Liz McClarnon and Louis Emerick join the cast of Elf: The Musical for its Christmas 2017 season

Further casting has been confirmed for Elf: The Musical which heads toTheatre Royal Plymouth and The Lowry, Salford for a limited run this winter.

Liverpudlian chart topper Liz McClarnon will star in the production as ‘Jovie’ and much loved British TV actor Louis Emerick will take on the role of ‘Santa Claus’. They will appear alongside previously announcedBen Forster as ‘Buddy’, Joe McGann as ‘Walter’ and Jessica Martin as ‘Emily Hobbs’, who all reprise their roles from the record-breaking 2015 Christmas run in the West End.

Liz McClarnon is well-known for being one third of British chart topping girl group Atomic Kitten. As part of the group Liz accumulated countless awards and a multitude of chart topping hits including “The Tide is High”, “Eternal Flame” and “Whole Again”. Atomic Kitten’s number one hit “Whole Again” spent four weeks in the UK charts as well as topping the charts in seventeen countries.

Liz has starred in an array of theatre productions including Legally Blonde, War Of The Worlds and more recently in the hit musical SHOUT.  She is also a regular on both TV and radio includingCelebrity Masterchef (2008 champion), Hotter Than My Daughter(BBC 3) and Heart North West Breakfast.

Louis Emerick is best known for his portrayal of Mick Johnson in the soap opera Brookside and for his recurring role of PC Walsh in Last of the Summer Wine. Numerous television and film credits also includeCold Feet, The Bill, Holby City, Doctors and Layer Cake (alongside Daniel Craig).

Alongside his numerous screen credits, Louis has proven himself as a highly accomplished and critically acclaimed stage actor. Notable theatre credits include; The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui alongside Mark Rylance (Contact Theatre, Manchester); On the Ledge (Royal Court, Liverpool), Basil and Beattie (Royal Exchange), the National Tour of Soap Opera, Bouncers (The Royal Court, Liverpool) and most recently the role of Horse in the National Tour of The Full Monty.

Elf: The Musical returns to Theatre Royal Plymouth for one week only, from Sat 11 – Sat 18 November before heading to The Lowry, Salford. The Salford venue will host the show’s first Christmas season outside of London from Fri 24 November 2017 until Sun 14 January 2018.

Based on the beloved 2003 New Line Cinema hit starring Will Ferrell, Elf is the hilarious tale of Buddy, a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts and is transported back to the North Pole. Unaware that he is actually human, Buddy’s enormous size and poor toy-making abilities cause him to face the truth. With Santa’s permission, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find his birth father, discover his true identity, and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas.

Michael Rose in association with the Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin present the Theatre Royal Plymouth production of Elf at The Lowry.

Elf: The Musical features a book by Tony Award winners Thomas Meehan (Annie, The Producers, Hairspray) and Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone), with songs by Tony Award nominees Matthew Sklar andChad Beguelin (The Wedding Singer).

The production will feature direction and choreography by Morgan Young (Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), set design and costumes by Olivier Award winner Tim Goodchild, lighting design by Olivier Award winner Tim Lutkin, orchestrations by Doug Besterman, video design by Ian William Galloway and sound design by Avgoustos Psillas & Terry Jardine for Autograph.  Musical supervision will be by Stuart Morley.

Listings Info 
Elf: The Musical
Dates: Fri 24 November 2017 – Sun 14 January 2018
Times: 7.30pm. Wed, Sat & Sun 2pm.
Tickets: £25.50 – £58.50 (including booking fee)
Website

DUE TO OVERWHELMING PUBLIC DEMAND

THE WORLD PREMIERE OF

JIM STEINMAN’S

BAT OUT OF HELL – THE MUSICAL

ADDS A FURTHER TWO WEEKS OF EXTRA PERFORMANCES

AT THE LONDON COLISEUM –

FINAL TWO-WEEK EXTENSION ON SALE NOW

 

With wonderful reactions from audiences, standing ovations every night and audiences singing their hearts out at the end of each performance, the producers of Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical are delighted to announce a further extension to the run at the London Coliseum this summer. The production officially opened in London’s West End last night, and, due to overwhelming public demand, a further two weeks of extra performances have been added.  This will be the final extension – the limited season must end 22 August 2017.

