My Fair Lady continues at Chichester Festival Theatre until 5 September 2026. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ I have no doubts this production will transfer to the West End, so catch it at Chichester while you can.
Tag Archives | Stephen Mear
Allegra – Richmond Theatre and Touring
Allegra was reviewed at the Richmond Theatre, London. The tour continues until 8 August 2026. Rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ Maureen Lipman’s is an extraordinary performance.
Patrick Honoré is just in time for a Broadway round-up
Patrick Honoré offers a round-up of some standout Broadway shows, beginning with a crooner’s comeback and concluding with a nostalgic and traditional nod to the past.
Hello, Dolly! – Lido 2, Paris
Hello, Dolly! continues at Lido2, Paris until 5 January 2025. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ It is truly a testament to the enduring power of Golden Age musical theatre, brilliantly brought to life by a cast and crew pouring their heart and soul into every aspect of the production.
Casting update for Hello, Dolly! in Paris
There’s more than one Hello, Dolly! for musicals lovers to gorge themselves on this autumn and hot on the heels of Imelda Staunton’s Dolly Levi meeting her match at the London Palladium when its limited run ends on 14 September, it’s curtain-up in Paris for Caroline O’Connor’s Dolly at the Lido2 on the Champs-Elysees on 7 November.
Hello, Dolly! in a tale of two cities
Hello, Dolly! is just like London buses – you wait ages for one to come along, and then two suddenly pitch up at the same time. With Jerry Herman’s classic musical comedy, it’s been a long wait – Dolly Levi was last sighted in the West End 15 years ago – but finally the matchmaking widow is back where she belongs in a tale of two cities.
Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends – Gielgud Theatre
Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends continues at the Gielgud Theatre, London until 6 January 2024. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ What a glorious evening of unalloyed brilliance at the Gielgud with a superb cast headed by Sondheim muse Bernadette Peters and fellow Broadway legend Lea Salonga feasting on the works of the greatest composer of our time in a glittering revue originally conceived as a one-off tribute by entrepreneur Cameron Mackintosh after he left us at 91 with so many rich and profound memories.
La Cage aux Folles – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
La Cage aux Folles continues at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, London until 16 September 2023. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Most importantly, La Cage hits hard because its message of accepting yourself and others for who they are is timely now as it was in 1983.
Full company confirmed for Sondheim’s Old Friends
The full cast has been unveiled for the highly anticipated West End return of Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends with a strictly limited season at the Gielgud Theatre later this year.
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas – Empire Theatre, Liverpool
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas continues at Liverpool Empire until 31st December. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
‘We’ll always have Paris’: Cabaret – Lido2 / 42nd Street – Theatre du Chatelet
They might (just) be able to beat us at football but British-based casts sure as hell get their own back with Kander and Ebb’s stupendous Cabaret at the sparkling new Lido2 on the Champs-Elysees and a long-delayed revival of tap-tap-tap triumphant 42nd Street at the regal Theatre du Chatelet down by the Seine.
‘Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome!’: Paris prepares for the Kander and Ebb classic Cabaret
The French, who didn’t use to favour Broadway musicals, now turn out in droves to see them and with Cabaret playing at the new Lido2 Theatre on the Champs-Elysees and 42nd Street paying an eagerly-awaited return visit to the Theatre du Chatelet down by the Seine, they have two Broadway musicals to choose from over the festive period. And you don’t have to pay London Kit Kat Club prices for a ticket!
Ruthie Henshall to establish a new drama school
West End and Broadway favourite Ruthie Henshall has unveiled plans to open CAST, a new drama school offering a three-year diploma in Musical Theatre Industry Preparation.
White Christmas tour – full cast announced
The full cast has been confirmed for the upcoming UK tour of Made at Curve’s critically acclaimed production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas.
