In a front page scoop in today’s Daily Telegraph, the paper lines up three heavy-hitting bylines — chief reporter Robert Mendick, political editor Ben Riley-Smith and theatre critic Dominic Cavendish — to reveal an exclusive with Andrew Lloyd Webber. The headline reads: ‘You’ll have to arrest us to stop reopening’.
Have theatrical producers of old forgotten how to treat the people who helped them reach the top in the first place?
Now we’ve seen Cameron Mackintosh here in London twice in the last year throw his original investors overboard on his two biggest hits: Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera.
NEWS: West End productions of Hamilton, Mary Poppins & more set return dates
Jeffrey Seller and Cameron Mackintosh, producers of the West End production of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, are delighted to announce that from 19 August 2021 the show will resume performances at the Victoria Palace Theatre.
NEWS: Casting announced for the returning West End production of The Phantom of The Opera
Casting has been announced for the return of The Phantom of The Opera to its West End home, Her Majesty’s Theatre, on 27 July 2021. Lucy St Louis will play Christine Daaé and Rhys Whitfield will play Raoul. They join the previously announced double Olivier Award nominee Killian Donnelly as The Phantom.
Beneath contempt: Mark Shenton reacts to the empty promises made over the return of Phantom to the West End
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The post April 27: The rotten stench of contempt for people, from the government to its people and from producers to their orchestras and audiences first appeared on Shenton Stage.
Put another dime in the jukebox baby: Mark Shenton picks out his Top Ten jukebox musicals
Jukebox musicals have become a staple of Broadway and the West End for a while now; familiarity, you could say, breeds contented audiences. As Mamma Mia! used to tag the show in their advertising: “You already know you’ve going to love it!”
Putting profits before people? Where is the original Phantom of the Opera we were promised?
When The Phantom of the Opera was unloaded from the Her Majesty’s Theatre last year, it produced the forlorn sight of the original Phantom chandelier resting on the pavement outside the theatre instead of poised over the proscenium from which it famously comes crashing down over the heads of those seated in the stalls.
Marking the nostalgia of the past for Follies’ 50th & edging towards some hope for Broadway’s future
On Friday the resumption of theatre life began in New York; meanwhile, today is the 50th anniversary of the Broadway opening night of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies, his jagged and shattering tribute to the musicals as well as the marriages of yesteryear, as James Goldman’s characters confront their current predicaments as middle and old-aged people looking back on their lives through the prism of the nostalgia of their theatrical pasts — all set to a score that gently pastiches the songs of the period while actually improving on them.
Remember all the many creatives who have brought us theatre online, not just the big-hitters
There’s no question that, apart from his undoubted brilliance as a composer of instantly memorable melodies, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s greatest gift is as (self) publicist. He’s just wonderful at getting people to speak about him and his shows; and thereby promote them.
NEWS: A socially distanced Les Misérables – The Staged Concert returns to the West End from 20 May 2021
Performances of Les Misérables – The Staged Concert will resume performances at the the Sondheim Theatre on 20 May 2021, booking to 5 September 2021. Patrons whose bookings were affected by the Government’s previous directives will be contacted from today.
NEWS: Run of Les Misérables – The Staged Concert is extended due to latest Government restrictions on seating capacity
The run of Les Misérables –The Staged Concert at London’s Sondheim Theatre has been extended to 28 February 2021, with performances beginning on 5 December.
NEWS: Musicals The Color Purple & Sunset Boulevard kickstart Leicester Curve’s return to live performances
Live theatre will return to Leicester as Curve announces plans to reopen to the public from 23 November 2020. The theatre, which was forced to close on 16 March, will open again this autumn for re-imagined, socially distanced concert performances of acclaimed Made at Curve productions, using the building’s unique theatre design.
NEWS: Les Misérables – The Staged Concert returns to the West End in December 2020
Les Misérables – The Staged Concert will return to the West End for a six-week limited run, playing at London’s Sondheim Theatre from 5 December 2020 to 17 January 2021.
NEWS: Really Useful Groups says the West End production of Phantom will return
Co-producers the Really Useful Group have confirmed to The Stage that the original production of The Phantom of the Opera will be back.
NEWS: Cameron Mackintosh tells Evening Standard West End Phantom is being ‘shut down’
In a candid self-penned article in the Evening Standard, producer Cameron Mackintosh has revealed that he and Andrew Lloyd Webber have been forced to “sadly permanently shut down” the iconic West End production of The Phantom of the Opera as a consequence of the Coronavirus crisis.
NEWS: Cameron Mackintosh announces West End closures until 2021, starts redundancy consultations
Cameron Mackintosh has delayed the return of his West End productions of Les Misérables, Mary Poppins, Hamilton and The Phantom of the Opera until as early as practical in 2021.
NEWS: Cameron Mackintosh releases digital download of Les Miserables concert to raise funds for Covid charities
Cameron Mackintosh has announced the debut of the hugely successful Les Misérables -The Staged Concert on digital download in the UK and Australia, which will also raise much-needed funds for performers, musicians and the NHS.
The Shows Must Go On: The Australian production of Love Never Dies streams for 48 hours from Friday
The lockdown streaming schedule for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s free-to-view YouTube Channel The Shows Must Go On, continues this Friday with a broadcast of Love Never Dies, the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera.
The Shows Must Go On: 25th anniversary staging of The Phantom of the Opera streams for 24 hours from Friday
The lockdown streaming schedule for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s free-to-view YouTube Channel The Shows Must Go On, continues this Friday with a broadcast of his blockbuster hit The Phantom of the Opera.
‘There is little point in denying its political punch’: LES MISÉRABLES – Sondheim Theatre
New blood courses through the veins of the West End’s longest-running musical Les Misérables.