Joanna Riding and Claire Moore to lead cast of Gary Barlow's new musical The Girls

 Gary Barlow and Tim Firth have found their leading ladies for their new British musical THE GIRLS, based on  Calendar Girls.

Joanna Riding and Claire Moore will star in the world premiere of the show which runs at  Leeds Grand from 14 November-12 December and  the Salford Lowry from13 - 30 January 2016.

Both actresses took part  in Barlow & Firth's  private workshop production last weekend  at Burnsall Village Hall just outside Skipton,

along with Sally Dexter, Debbie Chazen, Michelle Dotrice, Rachel Lumberg and Harriet Thorpe,Ben Hunter, Chloe May Jackson and Jake Mitchell. The company will perform another workshop in a few weeks before the show begins rehearsals , and it seems likely the whole team is set to reunite  in the full production.

Riding recently played Cinderella's Mother in Rob Marshall's film Into the Woods and has an impressive list of West End credits including  The Pajama Game, My Fair Lady, The Witches of Eastwick , Guys & Dolls, A Little Night Music and Carousel.

Claire  Moore's London stage credits include Phantom, Miss Saigon, Little Shop of Horrors, Camelot and Putting It Together.

Casting for tour of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Initial casting has just been announced for the tour of dirty Rotten Scoundrels which recently ended its run at the Savoy Theatre.  It kicks off at the Birmingham New Alexandra on 5th May with rehearsals starting yesterday and the lead roles being  played by Michael Praed/Lawrence Jameson (The Sound of Music, Dangerous Corner, High Society), Noel Sullivan/Freddy(We Will Rock You, Priscilla Queen of the Desert), Mark Benton/Andre (Hairspray, The Railway Children, Hobson's Choice, Waterloo Road) and Carley Stenson/Chrisine Colgate(Legally Blonde, Shrek the Musical)  at venues up to and including Oxford New Theatre.

Further casting for the production, which had a successful West End run starring Robert Lindsay, Alex Gaumond. Katherine Kingsley and Bonnie Langford is to be announced.

Marcelo Gomes to guest star as Luca in The Car Man at Sadler's Wells.

Brazilian ballet star  Marcelo Gomes will guest star in th title role of  ‘Luca’ in the internationally acclaimed and multi-award winning dance thriller Matthew Bourne's THE CAR MAN” during the four week summer season at Sadler’s Wells from 14 July to 9 August 2015. He will alternate the role with the previously announced Jonathan Ollivier and Chris Trenfield; all three dancers worked together last year, sharing the role of ‘The Swan’ when Marcelo Gomes made his debut with New Adventures in the Tokyo Season of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake.

Full Sadler’s Wells casting schedule to be announced shortly

Rachel Tucker in Concert Back From Broadway

Rachel Tucker returns to the St James Theatre on Sunday19th April for two performances at at 3: 00pm and 7:00 pmwith her new solo show, Back From Broadway. This follows her debut at  Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre, playing Meg Dawson in Sting’s musical The Last Ship New York directed by Joe Mantello.

Tucker starred as Elphaba in the West End production of Wicked (Apollo Victoria Theatre). Her debut solo album The Reason was released in August 2013. Further theatre credits include Farragut North (Southwark Playhouse), We Will Rock You (Dominion Theatre), Tonight’s the Night (national tour), Rent (Olympia Theatre, Dublin), The Who’s Tommy (national tour), The Full Monty (national tour), The Wizard of Oz, To Be Sure, Merry Christmas Betty Ford and Have a Nice Life (Lyric Theatre, Belfast). Workshops include Lazarus directed by Ivo van Hove, T’Aint, Dusty and Love Never Dies. Television credits include I’d Do Anything (BBC), where she reached the semi-final stages for the role of Nancy.

Tickets for Rachel Tucker Back from Broadway

Jade Ewen out of tour of Godspell in Concert

Sugababe Jade Ewen has had to withdraw  from her role in this spring’s forthcoming tour of Godspell In Concert due to ill health.  Her replacement is Laura Mansell  (pictured) who is  already a member of the current cast and in rehearsals for the tour which opens at the Hackney Empire on Saturday 4 April.

Jade Ewen said of today’s announcement: “I’m saddened to have to withdraw from Godspell due to ill health. I wish the cast and crew a truly successful run, although I know they will put on an amazing show, and I can’t wait to see ”

Mansell’s previous theatrical credits include: Diva 2 in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (UK tour), Crystal in Little Shop of Horrors (White Bear Theatre), Precious Maguire in Steel Pier (Bridewell Theatre), BBC Proms with Maida Vale Singers and John Wilson Orchestra (Royal Albert Hall) and Rent (Garrick Theatre).

