Opened April 25 at The Music Box Theatre, New York, for an open-ended run. ‘Give ’em the old razzle dazzle’, goes the Fred Ebb lyric in the Bob Fosse-created Chicago, the revival of which is currently bumping and grinding its way through its 17th year on Broadway. And that same razzle dazzle dictum is working […]
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Pippin has razzle dazzle to believe in
Opened April 25 at The Music Box Theatre, New York, for an open-ended run. ‘Give ’em the old razzle dazzle’, goes the Fred Ebb lyric in the Bob Fosse-created Chicago, the revival of which is currently bumping and grinding its way through its 17th year on Broadway. And that same razzle dazzle dictum is working […]
Jekyll & Hyde – prepare for a wall of sound
Opened April 18, at the Marquis Theatre, New York, for an open-ended run. Boo! Composer and occasional lyricist Frank Wildhorn, Broadway’s favourite whipping boy, has just landed another musical on Broadway. This one’s a horror story and a revival as well – Jekyll & Hyde – and of course, it has given uppity New York […]
Jekyll & Hyde – prepare for a wall of sound
Opened April 18, at the Marquis Theatre, New York, for an open-ended run. Boo! Composer and occasional lyricist Frank Wildhorn, Broadway’s favourite whipping boy, has just landed another musical on Broadway. This one’s a horror story and a revival as well – Jekyll & Hyde – and of course, it has given uppity New York […]
Sleeping Arrangements delivers humour and romance in spades
Running at the Landor, London until May 12. It was really only a matter of time before chick-lit, or to perhaps give it its official title of light romantic comedy, began to be considered for adaptation to the stage. Admittedly Helen Fielding’s hugely popular Bridget Jones’ Diary appears to be languishing in development hell at […]
Geek! A New Musical, predictable but charming
Running at the Tristan Bates Theatre, London until May 18. When a musical’s title fails to deliver once, it can be disappointing. Twice, and it starts to look deliberate. Geek! A New Musical is not really about geeks. And while it’s technically a new musical, it treads such familiar ground that it hardly feels original. […]
The Three Little Pigs entertain young and old
Reviewed at the Greenwich Theatre, London. Written by the Olivier Award-winning team that bought young audiences Honk! Just So, Mary Poppins, Betty Blue Eyes and Soho Cinders, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe’s European premiere of the well-known children’s story The Three Little Pigs is a sweet and simple tale, complemented by a sophisticated and appealing score […]
Liz Robertson Sings Her Favourite Songs
Reviewed at The Crazy Coqs, London. Forty years on from making her showbiz bow as a cabaret dancer at the nearby Savoy Hotel, the ageless Liz Robertson is back in cabaret mode for her one-woman show at The Crazy Coqs, the new go-to Piccadilly nightspot for lovers of the genre which becomes ever more polished […]
Titanic sails in to Southwark Playhouse
The European premiere of a new chamber version of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, Titanic will be staged at London’s Southwark Playhouse by the same creative team behind the venue’s productions of Parade, Mack & Mabel and Victor/Victoria. Directed by Thom Southerland and produced by Danielle Tarento, Titanic (music and lyrics by Maury Yeston, book by […]
American Psycho set to thrill at the Almeida
Almeida Theatre’s artistic director designate Rupert Goold will stage the world premiere of the musical thriller American Psycho, based on the the novel by Bret Easton Ellis, as part of the the north London’s 2013 festival. The co-production with Headlong Theatre (with which Goold has been associated for eight years) has a book by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa […]
Motown the Musical proves exhilarating
Opened April 14 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, New York, for an open-ended run. “You built a legacy of love,” Smokey Robinson tells Berry Gordy, as Motown the Musical, heads toward its big finish. The show recounts the life of Gordy, the celebrated founder and force behind the Motown record company, which broke through seemingly impenetrable […]
Gary Williams presents a Sinatra Jukebox
Reviewed at The Crazy Coqs, London. This programme from singer Gary Williams and accompanist Harry the Piano was an unusual evening for The Crazy Coqs. Williams gave us a tribute to Frank Sinatra, but instead of an hour of songs and anecdote, halfway through members of the audience were invited fill in request forms, which […]
New York Musical Theatre Festival latest
The New York Musical Theatre Festival, affectionately known as NYMF (pronounced ‘nymph’ as in ‘nymph errant’) among New York theatre folks, has announced the 11 invited shows that will stage full productions during its tenth annual festival, running July 8-28. The festival acts as a showcase for emerging creative talents in musical theatre, giving them […]
