Sunday, September 28

Nicole Scherzinger to play Grizabella in Cats at London Palladium

The rumour has finally been confirmed that ex Pussycat Doll and X Facor judge Nicole Scherzinger will be making her West End stage debut playing  Grizabella in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s record-breaking musical Cats.  It is returning to the West End for a strictly limited run at the London Palladium from 6th  December (press night 11th December) to 28th February.She will be joined by Cameron Ball (Macavity/Admetus), Kathryn Barnes (Tantomile), Cassie Clare (Cassandra), Ross Finnie (Skimbleshanks), Charlene Ford (Bombalurina), Adam Lake (Alonzo), Paul F Monaghan (Bustopher Jones/Asparagus/Growl Tiger), Joel Morris (Carbucketty), Natasha Mould (Jemima), Benjamin Mundy (Coricopat), Joseph Poulton (Quaxo/Mistoffelees), Nicholas Pound (Old Deuteronomy), Sophie Ragavelas (alternate Grizabella), Clare Rickard (Jellylorum/ Griddlebone), Adam Salter (Bill Bailey), Laurie Scarth (Jennyanydots),  Hannah Kenna Thomas (Victoria/White Cat), Callum Train (Munkustrap), Zizi Strallen (Demeter) and Dawn Williams (Rumpleteazer) with swings Ryan Gover, Barry Haywood, Alice Jane, Grace McKee, Dane Quixall and Libby Watts.
Nicole Scherzinger said:   “I am really thrilled to be making my West End debut in such an iconic show and I couldn’t be more excited.  To have the opportunity to work with Andrew, Trevor and Gillian is a dream come true.  I grew up listening to Andrew’s extraordinary music and was lucky enough, a couple of years ago, to record Cats’ beautiful song Memory.   Andrew’s score is breathtaking and I am truly honoured to have been asked to take part in what I know will be a very special time in my career.  I can’t wait to begin rehearsals.

Friday, September 26

New promo video for Miss Saigon 25th Anniversary Gala

The  exraordinary 25th Anniversary performance of Miss Saigon took place at the Prince Edward Theatre on Monday 22nd September.  There  will now be a broadcast  of the entire show on BBC Radio 2 on Friday 3rd October at 9:00 pm including  streamed footage of the celebratory finale as the cast of the current production are joined by members of the original company.

During the interval Michael Ball goes  backstage  and talks to some of the people involved in the show.

View new promo video for Miss Saigon 25th Anniversary Gala

Photos of Killian Donnelly & Beverley Knight from Memphis Musical



Photos (courtesy Daily Mail) from new production of Memphis the Musical starring Killian Donnelly and Beverley Knight which starts previews  at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 9th October.

Carole King cast for new musical Beautiful

Actress Katie Brayben is playing Carole King in the new musical Beautiful which is due to open at the Aldwych in the West End next February.

Miss Brayben is currently portraying Diana, Princess of Wales in the satirical play King Charles III at the  Wyndham's Theatre and has recentl  been in the Almeida's American Psycho with previous acting credits including  Sophie Sheridan in Mamma Mia! in the West End and on Tour as well as A Midsummer Night's Dream and Ragtime at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. She is also a singer-songwriter, plays the piano and cello, and writes and performs her own compositions - all  making her perfect for the role of King.

Beautiful  tells the story of Carole King's journey from school girl to superstar featuring classics including "Take Good Care of my Baby", "Up on the Roof" and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman".

Further casting includes Alan Morrissey, (I Can't Sing!)  as King's first husband Gerry Goffin, Glynis Barber (Dempsey  Makepeace) as King's mother, Lorna Want (Parade - Donmar Warehouse, Dreamboats and Petticoats - West End) and Gary Trainor (I Can't Sing!)







Thursday, September 25

Craig Revel Horwood playing Miss Hannigan in new tour of Annie

Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood will star as Miss Hannigan in a year long UK and Ireland tour of the musical Annie which opens in Newcastle's Theatre Royal on 11th  July 2015 before visiting Llandudno, Southampton, Southend, Eastbourne, Norwich and Cardiff, with more dates to be announced.

With its award-winning book and score, this stunning new production includes the unforgettable songs ‘It’s the Hard Knock Life’, ‘Easy Street’, ‘I Don’t Need Anything But You’ and ‘Tomorrow’.

Horwood is best knows as a judge on Strictly Come Dancing. His West End theatre credits include  Munkustrap in Cats (New London) and Harry in Crazy for You (Prince Edward) as well as appearing in Miss Saigon (Drury Lane)

This  new production of the musical has music and lyrics by Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin and a book by Thomas Meehan. It  will be directed by Nikolai Foster,(recently announced as the new artistic director of Leicester’s Curve), and is produced by Michael Harrison and David Ian.


