Jo: The Little Women Musical in Concert at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Heartfelt, charming and a very promising new musical.
Tag Archives | Tracie Bennett
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.
Writers, actors and creatives call for two new Olivier Awards
Over 160 British writers, actors and creatives, including multiple Olivier, Tony, Grammy, International Emmy and Drama Desk Award winners have signed an open letter calling on the Society of London Theatre (SOLT), the organisers of the Laurence Olivier Awards, to introduce a ‘Best Book of a Musical’ and ‘Best Score of a Musical’ categories for the 2025 Olivier Awards.
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying – Southwark Playhouse
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying continues at Southwark Playhouse, London until 17 June 2023. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
How To Succeed in Business – full cast
Full casting has been unveiled for the new production of the classic Broadway musical How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at the Southwark Playhouse this summer. As previously announced double Olivier Award-winner and Tony Award-nominee Tracie Bennett (Follies, National Theatre, Mame, Hope Mill Theatre) will play the traditionally male role of J.B. Biggley, […]
Thirty West End voices unite for new The Show Must Go On charity single
Thirty West End performers have lent their voices to a new original song created to bring a little Christmas cheer with all profits going to Acting For Others, The Fleabag Support Fund and NHS Covid-19 Urgent Appeal through the Theatre Support Fund+. Written by director and performer Anna Hale, producer and director Joe McNeice and […]
Elaine Paige and Bernadette Peters will host first West End Woofs animal adoption event
Musical theatre royalty from both sides of the Atlantic will unite to host the UK’s first virtual dog and cat adoption event this month. Co-hosted by the West End’s Elaine Paige and Broadway’s Bernadette Peters, West End Woofs will be a UK-based version of Broadway Barks, the annual star-studded animal adoption event benefiting New York […]
Crowdfund appeal launched for album of The Little Prince musical
Nicholas Lloyd Webber and James D. Reid have launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise £200,000 for a special star-packed recording of their acclaimed musical The Little Prince. Aimed at providing work for over 70 people from across the arts including musicians, artists and technicians, the project will result in the production of the first album […]
The Top 12 Olivier Awards Performances of the Last Ten Years
In lieu of an Olivier Awards ceremony this Sunday evening, ITV is broadcasting a compilation of their greatest performances instead. Just in case the choices don’t match yours, here are our top 12 favourite Olivier Awards performances of the last decade, in no particular order. With thanks to Ian Bowkett. 2019 – Jason Manford, Janie […]
WhatsOnStage Awards nominations revealed
New British musical & Juliet leads the nominations for the 20th annual WhatsOnStage Awards.
Darren Day joins hit revival of Mame for tour dates
Stage and small screen celebrity Darren Day will join original stars Tracie Bennett and Harriet Thorpe when the first professional UK revival of classic musical Mame follows its hit run at Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre with dates at the Royal & Derngate, Northampton and the Salisbury Playhouse. Day (Grease, Summer Holiday, West End) will take […]
Mame – Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester
Mame continues at Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester until 9 November 2019, then tours until January 2020. Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ When Hope Mill announced the first professional UK revival of Mame since its 1969 West End premiere, one colleague suggested that there may have been a reason for its lengthy absence. Let’s face […]
CD Review: Follies – National Theatre 2018 Cast
FOLLIES – National Theatre 2018 Cast (Warner Classics – 093624900955) Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Sondheim’s Follies is one of those musicals that started its rocky road to becoming an iconic piece of theatre in 1971. I remember being in London at the time and there was a record shop in Dean […]
Classic musicals and new British work to play Hope Mill Theatre in 2019
