Casting announced for tour of Titanic the Musical

Casting has been announced for the UK tour of Titanic the musical which opens at the Mayflower Southampton in April.C. Thom Southerland’s  cast of 25 will feature 11 actors from previous Toronto, Southwark Playhouse  and Charing Cross Theatre  productions including Kieran Brown (The Phantom of the Opera)/Murdoch, Devon-Elise Johnson (Half a Sixpence)/Kate Murphy, Claire Machin (The Girls)/Alice Beane, Victoria Serra (Mamma Mia!)/Kate McGowan and Niall Sheehy (Miss Saigon)/Barrett.They will be joined by Alistair Barron/Lightoller , Greg Castiglioni/Andrews, Lewis Cornay/Bellboy/Hartley, Simon Green/Ismay, Emma Harrold/ Kate Mullins, Claire Marlowe/Lady Caroline, Oliver Marshall/Bride, Chris McGuigan/Jim Farrell, Matthew McKenna/Pitman/Etches, Joel Parnis/Fleet, Timothy Quinlan/Edgar Beane, Philip Rham/Captain Smith, Dudley Rogers/Isidor Straus, Judith Street/Ida Straus, Stephen Webb/Chales Clarke  and ensemble members Samuel J Weir, Alexander Evans, Matthew McDonald, Gemma McMeel and  Janet Mooney

Casting call for Spielberg's West Side Story

It is now confirmed that Steven Spielberg is to direct a new version of West Side Story, adapted by Tony Kushner (Angels in America), featuring the show's original music. Spielberg hasn't yet directed a musical nut  did have an on-screen role in the film adaptation of The Blues Brothers. His current film, The Post, stars Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep.

Open auditions have been announced with  Spielberg explicitly asking for performers between the ages of 15 and 25 to fill the main roles of Tony, Maria, Anita and Bernando.

Set in 1950s New York, the classic musical tells of the gang rivalry between the New York Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks. It is loosely based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and features classic numbers including "I Feel Pretty", "Something's Coming", "America", "Cool" and "Tonight". It has music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and conception and choreography by Jerome Robbins.The original film came out in 1961 and starred Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno and George Chakiris. It went on to win ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

A release date for the film is yet to be confirmed, but anyone keen to audition should email westsidestorycastingsearch@gmail.com

Sondheim's Follies to return to National next year

Speaking at the Critics' Circle Awards in London earlier this week, director Dominic Cooke confirmed that the National Theatre production of Stephen Sondheim's Follies will return next year.

 "We are going to bring Follies back. We think it'll be around this time next year but we aren't sure. We don't know who's going to be cast, everything is up for grabs. It'll be at the National, and the hope is that it'll go somewhere afterwards but at the moment we're focussing on the Olivier.It gives us the chance to go back and rework things, and rediscover things, and creatively that's a real privilege."

Follies opened at the National in September 2017 and closed at the start of 2018. The original production featured a cast of 37 including Imelda Staunton, Janie Dee, Tracie Bennett, Zizi Strallen, Philip Quast, Adam Rhys-Charles, Peter Forbes.

Book of Mormon cast changes

Some new cast members have joined The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre.  They include Dom Simpson  as Elder Price, Steven Webb/Moroni/Elder McKinley, J Michael Finley (picured) asElder Cunningham, Dean Maynard/ Price's Dad, Richard Lloyd-King/Mafala Hatimbi, Leanne Robinson/ Nabalungi, Michael Moulton/ General and Nicholas McLean as the doctor with Tom Xander as stand by Elder Cunningham.

With ensemble members Ross Carpenter, Philip Catchpole, James Chisholm, Nicholas Collier, Will Haswell, Sackie Osakonor, Estisyai Phillip, Stephen Rolley, Lejaun Sheppard, Lukin Simmonds, Bree Smith, Madison Swan, Tommy Wade-Smith and Dan Walter and swings Olly Christopher, Christopher Copeland, Joseph Davenport, Demi Goodman, Jack Greaves, Myles Hart, Savanna Jeffrey, Alex Lodge, David McMullan (Resident Choreographer and , Robyn Rose.

DOM SIMPSON/Elder Price
Trained Arts Educational School, graduating in 2016. He made his professional theatrical debut as Standby Elder Price in The Book of Mormon on Broadway (Eugene O’Neill Theatre). 

