Choice and Emmy-winning ABC special Live In Front Of A Studio Audience, produced by Jimmy Kimmel and Norman Lear.

Other notable television credits include HBO’s True Detective co-starring Matthew McConaughey for which he was nominated for Emmy and SAG Awards in the lead actor category and a Golden Globes Award for lead actor in a Mini Series. In 2012 Harrelson starred opposite Julianne Moore and Ed Harris in the HBO film Game Change for which he earned Primetime Emmy®, SAG Awards®, and Golden Globe® nominations for his role as Steve Schmidt, and Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths, alongside Sam Rockwell, Colin Farrell and Christopher Walken. 

Harrelson first endeared himself to millions of viewers as a member of the ensemble cast of NBC’s long-running hit comedy, Cheers. For his work as the affable bartender ‘Woody Boyd,’ he won a Primetime Emmy® in 1988 and was nominated four additional times during his eight-year run on the show.  In 1999, he gained another Primetime Emmy® nomination when he reprised the role in a guest appearance on the spin-off series Frasier. 

Balancing his film and television work, in 1999 Harrelson directed his own play, Furthest From The Sun at the Theatre de la Juene Lune in Minneapolis. He followed next with the Roundabout’s Broadway revival of The Rainmaker; Sam Shepherd’s The Late Henry Moss, and John Kolvenbach’s On An Average Day opposite Kyle MacLachlan at London’s West End. Harrelson directed the Toronto premiere of Kenneth Lonergan’s This Is Our Youth at Toronto’s Berkeley Street Theatre. In the winter of 2005 Harrelson returned to London’s West End, starring in Tennessee Williams’ Night of the Iguana at the Lyric Theatre. In 2011, Harrelson co-wrote and directed the semi-autobiographical comedy Bullet for Adolf at Hart House Theatre in Toronto. In the summer of 2012 Bullet for Adolf made its Off-Broadway debut at New World Stages. 

ANDY SERKIS is an award-winning actor who has earned acclaim from both critics and audiences for his work in a range of memorable roles. He gained legions of fans around the globe for his performance as “Gollum” in the Academy Award^®-winning The Lord of the Rings trilogy, directed by Peter Jackson.  Serkis won an Empire Award for his role, in addition to sharing in several Outstanding Ensemble Cast Awards, including a Screen Actors Guild Award^®.  He reunited with Jackson in the director’s epic retelling of King Kong, taking performance capture to another level as the titular character, and between 2011-2017 he took performance capture to new heights with his heart-breaking and critically acclaimed portrayal of “Caesar” in the Planet of the Apes trilogy.      

Serkis is currently in production as director/producer of an animated adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. 

In February of 2020, he was honoured by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) at the 73^rd EE British Academy Film Awards with one of the organisation’s highest honours, the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award.  

Most recently, Serkis appeared in the feature film Luther: The Fallen Sun, starring alongside Idris Elba and Cynthia Erivo for Netflix and the BBC.  In the fall of 2022, he received critical acclaim from press and fans for his portrayal of “Kino Loy” in a three-episode arc of Andor, starring opposite Diego Luna.  Additionally, he helmed Venom: Let There Be Carnage for Marvel and Sony Pictures and starred alongside Robert Pattinson in The Batman, portraying “Alfred Pennyworth.”

Before commencing her training at Mountview, LOUISA HARLAND appeared as a series regular in Love/Hate for RTE alongside Aidan Gillen and Robert Sheehan. Further screen credits include Channel 5’s The Deceived, Discovery’s mini-series Harley and the Davidsons, Woody Harrelson’s feature film Lost in London. In 2022, the third and final season of Derry Girls, aired to wide-spread critical acclaim. 

On stage Louisa starred in the one woman show Cotton Fingers with National Theatre Wales and performed in a sell-out run at the Royal Court of Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp; a collection of new plays by Caryl Churchill. Most recently she starred as Agnes in Dancing at Lughnasa at the National Theatre directed by Josie Rourke. 

Louisa played a leading role alongside Jack Rowan in the comedy/horror feature film Boys from County Hell, and she has recently wrapped Joy directed by Ben Taylor, where she features alongside Bill Nighy and James Norton. 

Louisa will be playing the title role in Sally Wainwright’s highly-anticipated new Disney+ series, The Ballad of Renegade Nell, and early next year she will join Brian Cox and Patricia Clarkson on stage in Long Day’s Journey into Night directed by Jeremy Herrin. 

