Gina Beck, Julian Ovenden, Joanna Ampil and Rob Houchen will star in a major new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic South Pacific, one of two major musicals to feature in a packed 2020 season at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Due to play the prestigious venue from 6 July until 29 August 2002, the new […]
Tag Archives | Chichester Festival Theatre
Stars reunite for Love Story’s 10th birthday show
The 10th anniversary of the Chichester Festival Theatre production of the musical version of Erich Segal weepie best-seller Love Story will be marked with a special concert in London in May. Featuring original cast members Michael D. Xavier, Emma Williams and Peter Polycarpou, Love Story: 10th Anniversary Concert at Cadogan Hall on 17 May 2020 will […]
Oklahoma! – Chichester Festival Theatre
Oklahoma! continues at the Festival Theatre, Chichester until 7 September 2019. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Chichester’s reputation in its choice of musicals has been extremely high with the audience being treated to brand new shows or forgotten treasures unearthed. Therefore many people may have been disappointed when it was announced that the […]
Adam Cooper returns to the role of Don Lockwood in Singin’ in the Rain return
Award-winning dancer and choreographer Adam Cooper will re-create his crowd-pleasing performance as Don Lockwood when the acclaimed Chichester Festival Theatre production of Singin’ in the Rain plays a five-week season at Sadler’s Wells next summer. Cooper first played the iconic role at Sadler’s Wells in the 2004 revival of the show before playing Lockwood once […]
The Midnight Gang – Chichester Festival Theatre
The Midnight Gang continues at the Chichester Festival Theatre until 3 November 2018. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ David Walliams has established himself as a most successful writer of children’s books that are witty, full of fun but also featuring serious themes. The Midnight Gang, adapted by Bryony Lavery, embraces all […]
Flowers for Mrs Harris – Chichester Festival Theatre
Flowers for Mrs Harris continues at Chichester Festival Theatre until 29 September 2018. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ Daniel Evans’ farewell production at The Crucible, Sheffield before taking over as Chichester’s artistic director was the staging of this new British musical, based on the 1958 novella by Paul Gallico. Rachel Wagstaff […]
Me and My Girl – Chichester Festival Theatre
Me and My Girl continues at the Chichester Festival Theatre until 25 August 2018. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ When I reviewed this show on press night, the leading role of Bill Snibson was taken on by understudy Ryan Pidgin due to the indisposition of Matt Lucas. The actor, having seen a throat specialist, […]
Me and My Girl – Chichester Festival Theatre
Me and My Girl continues at the Chichester Festival Theatre until 25 August 2018. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ This season’s productions at Chichester have not met with the usual acclaim from other critics, although they have been well received by audiences and by this reviewer. Not surprisingly there has been speculation over […]
Chichester’s Me and My Girl full cast confirmed
The full company has been confirmed for the Chichester Festival Theatre’s much-anticipated production of the classic Me And My Girl this summer. As previously announced the principal cast will be led Little Britain star Matt Lucas who will make his Chichester Festival Theatre debut as Bill Snibson, the Cockney barrow boy who discovers he’s an […]
Clive Rowe joins cast of Chichester’s Me and My Girl
Clive Rowe is the latest addition to the principal cast of Chichester Festival Theatre’s much-anticipated production of the classic Me And My Girl this summer. Olivier Award winner Rowe (Guys and Dolls, Carousel) will join the previously announced Matt Lucas, Caroline Quentin and Alex Young in the new version of the music hall flavoured musical […]
Caroline, or Change heads for West End transfer
Sharon D. Clarke’s acclaimed performance in Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori’s Caroline, or Change will be seen in London’s West End this autumn following sold-out runs at the Chichester Festival Theatre and London’s Hampstead Theatre. Currently playing Hampstead Theatre until 21 April, the Chichester Festival Theatre production will transfer to the Playhouse Theatre from 20 […]
Matt Lucas to make Chichester debut in Me and My Girl
Matt Lucas will make his Chichester Festival Theatre debut as Bill Snibson in the classic Me And My Girl this summer. The Little Britain star will take on the role of the Cockney barrow boy who discovers he’s an Earl in the production of the music hall-flavoured musical which will be directed by artistic director […]
Musical highlights of Chichester Festival Theatre 2018 season are Flowers For Mrs Harris and Me and My Girl
Productions of the Noel Gay classic Me and My Girl and new musical Flowers For Mrs Harris will be the musical highlights of artistic director Daniel Evans and executive director Rachel Tackley’s star-studded second season at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Following on from a record-breaking 2017, the new season will feature a mix of major revivals […]