Motown the Musical due to open at Shaftesbury next March

Updated 3rd April: Motown the Musical is set to open at the Shaftesbury Theatre in March 2016. The venue is currently home to Memphis the Musical, which recently received 9  Olivier Awards nominations. Motown the Musical enjoyed a successful run on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre from March 2013 to January 2015. It had previously been speculated that the musical would play at The London Palladium

According to today's Mail,  negotiations to transfer Motown the Musical into the London Palladium have broken down  because the theatre's management wants to take a break from long-running shows  and concentrate instead   one-night stands, one-week runs and other short-term projects.

Comic Relief played the Palladium last weekend: Cats the musical reopens there tonight and runs until 25th April. Future events include a Frank Sinatra tribute with the possible return of Cats in the autumn plus shows from ITV and the BBC. So Motown’s looking for another home ...

Film Version Confirmed for Beautiful Carole King Musical

It has been confirmed that  a film adaptation is in the pipeline  of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical  is to  be produced by Sony with Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and Paul Blake as producers. The London production has been nominated for 8 Olivier Awards.

Songwriting legends Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil) two key  figures behind the current hit Broadway revue) have confirmed the new.

Hanks has previously produced and directed the similarly 1960s-set music-centric film THAT THING YOU DO! as well as executive produced the feature film adaptation of stage mega-hit MAMMA MIA! Also, Hanks made his Broadway debut in 2013 in Nora Ephron's LUCKY GUY for which he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor In A Play.

Sweet Charity in Concert starring Denise Van Outen, Michael Xavier, Kimberley Walsh & Kerry Ellis at the Cadogan Hall

Sweet Charity is being performed in concert by  Denise Van Outen (Legally Blonde/RENT) in the title role with Kerry Ellis (We Will Rock You/Cats/Wicked), Michael Xavier (Into the Woods/Assassins/The Pajama Game), and Kimberley Walsh (Shrek/Elf). at the Cadogan Hall from 19th-22nd August.  They will be accmpanied by Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and  Arts Ed Chorale conducted by Richard Balcombe

he show is directed by Paul Foster with choreography by Matt Flint. Sweet Charity has music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields and book by Neil Simon. It premiered on Broadway in 1966 and was most last seen in the West End in 2009 starring Tamzin Outhwaite.


Tickets for Sweet Charity in Concert

Blue's Duncan James to star in new tour of Priscilla Queen of the Desert

David Ian Productions and the Ambassador Theatre Group have just  announced a new  tour of PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT, starring Blue's Duncan James as ‘Tick’ will open at the Manchester Opera House in August.

David Ian said today “I am absolutely thrilled that audiences have demanded more of Priscilla! The reaction the show gets at theatres everywhere is like something I’ve never witnessed before – it is truly a party not to be missed. Having Duncan James play Tick is just the icing on the cupcake!”

 As one quarter of the pop band Blue, Duncan James has sold over 16 million records, had three number one albums and forty number one singles worldwide. His stage credits include playing Warner Huntington III in the West End production of Legally Blonde and Billy Flynn in Chicago. He was also a finalist on ITV1’s Dancing on Ice.



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Casting announced for Pet Shop Boys Closer To Heaven at Union Theatre

Updated 8th April: Full casting has just  been announced and stars  Jared Thompson/Straight Dave, Katie Meller/Billie Trix,  Amy Matthews/Shell, Connor Brabyn/Mile End Lee, Ben Kavanagh/Flynn Craig Berry/Vic and Ken Christiansen/Bob Saunders.

With ensemble members  Ellie Mitchell, Tamsyn Blake, Grace Reynolds, Jamie Firth, Martin Harding, Ben Somerside and Alex Tranter.



Closer to Heaven, a musical by Jonathan Harvey and the Pet Shop Boys, will receive its first London revival at the Union Theatre from Wednesday 22 April  to 23rd May  with a press night on Tuesday 28 April.

Set against the backdrop of Soho’s pulsing clubland, Closer to Heaven tells the story of Dave, just off the boat from Ireland and determined to make something of himself. He is offered a bar job at a glitzy London nightclub, where he quickly becomes part of an unconventional family including Billie Trix, a fading rock star of the sixties and mother figure to the club's habitués, Vic, the club’s owner and a middle-aged gay father, and his daughter Shell, who Dave sparks an immediate connection with. But will Dave truly discover himself in London, or will he fall into a labyrinth of excess, false agendas and the darker side of club life?