As with many great works of art, the genesis of the Bat Out Of Hell album occurred across a number of years.  One of the songs was written while Steinman was an undergraduate at Amherst College in the late 1960s.  In the 1970s, Steinman wrote a theatrical musical that was presented in workshop in Washington D.C. in 1974 and featured many of the songs that would ultimately appear on the Bat Out Of Hell album, which was released in 1977.

Bat Out Of Hell became one of the best-selling albums in history, selling over 50 million copies worldwide.  16 years later, Steinman scored again with Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell, which contained the massive hit I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That).

For the stage musical, the legendary and award-winning Jim Steinman has incorporated iconic songs from the Bat Out Of Hell albums, including You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth, Bat Out Of Hell, I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That) and Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad, as well as two previously unreleased songs, What Part of My Body Hurts the Most and Not Allowed to Love.

Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is a romantic adventure about rebellious youth and passionate love, set against the backdrop of a post-cataclysmic city adrift from the mainland.  Strat, the forever young leader of The Lost, has fallen for Raven, daughter of Falco, the tyrannical, ruler of Obsidian.  

Jim Steinman’s previous musicals include his collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Webber on Whistle Down the Wind, including the hit single released by Boyzone, No Matter What, and the musical Tanz der Vampire, which has been running for 20 years and has been presented in Vienna, Stuttgart, Berlin, Hamburg, Paris, Budapest, Warsaw, St Petersburg and Tokyo.

Directed by award-winning theatre and opera director Jay Scheib, the cast of Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is led by newcomer Andrew Polec as Strat and Christina Bennington as Raven, with Rob Fowler as Falco and Sharon Sexton as Sloane.  Also starring are Aran MacRae as Tink, Danielle Steers as Zahara, Dom Hartley-Harris as Jagwire, Giovanni Spano as Ledoux and Patrick Sullivan as Blake.  Also in the cast will be Jemma Alexander, Emily Benjamin, Stuart Boother, Georgia Carling, Natalie Chua, Jonathan Cordin, Amy Di Bartolomeo, Jordan Lee Davies, Olly Dobson, Hannah Ducharme, Isaac Edwards, Phoebe Hart, Linus Henriksson, Rosalind James, Kalene Jeans, Michael Naylor, Eve Norris, Tim Oxbrow, Andrew Patrick-Walker, Benjamin Purkiss, Anthony Selwyn, Courtney Stapleton and Ruben Van keer.

Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical has book, music and lyrics by Jim Steinman, direction by Jay Scheib, choreography by Emma Portner, with musical arrangements and supervision by Michael Reed, set design by Jon Bausor, costume design by Jon Bausor and Meentje Nielsen, video design by Finn Ross, lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe, sound design by Gareth Owen, orchestration by Steve Sidwell, casting by David Grindrod Associates and musical direction by Robert Emery.

Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is produced by David Sonenberg, Michael Cohl, Randy Lennox, Tony Smith.

Website:  www.BatOutOfHellMusical.com

Twitter & Facebook:  @BatTheMusical

 

LISTINGS INFORMATION

5 June – 22 August 2017

London Coliseum

St Martin’s Lane

London

WC2N 4ES

Performances:  Mon-Sat at 7.30pm, Thurs & Sat at 2.30pm (extra 2.30pm matinee on Tue 22 August)

Tickets:  from £15.00

Box Office:  020 7845 9300

Co-commissioned by Live Theatre and The Marlowe Theatre
The Paper Birds present
Mobile – new tour dates added
Until 22nd October 2017
An ordinary looking caravan. An extraordinary experience. A treasure trove of
magical theatre and digital wizardry.

New dates for The Paper Birds’ tour of Mobile have just been announced. Continuing to make theatre as accessible as possible, they will caravan the breadth of the country popping up by the seaside, on high streets, at schools, and in arts centres and theatres across the UK.

