NYT Gala raises vital funds to support next generation of talent
National Youth Theatre raised £350k to support young talent and widen access to arts on Monday night at their Nostalgic Fantastic fundraising gala in association with EON Productions, TikTok and Netflix with support from Cath Kidston, Omega, Think Publishing, Champagne Bollinger and Soho House, and with thanks to the David Pearlman Foundation and Stelio & Susie Stefanou.
The event was attended by National Youth Theatre Royal Patron HRH The Earl of Wessex, NYT Patrons Rosamund Pike and Hugh Bonneville and alumni Regé-Jean Page, Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù, Rob Rinder, Ben Miles, Prasanna Puwanarajah, Lynette Linton, Lolita Chakrabarti, Clive Mantle, Daisy Lewis and Backstage alumna and Creative Director of Cath Kidston Holly Marler. It was hosted by alumni Lauren Lyle and Rhys Stephenson and guests supporting the evening included Adrian Lester, NYT President Barbara Broccoli and NYT chair Dawn Airey. The evening concluded with a performance by M People’s Heather Small and a DJ set by Jazzie B. The live auction presided over by Lord Harry Dalmeny featured lots including tickets to Macbeth starring NYT alumnus Daniel Craig including a stay at Soho House New York, a luxury trip to Lake Como and a lunch at a private dining room at Coutts.
An immersive cabaret performance by current members of the National Youth Theatre was created by Tatty Hennessy and Joel Scott.
EMPIRE THEATRE, LIVERPOOL – UNTIL SATURDAY 5TH MARCH 2022
REVIEWED BY MIA BOWEN
5*****
Credit: Johan Persson/
The sweetest of all Matthew Bourne’s treats returns, with a newly designed and reimagened production. Since the first performance and opening at the 1992 Edinburgh Festival, it is celebrating its 30th anniversary and touring the UK, it’s a Nutcracker! for all seasons.
Traditionally, Tchaikovsky’s 1892 Nutcracker is a crowd pleasing, yet skilful ballet with a beautiful and famous score. Martin Duncan and Anthony Ward worked with Matthew Bourne to create this new version to revamp the traditional Christmas story. Bourne’s adaptation keeps Clara’s (Katrina Lyndon) lovesick quest for her nutcracker (Harrison Dowzell) central to the plot and keeps a secure hold on the audience’s affections by taking them on a bittersweet journey of first love, growing up, adventures and dreams.
The designer, Anthony Ward worked with Bourne to create contrasting worlds. A bleak, darkly, comic Christmas Eve at Dr Dross’ Orphanage, a shimmering ice skating Winter Wonderland and the scrumptious candy kingdom of Sweetie Land full of dreams and fantasy. The climax of Ward’s set design, and also the highlight of the production, is the tree-tiered wedding cake, upon which all the characters dance, devour, slurp and lick their way around the layers. It is entirely a fantastical set and one that conjures up images of candy-canes and sugar delights.
Bourne’s choreographic style is a ‘pick n mix’ of dance styles including a bit of ballet, contemporary and modern. I experienced a sudden burst of sugar rush watching the performances of the Liquorice Allsorts, Knickerbocker Glory, Marshmallows and Gobstoppers, everyone looked good enough to eat!
Sugared, sweetened and satisfying Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker is a splendid adaptation of a classic ballet. If you fancy something special and non-traditional for a delightful treat this year, look no further
‘Sheila’s Island’ is a wholesale adaptation of a comedy written by Tim Firth almost 30 years ago which was called ‘Neville’s Island’ and originally featured an all-male cast. With this knowledge, I had wondered whether the underlying premise (middle management on a team building exercise that goes very wrong) and jokes would feel jarring with a slightly altered script and all-female cast. This was not the case at all and the gang of four women certainly felt like familiar characters from any office environment. Abigail Thaw felt like the comedic centre of the show, playing a witheringly acerbic Denise – and she certainly garnered the most laughs from the audience over the evening. Judy Flynn as Sheila, the team-appointed ‘captain’ was very relatable and amusing as her character sought to keep up the spirits of her team mates, despite increasingly desperate circumstances.
