Betty Blue Eyes continues at the Union Theatre, London until 22 April 2023. Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩
Tag Archives | Stiles and Drewe
Stiles and Drewe Best New Song Prize – The Other Palace
The first prize at the Stiles and Drewe Best New Song Prize went to a very deserving Flora Leo for ‘One Last Request’, adding to the composer-lyricist’s ‘Voice, Vision & Potential’ prize won at the same event last year.
Twelve finalists for 2022 Stiles + Drewe Best New Song Prize
George Stiles, Anthony Drewe and Mercury Musical Developments (MMD) have announced the finalists in the running for this year’s Stiles + Drewe Best New Song Prize.
Musicals Mash Up: 10-16 October 2022
Welcome to Musicals Mash Up in which we catch up with lots of the week’s stories that haven’t yet appeared on the Musical Theatre Review pages. We hope you approve! News editor Angela Thomas reports.
Just So – Watermill Theatre, Bagnor
Just So continues at the Watermill Theatre, Bagnor until 4 September 2021. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ Sitting in the shade of a sycamore on a sun-kissed afternoon in the divine garden setting of the Watermill Theatre is as good as life gets and even if the multi-tasking actor-musos had been singing the […]
Summer tour dates for Unusual Theatre Company’s The 3 Little Pigs
The Unusual Theatre Company’s hit production of Stiles and Drewe’s The 3 Little Pigs is heading back out on the road for the summer. Directed by Victoria Gimby (associate director for Rock of Ages UK tour) with musical direction by Flynn Sturgeon (Soho Cinders, Charing Cross Theatre), the family-friendly production will visit Stanley Arts in […]
Watermill Theatre announces outdoor summer season
A new actor/musician production of As You Like It and a semi-staged concert version of Stiles and Drewe’s Just So will feature in the Watermill Theatre’s summer season of outdoor performances. Following on from last year’s sold-out season that included a special concert performance of Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot, the al fresco entertainment will return […]
Half-term run for Unusual Theatre Company’s The Three Little Pigs
The Unusual Theatre Company will present a socially-distanced live theatre version of award-winning composers Stiles and Drewe’s The Three Little Pigs later this month. Aimed at half-term audiences, the family-friendly production at Dorking Halls in Surrey from 26-29 October 2020 will be directed by Victoria Gimby (associate director for Rock of Ages UK tour) with […]
Stiles and Drewe and BTA launch Musical Theatre Young Singer Award
Award-winning composers Stiles and Drewe have joined forces with the British Theatre Academy to launch a search for the next generation of West End talent. Youngsters aged six to 18 from across the four nations of the UK are being invited to submit video entries for the annual Musical Theatre Young Singer Award. The videos […]
All-star line-up for Stiles and Drewe Prize online concert
A host of West End stars have been enlisted to perform the shortlist of 15 compositions in the running for the 2020 Stiles + Drewe Best New Song Prize in a virtual concert to be streamed online next Sunday (5 July 2020). With musical direction by Steve Ridley, the songs will be performed by: Allyson […]
New musicals sheet music site to launch
Performers and fans of new UK musicals will be able to purchase sheet music from their favourite shows with the launch of a new store of digital sheet music next week. Launching on Monday (1 June), New UK Musicals is the brainchild of Darren Clark, the multi-award-winning composer and lyricist of new shows The Wicker […]
McOnie Company launches Micro Musical Lockdown
The McOnie Company has launched the Micro Musical Lockdown, a series of musical masterclasses as part of its Digital Dance Season. The online event, hosted on the company’s Instagram account this weekend, will see some of the industry’s leading composers and choreographers partnering to create four original musical numbers. Each will be accompanied by a […]
Parent Trap musical Identical delayed until 2021
The world premiere of Identical, the major new British musical based on best-selling novel Lottie and Lisa and the two Disney films The Parent Trap, has been postponed for a year. Co-produced by Nottingham Playhouse and Kenny Wax Ltd (producer of the Goes Wrong shows and Six) and directed by Trevor Nunn, the show was […]
How to survive two weeks of isolation with free online musicals
Have a slight cough and a finely-honed sense of anxiety? Facing two weeks of self-isolation in home lockdown? Worried whether your body can even cope with an entire fortnight away from kick-lines, high Eb belts, and getting charged £10 for a house red? Here are 14 pieces of musical theatre you can watch online for […]
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 […]
Soho Cinders – Charing Cross Theatre
Soho Cinders continues at the Charing Cross Theatre, London until 21 December 2019 Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ The genesis of Soho Cinders occurred in 2000 when the trio of composer George Stiles, lyricist Anthony Drewe and writer Elliot Davis decided that, following their great success with Honk! at the National […]
Guildford School of Acting – Betty Blue Eyes
Betty Blue Eyes is performed by students from the Guildford School of Acting at the Ivy Theatre, Guildford. Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩ Not everyone knows but Kylie Minogue once played a pig, not any old pig but Betty Blue Eyes, the adorable porcine heroine of the George Stiles and Anthony Drewe […]
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 […]
New production of Stiles and Drewe’s Just So to play The Barn in Cirencester