New York Musical Theatre Festival latest
The New York Musical Theatre Festival, affectionately known as NYMF (pronounced ‘nymph’ as in ‘nymph errant’) among New York theatre folks, has announced the 11 invited shows that will stage full productions during its tenth annual festival, running July 8-28. The festival acts as a showcase for emerging creative talents in musical theatre, giving them […]
Carnaby Street the Musical is labour of love
Hackney Empire, London, then touring until June 29. Since the back catalogue of The Beatles is already being hurtled through nightly over at the Savoy Theatre for Let it Be, there are no climactic ‘na-na-nah-nahs’ – indeed the Fab Four hardly get a look in here – in Carnaby Street the Musical, a jukebox musical which […]
Ghost the Musical begins tour
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, then touring until January 2014. Ghost the Musical is a theatrical masterclass in translating emotion, so be prepared to shed a few tears but still have a few laughs. Set in New York, the musical naturally sticks to the same story as the original film – for which the show’s lyricist/librettist […]
Sweeney Todd at West Yorkshire Playhouse
Headlining his first season of work as artistic director of the West Yorkshire Playhouse is James Brining’s own production of Stephen Sondheim’s and Hugh Wheeler’s musical Sweeney Todd, presented by WYP and the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester for the Quarry stage (26 September–26 October). Brining has challenged himself to revisit his TMA Award-winning production of […]
Matilda the Musical Arrives on Broadway
Opened April 11 at the Sam S. Shubert Theatre, New York, for an open-ended run. Bless her little heart! And her big brain, too. Matilda the Musical has landed on Broadway in a blaze of glory. This musicalisation of novelist Roald Dahl’s dark depiction of childhood fears – and how gumption, smarts and literacy can […]
Sondheim surprises Merrily We Roll Along cast
Rehearsals have begun for the West End transfer of the Menier Chocolate Factory production of Merrily We Roll Along and we hear a certain Mr Sondheim may have even popped in to surprise the cast yesterday. Directed by triple Olivier Award-winner Maria Friedman, previews begin at the Harold Pinter Theatre on 23 April. Opening night […]
Once
Opened 9 April at the Phoenix Theatre, London. “Hello,” Girl tentatively whispers to the piano before she starts playing it, as Guy gazes at her sheepishly before picking up his guitar to join in. “You must always say hello to the piano,” she instructs him sternly before they unite to create a wealth of raw, […]
Kinky Boots
Opened April 4 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, New York, for an open-ended run. La Cage Aux Folles comes to Northampton, England, a town filled with failing shoe factories, in Broadway’s new dazzler Kinky Boots. Based on a 2005 movie, the show tells how a flamboyant drag queen and her sextet of high-stepping pals of […]
The Billie Holiday Story
Playing at the Charing Cross Theatre, London until 25 May. More than 50 years after Billie Holiday’s tragic death, her life story continues to be a subject of film and theatrical performance. Holiday’s painful life of child prostitution, sexual abuse and violent partners is interpreted by Nina Kristofferson who takes a unique approach to the […]
Hands On a Hard Body is Broadway casualty
The first casualty of the spring musical theatre season on Broadway is Hands On a Hard Body. This tale of down-on-their-luck folks going through a gruelling competition to win a new truck will be riding into the sunset on April 13 after 28 previews and 28 regular performances. The show may not have had the flash, […]
Menzel and Morrison Perform at Olivier Awards
Matthew Morrison, Idina Menzel and Petula Clark will perform exclusively during this year’s Oliviers ceremony. Emmy, Tony, and Golden-Globe nominated Morrison is best known for his onstage leading roles in Hairspray, South Pacific and The Light In the Piazza, as well as for his role as Mr Schuester in the hit TV show Glee. His […]
The Book of Mormon
Currently running at The Prince of Wales Theatre, London. Thank God for The Book of Mormon. Not only is it performing miracles at the box office – recently breaking records by taking £2.1 million in a single day – this original musical also offers a shining beacon in a market saturated with film remakes. No […]
And the nominations are…
Top Hat and Sweeney Todd are this year’s musical theatre front-runners at the 2013 Oliviers with the greatest number of nominations. Top Hat, still running at the Aldwych with a new cast in place, is named in seven categories, while the West End transfer of Chichester Festival Theatre’s revival of Sweeney Todd is in close […]