Tracy Collier, the understudy who took on the role of Julie in place of Rina Fatania, deserved the extra round of applause she received at the end of the show – with a cast of only four it cannot be easy to step into such a role at the last minute and she produced a sweet and affectionate performance of a woman who begins to see her beloved husband in a new light as the play progresses.
There were some technical difficulties on this first night, with the curtain going up twenty minutes late due to lighting issues, and the sound quality throughout the performance being uneven – at times it was hard to hear lines, which obviously impacted on their comedic value.
Overall, this is a gently amusing play with occasional laugh out loud moments but there were patches which felt like jokes were being stretched too thin, and you wanted the plot to move along a little faster. As with many comedies, there were moments of poignancy within the script, although these sometimes felt jarring when touching upon very serious issues. However, the confident performances from experienced comedy actors overcame these obstacles, and made for an enjoyable evening out.
The Osmonds, the original boy band back on stage bringing their audiences to their feet all over again.
Jay Osmonds new musical chronicles the story of the boys rise to fame. The family bond is truly awesome and for those of us old enough to remember Osmondmania it is a snap shot of what our wall posters went through to make us love them then and now.
The show has a very slick set with seamless movements, well thought out costumes and dance routines of the 70s. The cast of this show do themselves and the Osmonds proud.
Charlie Allen is superb as dad George. His hard attitude was tough on the boys and he does it so well, with mum Nicola Bryan as Olive bridging the gap between dads strictness and nurturing her brood.
The entire cast were fabulous , the children worked really hard and are convincing, especially little Donny.
Alex Lodge as Jay is perfectly cast. He is endearing yet funny and delivers some great lines. Jamie Chatterton as Alan also superb. The older brother always stuck between a dominant father and his siblings.
The choice of songs in the show is just perfect a real trip down memory lane a fantastic sing a long and shimmy night.
The show finale had the whole theatre on it’s feet over 50 years since they walked on to the Andy Williams show and they still bring the house down. Absolutely fantastic show and night out.
The gala concert and UK premiere of Mimma raised funds for a worthwhile charity, so that’s a positive to take from the night. Unfortunately, the show itself is a muddled, unsatisfying mess.
Ron Siemiginowski and Giles Watson’s desire to raise awareness of the internment of enemy aliens in the UK during WW2, and the sinking of the Arandora Star carrying deported aliens to Canada is admirable, but there is no coherent structure or emotional integrity in this show.
Mimma and her family run a publication campaigning against Mussolini, but when Mimma is identified by the black shirts, her brother decides to send her to London to stay with her uncle Lorenzo. Lorenzo runs a nightclub in Soho, and is a naive member of the Italian Club, which Mimma is horrified to see is a front for the fascists. In Lorenzo’s club, Mimma meets Sarah, a singer whose boyfriend is in the navy, and they bond quickly. As her brother and friends back in Turin are captured by the black shirts, Italians in the UK are rounded up and placed in camps.
All extremely dramatic, and the writers’ not so subtle musical themes make it very clear where the audience should be FEELING THINGS. The swing music that characterises the London scenes contrasts with the ever more operatic Turin scenes, and it begins to feel as if these are two separate shows that have been cobbled together. The libretto doesn’t help, with banal lyrics describing wartime London that would not seem out of place in a school project. At least the opera parts are in Italian so any cringeworthy lyrics went over my head. There is no discipline to the songs either, with some being interminably long and others just tapering off suddenly.
Even the talent of Celinde Schoenmaker, Louise Dearman, John Owen-Jones and the BBC Concert Orchestra can’t save this. They all perform impeccably but deserve better material. Elena Xanthoudakis and Ashley Riches also sing magnificently. David Suchet adds gravitas as Alfredo Frassati, narrating the semi-staged show and adding lots of exposition, but by the time heroic deeds of espionage are revealed in the epilogue, the feeling that you have been repeatedly whacked on the head with a history book numbs you.
