The Stephen Sondheim Society has announced the 12 finalists in the running for the 16th annual Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year (SSSSPOTY).
Tag Archives | Alex Parker
The Wonderful Music and Lyrics of Jerry Herman – Cadogan Hall
The Wonderful Music and Lyrics of Jerry Herman at Cadogan Hall, London. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
Sunday in the Park With George – Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford
Sunday in the Park With George continues at the Mill Studio, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford until 23 September 2023. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★
Beautiful World: Janie Dee – The Pheasantry
Beautiful World: Janie Dee at The Pheasantry, London. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ A ‘Beautiful World’ indeed… thank goodness there are caring people like Janie Dee and Alex Parker around to make it even more wonderful.
The Railway Children: A Musical – Electric Theatre, Guildford
The Railway Children: A Musical continues at the Electric Theatre, Guildford until 5 February 2023. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Dates for 23rd annual WhatsOnStage Awards
The 23rd WhatsOnStage Awards will be handed out at an as yet unnamed West End theatre on 12 February 2023 in a star-studded ceremony co-produced with creative directors Alex Parker and Damian Sandys.
Comparing Notes: Lucy Schaufer and Edward Seckerson – Crazy Coqs
Comparing Notes: Lucy Schaufer and Edward Seckerson at the Crazy Coqs, London. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ After the madcap buffoonery of the inimitable Oscar Conlon-Morrey the previous month, it was a far more peaceful guest that Edward Seckerson introduced in his popular Comparing Notes series at the Crazy Coqs, that […]
Cast of West End stars announced for Michael Xavier’s eighth Christmas charity concert
Thirteen major musical theatre stars will take to the stage at St Paul’s (The Actors) Church in Covent Garden for this year’s edition of Michael D. Xavier’s festive fundraiser Christmas With the Stars on 19 December 2021. Organised by Michael Xavier’s MX Masterclass and featuring MXM students, West End and Broadway leading man Xavier will […]
Mazz Murray to reprise the role of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard at the Royal Albert Hall
Mazz Murray will reprise her performance as fading movie star Norma Desmond for a one night only special concert performance of Sunset Boulevard at the Royal Albert Hall in December. Presented by The Alpha Family, in association with Quick Fantastic, the performance will reunite Murray (We Will Rock You, Mamma Mia!) with Ramin Karimloo (Les […]
Henrietta – National Youth Music Theatre
Henrietta, presented by National Youth Music Theatre, continues at The MCT at Alleyn’s, London until 21 August 2021. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ Commissioned from Alex Parker and Katie Lam by NYMT for last year but, perforce, postponed until now Henrietta is a good piece for a youth organisation. NYMT works with young […]
CD Review: After You – Original Studio Recording
AFTER YOU – Original Studio Recording (Broadway Records) Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩ When I started listening to this album I thought the first two tracks were going to be the opening to something quite different and interesting. However, as the album progressed it all seemed to blur into one very […]
New Theatre Peterborough hosts workshops for The Danish Girl musical
Award-winning writers Katie Lam and Alex Parker and innovative director Tinuke Craig have joined forces with New Theatre Peterborough in a workshop for a new musical adaptation of The Danish Girl. Inspired by David Ebershoff’s 2000 novel which in turn was loosely inspired by the lives of Danish painters Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener, the […]
Leicester Curve reopening season announced
A celebration of the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber will be part of a special socially distanced season at Leicester Curve when the theatre welcomes audiences back into its auditorium on 20 May 2021 for the first time in over a year. The reopening programme which also includes a new comedy musical and events showcasing […]
Curve announces extended run for The Color Purple – at Home
Leicester Curve has announced an extension to the hit online run of The Color Purple – at Home. Produced in association with Birmingham Hippodrome, the concert re-working of the hit 2019 production will now stream online until 16 March 2021. The concert version of the first co-production between Birmingham Hippodrome and Curve which had been […]