JEREMY HERRIN trained as a theatre director at both the National Theatre and the Royal Court, where he became Deputy Artistic Director in 2008. Between 2000 and 2008 he was an Associate Director at Live Theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne. Jeremy replaced Rupert Goold as Artistic Director of Headlong Theatre in September 2013. In 2007, he directed the UK premiere of David Hare’s play, The Vertical Hour, as well as Polly Stenham’s award-winning That Face at the Royal Court. That Face later transferred to London’s West End, where it starred Lindsay Duncan and Matt Smith and was produced by Sonia Friedman. Two years later, in 2009, Jeremy directed Polly’s second play, Tusk Tusk for which he was nominated for an Evening Standard Best Director Award. Other work at the Royal Court includes EV Crowe’s Hero, Richard Bean’s The Heretic, Kin, Spur of the Moment, Off The Endz and The Priory, which won an Olivier Award for best Comedy.

In 2012 Jeremy directed the Olivier-nominated This House, written by James Graham, at the National Theatre. The production was revived at the Garrick Theatre at the end of 2016 and toured the UK in 2018.

In 2014 Jeremy directed the critically acclaimed adaptations of Hilary Mantel’s novels Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies for the RSC and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Director. The productions transferred to the West End at the end of 2014 and opened on Broadway in April 2015. He also directed the Broadway production of Noises Off which opened in January 2016. His production of People, Places and Things at the National Theatre transferred to the Wyndhams Theatre in March 2016 and then to St Ann’s Warehouse in October 2017. Jeremy directed James Graham’s Olivier award winning Labour of Love which opened in November 2017 and his production of David Hare’s The Moderate Soprano transferred from Hampstead Theatre to the West End in April 2018.

Most recently Jeremy directed Noises Off at The Garrick Theatre, The Visit and After Life at The National Theatre, The Mirror and The Light at the Gielgud, West End, and The Glass Menagerie at the Duke of York’s Theatre. For TV Jeremy directed Talking Heads and Unprecedented for the BBC.

Jeremy has most recently directed the world premiere of A Mirror at the Almeida Theatre starring Johnny Lee Miller, Tanya Reynolds and Micheal Ward, and the West End production of Best of Enemies starring Zachary Quinto and David Harewood at the Noël Coward Theatre.

DAVID IRELAND is a writer and actor from Belfast. He won the Meyer-Whitworth Award in 2012 for Everything Between Us and was shortlisted for the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright 2016 for Cyprus Avenue. Cyprus Avenue also won the Irish Times Award for Best New Play and the James Tait Black Award in 2017. In 2018, Ulster American won a Scotsman Fringe First and the Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland for Best New Play. His other plays include Not Now, Sadie, Yes So I Said Yes, The End of Hope, Can’t Forget About You and What the Animals Say. He is currently working on new plays for the Almeida, Sonia Friedman Productions and the National Theatre of Scotland. He has written several radio plays and, for television, his series The Lovers was recently released on Sky Atlantic. He has also written an episode of The Young Offenders (RTE/BBC). As an actor he is best known for playing Clare’s Dad in Derry Girls. He has also appeared in Still Game, Shetland, Taggart and Scots Squad.  He lives in Glasgow with his wife Jennifer and two children, Ada and Elijah

London, you’re like, really pretty.

Broadway’s SMASH HIT musical is coming to the Savoy Theatre, London, from June 2024!

www.MeanGirlsMusical.com

“A MARVEL: DAZZLING & HILARIOUS” – Entertainment Weekly

“Tina Fey writes FUNNIER, SMARTER, SHARPER satire than anyone else in the business.” – New York Magazine

“We’ll let you in on a little secret, because we’re such good friends: GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!” – USA Today

●          Award-winning creative team includes Tina Fey, Jeff Richmond, Nell Benjamin and Casey Nicholaw

●          Public booking opens November 1^st 2023

●          Previews begin June 2024

●          Further information, including performance schedule and casting, will be announced at a later date.

What day is it? It’s October 3^rd! Lorne Michaels, Sonia Friedman Productions, and David Ian for Crossroads Live – producers of MEAN GIRLS in the West End – today announce MEAN GIRLS will be coming to London from June 2024! The smash hit musical comedy based on the Paramount Pictures film of the same name will debut at the West End’s Savoy Theatre. Tickets go on sale from November 1^st 2023.

Cool people (and you better be one of them) can sign up for presale access through www.MeanGirlsMusical.com.

