Cohen, Bernstein, Joni & Me continues at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, London until 1 February 2026. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ It’s an entertaining piece of musical storytelling.
Tag Archives | Leonard Bernstein
Five Questions With: Rebecca Caine
International opera singer and actress Rebecca Caine is currently on tour across the UK with her show Dividing Day, ‘a journey of self-discovery with help from writers including Bernstein, Bucchino, Guettel, La Chiusa, Sondheim, Weill and Yeston’. accompanied by Nathan Martin on the piano.
Film Review: West Side Story
West Side Story opens nationwide on 10 December 2021. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Steven Spielberg’s much-anticipated – and, in some quarters, much dreaded – movie of West Side Story has finally reached cinemas. It’s the film I’ve been eagerly waiting for since about 1984: a full-blown musical by one of the […]
Opera North to stream Trouble in Tahiti
Opera North will stream its well-received production of Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti free of charge on 6 May 2020 at 7pm on Opera North’s YouTube channel. Originally commissioned by The Space, and recorded live at Leeds Grand Theatre in October 2017, the film which is directed by Ross MacGibbon will remain available on demand […]
West Side Story will Be Curve’s Christmas 2019 production
Classic Broadway musical West Side Story will be Leicester Curve’s Made at Curve Christmas production next year. Just a few weeks before the debut of this year’s eagerly-anticipated production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, the team at Leicester have announced plans for a major new production of the Romeo and Juliet-inspired musical which will run […]
CD Review – Wonderful Town – London Symphony Orchestra and Cast
WONDERFUL TOWN – London Symphony Orchestra and Cast (LSO Live – LSO0813) Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ As part of the Leonard Bernstein at 100 celebrations, the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Simon Rattle have released their recording of Bernstein’s Wonderful Town. Since it was written in 1953, there have only been four […]
On the Town – BBC Proms – Royal Albert Hall
On the Town at the BBC Proms was performed at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ There was a buzz in the air at the Royal Albert Hall because the audience attending a John Wilson concert know what’s in store and they were not disappointed. It was a celebratory […]
BBC Proms to mark Bernstein centenary
This year’s BBC Proms will celebrate the centenary of the birth of Leonard Bernstein with performances of West Side Story and On the Town this summer. John Wilson will conduct the performance of the classic Romeo & Juliet-inspired story which will feature West End star Sierra Boggess as Maria and Broadway star Ross Lekites as […]
Wonderful Town – Toulon Opéra
Wonderful Town – Toulon Opéra, France. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth and five years after the ambitious production of Follies!, the Toulon Opéra treated us this year to another classic Broadway musical, expertly staged by the same director, Olivier Bénézech, again setting the piece […]
Bishopsgate Institute stages West Side Story in summer 2018
The Bishopsgate Institute will celebrate the centenary of the birth of Leonard Bernstein with a concert performance of his classic West Side Story next summer. Also marking the centennial of Broadway legend Jerome Robbins who directed and choreographed the original production of the Romeo & Juliet-inspired musical over 60 years ago, the show will play […]
Hershey Felder to bring Berlin and Bernstein shows to The Other Palace
Award-winning actor and musician Hershey Felder will bring the magic of two of the most iconic names in musical theatre, Irving Berlin and Leonard Bernstein, to The Other Palace this autumn. Recently named by the prestigious Time magazine as one of its top ten theatre artists of 2016, Felder has created two musical plays that take […]
Candide – Cadogan Hall
Candide was performed by the London Musical Theatre Orchestra and Chorus at Cadogan Hall, London. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Leonard Bernstein’s bonkers operetta inspired by Voltaire’s Candide received the one-night-only LMTO treatment at Cadogan Hall and it proved to be a glittering affair, reaffirming the London Musical Theatre Orchestra as […]
James Dreyfus joins LMTO’s Candide in concert
Screen and stage actor James Dreyfus has stepped up to take on the role of Pangloss in the London Musical Theatre Orchestra’s upcoming concert presentation of Leonard Bernstein and Hugh Wheeler’s Candide. The star of hit TV shows Gimme, Gimme, Gimme and The Thin Blue Line will return to the role of outrageously optimistic Pangloss […]
LMTO presents Candide with Rob Houchen in title role
The London Musical Theatre Orchestra will return to Cadogan Hall next month with Leonard Bernstein and Hugh Wheeler’s Candide. Previewing next year’s Bernstein centenary celebrations, the LMTO’s concert presentation of Candide will feature Rob Houchen (Les Misérables, Titanic) in the title role. Candide follows on from the LMTO’s critically-acclaimed concert versions of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s […]
On the Town – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
On the Town continues at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, London until 1 July. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ On the Town has its origin in the ballet Fancy Free which had opened in New York in the spring of 1944. With choreography by Jerome Robbins and music by Leonard Bernstein, […]
Lenny and Steve: Maria Friedman – Live At Zédel
