THE INTERNATIONAL SMASH HIT MUSICAL IN LONDON!

We are delighted to announce that the World’s Favourite Rock ‘n’ Roll Musical is set to thrill London once again when it comes to the Playhouse Theatre for an exclusive limited run during September 2015, before embarking on the UK tour in December.

Even better, you can join Richard O’Brien, the creator of the timeless classic, as he returns to the cast for the first time in more than 20 years as the Narrator! WithDavid Bedella thrilling the stage again as the definitive Frank N Furter*.

This very limited run goes on-sale Friday 31 July from 10am and of course you have priority booking, just call 0844 871 7631 and quote ‘ROCKY FAN CLUB’ or CLICK HERE to get priority booking on-line.

As if that wasn’t enough, as fans of the Rocky Horror Show we want you to sharpen your stilettos for a very special event as the stage show will be broadcast live in cinemas for one night only in conjunction with Amnesty International on Thursday 17 September.

So if you are only going once (which we very much doubt) make sure you don’t just dream it – be it and book for this one off live broadcast performance. ON SALE DATE COMING SOON!

 ‘Still the sexiest and funniest show in town’ Evening Standard

Performance schedule on-sale Friday 31 July 2015
Fri 11 Sep                             7.30pm
Sat 12 Sep                            5.30pm & 8.30pm
Mon 14 Sep                         7.30pm
Tue 15 Sep                          7.30pm
Wed 16 Sep                         7.30pm
Thu 17 Sep                          6.45pm (Live Broadcast in Cinemas)
ON SALE DATE COMING SOON
Fri 18 Sep                             5.30pm & 8.30pm
Sat 19 Sep                            5.30pm & 8.30pm

*Richard O’Brien and David Bedella are performing at the Playhouse Theatre only.

Disney’s Aladdin has Open Auditions in London, Birmingham and Manchester – August and September 2015

ALADDIN, the hit Broadway musical will open in London’s West End in summer 2016. This spectacular new musical, based on the beloved animated film, is directed and choreographed by Tony® Award-winner Casey Nicholaw (BOOK OF MORMON), and composed by Tony® Award-winner Alan Menken. It features lyrics penned by the legendary Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, with book and additional lyrics by Chad Beguelin.

SEARCHING FOR EXCEPTIONAL MALE AND FEMALE DANCERS AND SINGERS FOR THE FORTHCOMING WEST END PRODUCTION

DANCERS
Excellent, athletic, technically trained male and female dancers with very strong technique in all styles, including tap, with strong singing voices. Male dancers with acro, gymnastic and/or tumbling skills a plus but not essential.

SINGERS
Excellent male and female singers who dance well to make up the ensemble. Some will play featured roles.
Aladdin Auditions: Playing age 20s-30s.

ALADDIN on Broadway

The casting of ALADDIN will be in keeping with the exotic location in which it is set so we strongly encourage actors of all ethnicities and cultural backgrounds to attend.

You must be 18 years old or above and eligible to work in the UK.

AUDITION DETAILS
Register when you arrive on the day, bring CV and photo stapled together. Be warmed-up and ready to dance at call times below. Bring water and keep your belongings with you at all times. Male dancers wear comfortable dance gear, bring jazz shoes, tap shoes and knee pads. Female dancers wear comfortable dance gear that shows the body line and bring character heels, heeled tap shoes and jazz shoes. Dancers and singers to bring sheet music to 16 bars of a musical theatre song that shows your full range. There will be a pianist on the day. No backing tracks please.

Visit the official Aladdin website for more details at http://www.aladdinauditions.co.uk/

Aladdin on Broadway
http://www.aladdinthemusical.com/

Belgrade Theatre Coventry and Big Broad Productions present CRUSH, the brand new musical, which will premiere at Belgrade Theatre Coventry running from Friday 4th to Saturday 19th September 2015.

CRUSH will then run at Theatre Royal Brighton (22-26 September) and Richmond Theatre (29 September-3 October).