Full company for Hampstead Theatre run of Caroline, Or Change
Hampstead Theatre has announced the full company joining Sharon D. Clarke for Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori’s Caroline, Or Change which is due to open next month following its successful run last year at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Clarke, who will reprise her acclaimed performance in the title role, will be joined by Naana Agyei-Ampuda, […]
Nominations for UK Theatre Awards 2017 announced
Sheffield Theatres’ Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Chichester Festival Theatre’s Caroline, Or Change and the Royal Exchange Theatre’s Sweet Charity will battle it out for the title of Best Musical Production at the UK Theatre Awards next month. The three hit shows were among the list of nominees for the 2017 awards which will be presented […]
Fiddler On the Roof – Chichester Festival Theatre
Fiddler On the Roof continues at the Chichester Festival Theatre until 2 September. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Who would have thought that a musical set in an Ukrainian Shtetl, that tells of the persecution and eviction of Jews from their homeland, would prove to be such a durable success. Such […]
Fiddler On the Roof at Chichester – full casting details
The full company has been announced today for Fiddler On the Roof, running at Chichester Festival Theatre from 10 July to 26 August, with a press night on Tuesday 18 July. Directed by Daniel Evans, the cast of this new staging of the classic Broadway musical is led by Omid Djalili and Tracy-Ann Oberman. The […]
Caroline, or Change – Minerva Theatre, Chichester
Caroline, or Change continues at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester until 3 June. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ Chichester Festival Theatre has a new artistic director, Daniel Evans, and though his tenure may have started with a bit of a blip in the revival of Alan Bennett’s Forty Years On, this inaugural […]
Chichester season – Omid Djalili to star in Daniel Evans’ Fiddler On the Roof
Comedy favourite Omid Djalili’s performance as Tevye in a major new production of Fiddler On the Roof is set to be one of the musical highlights of Daniel Evans and Rachel Tackley’s first season at the Chichester Festival Theatre. The British-Iranian comedy actor whose many credits include taking on the role of Fagin in Oliver! […]
Half a Sixpence extends run to April 2017
Following rave reviews for both the show and its leading man Charlie Stemp, it was announced today that booking for the Cameron Mackintosh and Chichester Festival Theatre production of Half a Sixpence at the Noël Coward Theatre has been extended to 22 April 2017. The entire Chichester cast transferred to the West End, including newcomers Charlie Stemp as Arthur […]
Cameron Mackintosh surprised on 70th birthday by cast of Half a Sixpence
Cameron Mackintosh’s 70th birthday began with a ‘Flash Bang Wallop’ as the cast of Half a Sixpence surprised him with an impromptu performance as he inspected works at the Noel Coward Theatre, ahead of their first performance later this month. Pictures: Vivienne Vincent Readers may also be interested in: Chichester Half a Sixpence transfers to Noel Coward Theatre […]
Chichester Half a Sixpence transfers to Noel Coward Theatre in October
Following a record-breaking run in Chichester, Half a Sixpence – which Cameron Mackintosh co-produced with Chichester Festival Theatre – will transfer to the Noël Coward Theatre from 29 October 2016, with press night on 17 November 2016. The first booking period is on sale until 11 February 2017. The entire Chichester cast will transfer to […]
Half a Sixpence at Chichester – full casting
Full casting has been announced for Chichester Festival Theatre and Cameron Mackintosh’s new production of Half a Sixpence. Relative newcomers Charlie Stemp and Devon-Elise Johnson will play the central roles of Arthur Kipps and his childhood friend Ann Pornick, alongside actor Ian Bartholomew as Chitterlow, actress Emma Williams as Helen Walsingham and Vivien Parry as Mrs […]
Interview – George Stiles and Anthony Drewe on a Chichester double and nurturing new writers
Travels With My Aunt, which has just opened at the Minerva Theatre in Chichester, is the latest in a string of acclaimed shows by one the UK’s most successful show-writing partnerships, GEORGE STILES and ANTHONY DREWE (George and Ants). The pair met 30-odd years ago at Exeter University and went on to compose award-winning shows across […]
Half a Sixpence at Chichester – two young actors introduced as leads
Chichester Festival Theatre and Cameron Mackintosh’s new production of Half a Sixpence will introduce two young actors – Charlie Stemp as Arthur Kipps* and Devon-Elise Johnson as Ann Pornick – alongside actor Ian Bartholomew as Chitterlow, actress Emma Williams as Helen Walsingham and Vivien Parry as Mrs Walsingham. Playing in the Festival Theatre from 14 July […]
Travels With My Aunt – Minerva Theatre, Chichester
Travels With My Aunt continues at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester until 4 June. Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩ For the first of its musicals this season, Chichester Festival Theatre has looked to the combined and proven talents of composer George Stiles and lyricist Anthony Drewe, along with book writers Ron Cowen and Daniel […]
