Shock as nominees are annoucned for Olivier Awards 2012

So today we waited with bated breath to hear to nominees for this year Olivier Awards and although there were some very worthy entrants I can’t help feel that two very important people were missing and call me biased if you want but I have no idea how they come to the decision of the nominees.

After a triumphant run in Manchester and then on the West End it seemed somewhat odd that neither Richard Fleeshman or Caissie Levy were nominated for their leading roles as Molly and Sam in the smash hit West End show Ghost The Musical.

Not being the only one to notice this of course I too took to Twitter in a frenzy and tweeted my shock several times. After Richard took home a Whatsonstage.com Award only a few weeks ago for Best Actor in a musical I was somewhat shocked that he hadn’t even made it to the top 4 for an Olivier Award and then to find out that Caissie Levy was again not nominated for an award just felt like she had been robbed of all the hard work and effort that she had put in over the last year.

Of course there were some very worthy nominations which include The Ladykillers for Mastercard Best New Play, Sharon D Clarke, Ghost The musical for Best supporting role in a musical, Some Like It Hip Hop by ZooNation for Best New Dance production. For a full breakdown of nominees you can visit the Olivier Award website here

WIN 2 tickets to see Ghost The Musical

Fancy winning 2 tickets to see Ghost The Musical staring Mark Evans and Siobhan Dillon then simply pop on over to my Facebook here, LIKE the page and answer a very simple question by posting it on my wall.  CLUE: Answer has nothing to do with Ghost The Musical

It really couldn’t be easier and whats once I will even throw in a poster complete with the musical’s iconic artwork.

Please read the full terms and conditions below

1: Competition closes April 17th 2012 at midnight and the winner will be chosen at random the following day. If however the winner does not respond within 24 hours another entry will be picked at random.

2: Tickets are subject to availability and will be purchased for Monday-Thursday performances ONLY and will be the cheapest seats available.

3: Tickets will be in your name so can not be re-sold to a third party.

4: Poster can be sent to your home or a work address but will need to be provided to me in an email.

5: If you have a twitter account please leave details of it on my facebook page along with your answer.

Spacey warns cut tickets prices or lose next generation of theatre-goers

It’s fair to say that over the years I have most likely spent over thousands of pounds at the theatre and although I don’t mind too much, today Kevin Spacey, artistic director of the Old Vic theatre warned that London theatres risk losing an entire generation of future audiences because of high ticket prices in the West End.

Spacey, said that with prices reaching more than £50, the West End was becoming an “exclusive club”, and it was “short-sighted” to make it unaffordable for the young, who could choose to save their cash  or buy gadgets such as iPads.

Unless theatres offered cheaper seats their current audiences would die out and not be replaced, he warned.

He spoke as the Old Vic, where he has worked for eight years as artistic director, announced a subsidised ticket scheme for  under-25s. Sponsored by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, it will provide £12 tickets for 100 young people at each performance this year.

“When I look around at Broadway and the West End, theatre is becoming an exclusive club,” Spacey said.

Theatre-going in central London was practically unaffordable “if you don’t have £115 to spend, and that’s not talking about parking, dinner, the baby-sitting and everything else. Kids are not going to spend that kind of money. They’re going to buy iPads, save the money, or do something else.

“As the generation that is going passes on, the question is who is going to replace them? If we don’t reach out to make theatre affordable to the young generation we will lose them all. It is so short-sighted not to think about your future audiences. In this climate we need more than ever for companies to step up and support initiatives that make theatre accessible, especially to young people. Exposure to the arts and culture is enormously valuable.”

He said the benefits that theatre could instil included a greater understanding of the world and other people, and better communication skills — “crucial life skills” that would help young people regardless of whether they had any desire to work in the arts.

The first cheap tickets available from the PwC Under-25s Club are for The Duchess of Malfi, which starts this weekend.

The Old Vic has previously offered cut-price entry for young people, but the new scheme, which is being supported with a “six-figure” sum, is the first time it has a corporate sponsor.

Ministers have urged businesses and private donors to do more to support the arts as public subsidies fall because of government spending curbs.