J. MICHAEL FINLEY/Elder Cunningham
Theatre includes: Broadway: Elder Cunningham Standby in The Book of Mormon, and Brujon, Champmathieu, Loud Hailer and understudy Valjean in Les Misérables 25th Anniversary. Chicago: Lyric Opera, Drury Lane, Marriott, Paramount, Court, Writers’, Mercury.

Film includes: Bart Millard in I Can Only Imagine (released in March).

New Beatles Let It Be Part II Tour

Let It Be: A Celebration Of The Music Of The Beatles  has now been updated and is back on a UK national tour this Summer and Autumn, with brand new Let It Be Part II tour – which has never been seen before in the UK.

It features many of the Fab Four’s best loved songs including A Hard Days Night, Day Tripper, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Twist and Shout, I Want To Hold Your Hand and Strawberry Fields Forever. 

The team behind international hit stage show Let It Be, created a special show for fans by incorporating a brand new Let It Be Part II into the show when Beatles fans are invited to join John, Paul, George and Ringo for a great night of live music. Enjoy the early beginnings at the word famous Cavern Club, through to the height of Beatlemania. In a twist from the original Let It Be show, audiences will then be taken on a Magical Mystery Tour to experience the concert that never was.

Part II of Let It Be is the brand new part of the show, giving audiences the rare opportunity to see The Beatles reunite for one night only, set a decade after the group went their separate ways.

More casting announced for Drew McOnie's Strictly Ballroom

Further casting has been announced for Baz Luhrmann's classic Strictly Ballroom:   Anna Francolini and Gerard Horan will join the previously announced Jonny Labey, Zizi Strallen and Will Young as Shirley Hastings and  Barry Fife.

Francolini's credits include wonder.land at the National Theatre, That Day We Sang at the Royal Exchange and Peter Pan at the National Theatre. Horan was recently seen at the Royal Court in The Ferryman and other credits include The Vote (Donmar) and The Christmas Truce for the RSC.

Drew McOnie directs and choreographs this production which opened in the UK at West Yorkshire Playhouse in December 2016 and  runs at the Piccadilly Theatre from 24 April, with previews from 29 March.

Full Casting announced for Ruthless! The Musical at Arts Theatre

Updated 5th March ; The final casting has just been announced for the UK premiere of Joel Paley and Marvin Laird's all-female character musical Ruthless!

Dancing on Ice judge Jason Gardiner will play agent Sylvia St. Croix alongside Olivier Award-winner Tracie Bennett, Harriet Thorpe (Great Britain), Lara Denning (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and Kim Maresca (Ruthless!, off-Broadway). The children alternating in  the central role of Tina Denmark will be Fifi Bloomsbury Khier, Charlotte Breen, Anya Evans and Lucy Simmonds

Jason Gardiner is originally from Melbourne, and is a television broadcaster, performer and choreographer - he is currently a judge in the popular ITV series Dancing on Ice. He began his professional career in the original Australian cast of 42nd Street at the age of 16, and has since gone on to perform in over 20 award-winning musicals including West Side Story, Cats, Dames At Sea, Oklahoma, Anything Goes, Chicago, Pippin and My Fair Lady. As a choreographer he has worked with some of the industry's biggest names including Pink, Dame Shirley Bassey, Kylie, Cher, Bjork, Roseanne Barr and Sir Elton John.

Tracie Bennett's theatre work includes Follies (National Theatre); and in the West End, Mrs Henderson Presents, End of the Rainbow (also Broadway - winner of Outer Critics' Circle and Drama Desk awards; and Olivier and Tony Award nominations), La Cage aux Folles, Hairspray - Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical, Les Misérables, She Loves Me - Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical. Other theatre work includes The Hypochondriac (Theatre Royal Bath), Sex, Chips & Rock 'n' Roll - TMA Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical (Royal Exchange Manchester), Carousel, Billy Liar (ATG), High Society (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), and Guys and Dolls, Educating Rita, Spring Awakening (Sheffield Theatre). For television, her work includes Scott & Bailey, Burn It, New Tricks, Candy Cabs, Dalziel and Pascoe, Vincent, The Royal, The Long Firm, MIT: Murder Investigation Team, Heroes and Villains, Keen Eddie, Where the Heart Is, Coronation Street (as series regular Sharon Bentley), Heartbeat, The Gingerbread Girl, Joking Apart, The Upper Hand, Rich Tea and Sympathy, Making Out; and for film, Shirley Valentine, Deep Red Instant, Knights and Emeralds.