The Color Purple – at Home – Curve Leicester
The Color Purple at Home is streaming from Curve Leicester until 7 March 2021. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ If the cynics are right, if musical theatre is indeed all jazz hands and pomp and fluff – a medium incapable of supporting the weight of “important” stories – then this musical […]
Curve to reunite with Birmingham Hippodrome for The Color Purple – At Home
Leicester Curve will follow its critically-acclaimed Sunset Boulevard – at Home by reuniting with Birmingham Hippodrome to stream The Color Purple – at Home, a concert reworking of their hit 2019 production. The concert version of the first co-production between Birmingham Hippodrome and Curve had been due to be part of Curve’s reopening season, but […]
Concert versions of The Color Purple and Sunset Boulevard to feature in Curve’s comeback season
Live theatre will return to Leicester Curve next month for the first time since the venue closed its doors to the public in March with the launch of an autumn season that will feature two re-imagined, socially distanced concert versions of two Made at Curve productions. Launching on 12 November 2020 with an exclusive event […]
Tonight At The London Coliseum performance dates announced
The dates have been announced for the series of live acoustic concerts featuring a line-up of West End stars on stage at the London Coliseum. Presented by West End and Broadway producers Jack Maple and Brian Zeilinger for their new company Take Two Theatricals in association with Jamie Chapman Dixon and John-Webb Carter on behalf […]
A Little Night Music – Opera Holland Park
A Little Night Music was performed at Opera Holland Park, London. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ What could possibly keep a dedicated Sondheimite away from an outdoor, summer evening production of A Little Night Music? A global pandemic? A very limited supply of tickets that sold out nearly instantly? An actual thunderstorm being […]
Musical theatre stars to headline London Coliseum concert series
Seven West End stars will take centre stage in a series of acoustic concerts at London’s Coliseum which will be streamed over one week in September. Presented by West End and Broadway producers Jack Maple and Brian Zeilinger for their company Take Two Theatricals in association with Jamie Chapman Dixon and John-Webb Carter on behalf […]
Janie Dee and Joanna Riding reunite for outdoor staging of A Little Night Music
Janie Dee and Joanna Riding will star in a special outdoor version of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s evocative A Little Night Music in London. The pair who previously appeared together in the National Theatre’s hit production of Follies will reunite for the socially distanced concert performance in Holland Park on 15 August 2020. They […]
Star-studded online concert Kings Of Broadway 2020 will celebrate the work of Jule Styne, Jerry Herman & Stephen Sondheim
Kings Of Broadway 2020, an online concert celebrating the music of the legendary Broadway composers Jule Styne, Jerry Herman and Stephen Sondheim (the latter two whose lyrics will also be celebrated), will premiere at 7pm on Sunday 31 May 2020 via the ‘Quick Fantastic’ channel on YouTube. The evening will feature a cross section of […]
The cast of Nottingham Playhouse’s Piaf gives lockdown digital performance
The stars of Piaf – which should have been performed at Nottingham Playhouse and Leeds Playhouse this spring – have come together for an exclusive performance of ‘Hymne a L’Amour’. The piece, initiated by director Adam Penford and musical director Alex Parker, gives audiences an exclusive taste of what to expect from the postponed production. […]
Fundraising initiative Musical Marathon unites musical directors from around the world
Over 20 leading musical directors will unite early next month for an online concert to raise funds for NHS Charities and Acting For Others. Produced by Sam Young, Musical Marathon will feature performances by musical directors from high-profile productions including Hamilton, Les Misérables and Six. Further information about which participants are performing which songs can […]
Hairspray The Musical – HMP Bronzefield, Surrey
Hairspray The Musical at HMP Bronzefield, Ashford, Surrey. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Once again Pimlico Opera has worked a near-miracle in training up the “residents” of Europe’s biggest all-women prison in five short weeks to sing, dance and act to undreamed-of heights. This is the fourth time Pimlico and HMP Bronzefield […]
Mame – Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester
Mame continues at Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester until 9 November 2019, then tours until January 2020. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ When Hope Mill announced the first professional UK revival of Mame since its 1969 West End premiere, one colleague suggested that there may have been a reason for its lengthy absence. Let’s face […]
My Left/Right Foot: The Musical – Theatre Royal, Brighton and Touring
My Left Foot/Right Foot continues at the Theatre Royal, Brighton as part of the Brighton Festival until 18 May 2019. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ My Left Foot/Right Foot – The Musical (nominated for Musical Theatre Review’s Best Musical Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2018) is a joint production between Birds […]
Sweet Charity – Pimlico Opera – HMP Bronzefield
Sweet Charity by Pimlico Opera and the inmates of HMP Bronzefield at Ashford, Surrey. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Put an Olivier-nominated actress alongside inmates of HMP Bronzefield, stir in a 12-piece orchestra, a stage in a prison and the expertise of Pimlico Opera and what you got was a terrific Sweet Charity. […]
Nadim Naaman and guests – Live at Zédel
Nadim Naaman and guests performed at Live at Zédel, London. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ Nadim Naaman has managed to acquire an impressive set of credits at a young age, and his selection of songs for this evening at Live at Zédel was ably served by an impressive voice. Opening with […]
Janie Dee – Live at Zédel
Janie Dee continues at Live at Zédel, London on 16 and 17 March 2018. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ “Making an entrance again with my usual flair,” so sings Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music, and no one can deny Janie Dee that accolade as she entered Live at Zédel stage right in a […]
Janie Dee – Live at Zédel
Janie Dee continues at Live at Zédel, London on 16 and 17 March 2018. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Janie Dee returns to cabaret after her sensational performance in the National Theatre’s production of Follies. After the ice cold Phyllis, Dee transforms herself into a sultry piece of mischief, sweeping into the room and […]
Interview – Celinde Schoenmaker on playing the real-life Jenny Lind in Barnum at the Menier Chocolate Factory
CELINDE SCHOENMAKER is best known for playing big roles in big West End shows – notably and most famously Fantine in Les Misérables (2013, her West End debut, and again in 2014) and Christine in The Phantom of the Opera (2015-17). But she’s about to open in one of London’s smaller houses, the Menier Chocolate […]
Sondheim: Smiles of a Summer Night – Cadogan Hall
Sondheim: Smiles of a Summer Night at the Cadogan Hall, London. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ Two hours of nothing but Sondheim with an orchestra of 33, eight gifted soloists, 11 backing singers and 24 examples of his finest work – no wonder there were plenty of Smiles of a Summer […]
Sondheim concert at Cadogan Hall – Lucy Schaufer on making a personal connection to the music
On Sunday 4 June, Grammy Award winner, mezzo soprano LUCY SCHAUFER, will be bringing both her operatic and musical theatre talents to London’s Cadogan Hall, where she will perform in Sondheim: Smiles of a Summer Night. The concert, with direction from Alastair Knights, celebrates the music and lyrics of Stephen Sondheim. The 33-piece Alex Parker […]
After You – Live At Zédel
After You continues at Live At Zédel, London until 22 April. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ The first musical commissioned by Piccadilly nightspot Zedel is a little gem of a two-hander, a love story with a sting in the tail, short and sweet at exactly an hour and site-specific too as […]
After You – first new musical at Live at Zedel – cast details
Details have been announced for contemporary love story After You, the first new musical to be staged at Live at Zédel at the Crazy Coqs. Liam Doyle (Wicked, UK tour; Mamma Mia!, Prince of Wales Theatre) and Laura Tebbutt (Love Me Tender, UK tour; Forbidden Broadway, Vaudeville Theatre) will star in the production which will play the London venue from 13 […]
Something for everybody at Live at Zédel
To launch its spring programme, Piccadilly cabaret room Live at Zédel gave us a taster of seven very different acts, drolly introduced by French comic/compere Marcel Lucont, who is very funny indeed, rather naughty, and will be well worth seeing during Zedel’s French Fest in March. From a musical theatre point of view the highlight […]
My Fair Lady – West End stars celebrate 60th anniversary
