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CLASSICAL SINGING SENSATION

RUSSELL WATSON

TO PLAY ‘BILLY FLYNN’

IN THE UK AND IRELAND TOUR OF

THE INTERNATIONAL MUSICAL SENSATION

JOINING FAYE BROOKES AS ‘ROXIE HART’

WITH

DJALENGA SCOTT AS ‘VELMA KELLY’

BEGINNING AT LIVERPOOL EMPIRE

ON MONDAY 7 FEBRAURY 2022

David Ian in association with Barry and Fran Weissler are delighted to announce that multi-award-winning UK classical singer and stage star Russell Watson will take on the role of ‘Billy Flynn’ in the acclaimed UK and Ireland tour of the international musical sensation CHICAGO. Russell joins the previously announced Faye Brookes as ‘Roxie Hart’ and Djalenga Scott as ‘Velma Kelly’, opening at Liverpool Empire on Monday 7 February 2022. Full tour schedule and casting details below. www.chicagothemusical.com

The cast will also include Ishmail Aaron, Michelle Andrews, Gabby Antrobus, Delycia Belgrave, Joel Benjamin, Tanisha-Mae Brown, Daniel Clift, Callum Fitzgerald, Emily Goodenough, Billie Hardy, Aaron Jenkins, Liam Marcellino, Theo Reece, Hollie Jane Stephens and Harrison Wilde. 

Russell Watson is regarded as one of the world’s greatest classical singers, having released ten critically acclaimed studio albums. His debut album, ‘The Voice’ held the number one chart position in the UK for a record-breaking 52 weeks. Throughout his extensive career Watson has collaborated with Meatloaf, Lionel Richie, Paul McCartney, Alexandra Burke, and Luciano Pavarotti. He recently appeared as a contestant on the twentieth series, and castle edition, of ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! His stage credits include Parson Nathaniel in Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds on tour and Karl Oscar in the English world premiere of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus’ Kristina at Carnegie Hall and the Royal Albert Hall.

Faye Brookes (Roxie Hart) recently reached the final of this year’s series of ITV’s Dancing On Ice. She is best known for her role as Kate Connor in ITV’s Coronation Street, for which she won a National Television Award. Her theatre credits include Princess Fiona in Shrek and Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, both on national tour, Ann/Edna in That Day We Sang directed by Victoria Wood at Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Liesl in The Sound of Music at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and Frenchy in Grease at the West End’s Piccadilly Theatre. Faye’s other TV credits include Agnes Franklin in Our Girl and Helena in Atlantis, both for the BBC.

Djalenga Scott’s (Velma Kelly) West End credits include Lily St Regis in Annie at the Piccadilly Theatre, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the New London and Chicago at the Adelphi, Cambridge and Garrick Theatres. Her other credits include Anita in the national tour of West Side Story, Rizzo in Grease at Curve Leicester, Magenta in The Rocky Horror Show and Carmen in Fame, both on European tours, the US tour of Batman Live and Bombalurina in Cats at Kilworth House. Djalenga’s screen credits include Scarlett/Esme in Trapped for the BBC and Alexandra in the film I Give It A Year.

Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, CHICAGO is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago’s slickest criminal lawyer to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just as easily be ripped from today’s tabloids.

Created by the musical theatre talents of John Kander, Fred Ebb and legendary choreographer Bob Fosse, CHICAGO’s sexy, sassy score includes the show-stopping songs “Razzle Dazzle”, “Cell Block Tango”, and “All That Jazz”.  Winner of six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards and a Grammy, CHICAGO is the longest running American musical in Broadway and West End history.

Since it opened in New York in 1996, CHICAGO has played in 36 countries worldwide and has been performed in English, Dutch, German, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, French, Danish, Japanese and Korean.  Worldwide it has been seen by an estimated 33 million people, grossed over $1.7 billion and played over 32,500 performances.

CHICAGO, which is based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins, has a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb.  The 1996 Broadway revival of CHICAGO was choreographed by Ann Reinking in the style of Bob Fosse, directed by Walter Bobbie, and produced by Barry and Fran Weissler.

www.lionwitchonstage.com  Twitter @LionWitchOnTour  Instagram @lionwitchonstage 

UK & IRELAND TOUR OF C.S. LEWIS’

THE LION, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE

EXTENDED WITH TWO NEW DATES ADDED

NEW PRODUCTION PHOTOGRAPHS RELEASED TODAY

A major tour of C.S. Lewis’ classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe starring Samantha Womack as the evil White Witch has been extended with the addition of dates at New Wimbledon Theatre (12-16 April 2022) and the Bristol Hippodrome (3-7 May 2022).