Lara Denning's theatre work includes Scrooge the Musical (Curve), The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ - The Musical (Menier Chocolate Factory), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Matilda (Cambridge Theatre), The Rocky Horror Show (European tour), Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance, All The Fun of the Fair, You Don't Bring Me Flowers, Dirty Dancing in Concert (UK tours) and Can Can (Sadlers Wells). Her television work includes Toast of London.

Kim Maresca is reprising the role she played Off Broadway in the most recent run of Ruthless! The Musical. She recently played her fifth sold-out engagement of her one-woman show at Feinstein's/54 Below. Regional: Twelfth Night (Westport Country Playhouse), Biondella in The Taming of the Shrew (Saratoga Shakespeare Company) and Maureen in Rent (Thomaston Opera House).

Harriet Thorpe is perhaps best known for her role as Carole in the BBC's popular Brittas Empire and Fleur in Absolutely Fabulous. Her West End credits include Great Britain (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Pravda, The Government Inspector, All My Sons, A Prayer for Owen Meany (National Theatre), Wicked (Apollo Theatre), Rufus Norris' production of Cabaret (Lyric Theatre, UK tour and Savoy Theatre), Crazy for You (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre and Novello Theatre), Tanya in Mamma Mia (Prince of Wales Theatre), Madame Thenardier in Les Miserables, The Vagina Monologues and Jackie O. Other theatre credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, Cymbeline (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre), Street Car to Tennessee (Young Vic), Brighton Rock (Almeida Theatre) and Calendar Girls (Phoenix Theatre). Work with French and Saunders includes Girls on Top, French And Saunders series and most recently Vivienne Vyle. Other television work includes The Secrets: The Conversation, Material Girl, Victoria Wood's Christmas Special and The Musketeers. Films include Absolutely Fabulous The Movie, Maurice, Greystroke, Mike Leigh's Life is Sweet, Zefferelli's Toscanni, Suzie Gold, Calendar Girls, The Calling, S.N.U.B., An Arm's Length, Wise Girl and The Lady in the Van.


Directed by Richard Fitch with choreography by Rebecca Howell and musical supervision by Gareth Valentine, the comedy spoofs Broadway shows such as Gypsy and Mame.The award winning Ruthless! The Musical is to  receive its UK premiere at London’s Arts Theatre for a strictly limited 14-week run beginning with previews from 16th March ahead of a 27th March opening night and final performance on 23rd June. It follows ALL OR NOTHING, the Small Faces musical which  is due to transfer into the Arts  from 8th February-11th March 2018

Written by Joel Paley and Marvin Laird, the show spoofs classic Broadway musicals including Gypsy and Mame and 1950s film melodramas The Bad Seed and All About Eve.

Directed by Richard Fitch, the new production tells the  story of beautiful and talented eight-year-old Tina Denmark who will do anything to play the lead in her school play, Ruthless!In its  Off-Broadway debut in 1992 the musical starred Laura Bell Bundy who went on to play Elle Woods in the Broadway debut of Legally Blonde, the production also  featured Britney Spears and Natalie Portman as understudies. Ruthless! The Musical was most recently revived Off-Broadway in 2015.

The Menier Chocolate Factory will act as executive producer and general manager of the UK premiere, which is presented at the Arts Theatre by Evan Sacks, Darren Bagert, Adam Mackie, Kenneth Schur and Maxine Paul. 

The Arts Theatre production will be choreographed by Rebecca Howell, and designed by Morgan Large, with lighting design by Tim Lutkin, sound design by Gregory Clarke and musical supervision by Gareth Valentine.

Buy tickets for Ruthless!

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George Maguire to play Marc Bolan in new tour of 20th Century Boy

Initial casting has been announced for a new tour of 20th Century Boy, which opens at G-Live in Guildford on 8th  March before touring to 27 venues across the UK.

George Maguire (who won an Olivier Award for his performance in the Kinks musical Sunny Afternoon) returns to lead the cast as Marc Bolan.  This follows his critically acclaimed performance in the original production  in 2011/12.

