Into the Woods continues at the Noël Coward Theatre, London until 9 January 2027. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ As the stage went black and applause filled the Noël Coward Theatre, a gentleman sitting behind me in row H of the stalls confessed to his friend that he assumed Into the Woods was […]
Tag Archives | Stephen Sondheim
No 2027 date for Sunday in the Park With George
The team behind the high-profile new production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Sunday in the Park With George have announced the production will no longer be staged in 2027.
Jonathan Bailey withdraws from Sunday in the Park With George following Ariana Grande’s departure
Following the news in early August that Ariana Grande had withdrawn from next year’s eagerly awaited new production of Sunday in the Park With George at London’s Barbican Theatre, it has now been announced that Jonathan Bailey will also no longer appear in the production.
West End transfer of Jordan Fein-directed Into the Woods – the full cast
The full cast has been confirmed for the West End transfer of Jordan Fein’s multi-award-winning production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s magical musical Into the Woods.
Barbican’s Sunday in the Park With George to be recast as Ariana Grande plans to take a break from public life
The team behind next year’s eagerly awaited new production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Pulitzer-winning musical Sunday in the Park With George is on the search for a new leading lady after Grammy Award winner Ariana Grande has withdrawn from the production.
Sweeney Todd – Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street continues at Birmingham Repertory Theatre until 15 August 2026. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ The Birmingham Rep production shines like the blades of the man himself.
Into The Woods – initial cast announced
Initial casting has been confirmed for the West End transfer of Jordan Fein’s multi-award-winning production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s magical musical Into the Woods.
Full cast for Birmingham Rep’s Sweeney Todd
The full cast has been confirmed for the eagerly anticipated Birmingham Rep production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s multi-award-winning musical thriller Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
West End transfer season beckons for The Bridge’s Into the Woods
Jordan Fein’s multi-award-winning production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s magical musical Into the Woods will become the first West End transfer for London’s Bridge Theatre.
New cast members to join Bridge Theatre’s Into the Woods
A number of new cast members will join the Bridge Theatre’s hit production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s magical musical Into the Woods next month.
Meow Meow to play Mrs Lovett in Birmingham Rep’s Sweeney Todd
Award-winning Australian-born artist Meow Meow will play Mrs Lovett opposite West End and Broadway star Ramin Karimloo in the eagerly anticipated Birmingham Rep production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s multi-award-winning musical thriller Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Jonathan Bailey and Ariana Grande to lead major new London production of Sunday in the Park With George
Olivier Award winner Jonathan Bailey and Grammy Award winner Ariana Grande will lead a major new London production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Sunday in the Park With George.
Into the Woods – Bridge Theatre
Into the Woods continues at the Bridge Theatre, London until 30 May 2026. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Fein has respectfully shown us what a gorgeous show this is with no need for high-tech bells nor gimmicky whistles.
Movie Review – Merrily We Roll Along Broadway production
Merrily We Roll Along was filmed at the Hudson Theatre, New York in June 2024. The movie played in selected UK cinemas from 5 December 2025. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ It’s special and not to be missed.
The Bridge Theatre’s Into the Woods – the full cast
Casting has been confirmed for the Bridge Theatre’s eagerly anticipated upcoming production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s magical musical Into the Woods.
Follies – Grand Opera House, Belfast
Follies at the Grand Opera House, Belfast is also performed on 16, 19 and 20 September 2025. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ This revival marks 50 odd years since Follies first beguiled an audience and it’s still here.
Royal Academy of Music – Assassins
Assassins was performed by the Royal Academy of Music’s Musical Theatre Company at the Susie Sainsbury Theatre, London. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ It is a pleasure to be able to send these stars of tomorrow into the great wide world with five stars.
Associated Studios – Merrily We Roll Along
Merrily We Roll Along was performed by Associated Studios students at the Playground Theatre, London. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ There’s something particularly moving about watching this back-to-front musical played by young people.