Mimma is a huge disappointment and in need of rigorous revision and workshops if it is ever to become a musical that truly honours this dark moment in history.
An Hour and a Half Late is a play by Gerald Sibleyras with Jean Dell adapted and directed by Belinda Lang.
Peter (Griff Rhys Jones) is getting ready for a night out with his business partner for a celebratory dinner and is excited to be selling his half of their accountancy company which means big money. His wife Laura (Janie Dee) on the other hand decides that she’s having a midlife crisis, she doesn’t want to go out for dinner instead she wants to discuss their life together. This including the sadness of all three children leaving. What they’ve been through as a couple and what remains of their life ahead! Peter who’s still eager to get out of the door realises that his wife Laura is being overdramatic and annoyed as she believes she has nothing to look forward to anymore. Peter decides to gives her five minutes to push dinner back to enable them to talk. He soon realises that five minutes is just not going to cut it. Laura’s misery is brought to the surface of her suffering husband who’s just about had enough! She reveals her annoyance that she has nothing left which only annoys Peter more. Together they embark on an evening of what ifs and what nots with Peter still wishing that she would have her meltdown another night. Soon he realises that he must take part and work through this journey together. Insults get thrown across the room along with truth, love and sentimental memories.
Griff Rhys Jones plays the part as Peter extremely well he loves his wife and wants an easy life his character has a great way of hiding behind his humour and turning everything into a joke making the audience laugh throughout the production.
Janie Dee Plays the part of Laura with a strong dramatic energy that was intense at times sailing through a midlife crisis on stage for all to watch. Together they show a strong chemistry that was kind and direct on stage which was enjoyable and fun to observe throughout.
A good watch giving the perception of real life to what many actually go through and how minds alter as our age escalates. Very entertaining, pleasant to watch and very amusing.
WITH SIXTIES POP SINGING HEARTTHROB MARK WYNTER JOINING THE CAST FOR THE THIRD MUSICAL INSTALMENT
BOOK BY LAURENCE MARKS & MAURICE GRAN
Bobby & Laura, Norman, Sue & the gang get back together for the follow-on musical inspired by the million selling albums.
Hit recording star of Venus in Blue Jeans, Go Away Little Girl, It’s Almost Tomorrow and many more, Mark Wynter will be joining a company of established Dreamboats and Petticoats favourites from the past fifteen years.
Elizabeth Carter and David Ribi, Dreamboats and Petticoats’ most successful ever co-stars, lead the cast in the third musical inspired by the latest release in the series of smash-hit, multimillion selling Dreamboats & Petticoats albums, Bringing On Back The Good Times is filled with wit, charm and songs from the golden era of Rock ‘n Roll.
The production opens at Theatre Royal Windsor this February and will tour throughout the year.
Bringing on Back the Good Times finds Laura (Elizabeth Carter) with a successful solo career but her partner on their number one hit record Dreamboats and Petticoats’ Bobby (David Ribi) has left the spotlight and decided to re-join his former group Norman and The Conquests at St Mungo’s Youth Club.
The adventures that Bobby and Laura and of course Norma and Sue, and Donna and Luke (the group’s manager) go through together, include a season at Butlins, and an appearance at The Eurovision Song Contest – but most of all leads them straight back into each other’s arms and bringing on back the good times indeed.
With book by Laurance Marks and Maurice Gran and musical supervision by Keith Strachen, Bringing on Back the Good Times is packed with some of the greatest songs ever written, from Roy Orbison, Eddie Cochran, Elvis Presley, The Walker Brothers and many, many more, and will once again have audiences all over the country jiving in the aisles and singing along with their memories.
