The week began with Andrew Lloyd Webber being mentioned by Boris Johnson, as he extended the lockdown from the originally hoped-for ‘Freedom Day’ of 21 June to 19 July, at which point theatres may be able to reopen without social distancing in place;
From stage to screen (small & big): The adaptations keep on coming
In the last 30 years or more, roughly half of every new musical that arrives on Broadway or in the West End seems to be based on a film.
‘A superb choice to lift a nation’s spirits’: ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS – National Theatre (Online review)
The first show in the National Theatre at Home programme was the 2011 smash-hit One Man, Two Guvnors, one of the great success stories of the Nicholas Hytner era, a cheeky farce written by Richard Bean and starring National Theatre favourites James Corden and Oliver Chris.
‘This proves that staying in really does have its compensation’: ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS – National Theatre (Online review)
These shows, originally filmed as part of the flagship’s NT Live project, are now available on its YouTube channel. The first is Richard Bean’s gloriously silly farce, One Man, Two, Guvnors, starring the irrepressible and Tony-award winning James Corden.
‘Trying to capture just a spark of that charge that comes with live theatre’: ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS – National Theatre (Online review)
National Theatre at Home is a huge success. The type of scheme that only large institutions can hope to really pull off but even so, managing the kind of appointment-to-view occasion that was its debut with One Man, Two Guvnors was still a remarkable achievement.
‘As vibrantly funny as ever’: ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS – National Theatre ★★★★★ (Online review)
It would be fair to say that right now what the British public need right now is a laugh – particularly if they are missing going to the theatre – which is why it was a stroke of genius for the National Theatre to stream One Man, Two Guvnors.
‘Re-living the past so intensely is eerie’: ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS – National Theatre (Online review)
After the theatres closed, the National Theatre was quick to announce a free mini-season of online shows from their NT Live broadcasts, which immediately became the only evening bookings in thousands of newly empty diaries. The first Youtube show – Nicholas Hytner’s mid-2000s mega-hit, One Man, Two Guvnors – had a real sense of anticipation.
NEWS: National Theatre will stream NT Live productions for free via YouTube
A selection of much-loved National Theatre Live productions will be made available to watch on YouTube for free over the next two months.
YOUNG MARX – Bridge Theatre
It’s a clever idea by Richard Bean, to envision a story set when Karl Marx was an impecunious migrant living in the ‘squalor’ of Dean Street in Soho, caught between the pawnbrokers and the bailiff in a hand to mouth existence, and to pair him with his future political ally Friedrich Engels in a sort of knockabout turn like Morecambe and Wise, with a sidelong glance at the actual Marx Brothers.
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.
GUYS & DOLLS – West End
It is a sound idea that has seen Chichester Festival Theatre send their acclaimed 2014 production of Guys and Dolls on the road. The UK tour that commenced in Manchester in November last year is now making a three-month stop at London’s Savoy and it proves fun to re-visit some of this productions more inspired moments
Year in Review: My top Twitter activity in 2015
If you know me at all well, you’ll know that I’m a Twitter addict. I can’t help but share with you a few collections that give a fascinating insight into not just the stuff I’ve been ranting about on social media over the past 12 months, but more interestingly, the stuff that you, and others like you, have found most interesting of the stuff I’ve been ranting about.
Year in Review: My top Twitter activity in 2015
If you know me at all well, you’ll know that I’m a Twitter addict. I can’t help but share with you a few collections that give a fascinating insight into not just the stuff I’ve been ranting about on social media over the past 12 months, but more interestingly, the stuff that you, and others like you, have found most interesting of the stuff I’ve been ranting about.
Review: Into The Woods (Cinemas)
I don’t normally review movies but am making an exception because Into The Woods has been such a staple of my theatregoing since I caught the original (Bernadette Peters) Broadway production in 1987 and slept through so much of the second act – it was the day I’d flown the Atlantic – that I almost […]
The post Review: Into The Woods (Cinemas) appeared first on JohnnyFox.
Review: Into The Woods (Cinemas)
I don’t normally review movies but am making an exception because Into The Woods has been such a staple of my theatregoing since I caught the original (Bernadette Peters) Broadway production in 1987 and slept through so much of the second act – it was the day I’d flown the Atlantic – that I almost […]
The post Review: Into The Woods (Cinemas) appeared first on JohnnyFox.
Is Into the Woods one of the best stage-to-screen musicals of all time?
I’m jealous of guests attending the UK gala screening of Into the Woods tonight at London’s Curzon Mayfair cinema. Not for the celeb-spotting, paparazzi-dodging, canape-scarfing or any other red carpet reason. But simply because they get to watch this fantastic, fantastical film. Indeed, I’ll extend my envy to anyone booking to see Into the Woods this weekend or […]