Stiles and Drewe’s musical re-working of Rudyard Kipling’s classic Just So Stories will be the final production in The Barn Theatre’s autumn/winter season. Following on from the Cirencester venue’s hit launch production of the Tony Award-winning musical The Secret Garden, the family-orientated new production of Just So will feature a cast of actor/musicians directed by […]
The Wind in the Willows at the London Palladium – exclusive new images
Adapted for the stage by the team of Julian Fellowes, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, the major new musical theatre adaptation of the family classic The Wind in the Willows has sped into the London Palladium. Here is a selection of brand new exclusive images from Musical Theatre Review’s official photographer Roy Tan. Rufus Hound […]
Interview – Simon Lipkin gets Ratty in The Wind in the Willows at the London Palladium
SIMON LIPKIN is playing the role of Ratty in the major new musical theatre adaptation of the family classic The Wind in the Willows which has its official opening at the London Palladium this week. Based on Kenneth Grahame’s timeless novel, The Wind in the Willows has been adapted for the stage by the team of Julian […]
Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year – Stiles + Drewe Prize – Noel Coward Theatre
The Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year/Stiles + Drewe Prize at the Noel Coward Theatre, London. There’s no stopping those girls! Scots lass Izuka Hoyle made it four in a row for female contenders by winning the prestigious Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year competition by following Corrine Priest, Erin Doherty and […]
Original cast recording of The Wind in the Willows soon to be released
The original cast recording of new musical The Wind in the Willows, with book by Julian Fellowes, music by George Stiles and lyrics by Anthony Drewe, has been recorded and is now available for pre-order. The cast of the new West End musical, which begins previews on 16 June prior to an official opening on […]
Half a Sixpence – West End production closes in September
First presented at Chichester’s Festival Theatre, Half a Sixpence will play its final performance in London on Saturday 2 September, having extended its limited season twice. This popular reinvention of the musical has now well and truly launched the career of newcomer Charlie Stemp with his award-winning performance in the lead role of role of […]
The Wicker Husband – The Other Palace
A showcase performance of The Wicker Husband took place at The Other Palace, London. The Wicker Husband, with a book by Rhys Jennings and music and lyrics by Darren Clark, is based on a short story of the same name by Ursula Willis-Jones. It tells the story of The Ugly Girl, a hardworking fisher woman […]
Wind in the Willows at the Palladium – full cast revealed
Denise Welch, Gary Wilmot, Simon Lipkin and Craig Mather will join Rufus Hound and Neil McDermott in the cast of The Wind in the Willows which will speed into the London Palladium in June. Announcing the new casting details, producer Jamie Hendry also revealed previews would begin ahead of schedule on Friday 16 June (opening […]
Actor-musican version of Honk! – with puppetry – to play the Union Theatre
This Easter, Honk! the musical returns to London in a brand-new, actor-musician adaptation, filled with puppetry, magic and illusions. And water guns… The production will open at the Union Theatre on Wednesday 29 March and runs until Saturday April 22. Press night is Saturday 1 April. Honk!, produced by Paul Virides and Lian Wilkinson for […]
Soho Cinders – Union Theatre
Soho Cinders continues at the Union Theatre, London until 22 December. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ At the moment, this revival of Stiles and Drewe’s modern reworking of Cinderella with a rent boy in the Cinders role falling in love with a prospective London Mayor while a millionaire Tory lord of […]
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 […]
Wind in the Willows to open at London Palladium in June 2017
The major new musical theatre adaptation of the family classic The Wind in the Willows will speed into the London Palladium in June next year. Adapted for the stage by the high-powered team of Julian Fellowes, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, The Wind in the Willows received its world premiere at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth […]
Soho Cinders returns to Union Theatre
Stiles and Drewe’s innovative re-imagining of the Cinderella story, Soho Cinders will return to London’s Union Theatre later this month. Last seen at the venue in its first full-scale production in 2012, the show adds a topical and satirical twist to the classic fairy story with its tale of down-on-his-luck launderette owner Robbie who becomes […]
The Wind in the Willows – Theatre Royal Plymouth
The Wind in the Willows continues at the Theatre Royal Plymouth until 22 October. The production will then open at The Lowry in Salford and Mayflower Theatre in Southampton, prior to opening in London’s West End. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ On 8 October 1908, Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows was first published. Now, 108 […]
Two songs from The Wind in the Willows musical released
Two songs from the highly-anticipated major new musical theatre adaptation of The Wind in the Willows have today been released. With music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, the tracks feature Rufus Hound as the lovable menace Mr Toad in ‘The Amazing Mr Toad’ and the full cast performing the opening song ‘Spring’. Premiering at Theatre Royal Plymouth from 8 October 2016, the production […]
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 […]