Paris return for Stephen Mear’s 42nd Street
Director and choreographer Stephen Mear’s critically acclaimed version of classic backstage musical comedy 42nd Street will return to the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris later this year. First seen in 2016 and originally due to return to the prestigious French venue in 2021, the production’s limited encore season will run from 7 December 2022 until 15 […]
Principal cast announced for White Christmas tour
Jay McGuiness will take on the role of showman Bob Wallace when Made at Curve’s critically acclaimed production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas returns to UK theatres this winter. The Wanted pop star and former Strictly champion whose genre credits include Big The Musical and Sleepless – A Musical Romance will appear alongside veteran stage […]
John Partridge and Natasha J Barnes join The Witches Of Eastwick concert cast
John Partridge and Natasha J Barnes have stepped into the cast of The Witches Of Eastwick In Concert after the previously announced Giles Terera and Danielle Steers became unavailable. Partridge (Cabaret, UK tour, A Chorus Line, London Palladium) will play the devilish central character of Darryl Van Horne with Barnes (Funny Girl, Menier Chocolate Factory/Savoy Theatre, […]
Trio of West End stars to play title roles in The Witches of Eastwick concert
Carrie Hope Fletcher, Danielle Steers and Laura Pitt-Pulford, will join the previously announced Giles Terera in a special concert performance of The Witches of Eastwick at the Sondheim Theatre on 20 June 2022. Currently starring in the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella (until 12 June), Hope Fletcher (The Addams Family, UK tour, Heathers, […]
Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends – Sondheim Theatre
Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends at the Sondheim Theatre, London (and live-streamed at the Prince Edward Theatre). Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ It must be a record! The fastest time to stop a show after curtain-up came at the Sondheim Theatre when Julia McKenzie stepped on to the stage and softly sung […]
Tickets for a live screening of the sold-out Sondheim’s Old Friends Gala to be released
Tickets for a live screening at the Prince Edward Theatre of the sold-out Sondheim’s Old Friends Gala are to be released today, 30 March 2022. Priority will be given to the thousands of people who signed up in the hope of securing tickets but couldn’t be accommodated for the performance at the Sondheim Theatre. Booking […]
Giles Terera to star in one-off concert performance production of The Witches Of Eastwick
Olivier Award-winner Giles Terera will star as Darryl Van Horne in a special concert performance of The Witches Of Eastwick for one night only this summer. The Hamilton star will play the devilish central character in a production directed by triple Olivier Award-winner Maria Friedman with musical staging by double Olivier Award-winning choreographer Stephen Mear […]
New UK tour for Curve’s White Christmas planned for winter 2022
Made at Curve’s critically-acclaimed production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas The Musical will return with a new UK tour next winter. Produced by Jamie Wilson, Mark Goucher, Gavin Kalin and Kevin McCollum, the 2022 festive tour will open at Nottingham Theatre Royal on 22 November 2022. Full casting will be announced in due course. The […]
White Christmas The Musical – New Victoria Theatre, Woking and Touring
White Christmas was reviewed at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking. The UK tour continues until 2 January 2022. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ The stage musical adaptation of White Christmas, the iconic 1954 film starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, may suggest a specific seasonal setting in its title, but it would […]
Sally Ann Triplett steps into cast for White Christmas tour
West End and Broadway star Sally Ann Triplett will join the UK tour of Made at Curve’s critically-acclaimed production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas when it launches later this month. The actress whose extensive credits include Cats and Guys and Dolls in London and Finding Neverland and Sting’s The Last Ship in New York has […]
Cast for UK tour of Made at Curve’s White Christmas
Olivier-nominated Dan Burton will reprise his scene-stealing performance as Phil Davis when the Made at Curve’s critically-acclaimed production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas embarks on its UK tour later this month. The actor who was nominated for an Olivier Award for his performance as Tulsa in Gypsy at the Savoy Theatre will return to the […]
The Best of the West End – Royal Albert Hall
The Best of the West End at the Royal Albert Hall, London Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ The breathtaking Best of the West End, presented by Alpha at the Royal Albert Hall, lived up to its name with some of the best stars in musical theatre taking to the stage for a […]
