The King’s Speech – Wyndham’s Theatre Reviewed

Powerful, triumphant and a British Masterpiece are only some of the words I would use to describe The Kings Speech Play which opened at The Wyndham Theatre last night.

Seidler’s play centers on how King George VI conquered his debilitating stammer with the help of maverick speech therapist Lionel Logue.

Showcasing a myriad of talents, the main focus of course was on Charles Edwards following in the footsteps of Colin Firth as George VI, Charles Edwards from the film version.  Edwards was totally engaging to watch and perfectly conveys the agony of Bertie’s battle with his speech impediment.
Jonathan Hyde was equally captivating to watch as Lionel Logue a the somewhat unsuccessful Shakespearean actor turned Harley Street Speech Therapist.

Other truly phenomenal performances was that of Ian McNeice as Churchill and Emma Fielding as the then Duke Of York’s wife Elizabeth.

Hyde had a great dry sense of humour which lightened the the mood at times. It’s tremendously comical as Logue is brought up to date on the previous therapists “They’re idiots,” he snaps, “They’ve all been knighted,” replies the Prince, “It makes it official then.”

The story is so much more than the title as I really felt a relationship develop between these two very different men. Their stories are increasingly moving which brings them closer together allowing Bertie to let his guard down.

Beautifully played by both actors there is so much warmth and emotion, certainly a key ingredient to such a historical and political story.

There is no doubt that just like the films reign over the Baftas this will be reigning over the Olivier Awards next year.

The King’s Speech is booking until July 21st 2012 at Wyndham’s Theatre. For more information and tickets visit www.kingsspeechtheplay.com

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I have moved so come check out my new site over at itsthetheatregeek.blog.com

Matilda The Musical: New Booking Period and Cast Changes at The Cambridge Theatre

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s world premiere production of Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical has captured the imagination of young and old alike and continues to play to packed houses at London’s Cambridge Theatre. Today, Tuesday 27 March, more tickets go on sale offering access to performances through until Sunday 17 February 2013.

Matilda The Musical leads with ten nominations at this year’s Olivier Awards – a nomination in every category for which it is eligible:  Best Actress in a Musical for Cleo Demetriou, Kerry Ingram, Sophia Kiely and Eleanor Worthington Cox, jointly, in the title role; Best Actor in a Musical for Bertie Carvel as Miss Trunchbull; Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical for Paul Kaye as Mr Wormwood; Best New Musical; Best Director for Matthew Warchus; Best Theatre Choreographer for Peter Darling; Best Set Design for Rob Howell; Best Lighting Design for Hugh Vanstone, and Best Sound Design for Simon Baker.

The awards ceremony will take place on Sunday 15 April 2012 at the Royal Opera House. Members of the public can follow full coverage of the event on http://www.olivierawards.com and via the BBC red button.

Changes to the cast will take place throughout April and May this year.  Cleo Demetriou and Eleanor Worthington Cox will continue in the title role of Matilda, joined by Isobelle Molloy (currently playing Amanda Thripp) and Jade Marner, who will take over from Kerry Ingram and Sophia Kiely from mid-April. Hayley Canham will also join the company in the role of Matilda from mid-August.

Hayley Flaherty and Steve Furst will take over from Paul Kaye and Lauren Ward as Mr Wormwood and Miss Honey, respectively, from Tuesday 17 April. Bertie Carvel will continue in the role of Miss Trunchbull until Sunday 1 July. Josie Walker will continue in the role of Mrs Wormwood along with the rest of the adult cast which includes: Marc Antolin, Verity Bentham, Peter Howe, Michael Kent, Melanie La Barrie, Matthew Malthouse, Alastair Parker, Nick Searle and Emily Shaw who also appeared in the original production in Stratford. Further adult casting includes: Matthew Clark, Katy Monk, Rachel Moran, Leanne Pinder, Lucy Thatcher, Tim Walton and Gary Watson.

Three teams of young performers currently play the roles of Bruce, Lavender, Amanda, Nigel, Eric and the other pupils at Crunchem Hall.

From mid-April, the company of young performers who will play these roles will be:

Jordan Anderton, Robyn Ashwood, Zak Baker, Chorlène Biron-Monnier, Oonagh Cox, Terrell Forde, Lauren Halil, Morgan Hartley, Callum Henderson, Joseph Holgate, Jake Ibelo, Mia Jenkins, Jamie Kaye, Alfie Manser, Abby McGovern, Ava Merson-O’Brien, James Moore, Jemima Morgan, Miles Paloma, Lucy May Pollard, Elliot Reeve, Ellie Simons, Louis Suc, Ted Wilson and Ella Wortley.