Starring Rosemary Ashe, Sara Crowe and Kirsty Malpass, the show is presented by a creative team whose hit stage and screen work includes Waterloo Road, Footballers’ Wives, Bad Girls: The Musical, The Sound of Music and La Cage Aux Folles.

“This an S.O.S. message. Please Save Our School from imminent catastrophe.”
It’s 1963 and Dame Dorothea Dosserdale School for Girls has a proud tradition of fostering free spirits from all walks of life – so it’s a crushing blow when the new Headmistress turns out to be a tyrant with strict Victorian values.

Giving a new twist to the world of Mallory Towers and The Girl’s Own Annual, with lashings of charm and toe-tapping tunes, CRUSH is a coming-of-age romp that celebrates schoolgirl friendships and fighting for what you believe in!

Prepare for riotous routines and hockey sticks to the fore as our girls battle to save their school – and find true love – in this smashing musical comedy.

Rosemary Ashe plays ‘Miss Bleacher’, Sara Crowe plays ‘Miss Austin’ and Kirsty Malpass plays ‘Miss Givings’. Rosemary Ashe has appeared in numerous West End productions including: ‘Carlotta’ the Prima Donna in the original cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of Opera, ‘Madame Thenardier’ in Les Misérables, ‘Widow Corney’ in Oliver!, ‘Felicia Gabriel’ in The Witches of Eastwick (for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical) and ‘Miss Andrew’, the nasty nanny in Mary Poppins. She recently played ‘Grandma Mole’ in a brand new musical version of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ at the Leicester Curve Theatre. She has also appeared with English National Opera, Opera North, Sadler’s Wells Opera and Carl Rosa, in many roles including ‘Musetta’ in La Bohème, ‘Frasquita’ in Carmen and ‘Despina’ in Cosi Fan Tutti.

Sara Crowe’s many West End appearances include ‘Sybil’ in Private Lives, for which she won an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress, Hay Fever, for which she was Olivier nominated, Calendar Girls and Bedroom Farce and, on tour, Acorn Antiques the Musical and Absurd Person Singular. She became a household name in the 1990s appearing in the Philadelphia cheese TV adverts, playing a ditsy blonde secretary alongside her comedy partner Ann Bryson. Other film work includes Carry on Columbus and playing the ‘first bride’ Laura in the hit film Four Weddings and a Funeral. She also appeared in the 2010 feature film of Tony Hawks’s bestselling book, Round Ireland with a Fridge.  She is a regular voice on Nickelodeon’s Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom where she plays ‘Queen Thistle’ and ‘Mrs. Witch’ and she recently appeared in Eastenders as ‘Sheila Morris’. Her first novel, Campari for Breakfast, was published by Doubleday in April 2014.

Kirsty Malpass has most recently appeared in the West End in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Other London credits include Stroke of Luck (Park Theatre), Chariots of Fire (Gielgud Theatre) and Jerry Springer the Opera (Cambridge Theatre). National tours include The Sound of Music, It’s a Wonderful Life and Honk!

The cast also includes Eleanor Brown as ‘Judith’, Stephanie Clift as ‘Susan’, Emma Harrold as ‘Lavinia’, Catherine Hayworth as ‘Annabel’, James Meunier as ‘Dorian’, Brianna Ogunbawo as ‘Daimler’, Georgia Oldman as ‘Brenda’ and Charlotte Miranda-Smith as ‘Camilla’.

CRUSH is written by Maureen Chadwick (creator and writer of hit TV dramas Waterloo Road, Footballers’ Wives and Bad Girls, and stage musicals The Realness, Bad Girls The Musical and Joséphine), with music and lyrics by Kath Gotts (Bad Girls The Musical and The Realness), orchestrations and musical supervision by Steve Edis (The Philadelphia Story, Not About Nightingales) and directed by Anna Linstrum (High Society, The Sound of Music and Spend, Spend, Spend). The show is choreographed by Richard Roe (The Wizard of Oz, Urinetown, Ben Hur Live) and designed by David Farley (A Little Night Music, La Cage Aux Folles, Little Shop of Horrors and Sunday in the Park with George) with lighting by Johanna Town (Betrayal, Speaking in Tongues and Beautiful Thing).