Brand new production photographs of the show by Brinkhoff-Moegenburg have been released today.

This week the show is in Aylesbury and continues its journey of the UK and Ireland to Southampton next week, then Sunderland, Salford, Cardiff, Aberdeen, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Canterbury, Plymouth, Glasgow, Birmingham, Dublin, Woking, Norwich, Wimbledon and finally Bristol in May 2022. 

The National Press Night is at the Lowry in Salford on 9 December 2021 where the show will run over six weeks over the Christmas season.

Described by its Bristol based director Michael Fentiman as ‘total theatre’ this epic new production is a mixture of dance, puppetry and actor-musicianship.

Step through the wardrobe into the enchanted kingdom of Narnia. Join Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter as they wave goodbye to wartime Britain and embark on the most magical of adventures in a frozen, faraway land where they meet a faun, talking beavers, Aslan (the noble king of Narnia) and the coldest, most evil White Witch.

Samantha Womack, who plays Narnia’s evil White Witch said of her role:

‘Having been a huge fan of C S Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for as long as I can remember,  I am thrilled to be playing The White Witch. The book has always been a magical read and having watched incredible actors interpret this role in the past, I am excited to see what she holds for me. This production is so beautifully conceived with thrilling sets and costumes and an amazingly talented cast and creative team. I can’t wait to seduce, plot and terrify Narnia into a permanent winter’

Samantha Womack returns to the theatre after her recent success playing the lead role in the sold-out production of The Girl on the Train in the West End and on tour.  Sam’s past theatre roles include the Tony award-winning production of South Pacific in which she starred alongside Patrick Swayze, Guys and Dolls at London’s Piccadilly Theare (directed by Michael Grandage) and playing Emma in an award-winning production of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal (directed by Sir Peter Hall). Her varied work on television has seen Samantha moving from comedy to drama with the cult success of BBC’s Game On and Babes in the Wood  to ITV’s gritty crime drama Liverpool 1, Imogen’s Face and Ronnie Mitchell in EastEnders.  Films include playing the unhinged mother of Eggsy in the The Kingsman franchise sharing the screen with Colin Firth and Samuel L Jackson and playing Hazel in Jon Godbers  Up ‘n Under. 

Joining Samantha in the cast are:  Ammar Duffus (Peter Pevensie), Shaka Kalokoh (Edmund Pevensie), Robyn Sinclair (Susan Pevensie) and Karise Yansen (Lucy Pevensie).   Aslan is played by Chris Jared, Mr Tumnus by Jez Unwin, Mr Beaver by Sam Buttery and Maugrim by Michael Ahomka-Lindsay.  They are joined by Oliver Bingham (Mr Brinkworth, March Hare and Aslan Puppeteer), Scott Brooks (Mr Pope, Fox Trot, Associate Music Captain), Rachel Dawson (Miss Chutney, Blue Badger and Spirit of the Moon), Oliver Grant (Mr Wilson, Schrodinger, Red Squirrel and Aslan Puppeteer), Matthew James Hinchliffe (Mr Marsden, Mauve Mole), Tash Holway (on stage Swing, Dance Captain), Shaun McCourt (Mr Granville, Jack Rabbit, Aslan Puppeteer), Sophie Naglik (on stage Swing) Kate Parr (Miss Gumley-Warmley and Phoenix), Conor O’Kane (on stage Swing), Christina Tedders (Mrs Beaver), Brad Veitch (on stage Swing). Johnson Willis (Professor Kirk, Father Christmas, Wise Owl and White Mouse) aand Grace Wylde (Mrs Pevensie, Robin and Falcon)

The tour of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is directed by Michael Fentiman, based on the original production directed by Sally Cooksonwith original Set and Costume design by Rae Smith. Michael’s previous productions include the Olivier Award-nominated Amélie (Watermill Theatre/The Other Palace/UK Tour and West End), The Windsors: Endgame (West End), The Importance of Being Earnest (Vaudeville Theatre), the 50^th anniversary production of Joe Orton’s Loot (Park Theatre/Watermill Theatre), Titus Andronicus and Ahasverus (Royal Shakespeare Company), The Taming of the Shrew (Sherman Theatre/Tron Theatre) and, as director and writer, CinderELLA (Nuffield Southampton) and The Last Days of Anne Boleyn (Tower of London). 