It’s gonna be a little bit dramatic…

Get in, loser, MEAN GIRLS is coming to London! Broadway’s hilarious hit musical from an award-winning creative team including writer Tina Fey (“30 Rock”), composer Jeff Richmond (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”), lyricist Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde) and director and choreographer Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon), opens at the Savoy Theatre late next spring.

Meet The Plastics –Regina, Gretchen and Karen. They rule North Shore High and will burn anyone who gets in their way. Home-schooled Cady Heron may think she knows a thing or two about survival of the fittest thanks to her zoologist parents, but high school is a whole new level of savage. When Cady devises a plan to end Regina’s reign, she learns the hard way that you can’t cross a queen bee without getting stung.

Expect iconic characters, razor-sharp wit, and killer songs. Grab your friends and your cool mom, this is going to be fetch – and YES London, we’re making it happen!

The reign begins June 2024. If you want to sit with us, book your tickets and don’t forget… on Wednesdays, we wear pink.

MEAN GIRLS had its world premiere in 2017 at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C and opened on Broadway in April 2018 at the August Wilson Theatre to ecstatic responses, where it played to packed houses. The show then went on a hugely successful US tour in 2019 and is currently on its second US tour. The upcoming MEAN GIRLS musical film adaptation from Paramount Pictures will debut in UK cinemas in early 2024.

Originally released in 2004, the film Mean Girls has had a profound impact on pop-culture for nearly 20 years. Tina Fey’s hilarious and relatable portrayal of high school life struck a chord with audiences across the globe and the film’s whip-smart satire, iconic catchphrases, and unforgettable characters made it a phenomenon that remains a cultural touchstone to this day.

Tina Fey said: ”We’re so excited to bring MEAN GIRLS to London, where everyone already knows what Regina means.”

Producers Lorne Michaels and Sonia Friedman added: “MEAN GIRLS is a timeless comedy that for decades has connected with generations of audiences across the globe. Having worked together for several years on this production, we are immensely proud and excited to be bringing this stage musical, led by this incredible writing and creative team, to London’s Savoy Theatre.”

David Ian, CEO of Crossroads Live, said: “I’m beyond thrilled to have been asked to sit with Lorne Michaels and Sonia Friedman to produce Tina Fey’s iconic MEAN GIRLS. London audiences are in for a real treat.’’

Watch out for special announcements including dates and casting. Love ya x

Creative Team Biographies

Tina Fey

Tina Fey is an award-winning writer, actress, producer and author.  She wrote the 2004 film Mean Girls, in which she also played Ms. Norbury. Fey created and starred as Liz Lemon on the celebrated comedy series 30 Rock, which earned 16 Emmys (and 103 total nominations) over 7 seasons. Prior to 30 Rock, Fey enjoyed 9 seasons as a writer and cast member on Saturday Night Live. She continues to co-create and/or produce hit shows such as Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Great News, and Girls5eva and the feature films Sisters, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and in 2024, the musical feature version of Mean Girls. As an actor she has appeared in Baby Mama, Date Night, Muppets Most Wanted, Admission, This is Where I Leave You, Pixar’s Soul, Only Murders in the Building and most recently Kenneth Branagh’s A Haunting in Venice. In 2011, Fey published her first book, Bossypants, which topped the New York Times best seller list for 5 consecutive weeks. She lives with her husband and two daughters in New York City, but is thrilled at the chance to work again in London.

Jeff Richmond

Jeff Richmond is an award-winning composer, songwriter and producer for television, theatre and film. He served as composer and an Executive Producer on NBC’s 30 Rock, winning three Primetime Emmy Awards alongside his wife Tina Fey. He began as a musical director at The Second City in Chicago and eventually moved on to Saturday Night Live, where he spent 5 years creating special material for talents ranging from Jack Black to Tom Brady. Jeff’s New York theatre credits include the musical Melancholy Baby, Lobo A Go-Go, the score for Fully Committed and Mean Girls the Musical. His most recent television credits include Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix), Great News (NBC), Mr. Mayor (NBC), The Mapleworth Murders (Quibi) and Girls5eva (Netflix) where he serves as Executive Producer and creator of music. Richmond was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Original Score in 2018 for Mean Girls. He currently lives in New York City with his wife and their two daughters.

