It’s the final month of the year – and Mind the Blog is proud to be a Panto-Free Zone! Not that I can’t see the positives of it – it’s fantastic when you’re a kid (and, presumably, if you’re accompanying children), but it’s just something I can’t get on board with as a child-free adult who can only put up with a certain amount of double entendres per hour… And no, adult pantos are not for me either. So if you want a pantomime directory, I’m afraid you’ll need to have a look elsewhere.
Opening in London this month is the transfer of the NT’s Nine Night (now at Trafalgar Studios), Jailbirds at the Etcetera Theatre, Pinocchio at The Albany, One For The Road at the Rosemary Branch, Orpheus at Battersea Arts Centre and Pinter 5 & 6 will arrive at the Harold Pinter Theatre.
Le Gateau Chocolat is bringing Duckie and ICONS to the Wales Millennium Centre, two different versions of The Wizard of Oz open at Taunton’s Brewhouse Theatre and Birmingham Rep, Kinky Boots struts into Edinburgh Playhouse and On The Shelf runs at the Grand Opera House in Belfast.
Wyndham’s Theatre bids farewell to The Height of the Storm, Seussical the Musical and The Night Before Christmas play until the end of the month at Southwark Playhouse, Plaid Tidings finishes its performances at the Bridge House Theatre and Cuckoo finishes its run at Soho Theatre. Outside of London, Benidorm leaves Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre, The Singing Mermaid finishes at Sheffield’s Crucible, and The Worst Witch ends its run at Royal & Derngate before heading out on tour.
The Jungle begins its run at St Ann’s Warehouse on Tuesday 4 December, and further announcements have been made about the West End cast of Waitress – David Hunter, Marisha Wallace, Peter Hannah and Laura Baldwin will be joining Katharine McPhee at the Adelphi next year!
New releases: Eric Clapton – Happy Xmas (7th), A Star is Born soundtrack (14th); A Discovery of Witches (3rd), Christopher Robin (10th)
Reviews
I actually have just the one review lined up for Mind the Blog this month: Murder for Two at The Other Palace (Studio). There will be some other things to peruse, as I have a book review on the list on top of the last in the ‘Missed The Boat’ series to come your way.
As usual, though, there will be plenty of end of year/start of year posts coming your way – and thanks to the ridiculous amount of shows I’ve seen this year I feel like it may have to be revamped ever so slightly. There is also the business of #MindtheAdvent over on Twitter (this year it’s favourite people, places & things from 2018).
There may yet be time for some Mind the Blogger reviews, so watch this space…
Any Other Business
Photo credit: Marc Brenner
In terms of ‘leisure theatre’, on my list for December are Dr Faustus (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse), The Merry Wives of Windsor, Pinters 3 & 4 (Harold Pinter Theatre), Chasing Bono (Soho Theatre) and the LMTO’s A Christmas Carol (Lyceum). I’m also hoping to squeeze Company in before I head out of London for the Christmas break.
Most of my press tickets are actually coming from BroadwayWorld UK this month, as I head to Striking 12 (Union Theatre), True West (Vaudeville Theatre), Dialektikon (Park Theatre) and The Merry Wives of Windsor (Barbican).
I’ve also got an interesting range of non-theatre activities coming up – such as the National Theatre’s annual Christmas Quiz, filming for The Russell Howard Hour (assuming I get in), probably more trips to see Bohemian Rhapsody, and something I’ve been waiting a long time for: Miles Kane at Brixton Academy!
Hot tips
Blog post: Musical Theatre Lives In Me’s interview with Jack Harrison-Cooper (Wicked UK tour)
Book: Bohemian Rhapsody: The Official Book of the Movie (Owen Williams)
“If the audience ain’t ready to be challenged, maybe they shouldn’t go to the theatre.”
Arinzé, Misty (Arinzé Kene)
Don’t miss!
My reasons why you should see Caroline, or Change.
Tags: A Christmas Carol, A Star is Born, Alexandra Theatre, Arinzé Kene, Barbican, Battersea Arts Centre, Benidorm, Birmingham Rep, Bohemian Rhapsody, Brewhouse Theatre, Bridge House Theatre, Brixton Academy, Caroline or Change, Chasing Bono, Company, Cuckoo, David Hunter, Dialektikon, Dr Faustus, Duckie, Edinburgh Playhouse, Eric Clapton, Etcetera Theatre, Grand Opera House, Harold Pinter Theatre, ICONS, Jailbirds, Katharine McPhee, Kinky Boots, Laura Baldwin, Le Gateau Chocolat, LMTO, London, London Musical Theatre Orchestra, Lyceum, Marisha Wallace, Miles Kane, Misty, Murder for Two, National Theatre, Nine Night, Off West End, On The Shelf, One For The Road, Orpheus, Park Theatre, Peter Hannah, Pinocchio, Pinter at the Pinter, Plaid Tidings, Rosemary Branch Theatre, Royal & Derngate, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Seussical, Seussical the Musical, Soho Theatre, Southwark Playhouse, St Ann’s Warehouse, Striking 12, The Albany, The Crucible, The Height of the Storm, The Jungle, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Night Before Christmas, The Other Palace, The Russell Howard Hour, The Singing Mermaid, The Wizard of Oz, The Worst Witch, theatre, True West, Union Theatre, Vaudeville Theatre, Waitress, Wales Millennium Centre, West End, Wicked, Wyndham’s TheatreCategories: all posts, never mind the blog, news, preview, theatre
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