Joining Michael Fentiman on the creative team are Tour Set and Costume Designer Tom Paris, Dramaturg Adam Peck, Composers Benji Bower and Barnaby Race, who is also the Music Supervisor, Choreographer Shannelle ‘Tali’ Fergus, Lighting Designer Jack Knowles, Sound Designers Ian Dickinson and Gareth Tucker for Autograph, Puppetry Director Toby Olié, Puppetry Designer Max Humphries, Aerial Director Gwen Hales, Illusionist Chris Fisher, Music Director Toby Higgins, Movement Consultant Dan Canham, Casting Director Will Burton, Fight Director Jonathan Holby, Costume Supervisor Joanna Coe, Wigs and Make Up Supervisor Susanna Peretz, Props Supervisor Lizzie Frankl, and Associate Director James Callàs Ball. 

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is produced on tour by Elliott & Harper Productions and Catherine Schreiber and based on the original Leeds Playhouse production.  The show broke box office records when it opened at Leeds Playhouse in 2017 and played to packed houses and critical acclaim at the Bridge Theatre in London in 2019. 

Website:   www.lionwitchonstage.com

Social:          Twitter @LionWitchOnTour   Instagram @lionwitchonstage 

Theatres Trust, the UK’s national advisory body for theatres, has responded to today’s announcement of the third round of the government’s Culture Recovery Fund. Theatres Trust director Jon Morgan comments:

Theatres Trust is pleased to see that a high number of theatres have been awarded funding through the Culture Recovery Fund. As the theatre sector has been amongst the hardest hit by the pandemic and theatres continue to face difficult times, it is good that many are receiving this additional support, which may be the difference between survival and closure for some. We hope this will help provide the stability that will enable theatres to continue to entertain and serve their local communities.

www.myfairladymusical.co.uk
@MyFairLadyUK 

James L. Nederlander, Jamie Wilson, Hunter Arnold, Playful Productions and
the English National Opera
present
the Lincoln Center Theater production of

LERNER & LOEWE’S
MY FAIR LADY
Book and Lyrics by ALAN JAY LERNER
Music by FREDERICK LOEWE
Directed by BARTLETT SHER

New York’s Lincoln Center Theater’s critically acclaimedand multi award-winning production of Lerner & Loewe’s much loved MY FAIR LADY will transfer to the London Coliseum for a limited summer engagement in what will be the first major West End revival of the show for 21 years. The season comes as part of the ongoing celebrated tradition of summer musicals at the London Coliseum. The perfect way to celebrate London’s theatre scene as it blossoms once more after the pandemic. Performances begin on 7 May 2022 with an opening night on 18 May 2022.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public on 23 November 2021 at 10am. For the latest news and to be amongst the first to access tickets please sign up to the mailing list at www.myfairladymusical.co.uk

Directed by Bartlett Sher, this sublime production, which premiered in the spring of 2018 at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater, was the winner of the Tony Award for Best Costume Design,  5 Outer Critics’ Circle Awards including Best Musical Revival, the Drama League Award for Outstanding Musical Revival, and the Drama Desk Awards for Best Musical Revival and Costume Design. The London production will feature the English National Opera’s award-winning Orchestra playing Frederick Loewe’s ravishing score.

Bartlett Sher said: “Getting a chance to revisit Shaw’s extraordinary story of class and privilege in a new age, and especially for London audiences, is a rare and special event.  And I am also thrilled to be back at the ENO and the Coliseum, a perfect space for this epic musical.”

“Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady has returned to Broadway in a smashing new production from Bartlett Sher (The Sound of Music, The King and I).”
The Guardian

“Lavish revival of Lerner and Loewe’s 1956 masterwork…”
The Washington Post

My Fair Lady tells the story of Eliza Doolittle, a young Cockney flower seller, and Henry Higgins, a linguistics professor who is determined to transform her into his idea of a “proper lady”. But who is really being transformed?

With a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, MY FAIR LADYboasts a score including the classic songs “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Get Me to the Church on Time,” “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” “On the Street Where You Live,” “The Rain in Spain,” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.” 