Wednesday, September 24

Gina Beck, Daniel Boys & David Burt to star in Jacques Brel at Charing Cross Theatre

Jacques Brel is being presented at the Charing Cross Theatre from 1st-30th November.

 It will star Gina Beck (Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables), Daniel Boys (Avenue Q, Spamalot, Love Story, BBC’s Any Dream Will Do, 2007), David Burt (Kiss Me Kate, The Merchant of Venice, The Beggars People, Plague Over England) and Eve Polycarpou (In The Heights, Mother Courage, Jacques Brel - National Theatre, 1970s) This new production of the hit revue Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris is at the Charing Cross Theatre for a strictly limited season.

Often haunting, sometimes funny, heart-wrenching and vividly poetic, the songs of Jacques Brel explore the human condition through honest storytelling, with themes of joy and sorrow, love and loss, war and peace and life and death.

Directed by Andrew Keats, whose  production of Dessa Rose has just finished a sellout run at Trafalgar Studios, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris is a musical revue of the greatest works by one of the most prolific, Belgian, singer-songwriters of all time, with what are regarded as the definitive English translations of his works by Mort Shurman and Eric Blau and fresh orchestral arrangements by Eric Svejcar from the award winning 2006 Off Broadway production.


Tickets for Jacques Brel

New tour of Oklahoma! starring Belinda Lang and Gary Wilmot

A new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! is to  tour the UK and Ireland next year, opening at the Derngate Theatre in Northampton on 19th February 2015 and currently ending at the Wyombe Swan in August.



It will be Directed by Rachel Kavanaugh (The Sound of Music at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park and Love Story, which ran in both Chichester and the West End) with new choreography by Drew McOnie (In the Heights at Southwark Playhouse) , musical direction from Steve Ridley, set and costume design by Francis O'Connor, lighting by Tim Mitchell and sound by Ben Harrison.

It features a cast of 20 and a live orchestra and will star Belinda Lang (School for Scandal, Ladies in Lavender) as Aunt Eller, Gary Wilmot (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Pajama Game) as Ali Hakim, Ashley Day (The Book of Mormon, The Wizard of Oz) as Curly, Charlotte Wakefield (The Sound of Music, Mamma Mia!) as Laurey and Nic Greenshields (Guys and Dolls, Billy Elliot) as Jud Fry.

It was revived at the National Theatre in 1998 where it ran for 2 years starring  Hugh Jackman and Maureen Lipman.

Oklahoma! tells the story of two sets of star-crossed lovers: cowboy Curly McLain and his romance with farm girl Laurey Williams ans cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie. in Oklahoma territory in the early 1900s. It features the classic numbers Oh What a Beautiful mornin', The Surrey with the Fringe on Top, People Will Say We're in Love and of course Oklahoma
.

Monday, September 22

Jennifer DiNoia is new Elphaba in Wicked!

Jennifer DiNoia will be taking over the role of Elphaba in Wicked! at the Apollo Victoria from 27 October to 31st January 2015 (Kerry Ellis leaves on 25th October)

Jennifer DiNoia first joined the cast of WICKED in 2006 and has subsequently performed the role of Elphaba to huge acclaim across North America in the national tour, in both the Broadway and Chicago productions, and internationally in Seoul and Sydney. She will make her West End debut in the rolei October  marking the fourth country and sixth company  in which she will have performed the role.

Jason Manford to star in tour of The Producers

Comedian Jason Manford has just revealed that he is starring in the tour of the Producers which kicks off at Bromley next March before embarking on a tour until June.

Mel Brooks’ Academy Award winning movie took  Broadway and the West End by storm, winning a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards and 3 Olivier Awards.

Manford hosted Sunday Night at the London Palladium last night and is currently on First World Problems stand up comedy tour  He best known for his roles on comedy panel shows including 8 Out of 10 Cats on Channel 4 and Odd One In for ITV. Presenting credits have included Comedy Rocks, The One Show, Show Me the Funny and A Question of Sport: Super Saturday. He is an accomplished singer who is appearing as a guest on Alfie Boe's Trust concert tour later this year. He also appeared as the larger than life  Italian barber Pirelli  in Sweeney Todd in the West End for a limited season

Friday, September 19

Cast for Damn Yankees at the Landor

The full casting has just been announced for the Landor's revival of Damn Yankees! which opens on Tuesday 7th October (previews from 1st October) and runs until Saturday 8th November. Damn Yankees is written by Richard Adler (music), Jerry Ross (lyrics) and George Abbott and Douglass Wallop (book) and features the numbers 'Whatever Lola Wants' and 'You've Gotta Have Heart'.

