Future Spotlight Productions and KidZania London today announces Adult Nights, a one-off Halloween special at the immersive KidZania indoor city featuring immersive role-play activities, cocktails on entry and live performances from emerging musical theatre stars. With a spectacular live show on the Runway Stage, audiences will have full access of the KidZania indoor city, which features a replica radio station, supermarket, airport, fire station and more. Adult Nights will be on 22 October with entry from 7-11pm.
Hosted by Rosie Napper, the live entertainment features performances by Ross Harmon (Heathers – West End), Beccy Lane (Bare The Pop Opera, In Pieces), Kyle Birch (Children Of Eden), Roxanne Couch (2021 ArtsEd Graduate); with dancers Conor Tidman and Lukas Poischbeg.
Completing the creative team is Louis Rayneau (Director), Rachel Sargent (Choreographer) and Daisy Loving (Production Assistant).
Louis Rayneau, Artistic Director of Future Spotlight Productions, said today “I’m delighted to be collaborating with KidZania London on this spook-tacular event! Collaborating with them is always a treat and I am so thrilled to unleash what we have in store for you all! Exploring KidZania London is like stepping into another world; the fact that adults now get the chance to really get lost in the magic and fun of the activities through the city is so exciting! There’s also delicious food and drink on offer and TWO frightening full out shows throughout the night on our Brand-New Runway Stage in the Main Square! Expect the unexpected – this is a show you won’t forget, and the cast are phenomenal!”
Kyle Birch’s theatre credits include Leave a Light On (Lambert Jackson), Spotlight on the Future: Live, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Future Spotlight Productions/KidZania), A Night With Emerging Writers (Red Piano Productions), Turn Up London (Club 11), Spooktacular (The Grad Fest) and Untapped: at the Union (Bray Productions).
Roxanne Couch is a recent graduate of Arts Ed. Her recent credits include In Pieces Live (Future Spotlight Productions) and I Could Use A Drink (Garrick Theatre).
Ross Harmon is a recent graduate of the London School of Musical Theatre and his recent credits Heathers (Theatre Royal Haymarket), In Pieces Live (Future Spotlight Productions) and Mamma Mia (Royal Caribbean).
Beccy Lane is a recent graduate of Performance Preparation Academy. Her recent credits include In Pieces (Future Spotlight Productions) and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Future Spotlight Productions/KidZania).
Rosie Napper hosts. She is a recent graduate of Performance Preparation Academy. Her credits include Spotlight on the Future LIVE! (Future Spotlight Productions) and Disney Dream Cruises.
Lukas Poischbeg is currently studying at University of Roehampton for an MFA in Dance and Embodied Practice and will graduate in 2022. His credits include Phoenix Risen (MS Amadea Cruise Ship), Newsies (Village Theatre) and Legally Blonde (Showtunes Theatre Company).
Connor Tidman is a dancer. His credits include The Brit Awards and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.
“moving at breathless speed, the five performers take on a dazzling series of gender-switching roles… a Beyoncé-esque assertion of female power in the wartime…excellent performers… There are some big, blowsy shows around in the West End, but this little belter is staging its own audacious invasion plan” ★★★★★ Suzi Feay, Financial Times
“a miraculous musical that tells the entire story in a kind of accelerated farce that is part Mel Brooks, part SIX, part Hamilton with a side order of One Man, Two Guvnors.” ★★★★★
Neil Norman, Daily Mirror
“But whoof! It blew the roof clean off. Hoots and tears welcomed this ingenious, touching musical. Taut lyrics, vintage gags, a wild tale and tunes that followed me out into the night air, in hums and whistles. Perfection… An artisanal masterpiece” ★★★★★ Luke Jones, Daily Mail
“this is the musical you didn’t know you needed — until you see the expert cast of five embracing and racing through a clutch of preposterous yet endearing characters and musical styles, telling a story with delicious precision. Set firmly in the past, this is a little show with a very big future.”
David Benedict, Variety
Tickets for the January/February dates are on sale now here
Run: Friday, 14 January – Saturday, 19 February 2022
The year is 1943 and we’re losing the war. Luckily, we’re about to gamble all our futures on a stolen corpse.
Following sold-out runs at the New Diorama Theatre in 2019 and Southwark Playhouse in 2020 and September 2021, Operation Mincemeat is back. Having spent lockdown rewriting the show, weeping and eating biscuits, SpitLip have extended the run of this newer, bigger and (somehow) even better version from 14 January through to 19 February 2022.
Singin’ in the Rain meets Strangers on a Train, Noel Coward meets Noel Fielding, Operation Mincemeat is the fast-paced, hilarious and unbelievable true story of the twisted secret mission that won us World War II. The question is, how did a well-dressed corpse wrong-foot Hitler?
Operation Mincemeat won The Stage Debut award for Best Composer/Lyricist, the Off-West End award for Best Company Ensemble and was listed in the Observer’s Top 10 shows of the year.
