Rarely in the history of Islington playgoing have so many first-nighters whooped so enthusiastically at Gospel rock. When cheers for Elton John’s anthems in Tammy Faye at the Almeida Theatre briefly abate it is often for quite different whoops, laughter at James Graham’s dry sharp script or moments of enchanted shock at an unexpected popup.
Mark Shenton bemoans the lack of British songwriters in Radio 2’s forthcoming musicals celebration
Radio 2’s Greatest Show could — and should — have been a platform to celebrate more British musicals, especially here, especially now, with the industry floundering so badly. A show of support for our own creators of new musicals would not have gone amiss.
‘The passion that Kaye has for his profession & Elton John is clear’: ELTON JOHN: IT’S A LITTLE BIT FUNNY – Touring ★★★★
Elton John: It’s A Little Bit Funny is a whistle-stop tour of Elton John’s outrageous life, with a soundtrack of some of his greatest hits performed by an excellent live band.
‘Kaye’s enthusiasm for Elton is infectious’: ELTON JOHN IT’S A LITTLE BIT FUNNY – Upstairs at the Gatehouse ★★★
Clever and entertaining, Elton John It’s A Little Bit Funny is a musically brilliant tribute to one of our greatest showmen.
NEWS: Elton John, Sam Mendes, Natasha Gordon, James Graham & Giles Terera feature in the New Year Honours List
Elton John, Sam Mendes, Christopher Hampton, Natasha Gordon, James Graham, Giles Terera and Stephen Mear are among the list of theatre and showbusiness luminaries who feature in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
‘Spine-tingling moments linger in the mind’: THE LION KING – West End ★★★★★
It really is no wonder why The Lion King has lasted in the West End as long as it has. It is still as powerfully moving and beautiful to watch and feels as though it only opened in London for the first time yesterday.
BILLY ELLIOT – Touring
Tutu Good To Miss:Five stars and ten tissues as the smash hit musical of a working class boy’s battle to do ballet comes to the Edinburgh Playhouse.
The week in theatre: Billy Elliot goes, School of Rock comes, Bugsy Malone returns
Big musicals news of the week: Billy Elliot is closing at the Victoria Palace, School of Rock is coming to the London Palladium, Bugsy Malone is returning to the Lyric Hammersmith, and Gypsy will on be BBC4.
NEWS: Billy Elliot closes on 9 April after 11 years in West End
Universal Stage Productions, Working Title Films and Old Vic Productions today (10 December 2015) announce that after 4,600 performances, due to the theatre’s previously announced refurbishment programme, the multi award-winning West End production of Billy Elliot the Musical will play its final performance at the Victoria Palace Theatre on 9 April 2016 as the production celebrates its eleventh birthday. The show has been seen to date by over 5.25 million people in London and nearly 11 million people worldwide, has grossed over $800 million worldwide and is the winner of over 80 theatre awards internationally.
Pure Imagination: Leslie Bricusse on searching for the perfect song
How well do you know the work of composer-lyricist Leslie Bricusse? How many songs can you name by this living legend… apart from “Pure Imagination” (and the “Oompa Loompa” theme) from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. How about, for starters, Bond classics “Goldfinger” and “You Only Live Twice”, “If I Ruled the World”, “What Kind of Fool Am I?”, “The Candy Man”, “This Is the Moment”, “Can You Read My Mind?” (from Superman), “My Old Man’s a Dustman”, “The Pink Panther” and “Talk to the Animals” (from Doctor Doolittle)? And that really is, only for starters.
NEWS: Full dates announced for Billy Elliot’s first-ever UK tour
Universal Stage Productions, Working Title Films and Old Vic Productions are delighted to announce the complete list of dates for the first-ever UK and Ireland tour of Billy Elliot the Musical.
DUSTY – Charing Cross Theatre
With the turmoil of three months ‘in previews’ and gossipy leakage over cast changes and backstage bickering which might warrant a musical in itself, Dusty has become London’s Off-West End equivalent of Spider-Man. But not even industrial-strength bungees could save this turkey from an early Christmas.
Review: Billy Elliott (Victoria Palace)
Howway, our Billy, it’s been a long time … in fact it’s so long since I first saw Billy Elliott, George Maguire one of the original Billys has grown up and I’ve been able to review his adult work. So it was a treat to go back and see how it is, ten years on. It is […]
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Review: Next Fall (Southwark Playhouse)
Oh Jesus, not another ‘gay play’ — except that this time, Jesus himself features quite a bit. Next Fall pitches an interesting slant on the gay ‘dramedy’ where a young guy from Florida is challenged to justify his strong religious faith by a relationship with an older, cynical atheist. And then — cue off-stage car-crash […]
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