Staged in a caravan, Mobile is an inventive and intimate piece of verbatim theatre about class, family and belonging. Based on personal testimonies collected in the community workshops, from research by collaborator Professor Sam Friedman, and the company’s own lives, the play explores our sense of home, aspiration and the realities of social mobility.

We are taught from a young age to aim high, to reach for the stars, to want more, more than our parents, more than the generations before us, to climb the social ladder. But, as we surge forward, what are we leaving behind? And, if we look back, what do we see?

The Paper Birds will take Mobile to new locations for the very first time such as HighTide Festival in London and Aldeburgh, HOME in Manchester, Festival of Thrift in Redcar, and Arts Depot in London. The company will also make its debut in Wales at The Ffwrnes in Llanelli and The Miner’s Theatre in Amanford.

Jemma McDonnell, Artistic Director of The Paper Birds and director of Mobile, comments, Mobile explores class with both head and heart. Whilst social mobility is highly political, at the root of it

Mobile is about family. Who we are is so deeply influenced by where we have come from; the homes we grew up in, the food we ate, the jobs of our parents, the holidays we did or didn’t go on, they all affect our seating in the world. Mobile aims to transport its audience to board games on rainy family holidays or busy Christmas dinners with not enough chairs, to question how these long-forgotten childhoods have shaped who we are today.

Mobile is The Paper Birds’ second show in a trilogy about class in modern Britain. Made for audiences of up to eight people at a time, this intimate 40-minute show incorporates stunning digital visuals by The Media Workshop and original music composed by Shane Durrant. As the caravan comes to life so do stories of origins and aspirations.

Mobile neatly turns the caravan into a magic box where every cupboard and drawer springs a surprise in a piece that explores social mobility, class and what going on a caravan holiday says about you (the Guardian).

This is a co-commission by Live Theatre and The Marlowe Theatre that has been supported with public funding by Arts Council England.

 

FURTHER CASTING ANNOUNCED
The Seagull
By Anton Chekhov in a new version by Simon Stephens
Directed by Sean Holmes
A Lyric Hammersmith production
Tuesday 03 October – Saturday 04 November 2017

The Lyric Hammersmith today announces further casting for Simon Stephens’s new version of Anton Chekhov’s highly renowned play, The Seagull, directed by Artistic Director Sean Holmes. Adelayo Adedayo plays Nina, Michele Austin plays Pauline, Paul Higgins plays Hugo Dorn, Cherrelle Skeete plays Marcia, Nicolas Tennant plays Peter Sorin and Brian Vernel plays Konstantin, joining the previously announced Lesley Sharp who plays Irina Arkadina.

Unrequited love. Creative jealousy. Guns. Vodka.
And Art.

Chekhov’s celebrated masterpiece is given vibrant new life in this dynamic new version by Olivier award winning playwright Simon Stephens directed by Sean Holmes.

Switching effortlessly between the ridiculous and the profound The Seagull forensically examines the transcendence and destructiveness of love. The burning need to create Art and how harshly that need can be crushed permeates this classic play.

Cast Includes: Adelayo Adedayo, Michele Austin, Paul Higgins, Lesley Sharp, Cherrelle Skeete, Nicolas Tennant and Brian Vernel.

Adelayo Adedayo plays Nina

Theatre credits include: Cuttin’ It (Young Vic/Royal Court); Klippies (Southwark Playhouse); Rachel (Finborough Theatre) and The Dead Wait (Park Theatre)

Film and TV credits include: Unlocked, Timewaster, Houdini & Doyle, Some Girls, Stan Lee’s Lucky Man, Law & Order UK, Skins, Gone Too Far, Sket, MI High, Meet The Bandaiis and The Bill.

Michele Austin plays Pauline

Theatre credits include: Medea and The Chain Play (Almeida); Pride and Prejudice (Sheffield Crucible Theatre); The House That Will Not Stand and The Riots (Tricycle); I Know How I Feel About Eve (Hampstead Theatre); To Kill A Mockingbird (Regents Park); Six Books (Bush); Wild Child (Rough Cuts); The Lost Mariner, Been So Long and Breath, Boom (Royal Court); Generations (Young Vic); Out In The Open (Hampstead); Our Country’s Good (Out of Joint) and It’s A Great Shame (Stratford East).