A host of West End Stars will gather at the iconic St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden, the location of Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins’ memorable first encounter, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the original Broadway production of one of the greatest musicals ever written, My Fair Lady. Directed by Alastair Knights (Putting It Together at […]
Best of British fundraiser at the Union Theatre
Home-grown musical talent will be celebrated at a special one-off fundraiser later this month at London’s Union Theatre. Devised by Alastair Knights (director of the award-winning production of The Spitfire Grill), Best of British will play for one night only at the Union Theatre on 20 March. The cabaret, which is in aid of the Union […]
Kings of Broadway – Palace Theatre
Kings of Broadway was performed at the Palace Theatre, London. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ Only five weeks after a glittering 85th birthday concert at Theatre Royal Drury Lane came another Sondheim tribute at the Palace Theatre, this time also celebrating two other Kings of Broadway: the show tune champion Jerry Herman, composer […]
Kings of Broadway concert – cast includes Richard Fleeshman and Janie Dee
The timeless music of legendary composers Jerry Herman, Stephen Sondheim and Jule Styne will be celebrated in Kings of Broadway, a special concert at London’s Palace Theatre on Sunday 29 November. The latest from Alex Parker and Alastair Knights, the creative team behind the staging of Sondheim’s A Little Night Music which played the Palace in […]
Janie Dee – Dee-Licious, Lightful and Lovely! – Crazy Coqs
Janie Dee performs her show Dee-Licious, Lightful and Lovely! at the Crazy Coqs until 14 March. Star rating: 5 stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Last night a packed audience filled with showbiz personalities was treated to a masterclass in cabaret perfection. The multi-talented Janie Dee entertained, enthralled and enchanted her many fans with glorious singing as well as amusing […]
A Little Night Music – Palace Theatre
A Little Night Music 40th anniversary concert at the Palace Theatre, London. Star rating: 4 stars **** This semi-staged one-off concert version of A Little Night Music, perhaps the richest of all Stephen Sondheim’s scores in a most attractive and amusing storyline, was always likely to please and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Given that producer Alex Parker had assembled musical theatre’s creme de […]
An Afternoon with the Sondheim Society – Alex Parker & Friends
An Afternoon with the Sondheim Society and… Alex Parker & Friends at the Leicester Square Theatre, London. For a young man of 23, multi-talented Alex Parker has packed plenty into his burgeoning career. But you ain’t heard nothing yet. This fiercely ambitious musical director-pianist-composer’s credits already include a concert version of A Little Night Music, […]
Everything’s Coming Up Roses: the Jule Styne Songbook – Crazy Coqs
Everything’s Coming Up Roses: the Jule Styne Songbook continues at the Crazy Coqs, London until 6 September. What a blast – short but very sweet… two dozen Jule Styne songs rattled off in a bare hour in a gorgeous start to the Crazy Coqs’ autumn season. Truly, everything’s coming up roses for London cabaret if this is the […]
Everything’s Coming Up Jule Styne – interview with musical director Alex Parker
Composer Jule Styne wrote some 1500 songs in a long career in Tin Pan Alley, Hollywood and on Broadway. Everything’s Coming Up Roses: The Jule Styne Songbook, opening at London’s Crazy Coqs on 2 September, is a tribute to a great songwriter who died 20 years ago this month. Devised and directed by Alastair Knights (Putting It Together, The […]
GOD, a Musical Celebration and Parody of Sondheim – London Theatre Workshop
GOD, a Musical Celebration and Parody of Stephen Sondheim at the London Theatre Workshop, Fulham continues until 12 July. We’ve had a glut of Sondheim compilation shows recently – Just Another Love Story at the same London Theatre Workshop venue as this affectionate homage to his genius was one of the best – but GOD is one with a delightful difference and one […]
Sondheim Society marks anniversary with God, a celebration and parody
As part of its 20th anniversary celebrations, the Stephen Sondheim Society will be paying tribute to the composer/lyricist with a brand new show called God, premiering at London Theatre Workshop for only six performances in July (8-12 July). With tongue very firmly in cheek, there will be gentle parodies that serve to demonstrate Sondheim’s art, songs that emphasise his genius, and brand new compositions inspired […]
