Steven (a demonstrative David Ames) is celebrating his 47th birthday at the Manhattan branch of Joe Allen’s, where posters from little-remembered shows line the walls.
‘Entertainingly put together & starrily cast’: STEVE – Seven Dials Playhouse
The Seven Dials Playhouse opens with the European premiere of Mark Gerrard’s gently amusing and affecting Steve.
Mark Shenton kicks off his new ShenTens podcast with a top ten favourite musicals
I’ve launched a brand-new weekly podcast, called ShenTen, in which I will countdown my personal top tens in different theatrical categories.
‘A chance for performers to come back & shine’: The Theatre Channel – The Theatre Cafe (Online review)
The Theatre Channel showcases classics from musical theatre in a variety of settings for the digital age, so fans can enjoy their favourite songs and stars from the comfort of home.
‘Superb & enjoyable musical treat’: GODSPELL THE CONCERT (Online review)
The marvellous Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester has co-produced Godspell The Concert with Ginger Quiff Media.
NEWS: West End revival of Hello Dolly!, starring Imelda Staunton, postpones ‘until the time is right’
The hugely-anticipated new West End production of Hello, Dolly! starring Imelda Staunton, which was due to begin performances at the Adelphi Theatre in London on Tuesday 11 August 2020, has been indefinitely postponed.
NEWS: Tyrone Huntley, Clare Halse & Harry Hepple join the West End production of Hello, Dolly!
Joining the previously announced Imelda Staunton, Andy Nyman and Jenna Russell in the West End production of Hello, Dolly! at the Adelphi Theatre this summer will be Clare Halse, Tyrone Huntley and Harry Hepple.
NEWS: Andy Nyman & Jenna Russell join the West End cast of Hello Dolly!
Andy Nyman and Jenna Russell are to join the cast of Hello, Dolly! when the iconic musical arrives at the Adelphi Theatre this summer.
NEWS: Imelda Staunton will headline new West End production of Hello, Dolly! in summer 2020
Imelda Staunton will star as Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly!, alongside Jenna Russell as Irene Molloy, in a brand new London production of the musical at the Adelphi Theatre in 2020.
NEWS: Nominations are announced for the UK Theatre Awards 2019
The list of nominees has been revealed for this year’s UK Theatre Awards, the only nationwide awards to honour and celebrate outstanding achievements in theatre throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Best New Play nominees are Laura Wade’s The Watsons, Ulster American by David Ireland and Life Of Pi, adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti from Yann Martel’s novel, while Best Musical …
‘Captures the soul of the story perfectly’: THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY – Menier Chocolate Factory ★★★★
Jenna Russell’s stunning performance combined with Trevor Nunn’s delicately understated production captures the soul of the story perfectly in The Bridges of Madison County at the Menier Chocolate Factory.
NEWS: Jenna Russell will lead the company of The Bridges of Madison County at the Menier Chocolate Factory
Jenna Russell will lead the company for the UK premiere of Jason Robert Brown and Marsha Norman’s musical adaptation of Robert James Waller’s bestselling novel The Bridges of Madison County in a new staging by Trevor Nunn at the Menier Chocolate Factory.
‘Karimloo’s voice remains a thing of wonder’: BROADWAY @ LEICESTER SQUARE – Ramin Karimloo
The Broadway @ The Leicester Square brand is one which surfaces infrequently but always pays rich rewards when it does. Having attracted Patti LuPone, then Audra McDonald and John Barrowman into the intimate surroundings of an informal chat and sing-song arrangement with Seth Rudetsky, it is now Ramin Karimloo’s turn to deliver such a boutique concert.
‘Exceeds all expectations’: FUN HOME – Young Vic
Fun Home exceeds all expectations. It’s one of those productions where everything – book, music, performance, design – comes together in perfect harmony and by the final notes you know you’ve witnessed something sublime.
‘One of the best productions the theatre has housed’: FUN HOME – Young Vic ★★★★★
At last, the Young Vic has come of age. Fun Home marks one of the best productions it has housed and breaks new ground for musical theatre.
‘Bittersweetly funny, powerfully emotive & superlatively performed’: FUN HOME – Young Vic
It’s fitting that Fun Home should open in Pride month, not least because it is an all-too-rare show that focuses on the L in LGBT+. But as stirring and gratifying and significant as it is to have a lesbian protagonist, this musical works because it is straight-up fantastic.
NEWS: Jenna Russell, Kaisa Hammarlund & Cherrelle Skeete are cast in Fun Home at the Young Vic
Casting has been announced for Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron’s five-time Tony Award-winning musical Fun Home, playing at the Young Vic’s main house from 18 June to 1 September 2018 (press night is 27 June 2018). The line-up features Kaisa Hammarlund as Alison; Eleanor Kane as Medium Alison; Jenna Russell as Helen; Ashley Samuels as Roy, Mark and Jeremy; Cherrelle Skeete as Joan and Zubin Varla as Bruce, Alison’s father.
Year in Review: Ian Foster’s Best Actress in a Play & in a Musical
In addition to lists of top productions, Mates contributor Ian Foster reviews his reviews from the past year to award his personal prizes for the best performances for Best Actor and Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress in both plays and musicals…
Year in Review: Ian Foster’s 9 top theatre moments in 2016
The end-of-year lists of favourite plays and performances should be on their way soon, once the food coma has abated, but to tide you over, here’s my list of 9 of my top moments in a theatre over 2016, the things that first come to mind when someone says ‘what did you enjoy this year’. For reference, here’s my 2015 list and 2014 list.