“Thrilling! Glorious and better than it ever was! A marvellous and transformative revival.”
New York Times

Adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s play and Gabriel Pascal’s motion picture Pygmalion, Lerner & Loewe’s MY FAIR LADY premiered on Broadway in March 1956, winning 6 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and becoming the longest-running musical in Broadway history at the time. Following this success, the production transferred to London in 1958, where it played in the West End for five and a half years. 

MY FAIR LADY has seen many notable revivals and adaptations, including the acclaimed 1964 film starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison, which won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Most recently on the London stage, Cameron Mackintosh’s 2001 revival at Theatre Royal Drury Lane won three Olivier Awards, and later toured across the UK and Ireland in 2005.

James L. Nederlander, Jamie Wilson, Hunter Arnold, Playful Productions and the English National Opera present the Lincoln Center Theater production of Lerner & Loewe’s MY FAIR LADY at the London Coliseum, with sets by Michael Yeargan, costumes by Catherine Zuber, lighting by Donald Holder, sound by Marc Salzberg, original musical arrangements by Robert Russell Bennett and Phil Lang, and dance arrangements by Trude Rittmann. 

Full casting for the London production will be announced in due course.

King’s Theatre, Edinburgh – until Saturday 20^th November

Reviewed by Ellen Searle

3***

Death Drop is a “Dragatha Christie murder-mystery”, set in 1991 on Tuck Island during a soirée for Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ tenth wedding anniversary.  Could the scenario be any more camp?  Probably not, and as such is a perfect scenario for an evening of outrageously over the top bawdy entertainment.

Top drag stars there are a plenty, drawn from around the globe.  US performers Willam and Ra’ Jah O’Hara from Ru Paul’s Drag Race plays one-hit-wonder pop starlet Shazza and sultry TV girl Summer Rains respectively, Vinegar Strokes from Drag Race UK is superb as Lady von Fistenburg, and the inimitable and much loved Karen from Finance from Drag Race Down Under plays tabloid editor Morgan Pierce.  You can see the way this is going. The play is written by Holly Stars, who herself plays triplets the Bottomley Sisters – Blue, Brie and Spread, her mother’s favourite types of cheese. 

And as you would expect, they are serving it up rude, crude and over the top.  There are rollicking songs, very dirty jokes, and the lavishly rhinestoned dresses and skyscraper heels definitely, to imitate one of the best known spoofs of them all, go all the way up to 11.

We also see drag kings, that is mostly female performance artists who dress in masculine drag and personify male stereotypes.  Here, Richard Energy as Tory MP Rich Whiteman (took me a moment to get that one!) and Georgia Frost as TV producer Phil Maker take infectious delight in rocking their male stereotypes to the full.  While there is possibly no such thing as too much in drag, for me, these characters both matched and helpfully balanced out the exorbitant energy of the drag queens. 

Is this for everyone?  Probably not, as the humour certainly requires a broad mind. Risque doesn’t even begin go cover it!  But there is somehow something refreshing and joyful about seeing a full on drag production (is there any other kind?) with a properly diverse cast in the oldest theatre of a city with a reputation for being a bit on the stuffy side.  Each actor gives their all, delivering every one liner, vulgar gesticulation, and pantomime scream with what feels like the very essence of their being.  If you’re tough enough, strap yourself in and enjoy the ride!

Park Theatre – until 19th December

Reviewed by – Emily Cliff

4****

Louisa May Alcott’s timeless classic Little Women has gone from book to music to film in the century and a half that it has been out. From the Academy award-winning film to the Tony-nominated musical the story of the four March sisters has touched hearts wherever it has gone and here in London we get to be a part of that joyous magic just in time for Christmas.

With music from Grammy award-winning Jason Howland, it is safe to say that this musical has been built on a pretty solid foundation. Following the lives of four Meg (Hana Ichijo), Jo (Lydia White), Beth (Anastasia Martin) Amy (Mary Moore) in the days of the American civil war this musical navigates all the ups and downs of growing up and the ever-growing bond that binds sisters together. Very few productions have a strong female leading cast, and Little Women does and it screams it proudly from the rooftops.