Casting is to be announced.

Closer to Heaven originally premiered at the Arts Theatre in 2001, and features an original club score by the Pet Shop Boys.

Pet Shop Boys are the UK’s most successful pop duo with 12 Top Ten studio albums and 40 Top Twenty singles including four number one records. Their first single West End Girls reached number one in nine countries, with further number one hits including It’s a Sin, Always on My Mind and Heart. They have won Brit awards for Best Single, Best Group and Outstanding Contribution to Music, and Ivor Novello Awards for Songwriting and Outstanding Contribution to British Music. They have a dedicated interest in combining music with theatre and film, having collaborated on tours with artist/director Derek Jarman, David Alden and David Fielding from the ENO, theatre designers Ian MacNeil and Es Devlin and director Sam Taylor-Wood. In 2001, Closer to Heaven was produced in the West End, and in 2011 their ballet The Most Incredible Thing, choreographed by Javier De Frutos, premiered at Sadler’s Wells.

Jonathan Harvey is the multi award-winning writer of Beautiful Thing, which returns to the West End in June. He has written 20 stage plays including Corrie!, Canary, Hushabye Mountain, Babies, Boom Bang A Bang and Rupert Street Lonely Hearts Club. His theatre work has won him an Evening Standard Award, two Manchester Evening News Awards, the George Devine Award and the John Whiting Award. Television work includes the Bafta nominated sitcom Gimme Gimme Gimme, Beautiful People, Coronation Street, Shameless, Rev (Bafta, Best Sitcom), At Home With The Braithwaites, Lilies, The Catherine Tate Show and Murder Most Horrid. Jonathan has also written 4 novels, published by Pan Macmillan, All She Wants, The Confusion of Karen Carpenter, The Girl Who Just Appeared, and The Secrets We Keep.

Closer to Heaven will be directed by Gene David Kirk, whose recent credits include Me & My Friend (Drayton Arms Theatre), The Two-Character Play by Tennessee Williams (Off Broadway), Orwell: A Celebration (Trafalgar Studios), The Ash Boy (Theatre503) and Elgar & Alice (UK Tour). Gene was Artistic Director of Jermyn Street Theatre from 2007 – 2012, winning The Stage’s Theatre of the Year Award in 2012. Gene was Executive Producer for the stage premiere of Samuel Beckett’s All That Fall starring Sir Michael Gambon and Dame Eileen Atkins, directed by Sir Trevor Nunn, which transferred to the West End’s Arts Theatre and to Off-Broadway’s 59east59 Theatre. Gene is currently Artistic Director of the Drayton Arms Theatre.

Paul Taylor-Mills Ltd returns to the Union Theatre following productions of The Beautiful Game and Bare: The Rock Musical. Other productions include In The Heights (Southwark Playhouse), Altar Boyz (Greenwich Theatre), The Cat in the Hat (UK Tour) and the forthcoming London revival of Carrie: The Musical (Southwark Playhouse).

Closer to Heaven has a book by Jonathan Harvey and music and lyrics by Pet Shop Boys. It is directed by Gene David Kirk with choreography by Philip Joel, musical direction by Patrick Stockbridge and design by David Shields. Casting is by Adam Braham. It is produced by Kylie Vilcins for Paul Taylor-Mills Ltd, by special arrangement with The Really Useful Group.

Tickets for Closer to Heaven

Booking details for Cats at Blackpool

Andrew Lloyd Webber's successful revival of the 
 London Palladium version of CATS (which is about to open again following the theatre closure for Comic Relief)  which starred Nicole Scherzinger (currently  Kerry Ellis until 22nd April ) in the role of Grizabella, is having six-week summer run at the Blackpool Opera House, beginning July 9th.

News on  casting for the Blackpool run to follows.

Tickets for Cats at Blackpool

Cynthia Erivo and,Clarke Peters join Jonathan Groff , Hannah Waddingham and Clive Rowe in How To Succeed In Business ...

Updated 2nd  April: it has just been announced that Cynthia Erivo (Rosemary) and Clarke Peters (J B Biggley)  will be joining this already stellar line up: 


Frozen's Jonathan Groff will star as  J. Pierrepont Finch in a UK concert performance debut in  How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying at the Royal Festival Hall on 19th May a 7:30pm . The cast also includes Hannah Waddingham (Kiss Me, Kate/Spamalot) as Hedy La Rue and Clive Rowe (The Light Princess/Kiss Me, Kate) as Mr Twimble.
 