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – The Musical
Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton. 11-16 March, then touring the UK until 5 January, 2014. Bringing to the stage a musical version of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert was always going to be something of a risk. Priscilla is, after all, the nickname given to a second-hand bus and Stephan Elliot’s masterpiece of cinematography […]
The Hired Man
Reviewed at Mercury Theatre, Colchester. Transfers to Curve, Leicester, 12-27 April. The Hired Man, devised by Melvyn Bragg from his 1969 book of the same name, is based on the few facts he knew about his grandfather who was born about 1890. Bragg got to know him well during the Second World War when his […]
Stephen Ward is focus of Lloyd Webber Musical
It has been reported that Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new musical about the 1963 Profumo Affair (reuniting him with Sunset Boulevard team, lyricist Don Black and playwright Christopher Hampton) is likely to be far more about the fate of the scandal’s scapegoat Stephen Ward, than Profumo. In the past, the composer has spoken sympathetically about Ward […]
Every Little Step She Takes
Broadway and West End actress Leigh Zimmerman is always true to the characters she plays, as Lisa Martland discovers. It’s hard to argue with Leigh Zimmerman’s record when it comes to musical theatre. Alongside a string of impressive TV and film credits, she has made a habit of playing and creating leading roles in Broadway […]
Quasimodo
King’s Head Theatre, London. 20 March to 13 April. Since the 19th century, the bells of the best-known cathedral in Paris have been ringing out with deafening clangs. So bad were they, that they were mocked as having deafened Quasimodo, the lead of Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame. But on Palm […]
A Chorus Line
Currently running at the London Palladium. A major London revival of the iconic Broadway musical that is A Chorus Line has been a long time coming for those of us who weren’t around to catch the original West End production in 1976. Sadly, as the programme credits so poignantly point out, most of the original […]
Singin’ in the Rain hits the road
The West End production of Singin’ in the Rain will have its final performance at the Palace Theatre on Saturday, 8 June 2013, before it heads off on an extensive UK tour. The musical opens at Manchester’s Opera House on 13 November and then move to Cardiff’s Wales Millennium Centre for a Christmas and New […]
Special Olivier for Gillian Lynne
Acclaimed director and choreographer Gillian Lynne will receive a Special Award at the Oliviers 2013 in honour of her outstanding contribution to theatre and the arts. Lynne has most recently been in action as director of the UK premiere of Jerry Herman’s Dear World at London’s Charing Cross Theatre, but probably her best-known work has […]
Q&A with Gavin Lee from Top Hat
You’ve been treading the boards for 20 years, can you describe your training and what difference it made when you were starting out? “I started dancing at the age of 9. My first classes were disco dancing… Well, it was 1980! When I was growing up I did lots of amateur dramatics and school productions […]
The Tailor-Made Man
Musical Theatre Review catches up with the world premiere of The Tailor-Made Man, a new musical at London’s Arts Theatre. As the title suggests silent film actor William (Billy) Haines was a product of the Hollywood system, he was also its first openly gay star. This exuberant and entertaining musical tells of his career as […]
Spring Comes to New York
Ron Cohen has all the latest On and Off-Broadway. Spring has finally come to New York and the earliest blooms on the musical theatre scene make for a mixed but welcome bouquet. On Broadway, the initial arrival has been the lavish redo of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (pictured left), a sometimes irritating but still highly […]
X-Factor Musical Revealed
X Factor – It’s Time to Face The Musical! hits the London stage in early 2014 in a co-production from Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment and Europe’s biggest theatre chain-cum-producer Stage Entertainment. Scheduled for the Palladium theatre, casting for the show is due to begin in May. Comic Harry Hill and Spend Spend Spend creator Steve […]
The Color Purple
News is that London’s Menier Chocolate Factory will be presenting the European premiere of Broadway musical The Color Purple later on this year, with Tony Award-winning director John Doyle directing and designing. Inspired by the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker, the inspirational story of Celie has been adapted for the stage by Marsha […]