The first act captures brilliantly the strong sense of imagination and the bond the sisters shared through that. Lydia White captured the essence of Jo’s strong witted determination from the very offset of this musical, linked in with her clean and smooth vocals show the strength that lies within her character and also the vulnerability in her personality. The harmonies between the four sisters gel and blend so sweet and soft that it mirrors the love that these girls have for each other. The first act of this musical was a wholesome and touching reenactment of a brilliant childhood classic. With humour in all of the right places you truly felt like you were in on the secret between these sisters as if you were a part of the special bond they shared. The key songs from the first act are Here Alone performed by Marmee (Savannah Steverson) showing the strength of a mother with a husband at war, and an operatic tragedy, a number where we truly see the imagination and the creativity of Jo’s fantastic and creative mind.

Act two is where we see these sisters grow up. Moving through adolescent heartache, the pain of losing a loved one and all of the chaos and heat ache that follows. A downfall of this play however is that while to story is captivating, we lose the development and some of the key factors of the other sisters. The musical while it tries to be inclusive of all the sisters are still very much centred around Jo, whereas the beauty of the novel and the films that have followed is that all of the sisters are recognised and shown in their own right.

The spirit of sisterhood and the importance of family bonds run the very end. The heart-wrenching duet between Beth and Jo ‘Some things are meant to be’ broke all the hearts of the audience and it is safe to say that there wasn’t a dry eye in the theatre. Overall the true sense of sisterhood and love shown throughout this musical was wonderful. It was a truly charming evening of theatre, filled with imagination, love heartbreak and everything in between.

INITIAL CAST ANNOUNCED FOR NEW MUSICAL

BROKEN WINGS AT CHARING CROSS THEATRE

Aria Entertainment today announces initial casting for the musical adaptation of Kahlil Gibran’s Broken Wings by Nadim Naaman – who will also play Kahlil Gibran -and Dana Al Fardan. Bronagh Lagan directs the cast including Yasmeen Audi (Layla Bawab/Ensemble), Haroun Al Jeddal (Mansour Bey Galib), Lucca Chadwick-Patel (Young Kahlil Gibran), Soophia Foroughi (Mother), Alex Kais (Ensemble), Nadim Naaman (Kahlil Gibran), Ayesha Patel (Dima Bawab) and Noah Sinigaglia (Selma Karamy). After multiple productions of the musical in concert form around the Middle East this will be the first full staging of the musical. The production opens at Charing Cross Theatre on 26 January, with previews from 21 January, and runs until 5 March 2022. Full casting will be announced shortly.

Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment with Bonnie Comley and Stewart F. Lane in association with Edward Prophet and People Entertainment Group presents

Kahlil Gibran’s

BROKEN WINGS
Written by Nadim Naaman and Dana Al Fardan

Cast: Yasmeen Audi (Layla Bawab/Ensemble), Haroun Al Jeddal (Mansour Bey Galib),

Lucca Chadwick-Patel (Young Kahlil Gibran), Soophia Foroughi (Mother), Alex Kais (Ensemble), Nadim Naaman (Kahlil Gibran), Ayesha Patel (Dima Bawab) and Noah Sinigaglia (Selma Karamy)

Director: Bronagh Lagan; Musical Director: Erika Gundesen; Orchestrations: Joe Davidson;

Set & Costume Designer: Gregor Donnelly; Choreographer: Philip Michael Thomas; 
Lighting Designer: Nic Farman; Sound Designer: Andrew Johnson; Casting Director: Jane Deitch; 

Assistant Director: Riwa Saab

21 January – 5 March 2022

New York City, 1923. Through exquisite poetry and enchanting music, an ageing Gibran narrates our tale, transporting us back two decades and across continents, to turn-of-the-century Beirut. Gibran meets Selma; their connection is instant and their love affair, fated. However, their journey to happiness is soon thrown off course, as the pair face obstacles that shake the delicate foundation of their partnership. Will their love win out or will their dream of a life together be torn apart?

Performed in-the-round, Broken Wings takes us on an unmissable musical voyage, exploring issues of gender equality, immigration, the freedom to love who we love, and what ‘home’ really means to us. Over a century later, and the themes and debates raised in Gibran’s story, remain increasingly relevant today.