20th Century Boy is directed by John Maher and charts the life story of Bolan and his band T.Rex. The new tour marks the 40th anniversary of his untimely death in a car crash at the age of 29.

The production features a new script by Nicky Graham and Colin Giffin and more than 20 Bolan songs including "Get It On", "Metal Guru" and "I Love To Boogie".

Arlene Phillips to join Musical Theatre Cruise

It is today announced that internationally acclaimed choreographer and TV personality Arlene Phillips will be joining the UK’s first ever fully immersive musical theatre cruise with her show Glitz, Glamour and Gossip
 

She  will join  celebrated West End and Broadway stars on board the  Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas four-night Floating Festival Stages cruise in October 2018.
 

Arlene will be presenting her  successful stage show: Arlene – The Glitz, The Glamour, The Gossip, where she  will chat with host and friend Jacquie Storey about a lifetime in dance, and reveal the truth behind it all.Speaking about the show, Arlene said: “We’ve taken this show on the road around the UK and now it’s time to take it to the seas! I love an audience – everyone does – and I hope the passengers on Stages will get an insight into the different aspects of my life.It’s glitz, glamour and gossip, and above all else, it will be fun!”

Arlene will regale tales from her career working with stars such as Freddie Mercury, Whitney Houston, and Elton John, shows including Starlight Express and We Will Rock You, Hollywood films such as Annie and Monty Python’s Meaning of Life. The list goes on… and on…and on…

Tickets for Floating Stages Festival Cruise

Motown The Musical to tour later this year

Motown The Musical is to go on a major UK and Ireland tour opening at the Birmingham New Alexandra Theatre on 11th October running through to 2019, with more  dates and casting news  to follow.

Opening in London in February 2016  Motown The Musical continues to play to standing ovations at the Shaftesbury Theatre where it is currently booking until 5th January 2019.

Directed by Charles Randolph-Wright and with a book by Berry Gordy, based on his 1994 autobiography To Be Loved: The Music, the Magic, the Memories of Motown, the show features music and lyrics from the extensive Motown catalogue as well as focusing on Gordy’s personal and professional relationships with Motown artists such as Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, and Michael Jackson, the Tony-nominated musical features a 16-piece orchestra playing 50 Motown tracks.

Commenting on the upcoming tour, Gordy said: “The UK has always been the gateway for Motown to the rest of the world. While the West End production still continues to perform to great audiences, I’m thrilled that we are taking a second production of Motown The Musical to the rest of the UK.”

Casting announced for Pippin transfer to Southwark Playhouse

Jonathan O'Boyle's acclaimed production of the multi-Tony Award-winning musical Pippin by Grammy and Academy Award winner Stephen Schwartz (composer of Wicked!) will transfer to Southwark Playhouse running from 23rd February-24th March 2018. It  will be the third production from Manchester's Hope Mill Theatre to transfer to London's Off-West End in under a year. Their production of Hair has just ended its run at The Vaults.

Casting includes  Jonathan Carlton reprising his role as Pippin and Genevieve Nicole returning as The Leading Player. The principal cast is completed with Mairi Barclay, Bradley Judge, Tessa Kadler and Rhidian Marc. Players include Michelle Andrews, Andrew Halliday, Scott Hayward and Ellie Seaton.

The Creative Team are Director: Jonathan O’Boyle, Choreographer: William Whelton, Designer: Maeve Black and Lighting DesignerAaron J Dootson

Stephen Schwartz said: "I am so pleased that such a successful and well-received production of Pippin has finally happened in the UK, and I'm incredibly excited to be sharing it with a London audience."

You can chck out the new trailer for Pippin London here 

Tickets for Pippin at Southwark

Ruthie Ann Miles joins cast of Rogers and Hammerstein's The King and I.

Tony Award winner, Ruthie Ann Miles is to  reprise her Tony winning role, Lady Thiang, alongside previously announced stars Kelli O'Hara and Ken Watanabe in the West End transfer of The King and I which opens at the London Palladium in June and has just extended its booking period to 8th September.

Baz said that Kelli O'Hara told him she  had her ‘fingers crossed’ that Miles would be joining her in the West End. Adding that he was  pretty excited, too. I remember her playing Imelda Marcos — the shoe-loving widow of Filipino dictator Ferdinand — in the Public Theater production of David Byrne’s Here Lies Love (with disco beats by Fatboy Slim). She couldn’t make the National Theatre transfer, so I’m pleased that you’ll get to see her stage artistry in this production of the landmark Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.