Nell Benjamin

Nell Benjamin wrote the lyrics to the Tony-nominated Mean Girls and co-wrote the score to Legally Blonde: the Musical, (Olivier Award, Tony nomination) with Laurence O’Keefe. She also co-wrote The Sea Beast for Netflix (Best Animated Feature Oscar nomination. Annie Award nomination). She has written book and/or lyrics for Come Fall In Love: the DDLJ Musical, Dave The Musical, Because of Winn Dixie; Cam Jansen (Drama Desk Nomination); Half Time; Pirates! (or Gilbert and Sullivan plunder’d), Sarah, Plain and Tall; The Mice (from 3hree); I Want My Hat Back, How I Became A Pirate, The New York Philharmonic New Year’s Eve celebration and Young People’s concerts. Her play, The Explorers Club won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play, a Drama Desk nomination, an Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award, and an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant.

For Television, she has worked on Unhappily Ever After; Whoa! Sunday with Mo Rocca; The Electric Company; Best Time Ever With Neil Patrick Harris; Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway; Julie’s Greenroom. Nell is currently working on Nancy Drew: The Musical, Real Women Have Curves, Huzzah!, and Fado, along with an original movie musical for Universal. She is a proud recipient of the Jonathan Larson award and Kleban Foundation grant, and a member of ASCAP and The Dramatists Guild.

Casey Nicholaw

Casey Nicholaw (Director, Choreographer). Currently represented on Broadway as director/choreographer of Some Like It Hot (2023 Tony® and Drama Desk Awards for Best Choreography, Outer Critics Circle nomination in the same category, Tony® nomination for Best Direction), Disney’s Aladdin (2014 Tony®, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for Best Choreography), and co-director and choreographer of The Book of Mormon (2011 Tony®, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for co-director and nominations in the same categories for choreography); Olivier award winner for Best Choreography. Other notable Broadway credits as director/choreographer: The Prom (2019 Tony® nomination for Best Direction), Mean Girls (2018 Tony® nominations for Best Direction and Choreography), Tuck Everlasting, Something Rotten! (2015 Tony®, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for Best Direction and Choreography) Elf: The Musical; The Drowsy Chaperone (2006 Tony® and Drama Desk nominations for Best Direction and Choreography, Outer Critics Circle nomination for Best Choreography); Monty Python’s Spamalot directed by Mike Nichols (2005 Tony®, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Choreography). Represented on the West End as co-director/choreographer of The Book of Mormon. Other notable West End credits as director/choreographer: The Drowsy Chaperone, Dreamgirls, and Aladdin. Film and TV credits include: The Prom (choreographer), Trolls (choreographer), Smash (director, S2 E7).

Lorne Michaels

Lorne Michaels is an award-winning producer and writer, best known as the creator and executive producer of Saturday Night Live, the most Emmy Award-nominated show in television history.

Michaels’ television credits also include The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, 30 Rock, Portlandia, Schmigadoon and Kids in the Hall. His motion picture credits include Three Amigos, Wayne’s World, Tommy Boy, Mean Girls and MacGruber. On Broadway, Michaels produced Gilda Radner – Live From New York, which he also directed, Mean Girls, the Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical based on the hit movie, and Tom Stoppard’s Tony Award-winning play, Leopoldstadt.

Michaels’ 102 Emmy nominations are the most ever for an individual, with 21 wins. He received the 2004 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and in 2013 earned the rare honor of an individual Peabody Award. Michaels was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, the nation’s highest civilian honor, and was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2018. He received a Kennedy Center Honor for lifetime artistic achievement in 2021.

Sonia Friedman Productions

Sonia Friedman Productions(SFP) is an international production company responsible for some of the most successful theatre productions around the world. Since 1990, SFP has developed, initiated and produced over 200 new productions and together the company has won 61 Olivier Awards, 39 Tonys and 3 BAFTAs. In 2019, Sonia Friedman CBE was awarded ‘Producer of the Year’ at the Stage Awards for a record-breaking fourth time. In 2018, Friedman was also featured in TIME 100, a list of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. In 2017, she took the number one spot in ‘The Stage 100’, becoming the first number one in the history of the compilation not to own or operate West End theatres and the first solo woman for almost 20 years.

Current productions include: The Book of Mormon (West End); Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (West End, Broadway, Hamburg and Tokyo); Dr Semmelweis (West End); Merrily We Roll Along (Broadway); The Shark is Broken (Broadway); Funny Girl (US tour).

Forthcoming productions include: Stranger Things: The First Shadow, a co-production with Netflix (West End); Lyonesse (West End); Fangirls (Lyric Hammersmith). 