Nadim Naaman is the book writer and co-composer, and is also playing Kahlil. His credits include Rumi: The Musical – released by Broadway Records as a Concept Album. His credits as an actor include A Little Night Music (Holland Park Opera), The Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty’s Theatre/Greek tour), By Jeeves (The Old Laundry), Sweeney Todd (Tooting Arts Club), One Man, Two Guvnors (Theatre Royal Haymarket), and The Sound of Music (London Palladium). As a soloist, he has performed concerts in venues including The Hong Kong Philharmonic, Birmingham Symphony, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, RTE Concert Orchestra Dublin, Liverpool Philharmonic, The John Wilson Orchestra, London Symphony and BBC Proms at The Royal Albert Hall. His 2016 studio album, Sides, topped the iTunes UK Vocal Chart, and is available on iTunes and Spotify. Naaman is also an associate at The Royal Academy of Music.

Dana Al Fardan is a Qatari composer, songwriter and symphonic artist. Her credits include Rumi: The Musical – released by Broadway Records as a Concept Album. She is the official composer of Qatar Airways and also Brand Ambassador of Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom she has recorded two albums: Layla and Sandstorm – the latter has been performed by The London Metropolitan Orchestra at Theatre Royal Haymarket in London.

Yasmeen Audi plays Layla Bawab/Ensemble. She recently graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she won the 2019 Toni V. Fell Prize for Acting through Song. She made her West End debut playing the legendary in Umm Kulthum & The Golden Era (London Palladium). Her other work includes Broadway’s Gypsy of the Year (assistant choreographer/swing), RENT, Little Shop of Horrors and Into the Woods.

Haroun Al Jeddal plays Mansour Bey Galib. He recently graduated from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. His performance credits Grease (UK tour), Bring It ON (The BTA), West Side Story (FutureStages), Imaginary, The Battle of Boat (NYMT), Peter Pan Goes Wrong (Mischief Theatre), and Baby and We Lost Elijah (National Theatre Connections); and for television, Coronation Street.

 
Lucca Chadwick-Patel plays Young Kahlil Gibran. He graduated this year from Guildford School of Acting. His theatre work includes The Magician’s Elephant (RSC), In Pieces (Turbine Theatre), Dogfight (Southwark Playhouse), and Carousel: In Concert and The Clockmaker’s Daughter (Cadogan Hall).

Soophia Foroughi plays Mother. Her theatre credits include The Prince of Egypt (Dominion Theatre), Rumi – The Musical (Concert/Workshop/Recording), Spamalot (Frankfurt, Germany), The Sound of Music (Popular Productions), Michael Ball Sings The Musicals, Michael Ball: Both Sides Now (UK tours), White Christmas (Pitlochry Festival Theatre), The Rat Pack, Live From Las Vegas (Wyndham’s Theatre), The House of Bernarda Alba (Union Theatre), Thursford Christmas Spectacular, and Jack and the Beanstalk (Mercury Theatre Colchester).

Alex Kais is making his London stage debut in the Ensemble. He recently appeared in The Hades & Persephone Project and partnered with Trinacria Theatre Company to develop the production. He is currently part of the team that are producing the 2021 Black British Theatre Awards.

Ayesha Patel makes her professional stage debut playing Dima Bawab. She recently graduated from Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Her television work include as part of the choir in Ball & Boe: A Very Merry Christmas.

Noah Sinigaglia makes her professional stage debut playing Selma Karamy.

Bronagh Lagan directs. Her theatre credits include Cruise (Duchess Theatre), Rags The Musical (Lyric Theatre/Park Theatre), Umm Kulthum (London Palladium), Putting It Together, Little Women (Hope Mill Theatre), A Winter’s Tale (Rose Theatre Kingston), Brexit the Musical (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), Promises, Promises (Southwark Playhouse), tick, tick… BOOM! (Park Theatre), As You Like It (Jackson’s Lane), The Adventures of Pinocchio (Ambassadors Theatre), The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (Chipping Norton Theatre), The Pajama Game, A Man of No Importance (Pleasance Theatre), Heart of Winter, The Stationmaster (Tristan Bates Theatre), James and The Giant Peach (UK/international tour), Portia Coughlan (The Old Red Lion), Girlfriends (Union Theatre), A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (Greenwich Theatre), The Mistress Cycle (Landor Theatre), Expectations (Arcola Theatre), Blood Wedding (Courtyard Theatre), Newsrevue (Canal Café Theatre), Henry VI Part 1 (Rose Theatre), Erris (Theatre503), Julius Caesar (The Scoop) and The Madness of Sweeney (Lyric Theatre, Belfast). Lagan is also part of the From Page To Stage Literary department for Aria Entertainment.

www.brokenwingsmusical.co.uk

Twitter:                @bwmusical
Facebook:           @brokenwingsmusical
Instagram:           @brokenwingsmusical