LISTINGS INFORMATION:
www.crushthemusical.com
Belgrade Theatre Coventry – Friday 4-Saturday 19 September 2015
024 7655 3055
www.belgrade.co.uk

Theatre Royal Brighton – Tuesday 22- Saturday 26 September 2015
0844 871 7650
www.atgtickets.com/brighton

Richmond Theatre – Tuesday 29 September to Saturday 3 October 2015
0844 871 7651
www.atgtickets.com/richmond

 

Two of TV’s most dashing leading men are set to star in a brand new production of The Shawshank Redemptioncoming to Newcastle Theatre Royal 19 – 24 October.  Long running star of BBC’s Doctors Ian Kelsey will play Andy Dufresne and Casualty’s Patrick Robinson will play Red.

 

On announcing he was to bring to an end his role as heartthrob practice manager Howard Bellamy in BBC One’s Doctors, there was immediate speculation as to what would be next for Ian Kelsey, who, having hardly been off our screens for over two decades, has become one of TV’s best loved and most prolific leading men.

 

Ian leaves his starring role in a closely guarded story line this October to play Andy Dufresne, a banker who having been handed a double life sentence for the brutal murder of his wife and her lover, finds himself incarcerated in the notorious Shawshank penitentiary.

 

Ian’s other major TV roles have included four years in BBC One’s Casualty playing Patrick Spiller, three years as Dave Glover inEmmerdale, two years as Matt Brewer in Down To Earth, six years as DI Richard Mayne in Blue Murder and in the final series ofWhere The Heart Is as Jack Clayton. His remarkable list of credits have also seen him in Touching Evil, Murder in Mind andHotel Babylon to name but a few. As a leading man in London’s West End, Ian’s stage credits include Billy Flynn in Chicago and Danny Zuko in Grease.

 

Joining Ian is television’s Patrick Robinson, whose impressive TV career has also spanned more than two decades. Patrick is best known for his role as handsome staff nurse-turned-consultant Martin ‘Ash’ Ashford in BBC’s Casualty, a role which he first played from 1990 to 1996, before he returned for a guest appearance in a two-part special in 1998. He then reprised his role in 2013 for a year.

 

Patrick Robinson’s other TV work includes Midsomer Murders and The Bill, and, in 2013 Strictly Come Dancing where he got to the semi-finals. In 2003 he appeared in action film Belly of the Beast alongside Steven Seagal. Patrick’s stage roles include the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Romeo and Juliet as their first ever black Romeo. Other stage credits include Dangerous Cornerat London’s Garrick Theatre and Festen at the Almeida and the West End’s Lyric Theatre for Bill Kenwright, and War Horse atthe New London Theatre.

 

Based on the 1982 novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by celebrated author Stephen King, the play examines desperation, injustice, friendship and hope behind the claustrophobic bars of a maximum security facility. The 1994 feature film,regularly voted the number one all-time movie, starred Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne and Morgan Freeman as Ellis ‘Red’ Redding and was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor for Freeman.

 

Presented by Bill Kenwright, this new production which marks the 21^st anniversary of the film and will be directed by award-winning Broadway director David Esbjornson. It has been adapted by Owen O’Neill and Newcastle’s own Dave Johns, with design by Gary McCann and lighting by Chris Davey.

 

The Shawshank Redemption is at Newcastle Theatre Royal from Mon 19 until Sat 24 October 2015, playing evenings at 7.30pm, matinees Thurs 2pm and Sat 2.30pm. Tickets from £14.50 (save 50p per ticket online). Tickets can be purchased from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 (Calls cost 7ppm plus your phone company’s access charge) or book online atwww.theatreroyal.co.uk

 

Following in the footsteps of Wilton’s sell-out success with The Great Gatsby in 2012 and 2013, Peter Joucla returns to Wilton’s Music Hall to direct The Sting this autumn. The cast will be led by Bob Cryeras Gondorff alongside Ross Forder as Hooker and John Chancer as Lonnegan.