Here We Are – National Theatre
Here We Are continues at the National Theatre (Lyttelton) until 28 June 2025. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Stephen Sondheim’s final staged work – a musicalisation of two movies by Spanish-Mexican auteur Luis Buñuel – has opened at the 890-seat Lyttelton in the National Theatre.
Summoning Sondheim – The Glitch
Summoning Sondheim continues at The Glitch, London until 7 April 2025. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ A singular and joyful tribute.
Jordan Fein to direct new production of Into the Woods at the Bridge Theatre
London’s Bridge Theatre will present a major new production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s magical musical Into the Woods later this year.
Road Show – Upstairs at the Gatehouse
Road Show continues at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, London until 12 January 2025. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Director/choreographer Amanda Noar has done a superb job of transposing the show into this wonderfully intimate and welcoming space.
UK stage debut for Glee’s Kevin McHale in The Frogs
Glee favourite Kevin McHale will make his UK stage debut in a new production of Stephen Sondheim’s quirky musical comedy The Frogs at Southwark Playhouse Borough next summer.
Music Review: Merrily We Roll Along – New Broadway Cast Recording
Merrily We Roll Along – New Broadway Cast Recording (Masterworks Broadway). The joy of recordings such as this – with its A-list leads – is its wider appeal than perhaps the typical cast album. Merrily We Roll Along – New Broadway Cast Recording (Masterworks Broadway). Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Bernadette Peters in Concert – Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Bernadette Peters in Concert at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ What has London done to be so lucky? After decades of very little Bernadette Peters presence at all – a frankly torturous state of affairs – in the last year we have been blessed with a full run […]
Five Questions With: Melissa Errico
One of the hottest cabaret tickets in town this summer will be the visit of Deux Grandes Dames, New York superstar MELISSA ERRICO and her Parisian soulmate Isabelle Georges, to the Crazy Coqs in London’s Piccadilly on 10 and 13 July 2024.
Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – London School of Musical Theatre
Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street, performed by students from the London School of Musical Theatre at the Bridewell Theatre, London, continues until 3 May 2024. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Marry Me a Little – Stage Door Theatre
Marry Me a Little continues at the Stage Door Theatre, London until 13 April 2024. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Waste no time in queueing at this Stage Door – this LAMBCO production deserves to be a success.
Pacific Overtures – Menier Chocolate Factory
Pacific Overtures continues at the Menier Chocolate Factory, London until 24 February 2024. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ For some, this production of Pacific Overtures will be a revelation, a bold demonstration of what theatre is capable of when stupendously talented creators dare experiment and make something truly singular.
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.
Assassins – Chichester Festival Theatre
Assassins continues at the Chichester Festival Theatre until 24 June 2023. Star rating: five stars ★★★★★
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.
Full cast for Chichester Festival Theatre’s Assassins
The full company has been unveiled for the Chichester Festival Theatre’s upcoming production of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Assassins.
Menier announces three major musical productions for 2023
The Menier Chocolate Factory is returning to its musical theatre roots with a 2023 season that will feature two world premiere musicals and a revival of a Stephen Sondheim classic.
Merrily We Sing Along – Ellie Nunn and Alastair Brookshaw join a Sondheim singalong at Upstairs at the Gatehouse
To mark what would have been Stephen Sondheim’s 93rd birthday this month, the Stephen Sondheim Society will be hosting a celebratory Sondheim singalong at Upstairs at the Gatehouse in London’s Highgate Village on 26 March 2023.
Brand-new podcast The Mayor of Musical Theatre – in association with Musical Theatre Review – releases its first episode
West End Legend and Mother Goose star Anna-Jane Casey shares backstage secrets from the Stephen Sondheim Old Friends memorial concert, reveals the musical score that most often gets stuck in her head and describes what it’s like to return to panto on new podcast, The Mayor of Musical Theatre.