Film and TV credits include: The Children Act, What We Did On Our Holidays, Another Year, The Infidel, All Or Nothing, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, Second Nature, Secrets & Lies, Eastenders, The Coroner, The Casual Vacancy, Death In Paradise, Harry And Paul, Holby City, Peep Show, Silent Witness, Britannia High, Outnumbered, Never Better, Secret Life, The Bill, The Wife Of Bath, Clare In
The Community, Doctors, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Eastenders, The Bill, Babes In The Wood, Kiss Me Kate and The Perfect Blue.

Paul Higgins plays Hugo Dorn

Theatre credits include: Temple, Luise Miller, The Cosmonaut’s Last Message (Donmar); Blackbird, King Lear (Citizens); Hope, Nightsongs, American Bagpipes, The Conquest of the South Pole (Royal Court); Children of the Sun, White Guard, Paul, An Enemy of the People, The Hare Trilogy (National Theatre); Damascus (Traverse/Tricycle/Middle East); The Tempest (Tron); Black Watch (National Theatre of Scotland); Macbeth, Conversations After A Burial (Almeida); Measure for Measure (RSC); The Golden Ass, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Globe).

Film and TV credits include: Line of Duty, Decline and Fall, The Thick of it, New Town, The Last Enemy, Murder, Raised By Wolves, Utopia, Low Winter Sun, Victoria & Abdul, Couple in a Hole, In The Loop, Red Road, Bedrooms and Hallways, Apostle and The Party’s Just Beginning.

Lesley Sharp plays Irina Arkadina

Theatre credits include: A Taste of Honey, Harper Regan, Mother Courage and her Children, Murmuring Judges, Uncle Vanya – Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress (National Theatre); Ingredient X, Top Girls and Our Country’s Good (Royal Court); Ghosts (Duchess); Little Voice (Vaudeville); God Of Hell, A Family Affair – Olivier Award nomination for Best Comedy Performance
(Donmar); Playing With Trains and Mary and Lizzie (RSC) and Summerfolk (Chichester Festival Theatre).

Film and TV credits include: Three Girls, Scott & Bailey, Capital, Starlings, The Shadow Line, Whistle and I’ll Come To You, Cranford, Poirot, Moving On, The Diary of Anne Frank, Dr Who, Afterlife, Planespotting, The Survivors, Carla, Carrie’s War, Bob and Rose Slapper and Me, Inkheart, Vera Drake, Cheeky, From Hell, The Full Monty, Naked, Priest, Close My Eyes, The Rachel Papers, Rita, Sue and Bob Too, The Love Child. Clocking Off, Great Expectations, Playing The Field and Common as Muck.

Cherrelle Skeete plays Marcia

Theatre credits include: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Palace); Three Days in the Country and Amen Corner (National Theatre); Wind in the Willows (Royal and Derngate, Northampton); And I and Silence (Finborough) and The Lion King (Lyceum).

Film and TV credits include: Silent Witness, Danny and the Human Zoo, The Five, Ordinary Lies and Call the Midwife.

Nicolas Tennant plays Peter Sorin

For the Lyric: Three Kingdoms (also Tallinn/Munich),

Theatre credits include: Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time (Apollo); Hamlet, Taming Of The Shrew, King Lear, As You Like It and All’s Well That Ends Well (RSC); The Alchemist and Dr Faustus (Liverpool Playhouse); Tiger Country and Love Me Tonight (Hampstead); The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (Liverpool Everyman /Chichester); The Power Of Yes, The Blue Ball and The U.N.
Inspector (National Theatre); Roaring Trade and Piranha Heights (Soho); People At Sea (Salisbury Playhouse); Caucasian Chalk Circle (Tour); Under The Black Flag (Shakespeare’s Globe); Members Only (Trafalgar); Dead Funny (West Yorkshire Playhouse); Cloud 9 and Teeth ‘N’ Smiles (Sheffield Theatre) and Bad Company, Sugar, Sugar and Love & Understanding (Bush).