Opening the season for the newly repaired Wilton’s Music Hall, The Sting will run from 9 September to 17 October 2015. Based on the iconic 1973 caper film of the same name, in which two small-time con men, played by Paul Newman and Robert Redford, set out to outwit a powerful mob leader.

From the moment they enter the newly refurbished building, audiences will be transported back to 1930’s Chicago. With a charismatic cast to lure you into this sleazy, sharp-suited underworld of con men, scams and twists, with surprises at every turn, you won’t know who’s on the level and who’s on the take as you watch this ingenious and comic deceit played out.

Bob Cryer has previously appeared on stage in Party Lines – Five Short Political Plays (Ardent Theatre),The Tempest (Jericho House) and Into Thy Hands (Wilton’s Music Hall). In addition to his work on stage, Bob has also appeared in The Interceptor, Outnumbered, Eastenders and Victoria Wood’s Christmas Special. Later this year Bob will appear in Legend, a film about the Kray Brothers, starring Tom Hardy. Bob recently worked at Wilton’s Music Hall as his book Mrs Hudson’s Diaries was adapted for the Wilton’s stage last winter.

Ross Forder has been working as a director and actor since 2005. His previous stage credits include The Bear (The London Theatre), Chelinot (The Union Theatre), The Bite-Size Breakfast Show (Edinburgh Fringe) and Recycled Dreams (National Tour). Ross has also appeared on screen as the lead in two independent feature films collaborating with Matthew J Keats and Van Poynton of The Executive Branch.

John Chancer’s previous stage credits include Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Edinburgh Festival & Vault Festival), The White House Murder Case (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond), Desire Under The Elms (Glasgow Citizens) and Driving Miss Daisy (Stratford Circus & National Tour). In addition to his work on stage, John has appeared on television in the comedy series Episodes, the television adaptation of Any Human Heart and Spooks. He has appeared on film in Ridley Scott’s The Counselor and Casino Royale.

The full cast includes Tom Berish (Kid Twist & Combs), Hannah Brackstone-Brown (Billie), Peter Case (Floyd), John Chancer (Lonnegan), Bob Cryer (Gondorff), Ross Forder (Hooker), Kevin Golding (Luther),  Ashley Henry (Pianist), Kevin James (Mottola), Nina Kristofferson (Mrs Vanderkrieft), Kate Quinn (4 Star Girl), Amy Reitsma (Ginger) and Simeon John Wake (Erie).

 

Further information on Wilton’s can be found here: www.wiltons.org.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS

THE STING

A full length play by David Rogers
Based upon the screenplay “The Sting” by David Ward
Press Night:       Monday 14th September at 7pm
Dates:               9th September – 17th October 2015
Times:              7:30pm Tuesdays to Saturdays (press night will be at 7pm on a Monday)
Prices:               Previews (9th, 10th, 11th & 12th Sept): £32.50 for seats at tables, £25 standard seating, £20 restricted view. Main Run: £35 for seats at tables, £27.50 standard seating, £22.50 restricted view

CREATIVE TEAM

Director                        Peter Joucla
Co-Designer                   Claudia Mayer
Co-Designer                   Hilary Lewis
Lighting Designer           Jody Kelly
Production Manager       John Page
Set Builder                    Giorgio Ritucci
Deputy Stage Manager    Dominic Jones
Produced by                   Frances Mayhew and the Wilton’s Team

 

FREDDIE FLINTOFF: 2ND INNINGS

AT LEEDS GRAND THEATRE

 

A decade after England’s legendary 2005 Ashes victory, cricket icon Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff is set to share his memories at Leeds Grand Theatre on Sunday August 30^th.

 

The 2005 Ashes victory propelled Freddie Flintoff to sporting legend status making him one of England’s most admired cricket stars of all time. Famed for his record-breaking performances and well deserved legacy as one of the game’s greats, hitting the ball harder than any other cricketer and being able to bowl accurately at 90mph, he became the most feared all-rounder of his generation.