Lenny and Steve: Maria Friedman continues at Live At Zédel, London until 20 May. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ British artists who truly understand the intimate art of cabaret are few and far between, but the wonderful Maria Friedman is one who stands alongside the very best and an evening in […]
Lenny and Steve – Maria Friedman – Live at Zedel
Lenny and Steve – Maria Friedman continues at Live at Zedel, London until 14 November. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ British artists who truly understand the intimate art of cabaret are few and far between but the wonderful Maria Friedman is one who stands alongside the very best Americans, and an evening with her […]
Wonderful Town – cast and creatives revealed for All Star production
Full casting and creatives have been announced for All Star Productions’ new chamber production of Leonard Bernstein’s Wonderful Town. Based on the play My Sister Eileen by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov, which was in turn inspired by the short stories by Ruth McKenney, Wonderful Town features a score by Bernstein with lyrics by Betty […]
Bernstein’s Wonderful Town is final show in All Star Productions’ 2016 season
A new chamber production of Leonard Bernstein’s Wonderful Town will be the final presentation in All Star Productions’ 2016 season. Following on from the company’s recent critically acclaimed Babes in Arms, Wonderful Town will play London’s Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatre from 12-30 October. Based on the play My Sister Eileen by Joseph Fields […]
CD reviews – Two Cities – Carousel – Alfred Drake & Roberta Peters sing Leonard Bernstein
Nick Wakeham casts an eye over some of the latest CD releases. TWO CITIES – Original London Cast (Stage Door Records – STAGE 9045) We in the UK have always been very lucky when it comes to original cast recordings. It used to be that the company was taken into the recording studios the first Saturday after […]
West Side Story – Kilworth House Theatre
West Side Story continues at the Kilworth House Theatre, Leicestershire until 17 July. Rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ Kilworth House has come bounding out of hibernation with a grand and reverent, if slightly tame production of Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents’ epic musical, West Side Story. Despite being nearly hidden from sight in the beautiful Leicestershire […]
Bernstein Revealed – St James Theatre Studio
Bernstein Revealed at the St James Theatre Studio, London as part of the London Festival of Cabaret. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ Following their successful Rodgers Revealed, the expert team of broadcaster Edward Seckerson and musical director Jason Carr reunited, as part of the London Festival of Cabaret, to celebrate the […]
Broadway Melody: American Songbook Series – Auguste Théatre, Paris
Lauren Van Kempen and Broadway Melody: American Songbook Series at the Auguste Théatre, Paris. The new temple of American musical theatre in Paris seems to be the Auguste Théatre, which has been presenting a monthly American songbook series, beginning earlier this year with a Rodgers and Hammerstein evening, followed by a Gershwin soirée in April and the […]
Guildford School of Acting – On the Town
On the Town by Guildford School of Acting third-year BA Musical Theatre graduates at Ivy Arts Centre, Guildford, continues until 29 March. Star rating: 4 stars ★ ★ ★ ★ Although On the Town creaks a bit – at 71 years old it’s entitled to look a tad old-fashioned and out of tune with modern tastes – the boundless […]
Kim Criswell and Wayne Marshall – Cadogan Hall
Kim Criswell and Wayne Marshall performed A Celebration of the American Broadway Songbook at the Cadogan Hall, London. Star rating: 4 stars ★ ★ ★ ★ The incomparable duo of singer Kim Criswell and pianist Wayne Marshall gave their first London concert in a decade before a packed house at London’s Cadogan Hall as part of Cadogan Swings! […]
On the Town – Lyric Theatre, New York
On the Town continues at the Lyric Theatre, New York. The fall slate of new Broadway musicals has started on a deliciously high note with the revival of the 1944 treasure On the Town. Director John Rando and choreographer Joshua Bergasse have mounted this Second World War frolic with respect, affection and verve. Its tale of […]
Broadway and Off-Broadway season – we preview what’s ahead
Ron Cohen writes: It’s almost autumn in New York but the thrill of first-nighting (as Vernon Duke expressed it in his classic song) won’t be felt on Broadway – at least as far as musicals are concerned – until mid-October when the first one of the fall opens, a revival of the enduring 1944 landmark On the Town. […]
Maria Friedman and Jason Carr – The Pheasantry
Maria Friedman sings Lenny & Steve with Jason Carr (musical director) at The Pheasantry, London, until 19 January. British artists who truly understand the intimate art of cabaret are few and far between, but the wonderful Maria Friedman is one who stands alongside the very best Americans – and above most of them. Seventy minutes […]
Candide – Menier Chocolate Factory
Candide continues at the Menier Chocolate Factory, London, until 22 February 2014. Menier Chocolate Factory’s last musical Merrily We Roll Along was a huge hit, even transferring for a successful run in the West End and being made into a movie, but it is hard to be as enthusiastic about the theatre’s revival of Candide. […]
West Side Story – Victoria Warehouse, Manchester
West Side Story, a National Youth Music Theatre production, was staged at the Victoria Warehouse, Manchester. It’s new for the National Youth Music Theatre to launch a show outside London, and it’s a triumph that West Side Story has been staged – like Graham Vick’s Birmingham Opera Company stagings or Kenneth Branagh’s riveting Macbeth – in […]