The multi Tony Award-winning production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I will transfer from Broadway to London next summer following a critically acclaimed 16 month run at New York's Lincoln Center Theater and an unprecedented continuing record-breaking sold out USA tour.

Acclaimed Tony Award-winning Bartlett Sher will once again direct the production, hot on the heels of his work on The Lincoln Center Theater's World Premiere of J.T. Rogers' smash hit play Oslo, which opened on Broadway and then transferred via the National Theatre to London's Harold Pinter Theatre in October this year to rave reviews. He, along with the celebrated creative team behind the award winning production of South Pacific, will reunite to bring this majestic production to life at the Palladium.

Casting Announced for Barlow & Firth's CALENDAR GIRLS MUSICAL 2018 UK National Tour

The Mail's Baz Bamigboye has just announced the girls cast for the tour of Gary Barlow and Tim Firth's Calendar Girls Musical which will include actors Denise Welch (Celia), Sara Crowe (Ruth), Lorraine Bruce (Cora), Fern Britton (Marie), Anna Jane Casey (Annie), Rebecca Storm (Chris), and Ruth Madoc (Jessie).

Previously named The Girls,  Calendar Girls the Musical will return home to Yorkshire and open at the Leeds Grand Theatre on 15th  August 2018 before going on an extensive tour of the United Kingdom.The critically acclaimed and award-winning production ended  its six-month London season at the Phoenix Theatre on Saturday 15th July 2017, following  sold-out seasons in Leeds and Manchester.

On the announcement, Firth said: "Gary and I have been working away and, as the great Stephen Sondheim said: 'musical comedies aren't written, they are rewritten." Barlow added: "What a phenomenal new cast we have. Tim and I sat in - and indeed played - on the auditions and have been so lucky to have put together such talented ladies."

Producers David Pugh & Dafydd Rogers said, "We are so proud and thrilled with this production, and we want to take it to everyone who wants to see it in the country, and at prices they can afford." Gary Barlow and Tim Firth added, "We are delighted with the reception our musical has received in Leeds, Manchester and now London, and are thrilled that the show will be visiting towns and cities up and down the country, so that more people can get a chance to see it and, we hope, will also fall in love with The Girls."

Cast announced for All Or Nothing Small Faces Musical at the Arts

Full casting has just been announced for the West End season of the critically acclaimed ALL OR NOTHING – THE MOD MUSICAL, based on the story of the Small Faces which runs for a limited season at the Arts Theatre, London from 6th February to 11th March, with a press night on Thursday 8th February. 

Joining Carol Harrison as Kay Marriott and Chris Simmons as Steve Marriott, will be Samuel Pope as Young Steve Marriott, Stefan Edwards as Kenney Jones, Stanton Wright as Ronnie Lane, Alexander Gold as Ian McLagan, Edward Elgood as Jimmy Winston, Karis Anderson as P.P. Arnold and Russell Floyd as Don Arden. Also in the cast are Daniel Beales, Alfie Harrison-Foreman, Dani Acors and Emily Daniels. David Shute and Danielle Johnson will play Steve Marriott and Kay Marriott at certain performances. ALL OR NOTHING’s limited season

Carol Harrison is probably best known for her role as Louise Raymond in EastEnders. Other television roles include seven years as Gloria in Brushstrokes, Loretta opposite Ray Winstone in Get Back, and Dorothy in two series of London's Burning. Carol’s theatre work includes Michael Rudman’s production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman at the National, Ripen Our Darkness at the Royal Court, Alan Parker’s production of Alfie at the Liverpool Playhouse and Lee Hall’s Cooking with Elvis at the Lyceum Theatre, Crewe. She was also a founder member of Half Moon Theatre in London’s East End. Her film credits include The Elephant Man, Quadrophenia and Human Traffic.

Chris Simmons is probably best known for playing the role of DC Mickey Webb for over twelve years in the long running ITV series The Bill. He has also appeared in EastEnders as Mark Garland and in the Tracy Beaker spin-off CBBC show, The Dumping Ground. Chris’s theatre credits include Alan Ayckbourn’s Absent Friends (Gordon Craig Theatre, Stevenage), Entertaining Strangers (Lyric Hammersmith), Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (tour), Iago in Othello (tour) and Epicoene (Tristan Bates Theatre).