BRADFORD PANTO LEGEND BILLY PEARCE SET TO MAKE A GIGANTIC RETURN TO THE ALHAMBRA THEATRE IN JACK AND THE BEANSTALK
Jack and the Beanstalk – Alhambra Theatre, Bradford Saturday 10 December 2022 – Sunday 22 January 2023 Relaxed Performance – Tuesday 10 January 2023 at 6pm Now on sale to Bradford Theatres’ Friends Members, Group & School Bookers On general public sale: Monday 7 March 2022 at 10am Tickets: from £17 (inclusive of booking fees) Call the Box Office on 01274 432000 or visit bradford-theatres.co.uk
Pantomime will be making a gigantic return to the Alhambra Theatre this festive season as Bradford panto legend Billy Pearce returns for his 23rd season. Tickets go on general sale on Monday 7 March for Jack and the Beanstalk which runs from Saturday 10 December 2022 to Sunday 22 January 2023– it promises to be a panto full of extra Fee-Fi-Fo-Fun!
Billy Pearce first topped the bill of the Alhambra Theatre’s annual festive production in 1993, winning acclaim from critics and audience members alike, and has since solidified his reputation as the King of Yorkshire comedy. Side-splittingly funny, Billy will bring his trademark mad-cap comedy and boundless energy to the stage and will have audiences laughing in the aisles.
Jack and the Beanstalk will be produced by the world’s biggest pantomime producer and the team behind the 2021 production of Sleeping Beauty, Crossroads Pantomimes. The production will be packed full of the magical ingredients Bradford audiences have come to expect from their annual festive production with amazing special effects, stunning sets, beautiful costumes, and moo-vellous amounts of laughter set to make 2022 a giant adventure for the whole family to enjoy.
Chief Executive of Crossroads Pantomimes, Michael Harrison, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be on-sale with our production of Jack and the Beanstalk following the huge success of Sleeping Beauty last year. Billy Pearce is a true showman and comedy genius and I’m so pleased to once again welcome him back to Pantoland.”
Talking about his return in Jack and the Beanstalk Billy Pearce said: “Being back on-stage last Christmas in Sleeping Beauty was a truly magical experience after a year away from performing. Christmas at the Alhambra Theatre is something very special, and we can’t wait to welcome our friends from across Yorkshire and beyond back to the Theatre for another magical panto.”
Adam Renton, General Manager Bradford Theatres comments: “With Billy back at the helm in this year’s panto, I’m sure that audiences of all ages will thoroughly enjoy another outstanding festive show in Bradford this year. There is huge affection for the Alhambra Theatre’s annual panto and we can’t wait to welcome theatregoers through our doors for Jack and the Beanstalk as their Christmas treat.”
There is a performance for everybody this festive season: with signed performances on 15 December at 2pm and 15 January at 5pm; audio described performances on 5 January at 2pm and 7.15pm; a captioned performance on 8 January at 5pm, and a relaxed performance on 10 January at 6pm. The relaxed performance will welcome everyone who would like to see the panto in a less formal atmosphere.
Fe-fi-fo-fum, a giant of a panto your way comes! Jack and the Beanstalk runs from Saturday 10 December 2022 – Sunday 22 January 2023 at the Alhambra Theatre. Be sure to book your tickets now!
Further casting for Jack and the Beanstalk will be announced later in 2022.
Pleasance Theatre Trust present comedy superstars in the first official on-sale
With shows already on sale from Ben Hart, Nina Conti, The Showstoppers, NewsRevue and Cirque Berserk, the first official on-sale sees the Pleasance Theatre Trust presenting the comedy big guns. With both Edinburgh Comedy Awards in their awards cabinet from the last full Fringe, Pleasance’s comedy programme is always unmissable alongside the amazing theatre, circus and family work that Pleasance are known and loved for.