 

Cheaper tickets during the Olympic games

The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) will offer discounted theatre tickets to Londoners during the Olympics in a bid to encourage travel during off-peak hours. The tickets will be just one of a number of incentives offered to workers in ‘hot spot’ areas to use after office hours during the Games.

The £10 tickets to shows including The Phantom of the Opera and Mamma Mia! will be distributed as part of a wider Transport for London (TFL) initiative.

Ben Plowden, director of surface planning at TFL, said: “’London will be a hugely exciting place to be this summer with a fantastic spectacle of sporting and cultural events. We know that at certain times and in certain locations the public transport network will be much busier than usual. That’s why we are teaming up with a range of London’s top attractions to ensure that people able to travel home outside peak hours on the busiest days are spoilt for choice when deciding how to spend their evening.”

SOLT chief executive Julian Bird added: “We will be providing … reduced priced tickets to some of the best theatre shows around through our new spring promotion and at tkts in Leicester Square, London. I’d urge other businesses to follow our lead and give commuters a range of options to enjoy their summer evenings in the city.”

The tickets will also help ease fears over the impact of the Games on West End audiences. Encouragingly, a recent Whatsonstage.com survey showed that nearly 70% of theatregoers expect to be attending the theatre just as much, or more often, than they usually do during the Olympics.

Other ‘after work’ offers from TFL include spa packages for The Sanctuary, VIP tours at Madame Tussauds and discounted cinema tickets at Apollo Cinemas in Piccadilly.

Hope returns to the West End

Danielle Hope will return to the West End stage this summer to star in Les Misérables alongside fellow new cast members Tam Mutu and the previously announced Géronimo Rauch.

The trio of West End stars will join the cast of the long-running musical from 18 June with Hope taking on the role of the love-struck Eponine, Mutu as the police inspector Javert and Rauch as ex-convict Jean Valjean.

Hope made her professional debut as Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz in February 2011, following her triumph in the BBC talent search series Over The Rainbow. She hung up her ruby slippers last month when the show’s alternative Dorothy and fellow-Over The Rainbow contestant Sophie Evans stepped into the glittery shoes.

In contrast, Mutu is a stage regular having most recently played the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies. As well as appearing in musicals Anything Goes and South Pacific at the National Theatre, the actor has worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company appearing in productions of Romeo And Juliet and King Lear, and at the Regent’s Park Open Air theatre with credits including As You Like It and Romeo And Juliet.

Seen by nearly 60 million people worldwide, Les Misérables has been running in the West End since 1985, moving to its current home at the Queen’s theatre in 2004. Officially the world’s longest running musical, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s production features a now legendary score including songs I Dreamed A Dream, One Day More and On My Own.

Unicorn Theatre’s under 5 season

GOLDILOCKS, RUBY RED TELLS TALES AND EGG & SPOON

TUE 3APRIL TO SUN 15 APRIL

The Unicorn Theatre offers three new and imaginative plays for under fives as part of its spring/ summer season by welcoming three much loved theatre companies back to the Unicorn: Little Angel, Theatr lolo and Lyngo Theatre.

GOLDILOCKS

TUE 3- SAT 7 APRIL

Be transported into a fairytale land where Young Goldilocks likes to explore the world and experience new things. This time, when she wanders into an empty house, she finds much more than three bowls of porridge…

A Little Angel Theatre production, directed by Marleen Vermeulen, using table-top puppetry and musical influences from around the world, this production brings this classic story to life with a twist.

RUBY RED TELLS TALES

WED 4 – THU 5 APRIL

Once upon a time Ruby and her Friend Ella were waiting impatiently for something to happen. Join them in a magical fairytale world where they meet a timid tiger, a slightly scary spider, and laugh with surprise as the gingerbread man meets a sticky end!

A Theatr lolo production directed by Sarah Argent, with humour, live music and using the real words of small children.

EGG & SPOON

TUE 10 – SUN 15 APRIL

Celebrate spring to autumn and back again with Lyngo Theatre. This is a highly interactive production by Marchello Chiarenza and Patrick Lynch with music by Carlo ‘Cialdo’ Capelli for the very young.

The under fives season at the Unicorn Theatre runs from Tuesday 3 to Sunday 15 April and is fun for all the family.