Matilda The Musical transferred to London’s West End on Tuesday 25 October 2011.The production played to sold-out audiences at the RSC’s The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon for twelve weeks from November 2010 to January 2011.

The Royal Shakespeare Company is currently planning for a production of Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical, to open in New York early 2013.

The production is written by playwright Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by the anarchic Australian comedian, musician and composer Tim Minchin, and direction by Matthew Warchus.

The production is designed by Rob Howell, with choreography by Peter Darling, orchestrations

additional music and musical supervision by Christopher Nightingale, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, sound by Simon Baker and the special effects and illusions are by Paul Kieve.

In 2011 Matilda The Musical won both The Peter Hepple Award for Best Musical at The Critics’ Circle Awards, and The Ned Sherrin Award for Best Musical at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards. The production has also collected the awards for Best Musical Production and Best Performance in a Musical (Bertie Carvel) at the Theatre Awards UK 2011.

In February 2012 Matilda The Musical picked up four awards at this year’s Whatsonstage.com awards including Best New Musical, Rob Howell for Best Set Designer, Peter Darling for Best Choreographer and Tim Minchin for the London Newcomer of the Year. The show received a total of nine nominations including Best Actress in a Musical for all four of the young actresses playing Matilda, Bertie Carvel for Best Actor in a Musical, Lauren Ward for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical, Paul Kaye for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical and Matthew Warchus for Best Director.

MATILDA THE MUSICAL
Cambridge Theatre, Earlham Street, WC2H 9HU
Individuals booking until 17 February 2013
Groups booking until 22 December 2013
Box Office: SEE Tickets 0844 412 4652 / RSC Ticket Hotline 0844 800 1110
To book online visit: http://www.matildathemusical.com

London Cast of Les Miserables Have a Message for You

To celebrate the reaching of the Final 4 shortlist in the 2012 BBC Radio 2 Audience Award in this year’s Olivier Awards, the full London Cast of Les Miserables have created this great video to rally for your votes.  The video features the cast in full costume on stage at the Queen’s Theatre; including Ramin Karimloo (Jean Valjean), Hadley Fraser (Javert), Caroline Sheen (Fantine), Alexia Khadime (Eponine), Lisa Anne Wood (Cosette), Liam Tamne (Enjolras) and Craig Mather  (Marius).

Wondering where the Thenardier’s are? Watch until the very end of the video to be treated to a word or two from the devilish duo.

 

Casting announced for Ragtime the Musical and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

From today, rehearsals are underway for the 2012 season at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. With over 130,000 visitors each season, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is now an essential part of summer in the city and, in 2012, with the eyes of the world on London, a destination for visitors from around the world.  Celebrating this unique year, the theatre is presenting a repertory season of two major productions.

Playing in repertory from 18 May – 8 September 2012, Timothy Sheader directs Ragtime, a contemporary musical based on the novel by E.L. Doctorow; Olivier Award nominated Javier de Frutos is choreographing. Matthew Dunster is directing Shakespeare’s most magical of plays A Midsummer Night’s Dream from 2 June – 5 September 2012.

Each company consists of 26 actors, 20 of whom will appear in both productions.

Tamsin Carroll plays Titania (Dream) and Emma Goldman (Ragtime).  Antipodean Tamsin recently played Nancy in Oliver! at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Recently seen in Sheffield’s production of Company and the Donmar Warehouse production of Passion, David Birrell plays Thesues (Dream) and Father (Ragtime). Harry Hepple, who recently played the title role in Pippin at the Menier Chocolate Factory, plays Qunice (Dream) and Younger Brother (Ragtime).  Following his performance as Piggy in the Open Air Theatre’s production of Lord of the Flies, George Bukhari plays Bottom (Dream), and Christopher Colquhoun, best known for his on-screen character Simon Kaminski in Casualty and Holby City, plays Oberon (Dream). See notes for Editors for full cast listing.

Ragtime the Musical has a book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. This powerful musical, set at the turn of the 20th century, unites three families separated by race and destiny. The 1996 Broadway production won four Tony Awards including Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score.

Designer Jon Bausor will work with Sheader and Dunster on Ragtime the Musical, following his acclaimed set designs for Lord of the Flies and The Crucible. Laura Hopkins will design the costumes for both productions. Laura’s previous credits include Shoes (Sadlers Wells) A Delicate Balance (Almeida) and Black Watch (National Theatre Scotland).