Samuel Pope is making his West End debut. He trained at the University of Manchester and the Royal Academy of Music and has since played Bob Cratchit in the UK tour of A Christmas Carol and Lon Smith in Meet Me in St Louis at the Landor Theatre.

Stefan Edwards previously appeared in the Arts Theatre in American Justice and was in The Mousetrap at St Martin’s Theatre in London’s West End. He was part of the London 2012 Olympic Games opening and closing ceremonies directed by Danny Boyle and Kim Gavin.

Stanton Wright’s theatre credits include Take Me Here by the Dishwasher at the Barbican, actor/puppeteer in This Moose Belongs to Me and Jackie and the Baboon (Unicorn and Orange Tree Theatres), Florence in Florence Loves You for Theatre503, Devil in The Glorious Damnation of Eddie Small (Union Theatre/Bedlam Theatre) and Renaissance Body (RSC/British Museum).

Alexander Gold began his career marketing for former Radio 1 DJ Gary Davies and then joined the publishers of The Word and Mixmag. At the same time, he performed all over the world with acts as diverse as 1977 punk legends the Boys (Joey Ramone’s favourite band) to the United Kingdom Ukulele Orchestra, with whom he spent a month at Dollywood, as a guest of Dolly Parton. He played Clash drummer Topper Headon opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers’s Joe Strummer in the film London Town.

Edward Elgood last appeared at the Arts Theatre in Richard III. His other theatre credits include King Charles III (Wyndham’s), the UK tour of The Mousetrap (No.1 Tour); Mucedorus (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse), The Maids (The Cockpit) and The Lady of Pleasure (Shakespeare’s Globe – Sam Wanamaker Festival).

Karis Anderson is a member of girl band, Stooshe. They broke on to the UK music scene in 2012 with the release of their single Love Me, featuring American rapper Travie McCoy. They have gone on to have four Top 20 hits, were nominated for the BBC Sound Poll, and toured with J-Lo and Nicki Minaj. Their single Black Heart spent over 16 weeks in the UK charts and was nominated for Best British Single at the 2013 Brit Awards. All or Nothing marks Karis’s West End stage debut.

Russell Floyd will be known to many for his regular roles as Michael Rose in EastEnders and DC Ken Drummond in The Bill. His theatre credits include Sir Courtly Nice (RSC), Going to a Party (National Theatre), Fit and Proper People (Soho Theatre) and Forget Me Not (Bush Theatre).

30th Anniversary UK tour of Fame the Musical Announced

Selladoor Worldwide with Adam Paulden and  Dan Looney have just  announced their new 30^th Anniversary UK tour of Fame - The Musical openING  at Manchester Palace on 20 July 2018 before touring to Glasgow, Llandudno, Blackpool, Tunbridge Wells, Bradford, Aberdeen, Woking, Sheffield, Bridlington, Edinburgh, Ipswich, Brighton, Birmingham, Aylesbury and Shrewsbury.

The production will be directed and choreographed by Nick Winston with design by Morgan Large. Casting is yet to be announced.

David Hutchinson Executive Creative Director of Selladoor said: This new tour for 2018 celebrates the 30 years since the premiere of the Broadway production and will very much have its roots in the style and nostalgia of the original musical. Selladoor are dedicated to bringing large scale theatre to as broad an audience as possible across the UK and internationally, and we’re delighted to add another classic musical to our ever-growing portfolio

Cuba Gooding Jr to star in Chicago at the Phoenix

Baz Bamigboye of the Daily Mail has just revealed that Academy Award winner, Cuba Gooding Jr, is to play  fast-talking defence lawyer Billy Flynn in the new production of Chicago the musical which opens at the Phoenix Theatre from 26th March.

The show will mark Gooding's UK stage debut and   he is currently working formally with a vocal coach. His breakthrough role was as Tre Styles in Boyz n the Hood (1991), followed by A Few Good Men (1992), before winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in Jerry Maguire (1996). Later films included As Good as It Gets (1997), Men of Honor (2000) as Carl Brashear, Pearl Harbor (2001) as Doris Miller, American Gangster (2007), The Butler (2013), and Selma (2014), playing civil rights attorney Fred Gray. In 2016, he portrayed O.J. Simpson in the FX drama series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Mini-series or a Movie. In 2013, he made his Broadway theatre debut alongside Cicely Tyson and Vanessa Williams in the Tony Award-nominated production of The Trip to Bountiful.