Travels With My Aunt at Chichester Festival Theatre – exclusive images
The world premiere of Travels With My Aunt, based on Graham Greene’s novel, with a score by Stiles and Drewe alongside a book by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, opens this week at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Here are some exclusive images from Musical Theatre Review’s official photographer, Roy Tan. Retired bank manager Henry […]
Guys and Dolls – Phoenix Theatre
Guys and Dolls continues at the Phoenix Theatre, London until 30 October. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ Frank Loesser’s iconic musical, reckoned by some to be the greatest of them all, is not only back in town after its nine-week run at the Savoy – it’s all over the place with […]
Chichester Festival Theatre season features Stiles and Drewe double bill
There will be a George Stiles and Anthony Drewe double bill as part of Jonathan Church and Alan Finch’s Chichester Festival Theatre 2016 season – the last under their leadership as artistic director and executive director. The two British musicals will see Rachel Kavanaugh direct a new stage version of Half a Sixpence with book […]
Guys and Dolls extended run – Samantha Spiro, Richard Kind and Oliver Tompsett cast
Following critical acclaim at the Savoy Theatre, the Chichester Festival Theatre revival of Guys and Dolls will be extending its run at the Phoenix Theatre from 19 March 2016. Casting for the West End extension includes multiple Olivier Award-winning actress Samantha Spiro (Hello, Dolly!) as Miss Adelaide, Richard Kind (Disney/Pixar’s BAFTA award-wining Inside Out) as […]
Guys and Dolls transfers to Phoenix Theatre while also touring UK
Following critical acclaim at the Savoy Theatre, the Chichester Festival Theatre revival of Guys and Dolls will transfer to the Phoenix Theatre (following the closure of Bend It Like Beckham) while simultaneously touring the UK from March 2016. The West End production opens 19 March and is booking until 30 October while the UK tour […]
Guys and Dolls – Savoy Theatre
Guys and Dolls continues at the Savoy Theatre, London until 12 March 2016. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ The extraordinarily effective and skilful use of stillness and silence is what I shall remember first about this show. As a whole it’s glitzy, funny and pulsating with energy as it sails triumphantly on […]
Kinky Boots and In the Heights lead nominations in WhatsOnStage Awards 2016
At a ceremony held today at London’s Café de Paris, Steve Furst announced the nominees for the 16th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards, the only major theatre prize-giving decided entirely by the theatregoers themselves. The announcement of the nominations marks the opening of the final voting stage (closes 31 January), with winners announced at the annual Awards Concert […]
Daniel Evans to be new Chichester Festival Theatre artistic director
It has been announced that Daniel Evans will step down from his role at Sheffield Theatres in June 2016 to take over as artistic director of Chichester Festival Theatre, succeeding Jonathan Church. Chichester Festival Theatre Chairman, William Castell: “I am delighted to confirm Daniel Evans as our next artistic leader. After a comprehensive search, we were presented with a very […]
Gypsy comes out top at the UK Theatre Awards 2015
The acclaimed Chichester Festival Theatre revival of the classic Gypsy has claimed the top musical theatre awards in this year’s UK Theatre Awards. The production has been named Best Musical Production while its star Imelda Staunton takes home the award for Best Performance in a Musical for her showstopping portrayal of Momma Rose. The show […]
Imelda Staunton’s Gypsy tipped for BBC Christmas broadcast and DVD release
Home audiences are to get the chance to see Imelda Staunton’s highly acclaimed performance as the ultimate stage mother, Momma Rose in the hit revival of Gypsy, currently playing London’s Savoy Theatre. Cameras have been in place to capture the production for a DVD release and a rumoured place in the BBC’s all important Christmas […]
Mack and Mabel cast member Alex Giannini dies suddenly
Friday’s performance of Mack and Mabel at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth was cancelled following news that cast member, actor Alex Giannini, had passed away. According to the BBC News website, Giannini’s agent tweeted: “The talented and much loved actor @GianniniAlex died suddenly of natural causes yesterday.” A post on the Mack and Mabel Facebook page read: […]
Guys and Dolls at the Savoy Theatre – David Haig and Siubhan Harrison join the cast
Full casting has been announced for the highly acclaimed Chichester Festival Theatre revival of Guys and Dolls, which will open at the Savoy Theatre for a strictly limited 13-week run from 10 December 2015. Joining Sophie Thompson as Miss Adelaide and Jamie Parker as Sky Masterson, are David Haig as Nathan Detroit and Siubhan Harrison as Sarah […]
Mack & Mabel – Chichester Festival Theatre
Mack & Mabel continues at the Chichester Festival Theatre until 5 September, and then tours the UK and Ireland from 1 October–6 December. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Jerry Herman and Michael Stewart’s musical, telling of the early days of silent film-making and the relationship between film director Mack Sennett and his greatest star Mabel Normand, has […]