Commissioned by New Diorama Theatre, co-commissioned by The Lowry. Supported by the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat Additional support from Avalon.
OPERATION MINCEMEAT
Written and composed by SpitLip. SpitLip are David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoe Roberts.
Directed by Donnacadh O’Briain. Choreography by Jenny Arnold. Set and costume design by Helen Coyston. Lighting design by Sherry Coenen. Sound Design by Mike Walker.
Nottingham Theatre Royal – until Sunday 10 October 2021
Reviewed by Louise Ford
4****
Beautiful Briny Ballroom
The original 1971 Disney film is a family favourite. It was hard to imagine how it would be transferred to the stage with its mixture of magic, flying beds, underwater scenes and cartoon animals . Well the power of theatre didn’t disappoint. The new musical based on the books by Mary Norton, adapted by Brian Hill, with original songs by the Sherman Brothers and additional songs by Neil Bartram started its UK tour in August . It has been brought to the stage by theatre-makers Candice Edmunds and Jamie Harrison.
The stage is set with the brass bed with gleaming bedknobs in an attic bedroom . The Rawlings children (Charlie, Carrie and Paul) are reading a pop up book looked on by their parents. In the background there is the silhouette of St Paul’s and a London skyline. The peaceful scene is shattered by bombing and warplanes (cleverly manoeuvred around on handheld rods). The set is shattered as is the family to leave the Rawlings children orphaned.
The children are evacuated by train, from the city to the countryside. Alone at the post office in the village of Pepperinge Eye on the Dorset coast they await their fate . They are billeted to Miss Eglantine Price (Dianne Pilkington) who arrives to pick up her latest parcel from London. Miss Eglantine bursts on to the stage in a glorious outfit (tailored purple tweed two piece, a natty hat all with contrast gloves and trim), this contrasts nicely with the locals ‘brown’ outfits. The costumes (by Gabriella Slade) are a real treat. The knitwear worn by the children is fabulous!
The four of them leave the village on Miss Eglantine’s motorcycle and sidecar, toot toot!
Let the adventures begin.
The story isn’t hard to follow and moves along at a reasonable pace. The fist half sets the scene for the action of the second half. The ensemble performance when the family are back in London, meeting Emelius Browne (Charles Brunson) hunting down the missing spells of Portobello Road is a riot of colour, swirling handcarts and dance (choreographed by Neil Bettles).
The second half starts underwater as the family journey to the Nopeepo Lagoon on their way to Nopeepo Land. The dance competition all sequins, swirling seaweed and handheld fish was my favourite scene.
The set design and illusions by Jamie Harrison are an absolute delight. From the quick set change, twirling doors, puppetry, sleight of hand magic to the flying broomstick (how did that happen?) and of course the flying brass bedstead (how did they do that?).
The adventures and magic cleverly distract from the Nazi threat and we have almost forgotten Miss Eglatine’s mission to magic a defence against this menace. Fear not once back on dry land there is a fine finale of magic. All’s well that ends well and the family are reunited and leave in the trusty motorcycle and side car!
Ralph Fiennes will lead the cast in the world premiere of David Hare’s Straight Line Crazyto be directed by Nicholas Hytner at The Bridge. Performances are from 16 March – 18 June 2022 with opening night on 23 March 2022. Designs are by Bob Crowley. Straight Line Crazy reunites Fiennes, Hare and Hytner who previously collaborated on Beat the Devil at The Bridge in Autumn 2020. Further casting will be announced at a later date as well as further members of the production team. Priority booking for Straight Line Crazy opens today at 10am, with public booking opening at 10am on 12 October 2021.
Ralph Fiennes stars in David Hare’s blazing account of the life of a man whose iron will exposed the weakness of democracy in the face of charismatic conviction. For forty uninterrupted years, Robert Moses was the most powerful man in New York. Though never elected to office, he manipulated those who were through a mix of guile, charm and intimidation. Motivated at first by a determination to improve the lives of New York City’s workers, he created new parks, new bridges and 627 miles of expressway to connect the people to the great outdoors. But in the 1950s, groups of citizens at grass roots began to organize against his schemes and against the motor car, campaigning for a very different idea of what a city was and for what it should be.
Ralph Fiennes has enjoyed an extensive career in theatre, film and television as well as producing and directing film. He was last on stage at The Bridge in David Hare’s Beat the Devil, directed by Nicholas Hytner, and recently toured in The Four Quartets which has a London run from 18 November 2021. Fiennes was previously directed by Hytner as Edmund in King Lear for the Royal Shakespeare Company. His many other theatre credits include Hamlet, Ivanov, Richard II and Coriolanus for the Almeida, Antony and Cleopatra, The Master Builder, God of Carnage and Faith Healer. His many film credits include Schindler’s List, The English Patient, The Constant Gardener, The Grand Budapest Hotel and the roles of Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter films and M in Skyfall and Spectre. He has also directed three feature films – Coriolanus, The Invisible Woman and The White Crow. Fiennes’ forthcoming films include The King’s Man, The Dig, The Forgiven and No Time To Die.