 

The 2005 Ashes saw his pinnacle career performance and won him the title of ICC and PCA’s player of the year as well as the BBC’s Sport Personality of the Year.

 

To celebrate this sporting milestone – and to share his memories of that long, hot summer –  Freddie and his TV producer & writer friend Clyde Holcroft will take to the stage with a brand new live show.

 

Last year Freddie and Clyde launched a new sporting podcast. Recorded on Freddie’s phone, each episode is an unscripted, unedited and unguarded conversation between the two – this live show brings that podcast to life, allowing Freddie to share his take on a wide range of topics; it is a chance to see one of British sport’s most revered personalities talk about his experiences, on and off the pitch, in a refreshingly honest way.

 

Talking about the show Freddie said: “Clyde and I have had such a great response to the podcast so we thought it would be a fun idea to turn it into a live show. Like the podcast we hope that the tour will be a lot of laughs and an excuse for us to talk about life and the lighter side of cricket.”

 

Freddie Flintoff: 2^nd Innings is at Leeds Grand Theatre on Sunday August 30^th at 7.30pm

 

Tickets are on sale now priced at £28 or £53 for a premium ticket which includes a meet & greet after the show

 

Book online at leedsgrandtheatre.com or call box office on 0844 848 2700

 

 

IMPOSSIBLE: WEST END PREMIERE

IMPOSSIBLE RUNS FOR 5 WEEKS ONLY UNTIL 29 AUGUST 2015, AT THE NOËL COWARD THEATRE, LONDON

IMPOSSIBLE, London’s magic spectacular, has released new production images giving a hint of what audiences can expect to see when the new production opens this Thursday at London’s Noel Coward Theatre, running for 5 weeks only until 29 August 2015.

The production demonstrates a stunning range of magical artistry from death-defying stunts involving fire, water, knives and crossbows, through to mind-blowing mind-reading and dumbfounding sleight of hand. Fusing technological trickery, grand stage illusions and close-up magic in a fast-paced breathtaking show – it is a unique live magic experience for all ages.

The stellar line-up of the best magicians and illusionists from around the world includes: Jamie Allan; Ali Cook; Chris Cox; Jonathan Goodwin; Ben Hart; Luis de Matos; Katherine Mills and Damien O’ Brien.

 

 

 

IMPOSSIBLE is produced in the West End by Jamie Hendry Productions, with creative direction by Anthony Owen, stage direction by Lloyd Wood, scenic design by Andrew D. Edwards, lighting design by Tim Lutkin, video design by Duncan McLean, sound design by Gareth Owen and music by Michael Bradley.

LISTINGS INFORMATION

IMPOSSIBLE
Noël Coward Theatre, St Martin’s Lane, London WC2N 4AU

Until Saturday 29th August 2015
Monday – Saturday evenings at 7.30pm
Matinee performances: Tuesday and Saturday at 3.00pm
Booking details:  0844 482 5141
Access bookings: 0844 482 5137
Press Night: Thursday 30 July, 7.30pm
Website: www.ImpossibleLive.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ImpossibleTheShow
Twitter: @ImpossibleShow

Ticket prices: £10, £20, £40, £60. Premium tickets are also available

 

THE ROYAL COURT THEATRE BRINGS SEXUAL DESIRE TO PAINES PLOUGH’S EARLIER/LATER AT ROUNDABOUT @ SUMMERHALL, EDINBURGH

The Royal Court Theatre will be joining Paines Plough’s EARLIER/LATER Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme at Roundabout @ Summerhall with Manwatching, an explicit insight into heterosexual female desire.

Manwatching has been developed in collaboration with an anonymous female writer.

Commenting on the project the anonymous female writer states;

“I have been thinking about what it means to be objectified, and whether or not that is really tied to desire or power. Although men are objectified by other men, I was at a loss to think of many examples of men being objectified by women, and the examples I could think of were quite complicated – frequently involving the man’s profession rather than appearance (in Sex and the City, for example, men are usually referred to in shorthand by whatever job it is they do rather than how they look or act), or their dominance was the source of objectification. Even though many women desire men, the most basic elements of that desire seemed oddly unexplored.
So I thought, who better to give the words of a woman desiring men to, than the voice of a man, as it’s so much more comfortable and familiar for us to hear about desire through the male perspective?”