BROKEN WINGS

LISTINGS

Charing Cross Theatre

The Arches, Villiers Street, London WC2N 6NL

21 January – 5 March 2022

Box Office: www.charingcrosstheatre.co.uk/ 08444 930 650

DENZEL WESTLEY-SANDERSON

WINS THE RTST SIR PETER HALL DIRECTOR AWARD 2021

NATHAN CROSSAN-SMITH IS RUNNER-UP

The Royal Theatrical Support Trust (RTST) and English Touring Theatre (ETT) have announced Denzel Westley-Sanderson as the winner of the 2021 RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award and Nathan Crossan-Smith as the runner-up. Now in its fifth year, the award – which honours the memory of RTST co-founder, Sir Peter Hall – is made to an up-and-coming director demonstrating exceptional directing skills in a rigorous competitive process.

As the winner of the 2021 Award, Denzel Westley-Sanderson will direct a full-scale, funded, mid-scale regional touring production of a classic or modern play opening in 2022 at Leeds Playhouse, in a co-production between ETT and Leeds Playhouse, then tour across the UK. The RTST will make a grant of £50,000 to be applied towards the costs of the winner’s production.

As the runner-up, Nathan Crossan-Smith will receive mentoring and professional support from ETT.

Denzel Westley-Sanderson and Nathan Crossan-Smith were selected by a panel comprising Chair, Richard Twyman; Artistic Director of ETT; James Brining, Artistic Director of Leeds Playhouse; Dominic Cooke, Director; Paapa Essiedu, Actor; Haydn Gwynne, Actor; Shelley Maxwell, Movement Director; Nickie Miles-Wildin, Co-Artistic Director and CEO of DaDaFest; and Sirine Saaba, Actor. 

The scheme promotes the RTST’s charitable objectives by supporting up-and-coming theatre practitioners and British regional theatres. It is also intended to appeal to a wide range of candidates and to play a part in promoting diversity in the theatre, onstage, offstage and among audiences.

Sir Geoffrey Cass, Chairman, and Mark Hawes, Director of the RTST said, “Our Award scheme has become a unique gauge of up-and-coming directing talent in British theatre — this year the reading is higher than ever. We received a surfeit of high-calibre entries from experienced directors eager to seize this rare career-transformative opportunity to progress to mid-scale tour directing -doubtless aspirations were pent-up over the pandemic. Winner: Denzel Westley-Sanderson and runner-up Nathan Crossan-Smith will be exciting directors to watch.

“Denzel’s production will be the fourth regional mid-scale touring co-production, and the fifth regional production in total, to be catalysed by our RTST Award and production grant. We’re thrilled to be working with our 2021Award partners ETT and Leeds Playhouse to bring this about next Autumn. Taking a wider view: we’re enormously proud that our Award is continuing to propel fresh and diverse talent into the mid-scale while providing meaningful support to regional British theatre companies, especially in these trying times for the industry.”

Richard Twyman, Artistic Director, and Sophie Scull, Executive Producer of ETT,also commented, “It’s a great pleasure to announce this year’s winner of the 2021 RTST Sir Peter Hall Directors Award, Denzel Westley-Sandersonand runner-up, Nathan Crossan-Smith. The award is unique in its ambition and scope, opening up the nation’s stages to an exceptional new artist each year, and allowing them to make work for audiences across the country. Denzel is a dynamic, intuitive director and we can’t wait to work with him to make a show in Autumn 2022, that will open in Leeds and tour nationally. We also look forward to offering mentoring support for Nathan to develop his craft over the coming year.

We’d like to thank the panellists and workshop actors, for all the care and talent that they gave to the selection process this year and to all the directors that took the time to apply and be part of the process. The quality of entrants was extremely high and we only wish that we could offer all of the directors that applied this opportunity.”

James Brining, Artistic Director of Leeds Playhouse, said: “Massive congratulations to Denzel on winning this award, which gives up-and-coming theatre practitioners a valuable opportunity to take their work to the next level, developing the scale and ambition of what they can achieve and giving them the support they need to move forward with confidence.

“We can’t wait to work with him on what promises to be an exciting addition to our 2022 programme. At Leeds Playhouse, we pride ourselves on supporting visionary artists at all stages of their career as part of our pioneering Furnace artistic development programme. We feel honoured to be able to work with Denzel, to help him develop his practice and to support him as he reaches a pivotal point in what looks set to be a stellar career.”