Wind in the Willows – first look at rehearsal images
Rehearsals have begun for the highly-anticipated major new musical theatre adaptation of The Wind in the Willows, created by Julian Fellowes, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe. Premiering at Theatre Royal Plymouth from 8 October 2016, the production will then open at The Lowry in Salford and Mayflower Theatre in Southampton, prior to opening in London’s West End. The production stars Rufus […]
Shakespeare Revue to tour UK before West End run
The hit Bard-inspired musical comedy show The Shakespeare Revue is hitting the road next month ahead of a West End run. The latest event to mark Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary will open at the Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne on Wednesday 3 August. A mixture of sketches and songs, the show features the work of some of […]
The Wind in the Willows – Rufus Hound and Fra Fee among cast
Casting has been revealed for the major new musical theatre adaptation of The Wind in the Willows head of its world premiere at Theatre Royal in Plymouth from 8 October 2016, followed by dates at The Lowry in Salford and the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton, prior to opening in London’s West End. Comedian, actor and presenter Rufus […]
Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year and Stiles + Drewe Prize – Novello Theatre
When The Stephen Sondheim Society, with encouragement from legendary Sondheim interpreter Julia McKenzie, launched the first Student Performer of the Year competition at what is now the Leicester Square Theatre, only ten musical theatre students applied to take part. Not surprisingly, all ten qualified for the final! Now, in the tenth anniversary edition, a record […]
The Wicker Husband wins first ever Stiles and Drewe Mentorship Award
Olivier Award-winning writing duo George Stiles and Anthony Drewe have announced the winners of their newly-expanded Stiles + Drewe Prize 2016. Now in its ninth year, the Stiles + Drewe Prize for Best New Song is joined by their first ever Mentorship Award, supported by Music Theatre International (Europe). Darren Clark and Rhys Jennings win the Mentorship Award with the new musical The Wicker Husband. The writers will receive 12 months of […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
New Stiles and Drewe award will support original musical theatre writing in the UK
Olivier Award-winning writing duo George Stiles and Anthony Drewe are to offer an annual award to help support and develop new musical theatre writing in the UK. For its first three years, the award will be fully funded by the world’s leading theatrical licensing agency Music Theatre International (MTI), to coincide with the opening of […]
Mary Poppins – Bristol Hippodrome and Touring
Mary Poppins continues at the Bristol Hippodrome until 28 November and is on tour in the UK and Ireland until October 2016. Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩ ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’ may well no longer be politically correct, with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver bullying the Prime Minister for months now over the […]
Peter Pan – A Musical Adventure in Concert – Adelphi Theatre
Peter Pan – A Musical Adventure in Concert at the Adelphi Theatre, London. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ There is something about the innocence of childhood that must act as a draw for theatrical folk, for how else could one explain the multiplicity of musical adaptations of JM Barrie’s Peter Pan. […]
The Wind in the Willows musical set for world premiere in October 2016
The highly-anticipated major new musical theatre adaptation of The Wind in the Willows created by Julian Fellowes, George Stiles and Anthony Drewe is confirmed to open at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth from 8 October 2016, followed by The Lowry in Salford from 26 October 2016 prior to opening in London’s West End. Based on Kenneth Grahame’s […]
Sheila Hancock joins cast of Peter Pan – A Musical Adventure
Reprising the role of The Storyteller, British actress Sheila Hancock has been confirmed as the latest name to take to the stage for the concert staging of Stiles and Drewe’s Peter Pan – A Musical Adventure, making its return to the London stage at the Adelphi Theatre on Sunday 25 October for a matinee and evening performance. Hancock is the […]
Ray Quinn joins cast of Stiles and Drewe’s Peter Pan
Stage and television performer Ray Quinn will take on the title role in the concert staging of Stiles and Drewe’s Peter Pan – A Musical Adventure, making its return to the London stage at the Adelphi Theatre on Sunday 25 October for a matinee and evening performance. Quinn is the latest key cast member to be confirmed […]
Peter Pan concert staging – Bradley Walsh and Jenna Russell cast
Bradley Walsh and Jenna Russell are the first performers to be cast in the concert staging of Stiles and Drewe’s Peter Pan – A Musical Adventure, making its return to the London stage at the Adelphi Theatre on Sunday 25 October for a matinee and evening performance. Entertainment stalwart and star of stage and screen, Bradley Walsh (Coronation Street, […]
Mary Poppins UK and Ireland tour – full casting revealed
The full cast has been announced for the forthcoming UK and Ireland tour of the multi award-winning musical Mary Poppins, opening at Leicester Curve on 12 October 2015. Joining the previously announced Zizi Strallen as Mary Poppins and Matt Lee as Bert will be Milo Twomey as George Banks; Rebecca Lock as Winifred Banks; Penelope Woodman as Miss Andrew; Wendy Ferguson as Mrs Brill; Grainne Renihan as Bird Woman and Blair Anderson as Robertson Ay. […]