Before launching his huge national tour in autumn 2022, multi-award-winning comedian Marcus Brigstocke brings his blisteringly funny hour of stand-up, Absolute Shower, to Pleasance. It celebrates the personal triumphs and small victories of the past couple of years while acknowledging it has also been an absolute shower of shit. After an enormous UK and Australia tour and an Amazon special, the Taskmaster runner-up and accidental YouTube cult leader Mark Watson brings his most popular show so far, This Can’t Be It, back to where it began in 2021’s magical mini-Fringe.
King Crud from Jamali Maddix (Taskmaster (Channel4), Frankie Boyle’s New World Order (BBC2), Never Mind The Buzzcocks (Sky)) is a brand new show tackling home truths and universal issues. Tarot, creators of 2019’s fifth-best reviewed show, Chortle’s No1 show of 2019, and stars of their own Radio 4 sketch show Soundbleed bring their new show Cautionary Tales. 2021 BBC New Comedy Award finalist and one of the stars of The Stand Up Sketch Show (ITV2) Lily Phillips presents Smut, her long-awaited debut hour talking about feminism and her dog.
Bumbling wordsmith and tripe factory Ivo Graham is back with My Future My Clutter discussing three years of heavy-duty pranking, parenting and procrastinating since Dave’s 2019 nominations for Best Comedy Show and Joke of the Fringe. Discover the positive side of being disabled with Aaron Simmonds in Hot Wheels from having a blue badge to sex in disabled toilets, meeting ‘Jesus’ and everything in-between.
At long last, self-diagnosed important young mind Leo Reich (as seen on E4, Comedy Central, ITV1 and Dave) is ready to share some of his notoriously perfect opinions with the community at large in Literally Who Cares?! 32 athletes entered the 1904 Olympic marathon in St. Louis, Missouri but only 14 finished… In his Edinburgh debut, New Zealand comedian Nic Sampson (co-writer of Starstruck (BBC3)) brings to life the incredible true story of one of the dumbest sporting events of all time. Join Dave’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer nominee 2019 Crybabies in Bagbeard, a sci-fi infected narrative sketch adventure about finding home, forbidden love, monsters, mystery and massive regret. The smash-hit, internationally acclaimed, multi sell-out fringe phenomenon Shitfaced Shakespeare is back with their hilarious combination of an entirely serious adaptation of Macbeth, with an entirely sh*t-faced cast member. What could possibly go wrong?
If you just can’t decide check out the Best of Edinburgh Showcase Show offering great value lunchtime comedy featuring the best and brightest of this year’s Fringe comics. Hand-picked and with changing line-ups daily – take a seat, you’re in for a treat! Mervyn Stutter is back for his 29th year with the amazing Pick of the Fringe where live extracts from seven top shows are packed into a 90 minute lunchtime extravaganza – new selection every day.
The best night of comedy on the Fringe returns! Join us for a raucous night of laughter at Tartan Ribbon Comedy Benefit, one of the best nights of comedy on the Fringe, raising much-needed funds for Waverley Care – Scotland’s HIV and Hepatitis C charity.
Don’t forget there are laughs for the little ones too. Soar into space with this exciting adaptation of the award-winning book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Tall Stories, the company that brought you The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom live on stage, present The Smeds and The Smoos, a joyful tale of star-crossed aliens for everyone aged 3 and up, with music, laughs and interplanetary adventures.
With more shows to be announced over the coming months there will be comedy, theatre, circus, magic, dance, kids’ shows and much more, alongside support for some of the most innovative newcomers through artist development strand Pleasance Futures. The Pleasance should certainly be the pick of your Fringe this August.