No other casting for the production has yet been announced.

Details of open casting call for new UK tour of Dusty

The new UK tour of DUSTY is to hold an open casting call for male and female dance ensemble members. Dusty the Musical is written by Jonathan Harvey, directed by Maria Friedman, designed by Tom Pye, and choreographed by Tim Jackson.

The call will be on  Friday 19th January at Toynbee Studios, 28 Commercial Street, E1 6AB. Registration: 1:00am - 1:00pm (STRICT) Auditions: 10.30am - 6:00 pm.

You should be  prepared to hang around, perhaps until 6:00 pm. Recalls will be during week commencing 22nd January so please ensure your availability.

You must be available from 21st May until 28th July 2018 and  be eligible to work in the UK. The show will rehearse in London, open in Bath and tour to Sheffield, Newcastle and Manchester. Commercial UK Theatre/Equity contract.

The creative team is specifically looking for outstanding dancer-singers who excel in commercial dance. Boys must be 5'10" or taller, and girls must be 5'8" or taller.

Please bring:
1) A current CV and headshot
2) Suitable dance clothing - avoid disguising body shape.
3) Women please bring heels
4) A pop song to show off your voice (does not need to be 60/70s) *not all auditionees will get to sing.
5) Water

Joe McGann to replace Jimmy Nail in principal casting announced for Sting's The Last Ship Musical

Principal casting has been announced for the UK premiere of The Last Ship  musical by  Sting – which is to premiere in the UK  at Northern Stage in Newcastle on 12th  March 2018, before embarking on a major UK and Ireland tour. The casting of Joe McGann (Jackie White), Charlie Hardwick (Peggy White), Richard Fleeshman (Gideon Fletcher) and Frances McNamee (Meg Dawson) has today been announced.

Joe McGann will now take on the role of Jackie White, despite the previous announcement that Jimmy Nail would be playing the role he originated on Broadway.Nail said: “I was very much looking forward to appearing in Sting’s The Last Ship, particularly here in my home city. Sadly that’s not to be. I would like to thank the production in allowing FACT, the charity of which I’m a patron, to benefit from the planned gala charity event. To anyone who has purchased a ticket, please, go see the show and give this vessel the launch it so deserves. You’ll hear some of the finest musical works ever composed for the stage.”

Karl Sydow, producer of The Last Ship, said: “After protracted negotiations carried out in good faith we regret to announce the production’s offer of employment to Jimmy Nail has been withdrawn. All at The Last Ship thank him for his generosity and enormous contribution during what has been an eight year journey.”

Joe McGann is perhaps best known for his lead role as Charlie Burrows in the comedy series The Upper Hand. Theatre credits include Elf (Plymouth Theatre Royal/Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin, Dominion Theatre, West End and Lowry, Salford); The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (UK tour); Calendar Girls (three UK tours), Oliver! (London Palladium), Fiddler On the Roof (UK tour, 2008), Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls (UK tour, 2006).

Charlie Hardwick played Val Pollard from 2004 to 2015 and again in 2017 in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. Stage credits include Hyem (Theatre 503/Northern Stage) and Double Lives (Live Theatre). 

Richard Fleeshman has been acting since the age of 12 when he played the role of Craig Harris in Coronation Street for four years.A talented singer-songwriter, his stage roles include Sam Wheat in Ghost the Musical, a part he originated and played in the West End and on Broadway, Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls (UK tour) and Bobby Strong in Urinetown (original West End production).

 


Frances McNamee recently appeared alongside Kelsey Grammer in Big Fish (The Other Palace). Other stage credits include The Mother (Tricycle), Love’s Labour’s Lost, Love’s Labour’s Won (RSC), Punishment Without Revenge (Arcola/Theatre Royal Bath/Belgrade Coventry), Pride and Prejudice (Regent’s Park), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Royal and Derngate), The Borrowers (Northern Stage), Epsom Downs (Salisbury Playhouse), The Phoenix of Madrid, The Surprise of Love (Theatre Royal Bath) and Les Misérables 20th anniversary gala performance (West End).