The highly successful partnership between Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre and London arts producer Aria Entertainment continues with a 2019 season that will include the UK premiere of a new version of the Broadway musical RAGS, the first UK revival of classic musical Mame and new British musical The Astonishing Times of Timothy Cratchit, inspired by A […]
Arts Ed’s Alex Cardall wins the Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year Award – Savoy Theatre
Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year and Stiles + Drewe Best New Song competitions at the Savoy Theatre, London. After four years of female domination, Alex Cardall struck back for the fellas by winning the 12th annual Stephen Sondheim Student Performer of the Year competition at its new venue, the Savoy Theatre. The ArtsEd student who comes […]
Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year and Stiles + Drewe Prize 2018 – meet the winners
The winners of the Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year and Stiles + Drewe Prize have been announced at the 12th anniversary West End Gala at the Savoy Theatre which was hosted Olivier Award winner Tracie Bennett. Alex Cardall (who is about to graduate from the Arts Educational Schools, London) won the Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year award after performing ‘Buddy’s […]
Follies star Tracie Bennett to host Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year gala
Olivier Award winner Tracie Bennett will host the 12th annual West End Gala for The Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of the Year and the 11th anniversary of The Stiles + Drewe Prize next month. Chris Hocking will return to direct the annual gala which will this year be staged at the Savoy Theatre on […]
‘It’s a real privilege to be a part of it’: Lara Denning chats about both (!) her roles in Ruthless! The Musical
LARA DENNING plays Louise Lerman/Eve in Ruthless! The Musical, the story of beautiful and talented eight-year-old Tina Denmark who will do anything to play the lead in her school play. In the musical, which is currently running at London’s Arts Theatre (playing until 23 June 2018), she is joined on stage by Tracie Bennett, Jason Gardiner, Kim Maresca […]
Olivier Awards 2018 ceremony – Hamilton opener, Chita Rivera singing West Side Story, Joseph 50th ann tribute
Special performances to mark the 60th anniversary of the London opening of West Side Story and the 50th anniversary of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will feature in the star-studded ceremony for the 2018 Olivier Awards on 8 April 2018. Musical theatre legend Chita Rivera will celebrate her London debut as Anita in the classic […]
Ruthless! The Musical – Arts Theatre
Ruthless! The Musical at Arts Theatre, London until 23 June 2018. Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩ First performed in 1992, Ruthless! arrives here on the back of an Off-Broadway revival in 2015 and is booked for a three-month run at the Arts Theatre. It will do extremely well to last the […]
Full cast for Ruthless! The Musical at the Arts Theatre
The Arts Theatre has announced the young actresses who will share the central role of Tina Denmark in the UK premiere of the award-winning show Ruthless! The Musical. Fifi Bloomsbury Khier, Charlotte Breen, Anya Evans and Lucy Simmonds will alternate in the role of the devious and deadly eight-year-old at the heart of the action. […]
Hamilton receives a recording-breaking 13 nominations in Olivier Awards 2018
Smash hit musical Hamilton predictably leads the field with a record-breaking 13 nominations for this year’s Olivier Awards, overtaking previous joint record holders: last year’s The Cursed Child and 2008’s Hairspray with 11 nominations. Announced today by Elaine Paige and Alexandra Burke, the nominees for the 2018 Olivier Awards with Mastercard recognised a number of […]
Ruthless! The Musical – Jason Gardiner and Tracie Bennett among cast
Dancing On Ice’s most acid-tongued judge Jason Gardiner and Olivier Award winner Tracie Bennett has joined the cast of UK premiere of the award-winning show Ruthless! The Musical. Opening at London’s Arts Theatre in March, the production will also feature Lara Denning, Kim Maresca and Harriet Thorpe. The children who will alternate the central role […]
Follies at the National Theatre – more cast details
More details have been revealed for the National Theatre’s much-anticipated production of the 1970s Broadway show Follies which is due to begin previewing in August. Starring the multi award-winning trio of Tracie Bennett, Janie Dee and Imelda Staunton, the Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman musical will play the Olivier Theatre from 22 August until 4 November with […]