Fundraising Best of the West End concert at Royal Albert Hall announced
A host of the West End’s brightest stars will take to the stage at the Royal Albert Hall for a special concert in aid of Acting For Others on 21 July 2021. Presented by Alpha as part of the iconic venue’s 150th anniversary season, the third concert in the popular The Best of the West […]
Dear Evan Hansen, & Juliet, Mary Poppins & Fiddler all winners at the Olivier Awards 2020
The winners of the Olivier Awards 2020 with Mastercard were announced in a special ITV programme filmed at the London Palladium, and on Official London Theatre’s YouTube channel. The presentation was hosted by Jason Manford, and honoured Ian McKellen with his seventh Olivier Award for his 8oth Birthday tour, as well as lyricist Don Black, […]
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to go up for sale
The car that took centre stage in the successful 2015-2017 UK and Ireland tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang will go under the hammer in Staffordshire on Father’s Day (21 June 2020). With a guide price set at £6,000 to £9,000, the car that cost £175, 000 to build will be auctioned off alongside over […]
Funny Girl – Theatre Marigny, Paris
Funny Girl at Theatre Marigny, Paris. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Watching pocket rocket Christina Bianco belt out ‘Don’t Rain On My Parade’ to bring the curtain down in the final week of Funny Girl’s triumphant four-month stay in Paris was to see musical theatre at its finest. For a wet Wednesday when […]
& Juliet leads the Olivier Awards 2020 nominations followed by Fiddler, Dear Evan Hansen and Mary Poppins
New British musical & Juliet topped the list of Olivier Awards 2020 nominations with recognition in nine categories. Once again illustrating the range and diversity of musical theatre currently playing in the West End, the three shows to attract the most Olivier nominations are all genre favourites with Trevor Nunn’s revival of the classic Fiddler […]
Sam Mendes, Giles Terera and Stephen Mear feature in New Year Honours list
Oscar-winning directors Sam Mendes and Steve McQueen, choreographer and director David Bintley, playwright Christopher Hampton, Olivia Newton-John and Elton John are among the famous names from the entertainment world celebrating their inclusion in this New Year Honours list. Mendes, McQueen, Bintley and Hampton all receive knighthoods while Newton-John becomes a Dame in recognition of her […]
White Christmas – Dominion Theatre
White Christmas continues at the Dominion Theatre, London until 4 January 2020. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ It isn’t difficult getting into the Christmas spirit at the Dominion Theatre with the giant foyer and the twin staircase bedecked with sparkling decorations and a female trio of singers spreading their message of […]
Mary Poppins – Prince Edward Theatre
Mary Poppins continues at the Prince Edward Theatre, London. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ If you accept this techni-colorful, tuneful show on its own terms – rather than wanting it to be something it isn’t – it’s jolly enjoyable. If you don’t, then you’ll be disappointed because the “magic” is pretty […]
Michael Brandon, Danielle Hope, Clare Halse and Brenda Edwards join White Christmas at the Dominion
Michael Brandon will take on the role of General Waverly when Leicester Curve’s critically-acclaimed 2018 production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas plays its festive season at London’s Dominion Theatre. The star of the classic TV crime series Dempsey & Makepeace, who created the role of Jerry Springer in the National Theatre’s Jerry Springer The Opera, […]
Christina Bianco to play Fanny Brice in Funny Girl at the Theatre Marigny
American actress-singer impressionist Christina Bianco is to play the title role of 1920s vaudeville star Fanny Brice in Funny Girl at the Theatre Marigny, just off the famed Champs Elysees in Paris. Official opening night is 7 November 2019 with the show (in English with French surtitles) finishing next 5 January 2020. Funny Girl made […]
Little Shop of Horrors – Storyhouse Theatre, Chester
Little Shop of Horrors continues at the Storyhouse Theatre, Chester – until 2 June 2019. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Much of the charm of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s Little Shop of Horrors is in its small-scale cast and orchestration. Stephen Mear, who has directed and choreographed this new production for Chester’s Storyhouse […]
Petula Clark and Joseph Millson join the cast of West End’s Mary Poppins
Veteran singing star Petula Clark will return to the West End stage for the first time in decades when she joins the cast of the eagerly-awaited West End return of Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins. A multi award-winning recording artist, Clark who famously starred as Maria in The Sound Of Music in the West […]
