Cate Blanchett. Ivo van Hove. All About Eve. West End 2018. That is all.
I have to admit that I wasn’t much enamoured by the prospect of a Bob Dylan musical but when I stopped to think about it, I don’t know why I was worried because I’ve long been of the opinion that Dylan’s songs are best sung by other people. And with the announcement of the cast, Girl From The North Country does sound like an intriguing proposition at the Old Vic.
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The cast includes Sheila Atim (Marianne Laine), Ron Cook (Doctor Walker), Bronagh Gallagher (Mrs Burke), Shirley Henderson (Elizabeth Laine), Ciaran Hinds (Nick Laine), Claudia Jolly (Katherine Draper), Arinzé Kene (Joe Scott), Debbie Kurup (Mrs Neilsen), Kirsty Malpass (Ensemble), Jim Norton (Mr Perry), Tom Peters (Ensemble), Karl Queensborough (Ensemble), Sam Reid (Gene Laine), Michael Shaeffer (Reverend Marlowe), Jack Shalloo (Elias Burke), and Stanley Townsend (Mr Burke).
The Sound of Musicals presents a new programme of show–stopping music and songs from the greatest Broadway and West End musicals of all time. The concert will be performed at the Symphony Hall Birmingham on the Thursday 11 May at 7.30pm, the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester on Friday 12 May and the Royal Festival Hall on Saturday 13 May.
The show will include a wide range of some of the best-loved musicals: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Gethsemane’ from Jesus Christ Superstar, ‘The Perfect Year’ from Sunset Boulevard and ‘Another Suitcase in another Hall’ from Evita to Kiss Me Kate’s ‘So In Love’, the show offers many favourite musical treats. Other pieces to be performed include Lionel Bart’s stirring ‘As Long as He Needs Me’ from Oliver! the tear jerking ‘On My Own’ from Les Miserables, ‘I Know Him So Well’ from Chess and ‘Mr Cellophane’ from the multi award winning Chicago – there is truly a song for everyone.
These show stopping tunes will be sung by an appealing quartet of West End stars – Louise Dearman, Hannah Waddingham,Tim Howar and Oliver Tompsett. The talented soloists are joined by the London Concert Orchestra, under the brilliant conductor of Richard Balcombe.
Following a hugely successful 2016 Australian and UK tour, Frantic Assembly and State Theatre Company South Australia’s critically acclaimed Things I Know To Be True returns to delight audiences in the UK from 27 September 2017. Andrew Bovell’s new play will tour to Oxford Playhouse, The Lowry in Salford, Leicester Curve, Mercury Theatre in Colchester, York Theatre Royal, Chester Storyhouse, Southampton’s Nuffield, Poole Lighthouse and London’s Lyric Hammersmith.
As beautifully touching as it is funny and bold, Things I Know To Be True tells the story of a family and marriage through the eyes of four grown siblings struggling to define themselves beyond their parents’ love and expectations. Parents Bob and Fran have worked their fingers to the bone and with their four children grown and ready to fly the nest it might be time to relax and enjoy the roses. But the changing seasons bring home some shattering truths.
Andrew Bovell said: “The only reason to write a play is for it to reach an audience and for it to mean something to them when it does. I’m thrilled that UK audiences will have another chance to see this wonderful production.”Scott Graham (Artistic Director, Frantic Assembly) said: “I am immensely proud of this collaboration. It melted hearts on its first Australian and UK tours and I am looking forward to new audiences engaging with this beautiful play.”Geordie Brookman (Artistic Director, State Theatre Company) said: “We are tremendously proud of the way this gem of an Australian play has connected with U.K. audiences and feel blessed that, alongside our friends at Frantic Assembly, we can take the production to an even wider audience.”Featuring Frantic Assembly’s celebrated physicality, and co-directed by Frantic Assembly’s Tony and Olivier Award nominated Artistic Director Scott Graham and State Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Geordie Brookman, Things I Know To Be True is a complex and intense study of the mechanics of a family that is both poetic and brutally frank.