Jonathan D Ellis (Les Misérables, Blood Brothers) will star as the Mephistophelean Applegate. He will be joined by Poppy Tierney (The Witches of Eastwick) as Lola and Alex Lodge (Saturday Night Fever) as Joe Hardy. Tony Stansfield will play Van Buren (the role he first played in the 1990s West End run). They will be joind by Nova Skipp, Gary Bland, Douglas Fanning, Barnaby Hughes, Joel Burman, Sam Stone, Kiel Payton, Ben Sell, Sam Lathwood, Emily Wigley, Kayleigh Thadani, Christopher Tendai, Elizabeth Futter, Sophie May Whitfield, Samson Ajewole and Leah Pinney. .

Damn Yankees originally ran on Broadway for 1,019 performances. Robert McWhir directs with musical direction from Michael Webborn and choreography by Robbie O’Reilly. 

Tickets for Damn Yankees!

Wednesday, September 17

Friday, September 12

Brian Gilligan taking over from Killian Donnelly in The Commitments.

Killian Donnelly leave  the Commitments at the Palace Theatre this weekend to join the cast of Memphis the Musical which starts previews at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 9th October. The role of Deco Deco" Cuffe lead singer of the band will be taken over by Brian Gilligan.

He trained at the Abbey School of Music and Drama, and is a self-taught instrumentalist.  Credits while training include: Gherardo in Gianni Schicchi, Mr Upfold in Albert Herring, Bill in A Hand of Bridge, Robert in The Drowsy Chaperone and Thisby/Flute and Bottom/Pyramus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Theatre includes: Perchik in Fiddler on the Roof (Jim Molloy Productions 2011), Man 1 in Songs for a New World (Mermaid Arts Centre, Dublin, 2011), The Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz (Helix DCU, Dublin 2011), Robinson Crusoe in Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates pantomime (Gaiety, Dublin 2011-12), Anglo Boy 4 in Anglo the Musical (Olympia, Dublin 2013), Sean Og O Coileain in The Promise Musical (Irish premiere, Helix DCU, Dublin 2012), Curly in Oklahoma! (National Concert Hall 2012) and Michael Collins in Michael Collins a Musical Drama (Tivoli, Dublin 2013).

Opera and operetta include: Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance (Festival Productions 2008 and New Lyric Opera Productions 2010), Marco in The Gondoliers (Festival Productions 2009), Parpignol in La Bohème (Lyric Opera Productions 2009), Giuseppe in La Traviata, Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor and The Registrar in Madame Butterfly (Lyric Opera Productions 2010), Blink in Die Fledermaus (Loughcrew Garden Opera 2011), Camille in The Merry Widow and Un Messo in Il Trovatore (Lyric Opera Productions 2011) and Lensky in Eugene Onegin, Ferrando in Così Fan Tutte and Sam in Street Scene (Opera in the Open 2012).


Thursday, September 11

Ruthie Henshall at Last Night of Proms leading Mary Poppins Singalong

West End star Ruthie Henshall is currently starring as dance taher Mrs Wilkinson in the musical Billy Elliott, but it has just been announced she is performing at the Last Night of the Proms on Saturday 13th September to lead the Royal Albert Hall and Proms in the Park audiences around the UK in a  Mary Poppins singalong. The specially arranged medley by Anne Dudley marks the 50th anniversary of the iconic Disney film.

Ruthiesaid of making her Last Night of the Proms debut: "It's something I've always watched so to be a part of it is a total honour."

Friday, September 5

Beautiful Producers looking for British Carole King

The producers of hit Broadway musical Beautiful, based on the music of Carole King and Gerry Goffin, will preview at the Aldwych Theatre  on 10th February and open on the 25th with an all-British cast.

The show has made a star of Jessie Mueller, who created the King role on stage in New York. But she is not known in the UK. The show, featuring all the songs associated with King, is strong enough on its own and doesn’t require a big star. The producers and creative team will visit London this month to decide who to cast in the main role.

Tam Mutu Katherine Kelly & Peter Polycarpou join cast of City of Angels

As already announced Cy Coleman's musical City of Angels will be running at the Donmar Warehouse over Christmas and the New Year from 5th December to 7th February 2015

Joining the already announced cast of  Hadley Fraser as Stine the novelist who is adapting his novel City of Angels into a screenplay with Rosalie Craig is his wife Gabby/Bobbi who disapproves of his womanizing and eventually leaves him and Samantha Barks who plays Mallory/Avril is Katherine Kelly/Carla Haywood & Alaura Kingsley  (Mr Selfridge and Coronation Street ), Tam Mutu (recently Javert in LesMis) and Peter Polycarpou is movie mogul Buddy Fiddler (currently in Guys & Dolls at Chichester).

Over a quarter of the tickets for this production have been held back, allowing for more than 550 tickets to go on sale each week in December  including Barclays Front Row and Day Tickets.







Thursday, September 4

Cast announced for Evita at the Dominion

ITV’s Superstar talent contest winner, Ben Forster,  is to play Agustin Magaldi in the forthcoming West End run of Evita at the Dominion Theatre. The show  has  a limited run of just 5 performances opening  on September 16th , with a press night on September 22nd.