Eleanor Lloyd Productions and Rebecca Stafford Productions present
Witness for the Prosecution
By Agatha Christie
THE SEVENTH CAST IS ANNOUNCED FOR AGATHA CHRISTIE’S ‘WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION’ AT LONDON COUNTY HALL
JOSHUA GLENISTER WILL PLAY THE ACCUSED LEONARD VOLE OPPOSITE LAUREN O’NEIL AS HIS WIFE ROMAINE. DAVID MICHAELS WILL PLAY SIR WILFRID ROBARTS WITH JAMES HAYES AS MR JUSTICE WAINWRIGHT
THE CAST ALSO INCLUDES JAMES ALPER, LILY BLUNSOM-WASHBROOK, JONATHAN BRENNER, SIMON BUTTERISS, VICKI DAVIDS, WILLIAM DONALDSON, NICK HARDIE, ANDREW HOLLINGWORTH, PETER LANDI, MANDI SYMONDS, NAOMI TAYLOR, RICHARD TEVERSON, MATT WEYLAND AND DONNAVAN YATES.
Eleanor Lloyd Productions and Rebecca Stafford Productions are delighted to announce the seventh cast for Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution which is now booking until September 2022 at the magnificent London County Hall.
Joshua Glenister (My Mental Breakdown, Turbine Theatre; A Midsummer’s Night Dream, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men tour) will play the accused, Leonard Vole, opposite Lauren O’Neil (The Twilight Zone, The Ambassador’s Theatre; Reasons To Be Happy, Hampstead Theatre) as Romaine. David Michaels (Value Engineering: Scenes from the Grenfell Inquiry, Tabernacle Theatre; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, UK and international tour) will play Sir Wilfrid Robarts QC. He is joined by Peter Landi (The Mousetrap, West End; The Bodyguard, UK and international tour) as Mr Mayhew, Richard Teverson (The Gift, UK tour; Richard III and Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre) as Mr Myers QC, and James Hayes (who has performed in over fifty productions for the National Theatre and whose other credits include The Tempest, Royal Shakespeare Company and All That Fall, Jermyn Street Theatre/West End/59E59 Theatre New York) as Mr Justice Wainwright.
The company is completed by James Alper (The Deep Blue Sea, National Theatre; War Horse, UK tour), Lily Blunsom-Washbrook (making her professional stage debut), Jonathan Brenner (Jeff Wayne’sWar of the Worlds: The Immersive Experience; Pennyworth, Amazon Prime), Simon Butteriss (The Winslow Boy, Sweeney Todd, West End; The White Guard, RSC), Vicki Davids (Bang Bang!, UK tour; Rough Crossing, UK tour), William Donaldson (Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, AFTLS US Tour; Testosterone, Rhum & Clay Theatre Co.), Nick Hardie (making his professional stage debut), Andrew Hollingworth (Bump, The Vaults; The Importance of Being Earnest, Panache Theatre Company), Mandi Symonds (The Magician’s Elephant, RSC; Doctor Faustus, Dark Night of the Soul, Shakespeare’s Globe), Naomi Taylor (Catwalk, Tricycle Theatre/National tour; The Changeling, Southwark Playhouse), Matt Weyland (Emmeline, Cockpit Theatre; For The Sake of Argument, Bridewell Theatre), and Donnavan Yates (This Is Not A Drill, The Albany; Sonnet Walks, Shakespeare’s Globe).
Now in its fourth year, Witness for the Prosecutionhas captured the imagination of thousands gripped by the case of Leonard Vole, accused of murder in cold blood. Director Lucy Bailey (Oleanna, Theatre Royal Bath/ West End) thrillingly places the audience in the thick of the action as Christie’s enthralling tale of justice, passion and betrayal unfolds around them.
Leonard Vole is accused of murdering a widow to inherit her wealth. The stakes are high. Will he be able to convince the jury of his innocence and escape the hangman’s noose?
The twists and turns of the case are played out in a spectacular courtroom setting inside the atmospheric London County Hall as prosecution battles defence and witnesses take the stand to give their shocking testimonies. The production received Best Revival nominations at the 2018 Olivier and WhatsOnStage Awards.
The production is designed by William Dudley, with lighting by Chris Davey, sound design by Mic Pool and casting by Ellie Collyer-Bristow CDG.