THE AWKWARD SQUAD at the Arts Theatre

What chance does Lorna have of a quiet weekend when both daughters and her granddaughter descend on her with their own problems?

She’s spent three decades working for everyone else through the miners’ strikes, local milk schemes and library closures and tomorrow she’s to have a community centre named after her – but her granddaughter thinks her boob job is more important…

On top of that, a BAFTA, impending divorce, redundancy and a very upmarket caravanette force Lorna to reconsider both the past and the future – for everyone.

What’s a woman to do? Accept everything that’s thrown at her, or become a fully paid-up member of the ‘awkward squad’?

BAFTA-winning Emmerdale writer Karin Young’s play is a state-of-the-nation comedy, taking a sideways look at the challenges faced by modern women of all ages.

Starring Charlie Hardwick (Val Pollard in Emmerdale), Barbara Marten (Casualty), Libby Davison (The Bill) and Lisa McGrillis (Pitmen Painters).

LIMITED LONDON SEASON FROM 6 MARCH – 7 APRIL

OFFER: 2 for 1 to see Tyne Daly as Maria Callas in Master Class

Book now to see MASTER CLASS, an extraordinary insight into the life and loves of the iconic Opera singer, Maria Callas with this exclusive 2-For-1 offer!

With an electrifying performance from Tony® Award and six time Emmy Award winner TYNE DALY (Cagney and Lacey, Rose in Gypsy on Broadway) and a magnificent supporting cast (GERARD CAREY, JEREMY COHEN, NAOMI O‘CONNELL, DIANNE PILKINGTON, and GARRETT SORENSON) critics and audience agree this is a ‘MUST-SEE‘.

‘Tyne Daly is Superb mesmerising and wonderfully funny.’

The Daily Telegraph

‘This performance doesn’t simply get beneath the shiny surface of the diva, but beneath fame and celebrity in general’

The Mail on Sunday

Master Class is on a strictly limited season until 28 April. For more information visit the official website: http://masterclasstheplay.com

To take advantage of this amazing offer click here

THE LEGEND OF CAPTAIN CROW’S TEETH

The Unicorn’s opening production of the new season explodes into glorious theatrical life with this imaginatively staged, spine-tingling romp for the whole family. Based on the novel from the popular best-selling children’s author Eoin Colfer, creator of the Artemis Fowl series, The Legend of Captain Crow’s Teeth is a funny and lively adventure of ghostly pirates, sibling rivalry and terrifying junior discos, directed and devised by Matthew Lenton.

Will’s brother Marty is always playing practical jokes. In their cramped holiday caravan, he tells the bloodcurdling legend of Captain Augustine Crow – and Will is terrified. Legend has it that when the sea glows at night, the ghostly pirate haunts the shore searching for a new cabin boy. Is it just another one of Marty’s tall tales or is Crow out to get him?

Award-winning Matthew Lenton directs his dramatisation of this classic children’s story. Lenton is the Artistic Director of Vanishing Point, a company highly praised for its theatrical visual style.

His credits include Interiors (Tramway, Glasgow and International Tour), Saturday Night (Traverse/Lisbon) Subway (Traverse/Tron/Lyric Hammersmith),The Beggar’s Opera (Royal Lyceum and Belgrade Coventry) and Little Otik (Glasgow Citizens’ and National Theatre Scotland).

The cast includes Ashley Gerlach, Alasdair Hankinson, Ixtaso Moreno, Cath Whitefield and Miles Yekinni.

This production is suitable for age 7 upwards

Friday 30 March to Sunday 15 April

PRESS NIGHT: TUESDAY 3 APRIL AT 7PM

RSC confirms plans to take Matilda to New York

It’s not surprising that after their clean sweep at the Whatsonstage.com Awards including Best New Musical, Matilda The Musical is set to open on Broadway early 2013.

According to a press statement: “Preliminary auditions for adult casting will begin in March of this year in New York City. Further production information will be announced in the near future.”

Adapted from Roald Dahl’s 1988 novel, Matilda The Musical is written by the playwright Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by the Australian comedian, musician and composer Tim Minchin, and direction is by  Matthew Warchus.