Film and TV credits include: Peaky Blinders, The Bill, The Gift, The Fool, Nice Town, Between the Lines, Breaking The Bank, Oscar & Lucinda, Friday On My Mind, Backbeat and Terry Pratchett’s The Colour of Magic.

Brian Vernel plays Konstantin

Theatre credits include: Barbarians (Young Vic); Future Conditional (The Old Vic); Takin’ Over the Asylum (Royal Lyceum/Citizen’s); Macbeth, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, The Cherry Orchard (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland); The Static, Blackout (ThickSkin) and Four Parts Broken (National Theatre Of Scotland/Traverse /Oran Mor).

Film and TV credits include: Dunkirk, Papillon, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Winter Song, Offender, Let Us Prey, Collateral, The Tunnel, Dr Who, The Missing 2, The Last Kingdom, The Casual Vacancy, Grantchester, Prey and The Field of Blood.

Further casting to be announced.

Booking Information
Tickets 020 8741 6850 | www.lyric.co.uk
Lyric Square, King Street, London, W6 0QL
The Seagull
Tuesday 03 October – Saturday 04 November 2017
Mon-Sat 7.30pm. Also Sat 2.30pm (excluding 7 October) & Wed 1.30pm (excluding 4 & 11 October) & Thu 12 Oct at 1.30pm.
Free First Night: Tuesday 03 October. For more information: www.lyric.co.uk
Previews: Wednesday 04 – Monday 9 October 2017 | Press Night: Tuesday 10 October 2017 at 7pm
Preview & Mid-week Matinees: £15, £20 | Tickets: £15, £20, £25, £30, £35, £40.
No booking fee.
Open Captioned Performance: Saturday 28 October 2:30pm
Audio Described Performance: Saturday 28 October 7:30pm

Directed by Luke Sheppard (In The Heights) the cast of WORKING includes Gillian Bevan (Teachers, Holby City), Dean Chisnall (Shrek, Blood Brothers), Krysten Cummings (Rent), Siubhan Harrison (Guys and Dolls), Peter Polycarpou (City of Angels, Miss Saigon, Oklahoma) and Liam Tamne (Rocky Horror, Les Miserables,The Phantom of the Opera). Completing the cast are rising stars Patrick Coulter, Nicola Espallardo, Izuka Hoyle, Luke Latchman, Huon Mackley and Kerri Norville, who are all making their professional debut.

WORKING is based on 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winner Studs Terkel’s best-selling book of interviews with the American workforce: Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do. The show follows the day-to-day lives of the American workforce, who are often overlooked – the schoolteacher, the housewife, the fireman and the waitress to name a few, and has musical contributions from several composers, including five-time Grammy Award-winner James Taylor and Pulitzer Prize-winner Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, In The Heights)

ISHQ
Sadler’s Wells, Rosebery Ave, Islington, London EC1R 4TN
Thursday 7th – Saturday 9th September 2017

This September will see the UK premiere of brand new Sufi musical, ISHQ, which will be performed in English at Sadler’s Wells to mark 70 years of Pakistan’s independence.

Originally penned more than 600 years ago by the immortal Sufi Saint Waris Shah, ISHQ will feature specially commissioned music and choreography from across Pakistan and the UK.  This is the love story that shook a patriarchal society, putting the empowerment of women centre stage.

ISHQ tells the tale of two lovers and their feuding families and holds the same place in Punjabi literature as Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. This exciting musical spectacle will feature a combination of classical and modern dance with a unique blend of poetry and fusion music.

Set against the spectacular backdrop of the Punjab, ISHQ is a collaboration between Pakistani and British artists which will celebrate unity, diversity and Pakistani culture within the UK.

SERENDIP’s Managing Director Huma Beg comments, SERENDIP is honoured to have been invited by the Pakistan High Commission to put together an event that will be a fitting tribute to Pakistan and its cultural legacy that has yet to be presented centre stage in the world’s greatest capital, London.

ISHQ’s Director Farooq Beg says, This musical is not just a romance but is a co-creation of Eastern and Western talent to create new sounds and moves, something that so symbolises Britain of today.