Interview – look what happened to Rebecca LaChance in Mack & Mabel at Chichester
After an extensive search, American actress REBECCA LaCHANCE was cast as Mabel Normand alongside Michael Ball’s Mack Sennett in Chichester’s summer musical, Mack and Mabel, which opens tonight at the Festival Theatre (playing until 5 September, and then touring across the UK and Ireland). Based on the true romance between Hollywood legends Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand, this musical comedy (book […]
Mack & Mabel at Chichester Festival Theatre – a gallery of new images
Chichester’s summer musical, Mack & Mabel, with Michael Ball and Rebecca LaChance in the title roles, opens tonight (playing until 5 September), before touring across the UK and Ireland. Here are a brand new set of production images from our official photographer Roy Tan. Based on the true romance between Hollywood legends Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand, musical comedy Mack & Mabel, with music […]
Chichester’s Guys and Dolls transfers to the Savoy Theatre in December
Chichester Festival Theatre’s highly acclaimed production of Guys and Dolls will transfer to London’s Savoy Theatre in December for a strictly limited 13-week run. CFT continues its musical successes with this revival which follows transfers of Singin’ in the Rain, The Pajama Game and, most recently, Gypsy. Sophie Thompson and Jamie Parker will reprise their roles, with further […]
Interview – Sally Ann Triplett doing what she loves in A Damsel in Distress at Chichester
Actress and singer SALLY ANN TRIPLETT is currently starring in a major new stage version of A Damsel in Distress at Chichester Festival Theatre. Directed and choreographed by Rob Ashford, the musical comedy has songs by George and Ira Gershwin, and is based on the novel by P.G. Wodehouse and the play by Wodehouse and Ian Hay (also […]
Mack and Mabel at Chichester Festival Theatre – full cast revealed
The full cast has been confirmed for Chichester’s forthcoming summer musical, Mack and Mabel, which will be led by Michael Ball and Rebecca LaChance in the title roles. Following the Chichester run (13 July to 5 September), this major new production will tour across the UK and Ireland. Based on the true romance between Hollywood legends Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand, […]
Jonathan Church and Alan Finch to leave Chichester Festival Theatre at end of September 2016
Artistic director Jonathan Church and executive director Alan Finch announced today that they are to step down from their respective roles at Chichester Festival Theatre at the end of September 2016, following Festival 2016. Both Church and Finch joined Chichester Festival Theatre in 2005, overseeing the organisation’s 50th anniversary in 2012 and the recent £22 million […]
Rebecca LaChance cast opposite Michael Ball in Mack and Mabel at Chichester
After an extensive search, American actress Rebecca LaChance has been confirmed to star as Mabel alongside Michael Ball in Chichester’s forthcoming summer musical, Mack and Mabel, at the Festival Theatre from 13 July to 5 September, and then touring across the UK and Ireland in the production. Based on the true romance between Hollywood legends Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand, this […]
Gypsy at the Savoy Theatre – more casting revealed
Joining Imelda Staunton, who stars as the indomitable Momma Rose in the West End transfer of Jonathan Kent’s production of Gypsy, are Lara Pulver and Gemma Sutton who reprise the roles of Louise and June respectively in the five star Chichester Festival Theatre production, while Peter Davison joins the cast to play Herbie. The cast also features Dan Burton as Tulsa, Billy Hartman as Uncle Jocko, Jack Chissick as Mr Goldstone, Anita Louise Combe as Tessie Tura, Harry […]
Chichester season – A Damsel in Distress joins Mack and Mabel
Chichester marks its first full season following its major redevelopment with two major musicals in the Festival Theatre, the previously announced Michael Ball in Mack and Mabel, directed by Jonathan Church with choreography by Stephen Mear, and a new stage version of A Damsel in Distress, directed and choreographed by Rob Ashford. A Damsel in Distress (30 May–27 June) has music and lyrics […]
Michael Ball leads Mack and Mabel at Chichester and on tour
Michael Ball returns to Chichester this summer in a major new production of Mack and Mabel, directed by Jonathan Church, which opens at the Festival Theatre in July (press night is 21 July), followed by a UK tour from 1 October to 6 December. Based on the true romance between Hollywood legends Mack Sennett and Mabel Normand, this […]
Gypsy wins Best Musical in Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards
Chichester Festival Theatre’s production of Gypsy, which will transfer to London’s Savoy Theatre on 15 April, has won the Peter Hepple Award for Best Musical at the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards 2014. The awards were hosted today (27 January 2015) by Critics’ Circle chairman Mark Shenton at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London. Comedian Arthur Smith introduced proceedings. […]