David Hare is one of the UK’s most prolific and acclaimed writers having written extensively for stage, television and film. He is the author of over 30 full length plays, his first, Slag, was produced in 1970. Hare is the winner of multiple international awards including a BAFTA for Licking Hitler, an Olivier award and a Critics’ Circle award for Racing Demon, an Evening Standard Drama award for Pravda and a Tony award for Skylight. He is also a two-time Academy award nominee for The Hours and The Reader and was knighted in 1998.
For the Bridge Theatre Nicholas Hytner has directed Young Marx, Julius Caesar, Allelujah!, Alys, Always, A Midsummer Night’s Dream,Two Ladies, Beat the Devil, The Shrine, Bed Among the Lentils, A Christmas Carol and Bach & Sons. In December he will direct Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust – La Belle Sauvage in a new stage adaptation by Bryony Lavery also at The Bridge. Previously he was Director of the National Theatre from 2003 to 2015.
CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR
PHILIP PULLMAN’S
T H E B O O K O F D U S T – L A B E L L E S A U V A G E
IN A NEW STAGE ADAPTATION BY BRYONY LAVERY
Casting is announced for Nicholas Hytner’s production of Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust – La Belle Sauvage to run at The Bridge in a new stage adaptation by Bryony Lavery. Taking place twelve years before Pullman’s epic His Dark Materials trilogy, performances are from 2 December 2021 – 19 February 2022 with opening night on 14 December 2021.
The cast comprises Julie Atherton, Holly Atkins, Wendy Mae Brown, Pip Carter, Samuel Creasey, Ella Dacres, Ayesha Dharker, Heather Forster, Naomi Frederick, Richard James-Neale, John Light, Dearbhla Molloy, Tomi Ogbaro, Sid Sagar, Nick Sampson and Sky Yang.
Co-Directors are Emily Burns and James Cousins with designs by Bob Crowley, puppetry by Barnaby Dixon, lighting design by Jon Clark, sound by Paul Arditti, video designs are by Luke Halls and Zakk Hein and music by Grant Olding. James Cousins is also movement director, Kate Waters is fight director and illusions are by Filipe Carvalho.
Two young people and their dæmons, with everything at stake, find themselves at the centre of a terrifying manhunt. In their care is a tiny child called Lyra Belacqua, and in that child lies the fate of the future. And as the waters rise around them, powerful adversaries conspire for mastery of Dust: salvation to some, the source of infinite corruption to others.
Julie Atherton’s theatre credits include The Grinning Man for Trafalgar Studios, Therese Raquin for Park and Finborough Theatres, Avenue Q at the Noel Coward Theatre, Mamma Mia! at the Prince Edward, Cinderella at the Lyric Hammersmith, Sister Act on National Tour, The Last Five Years at the Theatre Royal Haymarket and Ordinary Days for Trafalgar Studios. Her television credits include Embankment, Doctors, Shakespeare and Hathaway, Sound of Music Live and Otherworld and film credits include The Amazing Maurice.
Holly Atkins’s theatre credits include Romeo and Juliet, and Helen at Shakespeare’s Globe, The Ballad Of Crazy Paola at the Arcola, Scarborough at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Royal Court and Summer Begins at Southwark Playhouse. Her television credits include Home, King Gary, This Country, In The Long Run, Witless, Call The Midwife, Wallander, Criminal Justice, The Sarah Jane Adventures, City Lights, Where the Heart is, Casualty, The Project, Kiss Me Kate and EastEnders.
Wendy Mae Brown’s theatre credits include To Kill a Mockingbird for Theatr Clwyd, The Lorax for The Old Vic, White Christmas for Curve Theatre, Leicester, Kiss Me Kate for The Old Vic and Chichester Festival Theatre, Ghost The Musical on the UK Tour and Australian Tour and South Pacific for Kilworth House. Her television credits include River, Man Down, 4 Weddings and a Funeral, Porters, 40 North and Casualty.Her film credits include Last Chance Harvey and Blackbeard the Pirate.
Pip Carter’s credits for the National Theatre include Consent, Platonov (also for Chichester Festival Theatre), The Cherry Orchard, The White Guard, Gethsemane, Never So Good and Present Laughter. Carter’s other theatre credits include Mood Music for The Old Vic, The Dark Earth and The Light Sky for the Almeida Theatre, Posh for the Royal Court and Duke of York’s Theatre, Tiger Country for Hampstead Theatre and Joseph K for the Gate Theatre. His television credits include The Irregulars, Industry, The Crown, New Worlds, Fleming and Henry IV. His film credits include 1917, Denial, Spectre, The Eagle and Robin Hood.
Samuel Creasey graduated from ArtsEd in 2020 and is making his professional stage debut. His television credits include Inside Man.