Juliet Stevenson and Lia Williams to reprise their roles in Mary Stuart when the show visits Salford

At The Lowry Tue 17 – Sat 21 April 2018

The Amleida Theatre’s acclaimed production of Robert Icke’s new adaptation of Mary Stuart will open in the West End before visiting three venues outside of London, with Juliet Stevenson and Lia Williams reprising their roles.

Following a critically acclaimed, sold-out season at the Almeida in 2016-17, Robert Icke’s new adaptation of Mary Stuart transfers to the Duke of York’s Theatre in London’s West End from Sat 13 January 2018 for a limited run. The production will then visit  The Lowry from Tue 17 – Sat 21 April 2018. One of only three venues outside of London.

Schiller’s political tragedy takes us behind the scenes of some of British history’s most crucial days. Playing both Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart, Juliet Stevenson and Lia Williams trade the play’s central roles, decided at each performance by the toss of a coin.

Robert Icke previously directed Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, Oresteia, Mr Burns and 1984 for the Almeida and The Red Barn for the National Theatre.  Mary Stuart is produced by Fiery Angel (Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company – Plays at the Garrick, The 39 Steps) and the Almeida (London Theatre of the year 2016 – Hamlet, Bakkhai, Richard III, American Psycho, King Charles III, Oil and Chimerica).

Juliet Stevenson is one of Britain’s leading actors. She has worked extensively for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and the Royal Court, winning an Olivier award for her performance as Paulina in Death and The Maiden in 1991. Most recent theatre credits include starring roles in Mary Stuart and Hamlet (both directed by Robert Icke, the latter currently playing in the West End) and of course Beckett’s Happy Days at The Young Vic which played to huge critical acclaim and due to popular demand returned for a second run. Her films include Truly, Madly, Deeply, Bend it Like Beckham, When Did You Last See Your Father, Being Julia, Pierrepoint, Mona Lisa Smile and Diana and Departure. Recent television work includes starring roles in Williams brothers’ thriller One of Us for BBC1 and Sky Living’s supernatural thriller The Enfield Haunting, as well as playing series regulars on two series of Atlantis and The Village. Other television work includes Place of Execution, The Accused, The Hour and White Heat. Upcoming releases include feature film Let Me Go. In addition to her Olivier award, Juliet has been nominated a further four times and is four times BAFTA nominated for her film and television work. She was awarded a CBE in 1999.

Lia Williams most recently appeared in the Almeida’s productions of Mary Stuart and Oresteia (Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress) as well as Harold Pinter’s Celebration. Other theatre credits include The Revengers’ Comedies in the West End (Critics Circle Most Promising Newcomer Award, Olivier Award nomination for Best Comedy Performance), Old Times in the West End, Arcadia and Skylight on Broadway, at the National Theatre and in the West End (Tony and Olivier Award nominations for Best Actress), Earthquakes in London, The Hothouse and Mappa Mundi at the National Theatre, Oleanna, King Lear and My Child at the Royal Court, The Homecoming at the Gate Theatre, Dublin, in the West End and on Broadway, and The Lover and The Collection at the Donmar Warehouse.  Her television credits include Strike: Silkworm, The Missing, The Crown, Secret State, Doc Martin, May 33^rd (BAFTA nomination for Best Actress), The Russian Bride, Imogen’s Face, A Shot Through the Heart, Flowers of the Forest, Seaforth and Mr Wroe’s Virgins. Film includes The Foreigner, Jonathan Toomey, The King is Alive, Different for Girls, The Fifth Province, Firelight, Dirty Weekend and La Suite Blanche-Neige. As Director, her credits include The Match Box for the Liverpool Playhouse and the Tricycle Theatre and films Feathers, The Stronger (BAFTA nomination for Best Short Film), Dog Alone and the feature documentary Nanabozhung.

Robert Icke is a writer and theatre director. He is currently Associate Director at the Almeida where his work includes adapting and directing Mary Stuart, Uncle Vanya, Oresteia (also West End) and 1984 (co-created with Duncan Macmillan, also Broadway, West End, National and International tours). As director, his productions include Hamlet (starring Andrew Scott, also West End), The Fever, Mr Burns (Almeida), The Red Barn (National Theatre), Boys, Romeo and Juliet, Decade (Headlong, where he was Associate Director until 2013). For Oresteia, Robert won Best Director in the Critics Circle and Evening Standard Theatre Awards in 2015, and the Olivier Award for Best Director in 2016.