Jonathan Butterell's  production has musical direction by Mike Dixon and will also feature the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in  Frank Loesser's classic Broadway song and dance show, which is set in New York in the early 1960s and  chronicles the meteoric rise of J. Pierrepont Finch, a young window cleaner who buys a book about rising up the corporate ladder.

After following the book's instructions, he soars to the top of his company, dodging more than a few obstacles on the way in the form of rivals such as Bud Frump and J. B. Biggley. But  professional life and work life shouldn't mix which  is a rule that Finch finds hard to follow when he falls in love with Rosemary, one of his company's secretaries. As Finch's confidence grows, he relies more on his charm and less on the book...

The 1961 musical was revived on Broadway in 1995  (where the show originally opened) starring Matthew Broderick and then again in 2011 starring Daniel Radcliffe . Darren Criss succeeded Radcliffe on January 3, 2012 for a limited three-week engagement after which Nick Jonas took over the role of Finch until the show closed in May 2012.

Tickets for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying  

Dreamgirls heading for West End?

According to the Daily Mail, producer Sonia Friedman has the rights for a  full West End production of the musical Dreamgirls  with  Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon and Aladdin) in talks to direct.

The London show will open more than 30 yers  after the original Broadway production, which  starred Jennifer Holliday as 'Effie' and  won six  Tony Awardsfor Best Book  Best Actor  Best Actress  Best Featured Actor , Best Lighting Design , and Best Choreography. The 2006 film adaptation featured Beyonce, Eddie Murphy  and Oscar winning Jennifer Hudson as Effie White who sings the fabulous powerful  number "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going.  Would be great if this happens!

Casting news for Mack and Mabel

Michael Ball is shortly to go on his  If Everyone Was Listening concert tour promoting his new album before staring rehearsals for the major revival of  the  Musical Mack and  Mabel at Chichester Festival Theatre which runs there from July 13th until 5th September before embarking on a six-date tour, starting at the Theatre Royal Plymouth on October 1st and running  until the beginning of December.  He  is portraying early cinema pioneer Mack Sennett in  the musical about Sennett’s  bittersweet romance with Mabel Normand, the woman he plucked from a bathing beauty chorus line and made a star.

Rebecca LaChance, who is in the ensemble and understudies the title role in the Broadway version of the Carole King musical Beautiful (the UK version of which has just  received 8 Olivier Nominations)  will play Mabel opposite  Michael Ball. The character met an unpleasant alcohol and drug fuelled ending which are not going to be glossed over in this new reworked production.

She said: ‘I am absolutely thrilled to be embarking on this new journey alongside Michael Ball.’Michael attended  final auditions in London and New York and felt she had the right chemistry.

Other casting to date is that the excellent Anna-Jane Casey (currently in Jerry's Girls at the St James Theatre) will be playing Lottie who performs show stopper Tap Your Troubles Away (a role she has played before).  More casting new to follow.

New tour of Priscilla Queen of the Desert this August

A new tour of Priscilla Queen of the Desert which launches in August has just gone on sale.  Venue and dates I have so far are Opera House Manchester/14-29 August: Sunderland Empire/31 August-5 September: Southampton Mayflower/ 14 - 19 September: Stoke Regent/21-26 September: Wimbledon/20-24 October: Birmingham Alexandra/26-31 October: Aylesbury Waterside/2-7 November: Brighton 30 November-5 December¨York Grand Opera House/30 November-5 December.

More venues and casting details to follow.

More casting news for Shock Treatment - Rocky Horror Sequel

Updated 27th March: It has just been announced that Former Neighbours star Mark Little is joining the cast of Shock Treatment  playing  ruthless TV executive Farley Flavors until 9th May. He will be joined by  horror comedy duo The Twins Macabre and Ben Kerr and Mateo Oxley.

Shock Treatment is  the sequel to Richard O’Brien’s THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW which is being performed at the King's Head Theatre from17th April-6th June.

First casting news is that Julie Atherton (Avenue Q, Sister Act, Therese Raquin) will play Janet in the production, and Rosanna Hyland (Urinetown) will play Betty Hapschatt, the role played in the 1981 film version by Ruby Wax. 

Brad and Janet  are the perfect young everyday couple  are back, but this time they’re not fighting transsexual aliens in a world of B-Movies, but  are sucked into the world of TV Media, where bleach-white teeth and immaculate make-up are the warpaint, the studio audience are the crowds baying for blood, and people will stop at nothing to get the ratings through the roof.