Artistic Director, Timothy Sheader, says: “What has proved exciting at Regent’s Park over the past few years are productions that embrace scale, both physically and in their narrative.  The titles for 2012, each with their own particular ambition, are united in their exploration of space, light and the changing atmosphere of theatre in the open air.”

Sheader and Executive Director, William Village, have overseen four seasons at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, each of which has, in turn, broken the record for attendance and Box Office takings. Their productions of Hello, Dolly! (2009) and Into the Woods (2010) both won the Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival with Hello, Dolly! also picking up the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical.

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s 2011 production of Crazy for You has received three nominations for the 2012 Olivier Awards including Best Musical Revival, Best Costume Design for Peter McKintosh and Best Theatre Choreography for Stephen Mear. The production transferred directly to the West End, where it played until 17 March. 115,494 people saw the show which ran for a total of 30 weeks across both venues.

Beyond the Park, Timothy Sheader will direct and Liam Steel will co-direct Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods at New York’s Delacorte Theater, Central Park, this summer. Based on the 2010 Olivier Award-winning Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production, this new Public Theater production will feature an entirely American cast.

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s Sunday Events programme for 2012 includes Urban Comedy in the Park with Eddie Kadi and guests (24 June), Comedy Store Players (1 July), Jimmy Carr and guests (8 July), Stacey Kent (15 July) and Daniel Kitson with Gavin Osborn (22 July). Film screenings include Pans’ Labyrinth (19 August), Moulin Rouge! (26 August) and Edward Scissorhands (2 September).

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre will offer a special pricing structure during the period of the Olympics, for all performances from 25 July – 12 August 2012. All tickets will be available for £20.12 when booked before the end of April 2012.

Public booking is now open.

A full performance schedule is available from www.openairtheatre.com

One Man, Two Guvnors Reviewed

Richard Bean’s One Man, Two Guvnors is an adaptation of Carlo Goldoni’s classic 18th-century Italian comedy The Servant of Two Masters and being named as the funniest show around I was excited to finally see what the hype was about after months of trying to get a ticket.

Bringing an energetic mix of farce, slapstick and a plethora of talent One Man, Two Guvnors is going from strength to strength and shows no sign of stopping.

Owain Arthur who originally understudied James Corden in the role steps into the spotlight as the little bit forgetful and ever hungry Frances Henshall.  Already minder to Roscoe Crabbe Frances sees a chance to earn an extra meal ticket and takes on another job with Stanley Stubbers and with the ever growing pressure from both Guvnors events nearly lead to Disastrous consequences.

Owain is pure comedy gold and certainly entertaining to watch especially in the dinner scene where Frances is trying to serve dinner to both Guvnors at the same time and with the added comic intervention of Martin Barass as frail garcon Alfie it was truly one of the most side-splittingly hilarious moments in the show.

The supporting cast were equally entertaining to watch. Gemma Whelan who plays cross-dressing Rachel Crabbe who is actually impersonating her dead brother Roscoe adds real flint to the character and was truly blissful to watch and Ben Mansfield best known for playing Captain Becker in sci-fi Primeval is totally transformed into a public speaking schoolboy as Stanley Stubbers.

 

Hannah Spearitt of S Club 7 fame plays Pauline Clinch was joyful and Jodie Prenger was absolutely fantastic as Dolly.

 

One Man, Two Guvnors is the pinnacle of British theatre and is thoroughly enjoyable. A must see and if you haven’t got a funny bone in your body you will leave crying for more or just simply crying of laughter.

One Man, Two Guvnors is playing at the Theatre Royal Haymarket until September 1st 2012 before it embarks on a tour in the Autumn.

Sweeney Todd HOT OFF THE PRESS opening night March 20th 2012

Hot off the press from last nights opening night of Sweeney Todd The Musical playing at the Adelphi theatre. Enjoy.

 

Hit stage adaptation THE LADYKILLERS to embark on UK Tour on 14 September, 2012

Graham Linehan’s hit adaptation of the classic 1955 Ealing comedy The Ladykillers, directed by Sean Foley will embark on a 26 week tour of Ireland and the UK in 2012, beginning on 14 September at Theatre Royal Plymouth. The production will then tour to Canterbury, Sheffield, Birmingham, Southampton, Cambridge,

Nottingham, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Malvern and Bath in 2012, with further dates for 2013 to be announced.