Ria Jones heads up the Guys and Dolls cast at Paris’ Theatre Marigny
Paris will be seeing Guys and Dolls for the first time when Frank Loesser’s iconic 1950 musical lands in the Theatre Marigny, just off the Champs-Elysees, for a four-and-a-half-month run from 13 March to 27 July. Ria Jones, so brilliant in Sunset Boulevard, heads the cast which also features Clare Halse, Christopher Howell and Matthew […]
White Christmas – Curve Leicester
White Christmas continues at Curve Leicester until 13 January 2019. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ A year after Scrooge, artistic director of Curve, Nikolai Foster, is treating Leicester audiences to much lighter fare with a brand new staging of White Christmas, the famous holiday movie favourite put on the musical theatre […]
Guys and Dolls – Royal Albert Hall
Guys and Dolls was performed at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ The legendary Royal Albert Hall turned into musical comedy heaven for a weekend. Though the venue will never be the ideal venue for musical theatre, and there have been better productions lately of Guys and […]
Guys and Dolls at the Royal Albert Hall – Exclusive gallery of images
Hailed as the perfect musical comedy, Guys and Dolls is performed at the Royal Albert Hall this weekend with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and an all-star cast in a semi-staged concert directed by Stephen Mear (Gypsy, Singin’ in the Rain) and narrated by Stephen Mangan. And you are in for a treat because Musical Theatre Review’s official photographer Roy Tan has taken this fabulous […]
Mary Poppins flies home to the West End in 2019 starring Zizi Strallen & Charlie Stemp
Zizi Strallen will take flight once again in the title role of Mary Poppins in 2017 when Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s multi award-winning musical returns to its original West End home next autumn. Fifteen years after the production’s stage premiere, Mary Poppins will return to the Prince Edward Theatre following the departure of Disney’s Aladdin […]
Chess – London Coliseum
Chess continues at the London Coliseum until 2 June 2018. Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩ Can we drop the use of “semi-staged” when talking about Grade-Linnit’s annual summer musical revivals at the London Coliseum now? That the production team continues to use the term in association with their shows seems more […]
Writers join Chess stars for first rehearsals
Rehearsals have begun for the eagerly-anticipated new production of Chess which is due to begin a strictly limited five-week season at the London Coliseum on 26 April. Two of the show’s creators, Benny Andersson and Tim Rice, joined director Laurence Connor and members of the cast in the rehearsal room as they prepared for the […]
Chess at the London Coliseum – starry line-up led by Michael Ball and Alexandra Burke
The first West End production of Chess since 1986 is to star Michael Ball, Alexandra Burke, Murray Head, Tim Howar and Cassidy Janson. The production will open at the London Coliseum on 26 April 2018 (press night on 1 May 2018) for a strictly limited five-week season. This is the fourth production in collaboration with English […]
Is the success of Singin’ in the Rain a sign Paris audiences are getting the musical theatre bug?
Singin’ in the Rain completed its six-week run in the nave of the Grand Palais in Paris earlier on this month and proved itself the most popular English-language musical since the Theatre du Chatelet started bringing one over every year. The powers-that-be at the1,800-seat Chatelet, closed for two years for elaborate refurbishment, daringly revived their Christmas show (which had two spins […]
Singin’ in the Rain – Theatre du Chatelet, Paris
Singin’ in the Rain continues at the Theatre du Chatelet, Paris until 11 January 2018. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ For the third season, the Chatelet in-house production of Singin’ in the Rain is back for Christmas, but as the theatre itself is in the process of being refurbished, this six-week […]
Scrooge The Musical – Curve Leicester
Scrooge The Musical continues at Curve Leicester until 7 January 2018. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ Strange to say, Scrooge is a story about death. And Leslie Bricusse’s musical, beautifully presented here by Made at Curve, creating exciting home-grown shows at the heart of Leicester, vividly makes that point. There’s an […]
Top Hat at Kilworth House Theatre – exclusive gallery of images
There’s just a week left in the run of Kilworth House Theatre’s production of the stage version of the classic 1935 film Top Hat, but there’s still time to enjoy this exclusive gallery of images from our official photographer Roy Tan. Joining Dan Burton (Jerry Travers) and Lauren Stroud (Dale Tremont) in the cast are Charles Brunton […]