Mary Stuart is presented by Fiery Angel, ACT Productions, Almeida Theatre, Gavin Kalin Productions and Howard Panter.

Listing info

Mary Stuart
Dates: Tue 17 – Sat 21 April 2018
Tickets on sale Fri 23 June 2017
Website

RECORD SIX-TIME TONY AWARD-WINNER

AUDRA McDONALD

MAKES HER WEST END DEBUT IN

LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR & GRILL

WYNDHAM’S THEATRE, LONDON

From 17 June to 9 September 2017

LadyDayWestEnd.com

Brand new West End production photography has been released of Audra McDonald in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill which began preview performances at London’s Wyndham’s Theatre on Saturday 17 June with Opening Night on Tuesday 27 June. McDonald, the Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award-winning singer and actress, will be making her long awaited West End debut portraying jazz legend Billie Holiday in a performance that won her a record-setting sixth Tony Award.

This critically acclaimed production broke box office records at the Circle in the Square in New York.

“Audra McDonald is a vocal genius! One of the greatest performances I ever hope to see.”
New York Magazine

Written by Lanie Robertson and directed by Lonny Price, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill recounts Holiday’s life story through the songs that made her famous, including “God Bless the Child,” “What a Little Moonlight Can Do,” “Strange Fruit” and “Taint Nobody’s Biz-ness.”

“Mesmerizing! Pouring her heart into her voice, Audra McDonald breathes life into Billie Holiday’s greatest songs.”
The New York Times

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill won two Tony Awards in 2014 including ‘Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play’ for Audra McDonald, making her Broadway’s most decorated performer, winner of six Tony Awards and the first and only person to receive awards in all four acting categories.

1959, in a small, intimate bar in Philadelphia, Holiday puts on a show that unbeknownst to the audience, will leave them witnesses to one of the last performances of her lifetime.  Through her poignant voice and moving songs, one of the greatest jazz singers of all-time shares her loves and her losses.   

Billie ‘Lady Day’ Holiday had what is widely considered one of the greatest jazz voices of all-time. Born Eleanora Fagan in April 1915, she rose to popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her pioneering vocal style strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists. After a turbulent personal life and struggle with addiction, she died at the untimely age of 44. In 2000, Holiday was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

“One of the most exquisite & haunting performances of the year!”
Entertainment Weekly

LISTINGS:

Wyndham’s Theatre, Charing Cross Road, London

Performances

First performance: 17 June 2017

Final performance: 9 September 2017

Press Performance: 27 June 2017

For full performance schedule see website: LadyDayWestEnd.com

Tuesday to Saturday at 7.45pm

Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at 2.45pm

Box Office
Website: LadyDayWestEnd.com
Telephone: 0844 482 5120
Prices from £19.50
Premium and exclusive club seating available

Social Media
Twitter: @LadyDayWestEnd
Instagram: @LadyDayWestEnd
Facebook: Facebook.com/LadyDayWestEnd

Audra McDonald
http://audramcdonald.net/
https://twitter.com/AudraEqualityMc
https://www.facebook.com/AudraMcDonald/
www.instagram.com/audramcdonald

Lyric Theatre, The Lowry, Manchester – until 24 June 2017.  Reviewed by Julie Noller

Has it really been 30 years since Pauline Collins and that perm graced the silver screen alongside Tom Conti to bring the play about a bored, middle aged Liverpudlian housewife, expertly written by Willy Russell to life? This is the anniversary tour, a celebration of restless housewives everywhere.

The set design follows two scenes split between the two Acts. During Act I we see a kitchen set that includes ‘wall’ the friend Shirley quite often talks to, alongside a 1980’s wooden kitchen that quite possibly came straight out of Brookside. The smell when those chips were cooking, oh wow made my mouth water for who doesn’t love chips? Certainly not the lady I sat next to, for her stomach was protesting and mine was agreeing. I noted that my parents quite possibly had the very same Hotpoint washing machine when I was youger, much to my amusement. Act II is the Greek Island set of beach and beautiful blue sky. With a new friend for Shirley ‘rock’ cleverly placed in the same position on stage as ‘wall’ for somethings never quite change, only this time her table is on the beach, outside where she can feel freedom.