Previous winners and official runners-up respectively of the RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award are Anthony Almeida and Maria Crocker (2019); Nancy Medina and Josh Seymour (2018); Chelsea Walker and Tinuke Craig (2017); and Kate Hewitt and Rebecca Frecknall (2016).

For further details of the award, please visit the RTST’s website: www.rtst.org.uk.

SPRING 2022 HERALDS A UK TOUR OF CARLOS ACOSTA’S

BRAND-NEW PRODUCTION OF DON QUIXOTE 

For spring 2022, Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Director Carlos Acosta promises entertainment for all ages when he brings an explosion of Spanish sunshine, spectacular dance and vivacious comedy to stages across the country. 

In a new production created especially for Birmingham Royal Ballet and featuring all-new designs by Tim Hatley, Don Quixote introduces us to Cervantes’ famous knight himself, lovers Kitri and Basilio, and a host of supporting characters. As the Don sets out on a quest to track down his true love, with his loyal friend and servant Sancho Panza at his side, he finds himself embroiled in an unlikely adventure of love and dreams.

The first UK performances of Acosta’s sparkling new 21st-century production of this 19th-century masterpiece, featuring music by one of the founding fathers of Russian Ballet music Ludwig Minkus, performed live by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, take place in Southampton in February and the tour continues to Birmingham, Salford, Sunderland and Plymouth through to 19 March.  

Carlos Acosta’s original production, his first full length ballet, was created for The Royal Ballet in 2013, and was last seen at the Royal Ballet in 2019. It has also been seen in cinemas all over the world. Carlos has been performing in Don Quixote since the age of 16 when he won the Prix de Lausanne so it’s very close to his heart but also a real crowd pleaser. As well as wanting to ensure this new version is suitable for touring, Acosta said:

“For this new production, I wanted to give it a completely new take and a new look to the one that I gave to the Royal Ballet so that Birmingham has its own. It’s a new production with new concept and designs, re-orchestration, new elements of the choreography, new colours, a whole new palette.

“This ballet is really popular with dancers,” he says. “It is a ballet for virtuosos. If you really have aspirations to become the best ballet dancer you can be, then you must have this ballet under your belt. Also it’s a production which gives opportunities to a large ballet company because there are a lot of roles for everyone in the company – for soloists, for corps members and principals so it’s a real showcase.”

Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham – until 20th November

Reviewed by Boo Wakefield

4****

Nottingham Concert Hall shook last night to the sounds of School of Rock, which is on its UK tour now it has finished in the West End. From start to finish, it will have you laughing, crying and definitely singing along to this fast-moving musical.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s School of Rock is based on the hit movie and follows the life of Dewey Finn, an endearing character who is down on his luck. He has just been thrown out of a rock band which was about to enter a competition called the Battle of the Bands, dashing all his dreams. As his whole life crumbles, he decides to masquerade as his best friend and takes up an offer of a job as a supply teacher at an elite school. He is put in charge of a class of bright students who, to his surprise, can sing and play music and sets about teaching them about the rock idols he loves rather than the curriculum. This gives him the idea of training them to enter the Battle of the Bands but can he get away with this without being caught by the headmistress or the parents?

It would be easy to make comparisons with the original movie, but Jake Sharp, who stars as Dewey Finn, has made this role his own. Sharp’s ability to play guitar live whilst blasting out numerous songs surrounded by 12 incredibly talented children is awesome. His energy levels never drops and his comic timing is spot on. And believe me, the sweat is real!

Rebecca Lock plays Rosalie Mullins, the headmistress who also falls for Finn, has the ability to swap her voice from an impressive soprano voice to beautiful singing with ease.

Unlike in the movie, the children’s family life is shown earlier in the production which gives more background to their characters. As a group, they are an impressive bunch singing and preforming their way through the production with strong voices, excellent timing, and mind-blowing instrumental skills. They risk outshine the adults in this production. Alfie Morwood, who plays Billy who takes on the task of designing the costumes for the band, is superb and deliver his part perfectly. But its Jasmine Djazel who really steals the show as Tomika. Her voice, which you expect to be as quiet as her character, is sweet and clear but then builds to an outstanding strong performance.

This production is slick, energetic, and all-round entertaining and is well worth a visit