Ayesha Dharker’s theatre credits include Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello and Arabian Nights for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Pericles and Ramayana for the National theatre, When the Crows Visit and White Teeth for the Kiln, Richard II for the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, The Island Nation for the Arcola Theatre, Anita and Me for Birmingham Rep and Theatre Royal Stratford East, The Dijnns of Eidgah and Disconnect for the Royal Court. On film her credits include The Father, Star Wars, Attack of the Clones, The Terrorist, Outsourced and Anita and Me. On television her credits include Holby City, Doctor Who, Indian Doctor and Coronation Street.
Ella Dacres graduated from the National Youth Theatre’s Rep Company in 2020 and is making her professional stage debut.
Heather Forster graduated from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in 2019 and is making her professional stage debut. Her TV credits include Call The Midwife, Casualty and Doctors and she is set to appear in the upcoming film The Colour Room.
Naomi Frederick’s award-winning theatre credits are Time and the Conways for the Royal Exchange Theatre, Measure for Measure at the National Theatre and Three Sisters for the Theatre Royal Bath and on tour. Her other theatre credits include Agnes Colanderfor the Theatre Royal Bath and Jermyn Street Theatre, White Teeth for the Kiln Theatre, The Mentor and Hobson’s Choice for the Theatre Royal Bath and in the West End, As You Like It and The Heresy of Love both for Shakespeare’s Globe, Made in Dagenham at the Adelphi Theatre, Kneehigh’s Brief Encounter at Birmingham Rep and in the West End, Emil and The Detectives, Henry IV and Mrs Affleck all for the National Theatre, The Winslow Boy for the Old Vic and The Tamer Tamed and As You Like It both for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Her television credits include Belgravia, EastEnders, Inspector George Gently, Casualty and Foyles War. On film her credits are Father Christmas Is Back, The Aftermath and The Children’s Act.
Richard James-Neale is an actor, director and movement director. He is also a practitioner for Frantic Assembly. His theatre credits include King Lear in the US on tour, Wings for the Young Vic, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Shakespeare’s Globe, Watership Down for the Watermill Theatre, Peter Pan for Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Othello for Frantic Assembly, Emil and the Detectives for the National Theatre and Pygmalion for the Old Vic. Feature films include The Batman and The Legend of Tarzan.
John Light’s more recent theatre credits include Uncle Vanya at the Theatre Royal Bath, Mary Stuart at the Duke of York’s Theatre, The Winter’s Tale and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Shakespeare’s Globe, Three Days in the Country for the National Theatre, The Blackest Black for Hampstead Theatre, Julius Caesar for Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Luise Miller for the Donmar Warehouse and The Master Builder at the Almeida Theatre. On film his credits include Albert Nobbs, Scoop, Partition, Heights, The Lion in Winter and The Ascension. On television his credits include Around the World in 80 Days, Agatha Raisin, Mars, Maigret, Silk and Father Brown.
Dearbhla Molloy’s more recent theatre credits include Uncle Vanya at the Harold Pinter Theatre, The Ferryman at the Royal Court, Gielgud and on Broadway, Moment for the Studio Theatre Washington, Afterplay and Give Me Your Hand for the Irish Repertory Theatre NYC, Richard III for the Almeida Theatre, Much Ado at the Guthrie Theatre Minneapolis, Outside Mullingar at Manhattan Theatre Club, Trojan Women at the Gate Theatre and And No More Shall We Part at Hampstead Theatre. Previously she also was seen in Dancing at Lughnasa and A Touch of the Poet on Broadway, and Cripple of Inishmaan directed by Nicholas Hytner. Film credits include Wild Mountain Thyme, No Reservations, Home for Christmas and The Damned United. Television credits include Women on the Verge, Acceptable Risk, Scandal, Family Tree and Wallender.
Tomi Ogbaro’s theatre credits include Ruff Tuff for Cardboard Theatre, Seagulls for Octagon Theatre, An Act of Care for York Theatre Royal, A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and Sweet Charity for Watermill Theatre. On television he has been seen in Temple and on film in Dao Hides, No Name and Three Trapped Mice.
Sid Sagar‘s theatre credits include The Invisible Hand at Kiln Theatre, The Starry Messenger at the Wyndham’s Theatre and Julius Caesar at the Bridge Theatre. His television credits include Anatomy of a Scandal and Trying and film credits include Cruella and Dolittle. As a writer, he is currently part of the London Library Emerging Writers Programme and his first short film is in development with BFI NETWORK.
Nick Sampson’s theatre credits include Anthony and Cleopatra, Great Britain, Othello, The Captain of Kopenick, Timon of Athens, Collaborators, Hamlet, London Assurance, Dark Materials, Cyrano De Bergerac all for the National Theatre, Plenty for Chichester Festival Theatre, Julius Caesar for the Bridge Theatre, Ross for Chichester Theatre, The Gathered Leaves for The Park Theatre and King Charles III and Romance for the Almeida Theatre. His television credits include The Sister Boniface Mysteries, Belgravia, Catastrophe, Doc Martin, Witness for the Prosecution and Genius. On film his credits include Lost City of Z, An Education, Siam Sunset and Madness of King George.