Forster joins the previously announced Marti Pellow/Che, and Madalena Alberto/ Eva and Matthew  Cammelle (Three Phantoms, South Pacific, The Phantom of the Opera)) as Peron.  They will be joined by Sarah McNicholas, Michelle Pentecost, Amira Matthews, Olive Robinson, Verity Burgess, Gemma Atkins, Lizzie Ottley, Joe McCourt, Joe Maxwell, Joel Elferink, Ryan Pidgen, Anthony Ray, Chris Stoddart, Callum Fitzgerald, David Burlin, Stuart MacIver, Peter McPherson, Joseph Connor, Jamie Tyler and Christopher Palmer.

New trailer for Evita

Forster has appeared as Jesus in an arena tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar in both the UK and Australia followed by playing Brad Majors in the 40th anniversary tour of The Rocky Horror Show.

Tickets for Evita

Bonnie Langford and Gary Wilmot joining Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Samantha Bond is leaving Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the Savoy Theatre on 6th September.  The role of  Muriel Eubanks will tbe taken over by Bonnie Langford from 16h September.  Her musical theatre credits include  Cats, The Pirates of Penzance and Chicago and more recently  playing Lady of the Lake in Spamalot and the tour of the Dolly Parton musical 9 to 5.

John Marquez (Doc Martin's PC Penhale) who plays Andre Thibault (Beaumont-sur-Mer’s Chief of Police) is also leaving and his role will be taken over by Gary Wilmot who is currently appearing in The Pajama Game.

Tuesday, September 2

New Tour of Anything Goes

Stage Entertainment, in association with Sheffield Theatres, has just announced  a new UK and Ireland tour of Cole Porter’s classic musical comedy, Anything Goes . Following its run at the Crucible theatre in Sheffield (28 November 2014 – 17 January 2015), the tour will open at the New Wimbledon Theatre on  29th January before visiting Aylesbury. Stoke, Bromley, Bradford, Liverpool, Eastbourne, Southampton, Manchester, Glasgow, Dartford,  Northampton, High Wycombe, Belfast, York, Plymouth, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Leeds, Cardiff, Wolverhampton, Aberdeen, Dublin, Torquay, Bournemouth, Woking, Oxford, Birmingham,  Milton Keynes, Sunderland and Bristol Hippodrome where it currently ends on 10th October. Full  casting details to follow shortly.

 Directed by Daniel Evans and choreographed by Alistair David, this brand new production of Cole Porter’s classic, multi-award winning musical comedy,  transports you to the magical age of tap dancing and high society.When Billy Crocker discovers that his heart’s desire, debutante heiress Hope Harcourt is engaged to an English aristocrat, he stows away aboard the S.S. American to win her back. Aided by a string of eccentric passengers on board the luxurious transatlantic liner, can this web of love be untangled before they reach Southampton?

 Featuring  a live orchestra and a  cast of 26, Cole Porter’s uplifting masterpiece of song and dance features standard songs  I Get A Kick Out of You, You’re the Top, It’s De-Lovely and Anything Goes.

Kerry Ellis & Adam Pascal now joined by Cynthia Erivo, David Bedella and Oliver Tompsett in Night of Electric Voices Charity Gala

26th JANUARY.  THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED

Updated 15th January:  Lee Mead has now joined line up.Updated 12th December:  Cynthia Erivo, David Bedella and Oliver Tompsett are now joining the Night of Electric Vioces Gala.

On Sunday March 1st performers from London and New York, together with the soloists of the City of London Philharmonic and the West End Chorus, will present he Night of Electric Voices celebration of rock musicals at  the London Coliseum.

Apart from the other international guests who will be announced later, the stars for this  evening will include Adam Pascal (Broadway’s RENT and Memphis); Kerry Ellis (Wicked and Oliver!), and David Michael Johnson (We Will Rock You in Germany). Featuring numbers from Jesus Christ Superstar, We Will Rock You, The Rocky Horror Show, Chess, RENT, Hair, Little Shop of Horrors, Tommy, The Lion King and Spring Awakening this spectacular concert will again be introduced by one of the  Sir Tim Rice.

 The Night of Electric Voices will once again support The Alan Jay Lerner Fund for Cancer Research at The Royal Marsden which  exists solely to support  pioneering work in cancer research, diagnosis, treatment and care.

With musical directors Stuart Morley, Kevin Amos and David Firman (musical director of the original productions of Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita; and Chess in Concert), The Night of Electric Voices will again be devised and directed by Hugh Wooldridge who says 'This evening is a must for all who love musicals. Come along again and join in the fun. Come and support this most splendid charity in the name of Alan Jay Lerner, whilst raising the roof of the London Coliseum.'



Tickets for The Night of Electric Voices