Lorne Campbell, Northern Stage’s artistic director, said: “I am delighted to be welcoming Joe McGann, Charlie Hardwick, Richard Fleeshman, Frances McNamee and the rest of the company to Northern Stage for The Last Ship.Alongside some wonderful old friends of the company, we welcome some remarkable new performers from across the UK. We are all hugely excited to move into rehearsal and to bring this incredible score and epic story to audiences across the UK and Ireland.”

An American In Paris cinema screening cast and date announced

Trafalgar Releasing have  just announced that the worldwide theatrical release of the highly acclaimed musical, An American in Paris, is being screened in cinemas on 16th May 2018 (excluding North America and Japan).

You can view the brand new official cinema trailer here

  

The film stars Tony Award nominees, New York City Ballet principle dancer Robert Fairchild as Jerry Mulligan and British Royal Ballet dancer Leanne Cope as Lise Dassin, reprising their roles from the original Broadway production and a company of over 50 actors, dancers and musicians including Haydn Oakley as Henri Baurel, Zoë Rainey as Milo Davenport, David Seadon-Young as Adam Hochberg and Jane Asher as Madame Baurel.

 The company also features Julian Forsyth and Ashley Andrews, Sophie Apollonia, Zoe Arshamian, Sarah Bakker, James Barton, Alicia Beck, Chrissy Brooke, James Butcher, Jonathan Caguioa, Jennifer Davison, Katie Deacon, Rebecca Fennelly, Sebastian Goffin, Alyn Hawke, Nicky Henshall, Genevieve Heron, Amy Hollins, Frankie Jenna, Justin-Lee Jones, Robin Kent, Kristen McGarrity, Julia J. Nagle, Daniela Norman, Aaron Smyth, Todd Talbot, Max Westwell, Jack Wilcox, Carrie Willis, Stuart Winter and Liam Wrate.

Tickets  go on sale Friday 12 January at 09:00

 An American in Paris  has just ended its run in London's West end. It premiered in 2014 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris to ecstatic reviews before transferring to the Palace Theatre on Broadway, where it became the most awarded musical of the 2015/16 season, including four Tony® Awards. A major North American tour continues now and a new production will open in Tokyo in January 2019.

Marc Allenby of Trafalgar Releasing has said on the acquisition, “An American in Paris is one of the biggest productions to hit the West End this decade with outstanding performances, memorable tunes, beautiful costumes and exceptional sets. We can’t wait to share this production with audiences in cinemas around the world throughout 2018.”

Liam Steel joins creative team for Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's musical Company.

Baz Bamigboye has reported that Liam Steel has joined the creative team and taken over choreography and movement direction for the new production of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Tony award-winning musical, Company which Marianne Elliott is directing.

Steel said: "It's one big dream world - not quite real - which gives us room to make it as real, or surreal, as we want to. It means we're looking at it with fresh eyes. No looking back!"  He boasts an impressive list of credits with his most recent West End work being Big Fish starring Kelsey Grammer and he is currently working on the  return of  Peter Pan which he is co-directing with Timothy Sheader at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park in May.

As already announced, for the first time ever, the lead role of Bobby will be re-imagined as a woman with  Rosalie Craig playing the role  and Tony and Olivier award-winning Patti LuPone  playing Joanne.Company will run at the Gielgud Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue from 26 September 2018 for a strictly limited season, with public booking opening today.

First casting announced for tour of This is Elvis

To celebrate 50 years since Elvis Presley's televised Special aired on NBC Television, which later came to be known as his '68 Comeback Special; Bill Kenwright and Laurie Mansifield are presenting a tour of  THIS IS ELVIS - BURBANK AND VEGAS which  follows the true story of a very pivotal period in Elvis' life and career, charting his journey back to stardom and his return to success as a stage performer.

The show opens at Theatre Royal Windsor on 24th January before embarking on a nationwide tour.

International award-winning tribute artist and actor Steve Michaels has been cast in the title role.He has played alongside some of Elvis Presley's iconic band mates including the legendary drummer DJ Fontana and bassist Jerry Scheff. He has also shared the stage with the Jordanaires and soulful voices of the Sweet Inspirations. Steve's styling and ability to give an authentic portrayal of Elvis Presley has endeared him to audiences everywhere across Canada, United States, India, Thailand, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Philippines and Australia. 

More casting news to follow.