Sky Yang graduated from The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 2020 and is making his professional stage debut. His television credits include Holding and Halo. His film credits include Touchdown and Tomb Raider.
La Belle Sauvage was published in 2017 and was followed by The Secret Commonwealth in 2019. His Dark Materials, a ground-breaking production sixteen years ago directed by Hytner at the National Theatre, was also adapted for broadcast on BBC One in 2019 with the second series in 2020. Philip Pullman was knighted in 2019 for his services to literature.
For the stage Bryony Lavery’s work includes the internationally critically acclaimed Frozen as well as Stockholm, Kursk, Dirt and Beautiful Burnout. Last year her adaptation of David Walliams’ The Midnight Gang was presented at Chichester Festival Theatre where her previous adaptations The Hundred and One Dalmatians and A Christmas Carol were also seen. The London premiere of her play Last Easter opened at the Orange Tree Theatre in July.
Please see above for Nicholas Hytner.
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Address: Bridge Theatre, 3 Potters Fields Park, London, SE1 2SG
Ava Gardner comes to Riverside Studios in world premiere of a new play by Elizabeth McGovern Riverside Studios, 101 Queen Caroline St, Hammersmith, London W6 9BN 14th January – 16th April 2022
Opening in January 2022, AVA: The Secret Conversations is a spellbinding new play from Elizabeth McGovern based on the book by Peter Evans and Ava Gardner. Produced by Karl Sydow, the production will star Elizabeth McGovern, with design by 59 Productions.
Oscar nominated Ava Gardner was one of Hollywood’s greatest stars during the 1940s and 1950s, co-starring with legends such as Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster and Humphrey Bogart. But Ava’s film career was sometimes overshadowed by her three marriages to: Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra.
AVA: The Secret Conversations follows Ava’s collaboration with writer Peter Evans for her biography; throughout the process Evans struggled to elicit material from his often elusive and moody subject and, in the end, learned things about Ava he never expected. The book based on Evans’ notes, drafts and recordings was finally published in 2013, the year after his death.
Ava Gardner – The Secret Conversations is the stunning story of a legendary star’s public and private lives. Part fact, part fiction, the play assumes the time Ava and Evans spent together collaborating while she was living in London, flashing back to various moments throughout her career and introducing audiences to the men in her life
Elizabeth McGovern comments, I was drawn to The Secret Conversations to begin with by my fascination with Ava Gardner. There is something in her character that goes beyond physical beauty: an unselfconscious combination of humour, intelligence, warmth and humility that the camera was able to capture and we can still enjoy today. But also, the conversations were mostly unadulterated, and , without coming to any pat conclusions, reveal the price she paid forfame, the toll it took on her life. I wanted to explore this for selfish reasons. I feel qualified to draw from my own experience in order to explore the subject.
Michael Harrison for Crossroads Pantomimes is delighted to announce the world-famous TILLER GIRLS will join Donny Osmond, Julian Clary, Paul Zerdin, Nigel Havers, Gary Wilmot, Jac Yarrow and Sophie Isaacs in Pantolandat The Palladium which will open on 4 December 2021 and run until 9 January 2022 for a strictly limited five week run. They are also joined by Australian speciality act Flame Oz who will add a new dimension to the pantomime along with the return of spectacular special effects from the Twins FX.
Today’s Tiller Girls are amongst the most highly trained dancers in the country, with a repertoire that ranges from traditional high kicks, to jazz, tap and ballet all performed with split second precision and all are also accomplished singers. Many will remember the world-famous Tiller Girls from their regular appearances on Sunday Night At The London Palladium in the 1960s and 70s (latterly on 7 April 1974), originally launched by the creator of precision dance John Tiller as far back as 1890. By 1920, John Tiller had eighty troupes performing all over the world from Broadway to Paris, as well as in Hollywood movies for Busby Berkeley. The world’s longest running dance troupe, The Tiller Girls deliver precision dance, spectacular costumes and a sprinkling of Hollywood allure wherever they perform.
An essential part of Christmas in the West End, Pantoland at The Palladium is created by Michael Harrison and promises to be a treasure trove of The London Palladium’s panto past and exciting new surprises written especially for the show, guaranteeing an unmissable treat for panto and musical theatre fans alike.
The Olivier Award-Winning Team of director Michael Harrison, choreographer Karen Bruce, set designer Ian Westbrook, costume designer Hugh Durrant, lighting designer Ben Cracknell, sound designer Gareth Owen and composer and orchestrator Gary Hind will once again work together to bring back this hugely popular show.
