A trio of festive album reviews with If The Fates Allow: A Hadestown Holiday Album, Leslie Odom Jr – The Christmas Album and Michael Ball and Alfie Boe – Together at Christmas.
ALBUM REVIEW: Lea Michele – Christmas in the City
Jonathan Groff and Darren Criss elevate Glee star Lea Michele’s first holiday album Christmas in the City.
CYNTHIA ERIVO in concert – Shoreditch Town Hall
There are few divas for whom you would queue an hour in the pouring rain on a cold night in January, but it was almost worth getting trench foot to witness the extraordinary, uplifting, generous and eclectic ‘comeback’ concert with which Cynthia Erivo chose to favour her loyal London mailing list.
The Last Five Years: Who else played Cathy & Jamie before Samantha & Jonny?
Samantha Barks and Jonathan Bailey are just the latest in a line of musically exquisite, broken-hearted couples to tackle Jason Robert Brown’s song cycle. Remember Lara Pulver and Damian Humbley in the UK premiere? Here’s a pictorial timeline including them and other transatlantic pairings you may recognise.
Press pass: All the Aladdin reviews, the biggest star on the purple carpet + show trailer
Judging by the overnight reviews, and despite the inevitable pantomime associations for British audiences, the Disney-scale spectacle has worked its magic on most critics. In addition to a round-up of overnight reviews, there’s also a dash of purple carpet glamour, with one very special guest in particular: title star Dean John-Wilson‘s girlfriend, also known as Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo.
NEWS: The Color Purple, A View from the Bridge & Hamilton triumph at Tony Awards
The Menier Chocolaty Factory’s production of The Color Purple led the British charge at last night’s Tony Awards, hosted by fellow British import James Corden at the Beacon Theatre in New York. It won two awards, as did the Young Vic’s transfer of A View from the Bridge. American-born hit Hamilton, due to open in the West End in 2017, swept the board with 11 awards.
NEWS: The Color Purple, A View from the Bridge & Hamilton triumph at Tony Awards
The Menier Chocolaty Factory’s production of The Color Purple led the British charge at last night’s Tony Awards, hosted by fellow British import James Corden at the Beacon Theatre in New York. It won two awards, as did the Young Vic’s transfer of A View from the Bridge. American-born hit Hamilton, due to open in the West End in 2017, swept the board with 11 awards.
Diary of a Theatre Addict: 13 shows in London, 5 beyond, 11 in New York in April
Across April I’ve duly seen 13 shows in London, one of them twice within the space of four days – namely the current revival of Guys and Dolls. I’d seen it twice before that, first when it originated at Chichester two summers ago and then when it transferred to the Savoy in January, and now again when it moved across town to the Phoenix with a substantially re-cast set of principals and I reviewed it for a third time. Then I returned to it yet again the same weekend to accompany a friend who was in town visiting from New York (yes, it’s that good!).
ON BROADWAY: The Color Purple
It says much for London’s modest but acclaimed Menier Chocolate Factory that their production of The Color Purple, first staged three years ago, has been shipped back to Broadway to a rave reception. John Doyle’s simple staging that worked so well in the Menier’s cockpit, all stripped-back wood and chairs, has been neatly expanded to fit the Bernard B Jacobs’ cavernous stage and the transition works well.
NEWS: Winners announced in the 2016 #AlsoRecognised Awards
Today’s the day! We’re delighted to announce the winners of the 2016 Also Recognised Awards. And, despite the fact that most of our categories are unique, it’s interesting to see that there are a few overlaps with another little awards, whose ceremony was held earlier this week… For more on this year’s awards, see also the full voting results, winners’ …
BROADWAY: The Color Purple
To have Jennifer Hudson on the Broadway stage is miracle enough, but the additional presence of human dynamo Cynthia Erivo in the lead role is the one-two punch that makes this show a knockout. With a volume that is completely at odds with her petite frame, Erivo brings down the house time and again, earning a standing ovation before the final curtain with Miss Celie’s joyous anthem “I’m Here.”
CD REVIEW: Cynthia Erivo & Oliver Tompsett sing Scott Alan – Deluxe Edition – Review
Scott Alan has recently brought out a Deluxe version of the album he released last autumn that featured the paired voices of Cynthia Erivo and Oliver Tompsett. Alan has worked with many of today’s musical theatre stars, but with Tompsett and in particular Erivo, there is a muse-like connection between the writer and his performing talent.
Are black and Asian actors really losing out on Shakespeare?
Of course I want to see lots of excellent black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) actors cast in lead roles. No thinking theatre lover wouldn’t. The best and most suitable actors for every part, please. I am, however, disturbed by the distorted way in which last week’s report led by Jami Rogers for the University of Warwick and based on the Black and Asian Shakespeare Performance Database has been spun.
Feature extracts of the week: Nicola Walker, Noma Dumezweni, Cynthia Erivo, Jim Broadbent
Extracts from recent interviews with British actors Nicola Walker and Cynthia Erivo, both now on Broadway, plus Noma Dumezweni and Jim Broadbent on London stages.
News from New York: Color Purple and Fun Home are hits, Pacino flops, Groban arrives
London’s Menier Chocolate Factory have just scored their fourth Broadway hit: after previously transferring Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George and A Little Night Music, and Jerry Herman’s La Cage Aux Folles, to Broadway after runs in the West End first, this time they’ve by-passed the West End to go direct to Broadway with The Color Purple and take coals to Newcastle once again, returning a musical ‘home’ whose original production only closed seven years ago.
News from New York: Color Purple and Fun Home are hits, Pacino flops, Groban arrives
London’s Menier Chocolate Factory have just scored their fourth Broadway hit: after previously transferring Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George and A Little Night Music, and Jerry Herman’s La Cage Aux Folles, to Broadway after runs in the West End first, this time they’ve by-passed the West End to go direct to Broadway with The Color Purple and take coals to Newcastle once again, returning a musical ‘home’ whose original production only closed seven years ago.
News from New York: Color Purple and Fun Home are hits, Pacino flops, Groban arrives
London’s Menier Chocolate Factory have just scored their fourth Broadway hit: after previously transferring Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George and A Little Night Music, and Jerry Herman’s La Cage Aux Folles, to Broadway after runs in the West End first, this time they’ve by-passed the West End to go direct to Broadway with The Color Purple and take coals to Newcastle once again, returning a musical ‘home’ whose original production only closed seven years ago.
Diary of a Theatre Addict: A week in New York, Some Magic, and a New Hip
London hits transfer to New York, and I come back from NYC to a hip replacement.
CYNTHIA ERIVO & OLIVER TOMPSETT SING SCOTT ALAN – Album Review
There’s an eclectic, relaxed charm to this collection of Scott Alan’s songs as performed by Cynthia Erivo and Oliver Tompsett. With Alan having enjoyed a modest UK residency this summer / autumn, there is a natural evolution that has seen this album born out of a collaboration of three people who evidently enjoy and above all complement each other’s talents.
Diary of a Theatre Addict: Starring with a cast of 500 Supporting Actors, and Two Trips to Yorkshire (with a day in London inbetween)
You Me Bum Bum Train isn’t exactly a train journey, but it provided the ride of my life; I also made two separate train journeys to Yorkshire that provided musical and comic diversions of their own.
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