Previous theatre productions include: Funny Girl (Broadway, West End, UK tour); Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! (West End); Patriots (West End); New York, New York (Broadway); Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Melbourne, Toronto, San Francisco); Leopoldstadt (Broadway, West End); Mean Girls (US tour, Broadway); The Secret Life of Bees (Almeida); To Kill a Mockingbird (West End); The Piano Lesson (Broadway); Merrily We Roll Along (New York Theatre Workshop, West End); Dreamgirls (UK tour, West End); The Book of Mormon(UK & Europe tour); The Shark is Broken (Toronto, West End); Eureka Day (The Old Vic); Jerusalem (West End, Broadway, Royal Court); Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! (The Young Vic); The 47th (The Old Vic); The Human Voice (West End); Maria Friedman and Friends: Legacy (West End); Dr Semmelweis (Bristol Old Vic); Fair Play (Bush Theatre); Anna X (West End), Walden (West End) and J’Ouvert (West End) as part of the Re:Emerge season; The Inheritance (Broadway, West End, The Young Vic); The Comeback (West End); Uncle Vanya (West End); Fiddler on the Roof (West End); Rosmersholm (West End); The Ferryman (Broadway, West End, Jerwood Theatre); Ink (Broadway, West End); Summer and Smoke (West End); The Jungle (San Francisco); All About Eve (West End); Consent (West End); The Birthday Party (West End); Farinelli and the King (Broadway, West End); 1984 (Broadway, West End); Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour (West End); Hamlet starring Andrew Scott (West End); Don Juan in Soho (West End); Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (West End); Travesties (Broadway, West End); The Glass Menagerie (West End); Nice Fish (West End); The Haunting of Hill House (Liverpool Playhouse); A Christmas Carol (West End); Orestia (Almeida); Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch (Barbican); Sunny Afternoon (UK tour, West End); Bend It Like Beckham (West End); The Nether (West End); The River (Broadway); Electra (The Old Vic);King Charles III (Sydney, UK tour, Broadway, West End); Shakespeare in Love (West End); Ghosts (Brooklyn Academy of Music, West End); Twelfth Night & Richard III (Broadway, West End); Mojo (West End); The Sunshine Boys (L.A, West End); Chimerica (West End); Nice Work If You Can Get It (Broadway); Old Times (West End); A Chorus of Disapproval (West End); La Cage aux Folles (US tour, Broadway, West End); Hay Fever (West End); Masterclass (West End); Absent Friends (West End); Legally Blonde (West End); Top Girls (West End); Private Lives (Broadway); Much Ado About Nothing (West End); Betrayal (West End); Arcadia (Broadway, West End); The Children’s Hour (West End);Clybourne Park (West End); A Flea In Her Ear (The Old Vic); A Little Night Music (Broadway, West End); Educating Rita(West End) and Shirley Valentine (West End) as part of The Willy Russell Season; The Prisoner of Second Avenue (West End); All My Sons (West End); La Bête (West End); Prick Up Your Ears (West End); Othello (West End); After Miss Julie (Broadway); The Mountaintop (Broadway, West End); The Norman Conquests (Broadway); Boeing-Boeing (UK tour, Broadway, West End); A View From the Bridge (Broadway, West End); Dancing at Lughnasa (The Old Vic); Maria Friedman Re-arranged (West End); No Man’s Land (West End); The Seagull (Broadway); Under the Blue Sky (West End); That Face (West End);Dealer’s Choice (West End); Is He Dead? (West End); Rock ‘n’ Roll (Broadway, West End); Hergé’s Adventures of Tintin (West End); Donkeys’ Years (UK tour, West End); In Celebration (West End); King of Hearts(Hampstead Theatre); The Dumb Waiter (West End); Love Song (West End); Bent (West End); Faith Healer (Broadway); Eh Joe (West End); The Woman in White (West End, Broadway); Otherwise Engaged (West End); A Celebration for Harold Pinter (West End);Shoot the Crow (West End); As You Like It (West End); The Home Place (West End); Whose Life Is It Anyway? (West End);By the Bog of Cats (West End); Guantanamo: ‘Honour Bound to Defend Freedom’ (West End); Calico (West End); Endgame (West End); Jumpers (West End); See You Next Tuesday (West End); Hitchcock Blonde (West End);Absolutely! {Perhaps} (West End); Sexual Perversity in Chicago (West End); Ragtime (West End); Macbeth (West End);What the Night is For (West End); Marc Salem: Mind Games (West End); Maria Friedman: Live (West End); Gagarin Way (West End); Afterplay (West End); Noises Off (Broadway, West End); Lobby Hero (West End); Up for Grabs (West End); A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (West End); On an Average Day (West End); Benefactors (West End); A Servant to Two Masters (West End); In Flame (West End); The Mystery of Charles Dickens (West End); Port Authority (West End); Speed-the-Plow (West End); Spoonface Steinberg (West End); Last Dance at Dum Dum (West End) and The Late Middle Classes(Watford Palace Theatre).