This production at The London Palladium is once again delivered in partnership with The National Lottery. It comes following The National Lottery’s support for pantomimes across the UK in 2020 – when it provided the necessary funds to make possible productions when social distancing meant audience numbers were limited. The money for this initiative came from a National Lottery promotional fund.
Pantoland at The Palladium is produced by Michael Harrison for Crossroads Pantomimes.
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Theatre: The London Palladium, Argyll St, London W1F 7TF
Dates: 4 December 2021 – 9 January 2022
Performances: see website for performance schedule
Rankin to celebrate talent and resilience of London theatre industry with major photography project
Photographer and filmmaker Rankin has today (Friday 8 October) announced details of one of his biggest projects to date: ‘PERFORMANCE, RankinLIVE x West End Theatre’.
Produced in partnership with the Mayor of Londonand the Society of London Theatre (SOLT) as part of the #BackOnStage campaign, this will be an ambitious programme of live shoots, a city-wide exhibition, ground-breaking interviews, a book launch and a charity auction – all in celebration of the capital’s world-leading theatre industry and its pandemic recovery, and in support of Theatre Artists Fund and London youth homelessness charities.
In an historic record of a West End reborn, PERFORMANCE will see Rankin shoot up to 200 subjects drawn from a multitude of productions and theatre venues in central London. With a mission to provide a platform for the full spectrum of the West End’s finest talent both on and offstage, the project will feature everyone from star actors, dancers, writers, directors and producers through to costume, sound, lighting and set designers, puppeteers, technicians, dressers, stage managers, front of house staff and many more.
Rankin said: “Everyone working in theatre has a story to tell of their experience over the past eighteen months, inspiring tales of hardship, perseverance, patience, innovation, despair and joy. With this project and exhibition, we want to celebrate the jewel in the crown of our city’s unparalleled culture sector – epitomised by these countless faces and voices who make up the backbone of London’s theatre community and will spearhead its post-Covid recovery.
“I honestly can’t remember the last time that I’ve seen so many different organisations come together so quickly around an idea – from the Mayor of London and SOLT offering their practical and logistical support; Fujifilm offering their flagship store for an entire season; Westminster Council and the central London landlords offering empty units; the production companies and theatres offering their stars and staff; all the way through to the suppliers like Addison Lee assisting with the nuts and bolts of transportation. These are all reminders of just how important theatre and culture is to us as a society.”
A landmark exhibition of the portraits will run from 3 November to 31 January at the Fujifilm House of Photography in the heart of London’s West End. In addition, edited behind-the-scenes films of the shoots will be shared on digital and social platforms, granting an exclusive look into the project and Rankin at work.
The project is part of the Mayor of London’s Let’s Do London campaign, the largest domestic tourism campaign the capital has ever seen, bringing together London’s leading hospitality, culture and retail organisations to attract Londoners and visitors from across the UK back to central London to enjoy its world-class attractions, theatres and venues.
Visitors to the PERFORMANCE exhibition will have the chance to support young Londoners facing homelessness by making a donation to four London youth homelessness charities – Depaul, akt, Centrepoint and New Horizons Youth Centre – as well as the Theatre Artists Fund, which provides emergency aid to struggling theatre freelancers. Further money will be raised for the chosen charities through the purchase of limited-edition books and merchandise.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “I’m thrilled to support this exciting project by Rankin. From our galleries to our theatres, London’s cultural sector has had an incredibly difficult 18 months. This once-in-a-lifetime portrait of the West End will showcase the incredible talent that comes together to make our theatres the envy of the world, providing another reason to visit central London and supporting the vital work of youth homeless charities.”
The smash hit musical ANYTHING GOES, ‘the show of the year’ (★★★★★ Daily Telegraph) and a ‘fizzing tonic for our times’ (★★★★★ The Guardian) will sail into over 450 cinema screens nationwide for two nights only on Sunday 28 November and Wednesday 1 December in a live recording filmed at London’s renowned Barbican Theatre.
Presented by the Barbican and filmed live in London – during the show’s 15 week residency at the theatre, which continues until 6 November – his major new five star production of the classic musical comedy features an all-star cast led by renowned Broadway royalty Sutton Foster reprising her Tony Award-winning performance as Reno Sweeney, alongside three-time Olivier Award and Tony Award winner Robert Lindsay (My Family) as Moonface Martin, Evening Standard Theatre Award winner Felicity Kendal (The Good Life) as Evangeline Harcourt and beloved West End Legend Gary Wilmot (Chicago) as Elisha Whitney. A heart-warming romance with spectacular dance routines and some of theatre’s most memorable songs, ANYTHING GOES is ‘a joyously shipshape revival’ (★★★★★ The Observer).
Since ANYTHING GOES opened this summer at the Barbican, audiences have been on their feet night after night giving this multi-Tony Award winning show multiple standing ovations at every performance. Featuring a 50 strong cast and ensemble of the finest there is to offer on the London stage, including tap dancing sailors and a full-sized live orchestra, this critically acclaimed production ‘immediately joins the pantheon of great classic musical revivals’ (Daily Telegraph). ANYTHING GOES continues to play to sell out houses, as audiences flood through the Barbican Theatre doors to witness this truly spectacular musical comedy. Plans for an international cinema release will be announced soon.