 

Manwatching
Written by an anonymous woman
Performed by an unprepared man
EARLIER: 10am on 14 and 21 August

LATER: 10.30pm on 10, 15 and 19 August
Roundabout @ Summerhall, EH9 1PL

 

So I think it’s fair to say that most women almost definitely do masturbate.  We just wait to discuss it until we’re in an oddly anonymous but public situation like this one.

A funny, frank, and occasionally explicit insight into heterosexual female desire, read out loud by a man.

Each show begins with a male comedian being given a script they have never seen before. They then go onto read said script for the first time live in front of an audience which explores what one woman thinks about when she thinks about sex and men.

Performers will include comedians James Acaster, Marcus Brigstocke and Nick Helm. More to be announced.

With direction and dramaturgy by Royal Court Theatre Associate Director Lucy Morrison, and dramaturgical input from Ryan Nobel, Lisa Heledd Jones, and Christopher Brett Bailey.

Manwatching is a work-in-progress being piloted at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It is being developed by an anonymous female writer in collaboration with the Royal Court Theatre.

Anonymous female writer’s work includes a lot of stuff that can’t be disclosed as she chooses to remain anonymous.

Lucy Morrison is Associate Director at the Royal Court where her credits include Hidden (Live Lunch), Who Cares, Pests and Product (also at Traverse and European tour). 

EARLIER/LATER is a series of early morning and late night one-off shows, featuring brand new theatre, poetry, comedy and music, programmed by Paines Plough in its Roundabout theatre at Summerhall.

Tickets can be purchased through the Summerhall Box Office.

Listings Information:

Manwatching
Written by an anonymous woman
EARLIER: 10am on 14 and 21 August
LATER: 10.30pm on 10, 15 and 19 August
Roundabout @ Summerhall, EH9 1PL
Age Guidance 15+
Tickets £10 on the door www.summerhall.co.uk
Running time 50 mins approx.

Paul Taylor-Mills presents

Willemijn Verkaik

In Concert at The Ambassadors Theatre

On Tuesday 25 August 2015

 

Dutch vocal powerhouse Willemijn Verkaik will play a one-off solo concert at the Ambassadors Theatre on Tuesday 25 August 2015.

 

Accompanied by a live band and joined by some to-be-announced special guests, Willemijn will take a journey through some of the greatest classic and contemporary musicals of all time, as well as celebrating some of the iconic songs that have defined her career so far.

 

Willemijn Verkaik is best known for playing the role of Elphaba in Wicked, having performed the role in the West End, on Broadway, in Germany and the Netherlands. Willemijn is also the only actress to have performed the role in multiple languages. Other stage credits include Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown in the West End, and Mamma Mia!, Aida and We Will Rock You in Germany. Willemijn also voiced Elsa in the Dutch and German versions of Disney’s smash hit animated film Frozen. Recordings include the German cast recording of Wicked, and appearances on Scott Alan’s albums What I Wanna Be When I Grow Up and Live.

 

This one-off UK concert promises to be a magical and intimate evening with one of theatreland’s greatest contemporary vocalists.

 

Willemijn will also be bringing her concert to New York for two performances only, playing at 54 Below on Thursday 27 and Friday 28 August 2015 at 7.00pm.

 

LISTINGS

 

Willemijn Verkaik – In Concert

 

TUESDAY 25 AUGUST 2015, 8.00pm

THE AMBASSADORS THEATRE

West Street, London, WC2

Tickets: £17.50 and £29.50

Box Office: 08448 112334 | www.theambassadorstheatre.co.uk

ON SALE NOW

THURSDAY 27 and FRIDAY 28 AUGUST 2015, 7.00pm

54 BELOW

254 W 54th St, Cellar, New York, NY 10019

Tickets: $40, $45, $50, $80

Box Office: (646) 476-3551 | www. 54below.com

ON SALE NOW