Tickets for The Mayflower Theatre Southampton are now on sale, with further venues to follow shortly.

The UK and Ireland tour follows The Ladykillers critically acclaimed run at London’s Gielgud Theatre. The production was recently nominated for five Awards in the 2012 Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best New Play, Best Direction, Best Set Design, Best Sound Design and Best Actress in a Play for Marcia Warren. Audiences have just four weeks to see the West End production before the hit play ends it’s run on 14th April 2012.

The Ladykillers tells the story of the eccentric little old lady Mrs Wilberforce who lives alone with her parrots in a strange lopsided house in King’s Cross. Her life is turned upside down by the arrival of Professor Marcus and his four friends, who between them make up the most unlikely group of criminals. Planning the heist of a security van, they decide to use Mrs Wilberforce as cover and involve her unwittingly in the plot. Things do not go well and the Professor’s plan starts to unravel in spectacular and hilarious fashion.

This stage production of The Ladykillers has been adapted by Graham Linehan, best known for being the writer behind TV comedies Father Ted and The I.T. Crowd.

Director Sean Foley is a multi award winning stage director whose work in the West End includes Play What I Wrote, Do You Come Here Often, Ducktastic, Pinter’s People and the forthcoming revival of Joe Orton’s What The Butler Saw.

The Ladykillers began previews at London’s Gielgud Theatre on November 26th, 2011 and officially opened on Wednesday December 7th, 2011.

The West End production currently stars Peter Capaldi as Professor Marcus, Ben Miller as Louis, James Fleet as Major Courtney, Clive Rowe as One-Round, Stephen Wight as Harry and Marcia Warren as Mrs Wilberforce. The Ladykillers has enjoyed tremendous box office success, recently recouping its entire West End outlay. The play also smashed all known box office records at the Gielgud Theatre, by taking just under £400,000 in a single week between Monday December 26th and Sunday January 1st 2012.

Casting for the UK and Ireland Tour will be announced soon.

Sweeney Todd Reviewed

If you enjoy a murderously good time at the theatre then Sweeney Todd has plenty of good tunes and lots of cold blooded murder to quench your thirst or appetite depending if you can stomach knowing what goes into one of Mrs Lovett’s pies and just like the ingredients of her pies madness, love, revenge and death are mixed together to produce a dark production with a topping of juicy black comedy.

Sweeney Todd tells of Todd’s return to London after being falsely imprisoned and now is on a savage killing spree for all the wrongs done to him and his family years before. Aided by lonely pie shop owner Mrs Lovett, Sweeney Todd transports us back to the dark and misty streets of London for an unsettling and cut throat (quite literally) story.

Imelda Staunton better known for her role as Dolores Jane Umbridge in the major fantasy films Harry Potter plays Mrs Lovett the business partner and accomplice of barber/serial killer Sweeney Todd.

Imelda is devious, endearing and yet brings that much-needed comedy to a very  gory story and is the perfect partner in crime alongside Michael Ball’s haunting and savage portrayal of Sweeney Todd.

Michael known more for it light-hearted roles such as Edna Turnblad in the hit musical Hairspray at the ShaftesburyTheatre in London for which he won a Laurence Olivier Award and a Whatsonstage.com Award has totally transformed his appearance to capture the true form of Sweeney that much so I had to use binoculars to double check it was him. Overall, he was chilling to watch and gave and outstanding performance.

I also have to mention James Mcconville who plays Tobias the loyal companion of Pirelli. His voice was sublime and showed such dedication to the part and for someone who has had no major theatre credits to his name he was extraordinarily good.

However not so convincing in their roles were John Bowe who plays judge Turpin and Peter Polycarpou as his sidekick Beadle Bamford. Both of them didn’t really make an impact on me and for John Bowe character as Turpin as such a pivotal part in the story it just felt a shame, and there is definitely room for improvement.

With a simple set brought to life by a plethora of huge talent and another beautiful score by Sondheim, Sweeney Todd will no doubt be in the running for some awards next year and if not then make sure you don’t run into Sweeney in a dark alley on the streets of London.

Sweeney Todd is currently playing at the Adelphi Theatre in London. For tickets you can visit www.sweeneytoddwestend.com

My Olivier Award thoughts

Read my article on the Stage Door Mag website about my thoughts on this years 2012 Olivier Award nominations and who I think will take home British theatre’s most sought-after award.

http://www.stagedoormag.co.uk/articles/thoughts-on-olivier-awards-2012-nominations/

You can also follow Stage Door Mag @StageDoorMag