When the S.S. American heads out to sea, etiquette and convention head out the portholes as two unlikely pairs set off on the course to true love… proving that sometimes destiny needs a little help from a crew of singing sailors, a comical disguise and some good old-fashioned blackmail. This hilarious musical romp across the Atlantic, directed by the multi-award-winning Broadway director and choreographer Kathleen Marshall, features Cole Porter’s joyful score, including I Get A Kick Out of You, You’re the Top and the show stopping Anything Goes. The ‘musical equivalent of sipping one glass of champagne after another’ (★★★★★ The Times), ANYTHING GOES will take you back to the Golden Age of high society on the seas from the comfort of your cinema seat.
ANYTHING GOES has music and lyrics by Cole Porter, an original book by P.G. Wodehouse & Guy Bolton with Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse and a new book by Timothy Crouse and John Weidman. The musical also stars Samuel Edwards (Les Misérables / Wicked) as Billy Crocker, Nicole-Lily Baisden (The Book of Mormon / Let’s Face The Music) as Hope Harcourt, Haydn Oakley (A Christmas Carol / An American in Paris) as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh and Carly Mercedes Dyer (West Side Story/Chicago) as Erma.
Producer Howard Panter says: “The multi-Tony Award winning glorious production of Anything Goes, directed by Kathleen Marshall, is not to be missed. London audiences already cannot get enough of this energetic and uplifting classic musical which has been sold out night after night. From four outstanding leading actors – Sutton, Robert, Felicity, Gary – to the spectacular supporting company, the glorious set design, the breathtaking choreography and of course the wonderful score. It really is ‘the show of the year’ that everyone should experience and I am delighted that via this two day cinema release the show will get an even wider audience across the UK.”
Trafalgar Releasing’s CEO Marc Allenby says: “We’re delighted to be working with our partners within the Trafalgar Entertainment Group to bring this entertaining and uplifting five star musical to cinemas across the UK. Musical theatre has a proven track record of box office success on the big screen, and with its all-star cast, spectacular dance routines and instantly recognizable songs, Anything Goes is the perfect production to bring laughter and joy to cinema audiences.”
★★★★★
‘Makes you gasp in wonder and laugh till it hurts. Pure class.’
Daily Telegraph
★★★★★
‘The show of the year. I would give it six stars if I could’
Daily Telegraph
★★★★★
’The musical equivalent of sipping one glass of champagne after another’
The Times
★★★★★
‘When a musical packs this much energy and spectacle, nothing else goes!’
Daily Mail
★★★★★
’Bubbly wit and stylish fun. It shimmers and sparkles.’
The Times
★★★★★
‘Anything Goes offers the delirious delight of a musical in full sail’
Financial Times
CREATIVE TEAM
Kathleen Marshall – Director & Choreographer
Stephen Ridley – Music Supervisor & Director
Derek McLane – Set Designer
Jon Morrell – Costume Designer
Hugh Vanstone – Lighting Designer
Jonathan Deans – Sound Designer
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Screening Dates: Sunday 28 November & Wednesday 1 December
Rambert’s Draw from Within, directed by the Belgian choreographer Wim Vandekeybus, is an electric combination of dance and spoken word that captured audiences in live streams during lockdown and now is finally in theatres, ready to send audiences on a 70 minute journey in a world of light and darkness.
Set on a plain stage with a piece of spoken word and very few dancers opening the performance in a mellow and tender way. The opening of the performance, within its softness eases the audience in and does not foretell the layers and the intensity of the story that will soon unfold. The stage is dimly lit, which allows for the dancers to slide inside the shadows of fires they make, or is filled with light from spotlights that accentuate the expressions of the dancers.
In a story that from the beginning gives a lot of room for interpretation the barrier between what is true and what is an illusion or a dream is blurry and the stage transforms multiple times to nurture different stories and magnify experiences, desires or fears of an unknown protagonist. The use of fire, smoke, metal screens and ropes, as well as other changes of the setting help transform the stage and facilitate the expression through dance and acting.
For what feels like a glimpse in a woman’s mind we become observant of people coming in a frenzied dance, embraced by the smoke of the torches they extinguish while around them people seem to disregard them. Othertimes, ropes tighten around a woman who elegantly slips through them, an act of defiance perhaps to the expectation of a submissive female as earlier she is passionately claimed by a male figure. The uses of these instruments help grasp the audience’s attention while also encouraging the imagination to unwind and explore what is the underlying meaning.