The ‘arrival’ of the Hope TheatreI’ve been gazumped by The Stage in recognising this Islington fringe theatre for a stellar year but it is no more than Matthew Parker and his team there deserve. Over the course of 2016, intelligent and exciting programming has made the Hope into a must-see venue for me, no mean feat in a market already full of fringe venues and new ones opening every time you look up. From promoting new writing to astutely chosen revivals, scorchingly personal writing to themed seasons culminating in delightfully campy lesbian musicals, this theatre has been on fire all year long and has made me excited to see every single thing they put – and there’s precious few places, large or small, that can say that.
Wizards and magic and owls, oh myI’d have to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child again before deciding officially whether it is a great piece of drama or not, but there’s no doubting that it is a stonking piece of theatre and the atmosphere at the very first shows was something quite amazing to be a part of, even from the back row of the balcony. The romantic sweep of Christine Jones’ set and Steven Hoggett’s movement, John Tiffany’s endlessly imaginative direction and of course, the masterfully jaw-dropping effects from Jamie Harrison. It felt like something I’d never seen before and in the case of Sprocket the Owl, it was something no-one else saw either!
(c) Stephen CummiskeyMiriam Buether turning the world upside downIt’s incredible that in the same month that I saw Harry Potter, a play at the Hampstead Theatre matched it for simply astounding set design. Miriam Buether’s work on Wild was jaw-droppingly good and what I was particularly proud of on a personal level, was how I managed to reference it in plain sight in the review, yet still managing to avoid spoilers.See also: opening in the same month, Bob Crowley’s design for Aladdin was impressive against such stiff competition
The Hired Man brought to orchestral lifeI knew the concert version of The Hired Man at Cadogan Hall would be good, but I wasn’t prepared for just how emotional it would be. Hearing Jenna Russell and John Owen-Jones duetting on ‘No Choir Of Angels’ took me to the edge, being joined by Matthew Seadon-Young for the soaring ‘If I Could’ pushed me right over to leave me quietly sobbing for most of the interval.See also: Glenn Close ripping through ‘As If We Never Said Goodbye’
Discovering Lorraine Hansberry, for myselfBefore March this year, I’d never seen a Lorraine Hansberry play and seeing two in a month – Eclipse’s touring A Raisin in the Sun and the National Theatre’s Les Blancs – absolutely blew me away. Both will rank very highly in my end-of-year list but more than that, I enjoyed finding my own way into loving Hansberry’s work. It’s all very well being told someone is good (even when that someone is my mum, who has ranked Raisin… as one of her favourite plays for a while) but I much prefer forming these opinions for myself and now I can hand-on-heart agree that Hansberry’s was a superb talent.
The glorious rise of Noma DumezweniThere’s something beautiful in seeing karmic justice being served, especially to an actor who you’ve admired for a goodly while. Noma Dumezweni may not have been a household name at the beginning of the year but the trifecta of stepping into the lead role of Linda at a moment’s notice, making her directorial debut in I See You, and then nailing her inspired casting as the adult Hermione in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has seen her profile rise stratospherically. Most impressive of all the serene grace with which she has handled all manner of racist trolling on Twitter.
Finally getting ‘Satisfied’In a most rare example of restraint from myself, I had the Original Cast Recording of Hamilton for something like a year without listening to it, knowing that I would be doing my damnedest to see the show. And sure enough, with several months planning and the help of a generous birthday gift, I got to see the original cast live at the Richard Rodgers Theatre whereupon I experienced the absolute genius and glory of Renée Elise Goldsberry’s ‘Satisfied’ completely unspoiled. Without exaggeration, one of the best moments of musical theatre ever written.See also: getting to relive the sumptuous harmonies of Jessie Mueller, Kimiko Glenn and Keala Settle in ‘A Soft Place To Land’ from Waitress thanks to the wonder of Broadway cast recordings
(c) Pascal VictorIsabelle Huppert being Isabelle HuppertI’d argue that Isabelle Huppert is one of the finest actors in the world and what is particularly exciting about her is that she rarely takes easy, predictable decisions in her choice of collaborators and material. From films such as Elle to La Pianiste, she always provokes and so perhaps it was no surprise that a rare UK theatre appearance would be equally challenging. If anything got me through the nearly 4 hours of Phaedra(s), it was the undeniable electric star quality that she radiates, no matter what she’s doing.See also: getting to see Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart is always a pleasure, even if I had to suffer Pinter for the privilege
Holding the curtain in Derby A personal one here but one that still makes me chuckle. Back in March, I was invited to Derby Theatre to see the double bill of Look Back in Anger and response piece Jinny but the train I was booked on was cancelled. I got on the next one, knowing that time would be extremely tight, but I wasn’t expecting that when I got to the station, the wonderful Heidi from Derby Theatre bundled me into her car along with Mark Lawson, Michael Coveney and some other bloke, drove us to the stage door, where we were rushed into the theatre where they had held the beginning of the performance for our arrival! Not bad for a two-bit blogger 😉
THE HIRED MAN in Concert – Cadogan Hall
It is all too rare that an established musical is performed as a stand-alone concert. Taking the rich beauty of Howard Goodall’s score and having it sung by some of the industry’s biggest names, it was no wonder that The Hired Man in Concert, for one night only, was a hot ticket.