Jodie Prenger is Shirley Valentine rocking it for every middle aged women, even without that perm (lets call it a modern twist), there are no other characters on stage for this is not the film, this is about one woman. Shirley the 42 year old housewife with two children who have grown up and flown the nest, question was would I now at only a year older myself watch and understand her? Of course I would, I identified with her totally, from the worries over children to lack of confidence over an outfit, that’s me. Jodie’s scouse accent was brave, performing so close to Liverpool people would easily pick up any mistakes, any slips, but you bypass those and watch as the story unfurls itself. A strong regional accent always takes some time to become accustomed to.

Shirley Valentine not only gives us a snap shot of 1980’s kitchens but life in surburban homes, women didn’t really venture out to pubs alone, nevermind sitting at a table in a Greek Taverna alone. They prepared egg and chips and expected consequences for it not being steak – sulking husbands who talked to the fridge because he can’t talk to his wife. Designer silk gowns were a luxury that wasn’t worn, M&S was the posh underware shop. Even now if I were to buy a silk gown, I think I’d do a Shirley Valentine and wear that gown everywhere!

As a play it’s straight humour, Willy Russell, well his understanding of women is unquestionable, his writing brilliant but you don’t need to hear that so let’s gush over Jodie Prenger instead. Her delivery was brilliant, the one liners exceptional, the emotional attachment I felt to Shirley real. You want to cheer Shirley on, shout out to her on stage ‘Go on love, You can do it’. The audience clapped and cheered her famous ‘sex for breakfast, sex for dinner’ rant. Every women will understand her wobbles in life, the nurturing of Motherhood against a need to feel free, to find herself, hands up if you’ve often looked in the mirror and wondered what happened to your 30’s never mind your 20’s, or is that just me? It was fantastic to see Jodie looking like me up on stage, not a performer who follows the latest fad diet craze, releases an exercise dvd in order to stay in the public eye. But looking like a real person who has lived, believably as a 42 year old Mother, warts and all and I loved her for it. Back to the humour too many one liners to make note of, but the laughter from every member of the audience and smiling faces afterwards tells its own tale. Every Mum was chuckling over the Nativity story line, for we’ve all been the Mum to smile through embarrassment or smile to another Mum whilst their little cherub is being the life and soul of the Nativity. But more so we understand a Mother’s love.

So what would the younger generation learn from watching Shirley Valentine? That quite possibly Shirley is the original vlogger….. just without the camera. The principles are there and I do believe she would reach out to quite the extensive audience. It’s a true girls night out, enjoy the wine ladies even olives if you fancy. But don’t be lonely in life because Shirley understands and there is hope for us all to escape to our very own Greek Island yet. I’m feeling inspired so I may just take a few moments to peruse Greek holidays, or just take a glass outside to enjoy the sun in my garden.

Broken Silence Theatre presents

Adam & Eve by Tim Cook

Tuesday 29 August to Saturday 2 September 2017 

What does it say about the state of our relationship. If one small thing comes along. And destroys it forever?

Newlyweds Adam & Eve are moving to the countryside, leaving the city behind for good. They’re going to buy a house, start a family and live happily ever after. But when Adam is suspended from work and accusations are made, they’re forced to question how well they really know each other.

What lurks beneath the surface? And how can their marriage survive in a post-truth society?

Adam & Eve is a startling new play about trust and the nature of accusations from award-winning Royal Court Young Writer Tim Cook.

Listings Information

Venue: Brockley Jack Studio Theatre

410 Brockley Road, London, SE4 2DH

Box office: www.brockleyjack.co.uk

or 0333 666 3366 (£1.50 fee for phone bookings only)

Dates: Tuesday 29 August to Saturday 2 September 2017

Performances at 7.45pm

Tickets: £15, £12 concessions (suitable for 14+)

Theatre website: www.brockleyjack.co.uk