At the same time, as simple and humble as it begins, the stage fills with people racing in and out of the spotlight, sometimes joining and other times leaving the main stage and leaving no second unfilled with excitement. The choreography most times is not identical for all dancers, although they are perceived as the narrators of the same story each depicts that story in their own unique way leaving the audience craving for more time with each dancer to attend to their interpretation of the incidents. The choreography most times is intense and demanding and the dancers successfully embody every move and coexist on the stage in a state of harmonious chaos.
Near the end of the performance a hyperrealistic turn of events sends the dancers in a delirium that intensifies and builds up until the protagonist is returned back to reality, visited by white wearing people, in an empty corridor, of what seems to be a mental health facility. The notion of being inside a woman’s subconscious in a hazy hallucination of her life events becomes more obvious which allows for explanation on what was really excessive and what was an aftermath of unbounded trauma and harrowin pain.
Overall, with a cast of brilliant dancers performing a soulful piece, the companion of songs and poetry that compliment and intensify the experience, Draw from Within is a homage to being human, fighting with inner demons and surviving in a world that is filled with absurdity and agony. Maybe a nightmare, or maybe a portrait of a reality, raw and genuine, that dominates the audience until the last minute.
OPENING AT DARTFORD ORCHARD THEATRE ON 14 JANUARY 2022
Producer Joshua Andrews is delighted to announce star casting for the UK and Ireland tour of Kay Mellor’s smash hit FAT FRIENDS THE MUSICAL. With original music by Nick Lloyd Webber, the tour willopen at Dartford Orchard Theatre on 14 January 2022. Joining the previously announced Lee Mead as ‘Kevin’ will be Sherrie Hewson as ‘Julia’, Jessica Ellis as ‘Kelly’ and Les Dennis as ‘Fergus’. Marc Akinfolarin also joins the cast as ‘Alan’ with Alex–May Roberts as ‘Val’. Further casting to be announced soon.
Kay Mellor said today ‘I am thrilled with the amazing star cast we have assembled for our second outing of Fat Friends The Musical. Lee Mead and Jessica Ellis are fantastic performers and will be wonderful as Kevin and Kelly, and it’s great to be welcoming two iconic actors, Sherrie Hewson and Les Dennis who first worked together 40 years ago and are now reunited on stage’.
Lee Mead is a much loved actor of stage and screen. Having won the nations hearts when they voted him their Joseph in BBC One’s ‘Any Dream Will Do’, Lee has gone on to star in the West End in ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’, ‘Legally Blonde’ and ‘Wicked’ before establishing himself as a TV favourite on ‘Casualty’ and then ‘Holby City’ in the role of Lofty.
Sherrie Hewson is probably best known as the iconic Maureen Holdsworth in ITV’s ‘Coronation Street’ and Joyce Temple-Savage in six series of ‘Benidorm’. Her other TV credits include ‘Russ Abbot’s Madhouse’ and ten years as the comedy cornerstone of ‘Loose Women’. No stranger to the stage, her many theatre credits include ‘Stepping Out’, ‘Billy Liar’, ‘Run For Your Wife’ and ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’.
Jessica Ellis played Tegan Lomax in Channel 4’s ‘Hollyoaks’ for five years. She most recently filmed the feature film ‘Catherine Called Birdy’, written and directed by Lena Dunham. She has appeared on stage in ‘Bedroom Farce’ at Theatre by the Lake and in three Old Vic New Voices productions in New York. Fat Friends marks her musical theatre debut.
Les Dennis most recently starred as Wilbur in ‘Hairspray’ opposite Michael Ball at the London Coliseum. His other West End credits include Amos Hart in ‘Chicago’ and Bill in ‘Me and My Girl’. His touring theatre credits include ‘Art’, ‘Legally Blonde’, ‘High School Musical 2’ and Uncle Fester in the musical comedy ‘The Addams Family’. His many TV credits include Michael Rodwell in ‘Coronation Street’ and a fictional version of himself in ‘Extras’.
This hugely entertaining musical toured the UK to a rapturous response from critics and sell out audiences in 2017 and is based on the hit ITV show Fat Friends, that starred James Corden and Ruth Jones. Fat Friends – The Musical reunites our favourite foodie friends as they are put through their Zumba paces at their local slimming club, whilst Kelly fantasises about fitting into the wedding dress of her dreams. Full of hope, humour, love and weight loss, the show delivers a tasty treat of fun and laughter and encourages us all, as the final song sings, to Love Who You Are!
FAT FRIENDS THE MUSICAL is created, directed and has a book and lyrics by the multi award winning Kay Mellor, whose latest hit series of The Syndicate recently ran on BBC One. It has Music by Nicholas Lloyd Webber with Set and Costume design by Bretta Gerecke. Choreography is by Karen Bruce, Sound by Ben Harrison, Lighting by Nick Richings with Orchestrations, Arrangements and Musical Supervision by Simon Lee, Casting by Stephen Crockett CDG for David Grindrod Associates, with Additional Casting by David Shaw CDG for David Shaw Casting. It is produced by Joshua Andrews and Rollem Productions.