In Denton’s most break-neck TV studio  watch two innocent lovebirds torn apart by the talons of TV executive Farley Flavors, whose new television show Faith Factory will guarantee that at least one person is going to receive the shock of their life. As Doctors-and-Nurses fever takes hold of the studio, will Brad and Janet be able to escape, or will they forever be trapped behind the controlling powers of the exploitative  brother and sister TV Doctors Cosmo and Nation McKinley?

With music by Richard Hartley and lyrics by Richard O’Brien, SHOCK TREATMENT is brought to the stage for the very first time by director Benji Sperring and Tarquin Productions.

More casting news to follow.

Tickets for Shock Treatment

Gary Barlow's The Girls Musical to debut in Leeds and Salford

Updated 24th March:Gary Barlow and Tim Firth's musical based on The Calendar Girls, titled The Girls, will open at the Leeds Grand  from 14 November -12 December 2015 before moving to the Lowry Salford from 13-30 January 2016.

Gary Barlow really seems to have got the musical theatre bug.  Fresh from writing new songs and being involved in the Stateside launch for the reworked  musical Finding Neverland starring Matthew Morrison,  he has also been working with writer Tim Firth for some time on a another new musical about the Yorkshire WI women behind the famous nude calendar.  The Girls is a reinterpretation of the film and stage show Calendar Girls which were both written by Firth.

A workshop of The Girls is being performed at a village hall in the Yorkshire Dales later this month, with Debbie Chazen, Sally Dexter, Michelle Dotrice, Rachel Lumberg, Claire Moore, Joanna Riding and Harriet Thorpe.

I just hope they decide  keep the beautiful heartfelt song  I Find Your Love which  Beth Neilsen Chapman wrote for  the film which always beings tears to my eyes. 

Kerry Ellis, Cynthia Erivo and Janie Dee in London Festival of Cabaret

The third London Festival of Cabaret  runs from 28th April–11th May this year with The Delfont Room,  Sam Wanamaker Theatre at Shakespeare’s Globe and Wilton’s Music Hall now joining venues including  the Crazy Coqs, The Pheasantry, St James Studio and Jermyn Street Theatre.
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Amongst the  artists performing at the festival are:

•  Anne Reid and Stefan Bednarczyk with  Just in Time (Crazy Coqs, 28thApril–2nd May)
• American  Grammy Award–winning singer Jack Jones with  Coming Home, (The Pheasantry, 28th April–3rd May)
•  Kerry Ellis (Delfont Room, 7th May)
•  In the first collaboration between Shakespeare’s Globe and the London Festival of Cabaret Olivier Award-winning actress and singer Janie Dee will present Janie Dee & Friends (10th May) with special guests. 
•  At the St James Studio, composer Scott Alan and Cynthia Erivo team up again for their  show Home Again (4th–6th May). 
• Scott Alan will also be performing at the St James Theatre, a special one-off night with  Everything Worth Holding On To (May 4rd) 
• Caroline Sheen will be presenting (3 May) Sondheim & So Forth at the Jermyn Street Theatre

Patrons of The London Festival of Cabaret include Don Black OBE, Douglas Hodge, Maria Friedman, Michael Feinstein, Adam Guettel, Barb Jungr, Jason Robert Brown and Nicky Gayner.
Festival Producers for the London Festival of Cabaret are Paul Tyrer and Jamie Clark for TBO Touring Ltd. Artistic director is Neil Marcus.

Buy tickets for The London Festival of Cabaret

Casting announced for new tour of Hairspray

Casting  has just  been announced for the new tour of Hairspray which opens at the  Leicester Curve in September. 

Freya Sutton will reprise her role as Tracy Turnblad, having played the part in the 2013 UK tour, with Tony Maudsley (Benidorm) as Edna Turnblad, Peter Duncan (Birdsong, Blue Peter) as Wilbur, Claire Sweeney (Educating Rita, Chicago) as Velma Von Tussle and Brenda Edwards (Chicago, The X Factor) as Motormouth Maybelle.Jon Tsouras (A Chorus Line) will play Corny Collins, with Dex Lee as Seaweed, Ashley Gilmour as Link, Lauren Stroud as Amber, Monique Young as Penny, Karis Jack as Little Inez, Adam Price as Male Authority Figure, Tracey Penn as Female Authority Figure and Layton Williams as Duane.