Stars line up to record composer Alexander S Bermange’s comic catalogue
Musical comedy composer Alexander S. Bermange has assembled a star-studded line-up of stage and screen favourites to record a double album of his songs. Whit & Whimsy features special performances of some of Bermange’s most popular comic creations by stars including Miriam Margolyes, Nigel Planer, Tracie Bennett and Ian Bartholomew. Produced by Mike Dixon, the […]
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – Ambassadors Theatre
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice at the Ambassadors Theatre, London. Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, based on a poem by Goethe which also inspired Disney’s groundbreaking Fantasia, wielded its magic at the Ambassadors Theatre in a one-night-only concert presentation. In the story an old sorcerer goes out, leaving his apprentice behind […]
Tracie Bennett to lead cast of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice concerts
Double Olivier Award winner and Tony award nominee Tracie Bennett will head the cast for two special concert presentations of new musical The Sorcerer’s Apprentice on 7 February (Broadway Theatre, Letchworth) and 8 February (The Ambassadors, West End). Audiences will get their first glimpse of the show based on the 18th century poem by German […]
Mrs Henderson Presents to close on 18 June
Theatregoers have just six weeks left to catch Mrs Henderson Presents at London’s Noel Coward Theatre. Based on the 2005 film of the same name, the final performance in the production’s limited 18-week season will be on 18 June. Tracie Bennett, a double Olivier Award-winner for her performances in the musicals She Loves Me and Hairspray, […]
Mrs Henderson Presents – Noel Coward Theatre, London
Mrs Henderson Presents at the Noel Coward Theatre, London. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ Terry Johnson’s musical reworking of the 2005 movie about that great Soho institution, the ‘We Never Closed’ Windmill Theatre, and what it did for male morale in the dark days of the Second World War, is a very British, frequently […]
WhatsOnStage Awards will feature performances from Pixie Lott and Jenna Russell
WhatsOnStage has revealed that Pixie Lott, soon to be seen on stage in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, will perform ‘Moon River’ at the 16th annual WhatsOnStage Awards concert on 21 February at the Prince of Wales Theatre. There will also be performances from hosts Mel Giedroyc and Steve Furst, who will kick off the show with an original song ‘The Greatest Show of All’, Jenna Russell with a number from musical Grey […]
Mrs Henderson Presents full cast – EastEnders actor Jamie Foreman joins line-up
Full casting has been revealed for the new British musical Mrs Henderson Presents, opening at the Noel Coward Theatre on Tuesday 9 February 2016, for a strictly limited season, with a press night on 16 February. Joining the previously announced Tracie Bennett as Laura Henderson, Ian Bartholomew as Vivian Van Damm and Emma Williams as Maureen will be Jamie Foreman as Arthur, Robert Hands as Cromer, Matthew Malthouse as Eddie, Samuel Holmes as Bertie, Katie […]
Mrs Henderson Presents transfers to the West End in February 2016
Following a sell-out season at the Theatre Royal Bath this summer, Mrs Henderson Presents will open at the Noel Coward Theatre on Tuesday 9 February 2016, for a strictly limited season, with a press night on Tuesday 16 February 2016. Mrs Henderson Presents will star Tracie Bennett as Laura Henderson, Ian Bartholomew as Vivian Van Damm and Emma Williams as […]
Mrs Henderson Presents – Theatre Royal Bath
Mrs Henderson Presents continues at the Theatre Royal Bath until 5 September, ahead of a planned West End production. Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ Still they come! Musical stage versions of successful films have been all the rage for a while now – think Billy Elliot, The Bodyguard, Shrek, The Commitments, Bend It Like Beckham, the now-in-preview Kinky […]
Mrs Henderson Presents – Tracie Bennett replaces Janie Dee
Rehearsals started today for the new British musical Mrs Henderson Presents, now starring Tracie Bennett (taking over from Janie Dee who has had to withdraw for personal reasons), which concludes the Theatre Royal Bath summer season, playing 15 August to 5 September, prior to a West End run. Bennett will be reunited with director Terry Johnson, having last […]