TV and digital productions include, as Co-Producer: Wolf Hall (BBC), Uncle Vanya (BBC), J’Ouvert (BBC), Walden (Sky Arts) and Anna X (Sky Arts); as Exec Producer: The Dresser (BBC), King Lear (BBC); as Producer: Dennis Kelly’s BAFTA-winning Together (BBC). Cinema productions include Uncle Vanya and Walden. SFP’s productions of Hamlet starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, All About Eve and Leopoldstadt have all been filmed for cinema release by NT Live. All About Eve, Hamlet and Leopoldstadt featured on NT at Home, and Hamlet on Amazon’s Great British Theatre series.

Crossroads Live

Crossroads Live is a global theatre producer. Through their production offices in North America, the UK and Australia and their network of producing partnerships in Asia and Europe, they work with the foremost creative talent and rightsholders, to present the best-loved titles from Broadway and the West End to audiences around the world.

Current productions/co-productions include 42nd Street, Annie, The Bodyguard, Cats, Chicago, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Drifters Girl, Grease, Jesus Christ Superstar, Love Never Dies, Mean Girls, Pretty Woman, The Rocky Horror Show and Wicked.

As the world’s leading pantomime producer, Crossroads Pantomimes also produces 24 pantomimes every year in the UK.

Forum Theatre, Malvern – 1st October 2023

Reviewed by Courie Amado Juneau

5*****

The Simon & Garfunkel Story has been a show I had wanted to see for quite a while, but kept missing. So the return of the smash West End hit was most welcome.

Where else to start but with arguably their most famous song (ok, arguments can begin now) – “The Sound Of Silence” – perfectly presented to achieve maximum emotional effect; back-lit on a darkened stage until the whole band kicked in, when the lights came up (along with the cheering).

The success of a show of this kind will hinge on the actors playing the star parts. Will Sharp (Paul Simon) and Oliver Cave (Art Garfunkel) looked and sounded the part and had an obvious affinity with the material. Their harmonies were excellent, Mr Sharp’s guitar playing was masterful and they thoroughly convinced as the duo. They also had some lovely on-stage banter and great chemistry with the audience, getting them involved throughout.

After the opening numbers from the first album (“Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.”) we were given the first of our inter-song introductions from our front men. This was not only informative but entertaining and elevated the show far beyond just a mere tribute act who lovingly recreated the songs (though it was that too). Instead, this was perfectly conceived to outline the duo’s career in a kind of on-stage musical biography. It also gave us the rare opportunity to enjoy an early song from the Tom & Jerry era (pre Simon & Garfunkel); “Hey Schoolgirl”. Being familiar with the pair’s discography, I hadn’t realized that many songs that subsequently ended up on the albums were originally on Paul Simon’s 1965 solo release (from his time in the UK). The presentation of “Kathy’s Song” amply showed the care, attention and research that has gone into this show – beginning with Simon on his own before Art came on and the band joined in, to dramatic effect. Brilliant. The first half ended with songs from the third album “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme” – home of “Homeward Bound” and the title track which was particularly effecting being juxtaposed with footage (on the large rear screen) from the Vietnam war which was raging at albums release.

After the interval we were onto the last two albums, giving us the chance to hear “Mrs Robinson”, “Baby Driver”, “The Boxer” and more. The band (drummer Mat Swales, guitarist/keys Will Tuckwell and bassist Nick Gontarski) were superb throughout but it was in this latter section that they shone most brightly. Hearing these songs live made me realize what amazing basslines they have (almost McCartney-esque) and that fuzzy guitar sound on “The Only Living Boy In New York” was to die for! They also got to play a medley of solo material bridging the gap between the duo’s split in 1970 to their reunion in 1981.

And it was with that reunion that the show ended, perfectly (I may add), with an impactful rendition of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” which brought a tear to the eye. What a performance from Mr Cave and way to finish a magical evening of classic songs! This customer was sure kept satisfied and I definitely left feelin’ groovy. Unreservedly recommended.