Following a sell-out run at London’s Waterloo East Theatre in August, new British musical The Bakewell Bake Off will transfer to the Landor Theatre on 8 October 2013 (officially opening on 10 October). The action throws the spotlight on seven eager contestants, three feuding judges and one bewildered hostess all taking part in a high-pressure […]
Putting It Together – G Live, Guildford
Putting It Together was performed at the G Live Studio, Guildford. The rarely-seen Sondheim revue Putting It Together, a veritable orgy of familiar and less familiar songs from the great man’s rich repertoire worked into an admittedly pretty flimsy storyline, made a welcome return with a classy cast of five at Guildford. First performed at […]
Frances Ruffelle – French Connection
Frances Ruffelle’s new cabaret, Paris Original, will be a celebration of French singers and songs. The show premieres at the Crazy Coqs from 8–12 October and represents something of a golden Gallic thread that has run through her career. This began when, at the age of 19, she originated the role of Eponine in Les […]
Miss Hope Springs – Crazy Coqs
Miss Hope Springs performs Out of this World at the Crazy Coqs, London. Whilst the lion’s share of events for the London Festival of Cabaret will be taking place through October and November, here is a chance to sample early one of the delights on offer. Miss Hope Springs is the brain-child of accomplished singer/songwriter Ty […]
Our House – New Wolsey, Ipswich and touring
Our House continues at the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, and then tours until 23 November. The Smiths were tarred as the great doom-merchants of the 1980s, but you don’t have to scratch too deeply beneath the braces and bomber jackets to find that Madness could give anyone – Morrissey and Marr included – a run for their […]
John Barr – Self Portrait – Crazy Coqs
John Barr performed Self Portrait at the Crazy Coqs, London. Monday nights at the Crazy Coqs are rapidly becoming something of a treat as they afford fledgling artists and seasoned performers a chance to try out new material or hone their cabaret style in a one-off show. Among those seasoned performers is John Barr, a […]
The Lightning Child – Shakespeare’s Globe
The Lightning Child continues in rep at Shakespeare’s Globe, London until 12 October. Che Walker’s 2008 play The Frontline – the first contemporary set play to be staged at Shakespeare’s Globe – remains one of the best modern pieces to be performed there. Its sprawling urban tangle of midnight Camden lives made sense in the space, a […]
Liza is back, courtesy of Trevor Ashley
Following his week at London’s Vaudeville Theatre in May this year, Trevor Ashley is back in the West End for one night only, after a brief UK tour. Michael Darvell spoke to the man behind Liza (on an E), his show about the great Minnelli. In fact Trevor Ashley is Liza, or at least he […]
Donna McKechnie records her new album in London
Same Place, Another Time is Tony Award-winning actress Donna McKechnie’s latest cabaret act. Michael Darvell reports from the CD recording of the show for Jay Records (while, below, Patrick Honore catches up with the actress post-performance). Any musical cabaret fan who saw Donna McKechnie performing her new show in New York or at the Crazy Coqs […]
Molly Wobbly’s Tit Factory cancelled
The London premiere of the musical comedy Molly Wobbly’s Tit Factory by Paul Boyd, due to run at Hackney Empire from 20 September to 5 October, has been cancelled following ‘unforeseen financial difficulties’. A statement from the show’s press representatives said: “Hackney Empire regrets that the producers of Molly Wobbly’s Tit Factory, Big Wobbly Productions […]
Interview – actress Julie Atherton
Actress Julie Atherton has regularly performed in the West End, making her debut in the lead role of Sophie in Mamma Mia! She also originated the role of Kate Monster/Lucy the Slut in the original London production of Avenue Q at the Noel Coward and Gielgud Theatres. Among her extensive other credits are tours of Fame and Sister Act, as […]
Collaborations – The Songs of Elliot Davis
On 23 September, SimG Records – the leading independent label devoted to new writers and artists – is to release Collaborations – The Songs of Elliot Davis. Collaborations brings together some of the best songwriters in the music industry with an array of performers currently working in the West End, and is sold in aid of the […]