Music Review: Sondheim Unplugged – The NYC Sessions Volume Three
Sondheim Unplugged – Volume Three – Various Artists (Yellow Sound Label). Conceived, directed and produced by Phil Geoffrey Bond. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Donna McKechnie: Take Me To The World – The Songs of Stephen Sondheim – Crazy Coqs
Donna McKechnie: Take Me To The World – The Songs of Stephen Sondheim at the Crazy Coqs, London. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
To Steve With Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim – Crazy Coqs
To Steve With Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim continues at Crazy Coqs, London until 22 October 2022. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Five Questions With: Jeremy Secomb
JEREMY SECOMB is playing the villainous Curtis Jackson in the UK and Ireland tour of Sister Act The Musical, following the show’s hit run at London’s Eventim Apollo. He appears alongside Sandra Marvin as Deloris Van Cartier, Lesley Joseph as Mother Superior, Clive Rowe as Eddie Souther and Lizzie Bea as Sister Mary Robert. Jeremy’s […]
Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford to star in Broadway revival of Sweeney Todd
Stage, screen and recording artist Josh Groban will play the Demon Barber, Sweeney Todd opposite Tony Award-winner Annaleigh Ashford as the resourceful Mrs Lovett in the first Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s multi-award-winning musical thriller Sweeney Todd since 1980. Produced by Jeffrey Seller and directed by Hamilton’s Tony Award-winning director Thomas Kail, […]
Royal Academy of Music – Merrily We Roll Along
Merrily We Roll Along at the Susie Sainsbury Theatre, Royal Academy of Music, London. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ It’s some coincidence that Stephen Sondheim’s two big Broadway flops, Anyone Can Whistle and Merrily We Roll Along, should pitch up in brilliantly innovative London revivals within weeks of each other. Whistle, beset […]
Moments by Sondheim – Crazy Coqs
Moments by Sondheim at Crazy Coqs, London. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Among the numerous huge celebrations of Stephen Sondheim around the world today, it’s good to also have some intimate ones such as these Moments by Sondheim, given to us with much talent and humour by classically trained soprano Julez […]
Broadway transfer season for hit New York City Center Encores! Into The Woods
The critically acclaimed New York City Center Encores! production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s magical musical Into The Woods is heading for Broadway later this month. Dedicated to the memory of musical theatre legend, Sondheim, the production which was described by the New York Times as “a glorious revival” will begin a strictly limited […]
Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year 2022 – Sondheim Theatre
Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year 2022 at the Sondheim Theatre, London. Back after a long, Covid-enforced break and showcasing an even greater array of dazzling international young talent than before, the 14th SSSSPOTY emphatically demonstrated that the future of musical theatre in the UK is in the best of hands. The competition, […]
Passion – Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester
Passion continues at the Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester until 5 June 2022. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Originally announced prior to the composer’s death last year, Hope Mill Theatre’s revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Passion is now dedicated to his memory, and what more fitting tribute could there be than this, arguably one of his […]
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 […]
Leeds return for Playhouse and Opera North hit co-production of A Little Night Music
Leeds Playhouse and Opera North’s acclaimed production of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s evocative A Little Night Music will play an encore run in Leeds this summer. Directed by the Playhouse’s artistic director James Brining, the director of Leeds Playhouse and Opera North’s celebrated 2016 production of Sondheim’s Into the Woods, A Little Night Music […]
West End stars feature in cast of Into The Woods at Theatre Royal Bath
A high-powered cast has been assembled for director Terry Gilliam and choreographer Leah Hausman’s highly-anticipated production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s magical musical Into The Woods at the Theatre Royal Bath this summer. The co-creator of the Olivier Award winning Shockhead Peter, Julian Bleach (The Grinning Man) will play Mysterious Man with Olivier nominees […]
Anyone Can Whistle – Southwark Playhouse
Anyone Can Whistle continues at Southwark Playhouse, London until 7 May 2022. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ Musicals are by their nature absurd – or at least certainly a step or two away from reality – but some musicals are just way more absurd than others. King of the Fools – the one […]
