Magic at the Musicals at London’s Royal Albert Hall hosted by Ruthie Henshall and Jason Manford

Celebrating the best of the West End and beyond, Magic at the Musicals has announced this year’s event, which takes place at London’s  Royal Albert Hall on 17th October 2021.

 Hosted by Magic Radio’s Ruthie Henshall and comedian and West End performer Jason Manford, the evening will showcase feature performances from some of the West End’s leading stage stars as they come together for one night only including  casts of & Juliet, Frozen, Pretty Woman, Come from Away, The Prince of Egypt, Disney’s The Lion King, Mamma Mia! The Musical, Back to the Future The Musical, ALW´s Cinderella and  Matilda The Musical
 

Tickets are on sale now at  magic.co.uk

Full casting announced for the re-opening of LES MISÉRABLES – THE STAGED CONCERT

Cameron Mackintosh is delighted to announce full casting for the re-opening of the critically acclaimed new full production of LES MISÉRABLES – THE STAGED CONCERT, at the Sondheim Theatre on 25th September 2021.
 

Joining the company are Chanice Alexander-Burnett as Fantine, Jordan Shaw as Enjolras, Charlie Burn as Cosette and  Sha Dessi making her West End debut as Eponine. They join the  principal cast of Jon Robyns as Jean Valjean, Bradley Jaden as Javert, Gerard Carey as Thénardier’, Josefina Gabrielle as Madame Thénardier’ and Harry Apps as Marius.

The company also includes Kelly Agbowu, Emma Barr, Richard Carson, Cellen Chugg Jones, Rodney Earl Clarke, Danny Colligan, Matthew Dale, Matt Dempsey, Jessie Hart, Connor Jones, Jessica Joslin, Michael Kholwadia, Sarah Lark, Georgie Lovatt, Ellie Ann Lowe, Luke McCall, Leo Miles, Claire O’Leary, Kathy Peacock, Mark Pearce, Sam Peggs, Sake Wijers, Mared Williams, Phoebe Williams and Samuel Wyn-Morris.  

 Cameron Mackintosh said “After 18 long months of unprecedented shut down of the commercial theatre, it is thrilling to see the West End reopen with all its major productions and safely welcome back audiences who have been so supportive to our industry. The staged concert of Les Misérables has been uniquely able to keep the large scale theatrical flag flying on Shaftesbury Avenue, clocking up a record breaking 250 performance run. Many of the wonderful artists in the concert were drawn from both the acclaimed new West End and national touring productions which had opened just before the pandemic closed them down, playing to full houses. 

 

Spectacular though the staged concert (which will embark on a World Tour in 2024) is, the fully staged new production of Les Misérables has become an international sell out sensation all over again, continuing to bring audiences to their feet as the longest running musical in the world. The famous barricades of this latest West End production will be manned by a brilliant and diverse company of new and established talents, that demonstrate why our training system is the envy of the world and our theatre practitioners both on and off stage are incomparable, despite the lack of support of the commercial theatre from this government.  

 

It is hugely gratifying, as the show celebrates its 36th birthday this October at the Sondheim Theatre, that Les Misérables continues to be one of the most popular and contemporary musicals of all time. As The Telegraph put it: “The perfect musical in the perfect theatre”.

LES MISÉRABLES – THE STAGED CONCERT is currently booking until 13 February 2022

ALW Cinderella extends booking period

Andrew Lloyd Webber, Emerald Fennell and David Zippel's very different take on Cinderella,  finally officially opened earlier this week and  has already extended its West End run by three months from February to 29th May 2022 with tickets now on sale  for the new dates

Carrie Hope Fletcher is excellent in he in the lead role and is joined by a very strong cast including Ivano Turco as Prince Sebastian, Victoria Hamilton-Barritt as the Stepmother, Caleb Roberts as Prince Charming, Rebecca Trehearn as the Queen, Laura Baldwin and Georgina Castle as the Stepsisters and Gloria Onitiri as the Godmother. 

You can see the latest trailer for the show here

Pantoland starring Donny Osmond at Palladium this Christmas

It has just been announced  that Pantoland is being presented at the London Palladium this Christmas

The show is a variety spectacular celebrating the art of pantomime, with performances beginning from December 4th for a strictly limited run to 9th January 2022. (This is the show that was brought to a premature close last year because of the pandemic).

The home of pantomime offers a cast featuring Donny Osmond as the Wizard of Pantomime who will join panto favourites including Julian Clary (host for the evening whose cutting insults make him a figure to be feared) Paul Zerdin, Nigel Havers, Jac Yarrow, Gary Wilmot and Sophie Isaacs.

The creative team wsill be led by director Michael Harrison with  choreographer Karen Bruce, set designer Ian Westbrook, costume designer Hugh Durrant, lighting designer Ben Cracknell, sound designer Gareth Owen and composer and orchestrator Gary Hind.

As an advisory notice to adults bringing young panto-goers; the production contains adult innuendo and intimation, which may not be appropriate for everyone.

Tickets for Pantoland go on general sale from 24th August.

Rachelle Ann Go to return to Les Misérables as Fantine for six shows from 31st August

Rachelle Ann Go is to return to the  Les Misérables  concert run at the Sondheim Theatre for a week to reprise the role of Fantine for six shows from 31st August.  Lucie Jones (currently playing the role) is preparing to lead the touring production of  Waitress  opening in Wimbledon on 4th September and will perform on the final night of the show on 5th September 

Hamilton and Miss Saigon performer Rachelle  was in the show before it closed at the Sondheim Theatre because of  the pandemic.

She joins a cast including Jon Robyns as Jean Valjean, Bradley Jaden as Javert, Gerard Carey as Thénardier, Josefina Gabrielle as Madame Thénardier, Shan Ako as Éponine, Harry Apps as Marius, Jamie Muscato as Enjolras, Charlie Burn as Cosette and at certain performances Dean Chisnall will play the role of Jean Valjean.

Full casting and dates announced for Come What May Tour

Come What May is  a tribute to the greatest movie musicals of all time including Moulin Rouge, Rocketman, The Greatest Showman, A Star is Born and Burlesque. It will head out on a major national  tour  from 15th September playing venues including the Mercury Theatre Colchester,  Mayflower Theatre Southampton, New Theatre Royal Lincoln and Buxton Opera House, where the show opens.

 It has today announced full casting starring  Britain’s Got Talent winner Jai McDowall with Celyn Cartwright, David Wyatt, Óscar Fonseca, Chloe Gatward, Emma Jane, Georgia McEnaney, Hannah Morcos, Stuart Rouse, Marco Venturini, and Reece Woodier.

You can watch a trailer for the show here 

 The musical extravaganza is packed with timeless classics from Moulin Rouge including Come What May, Your Song, Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend, Roxanne and Lady Marmalade as well as hits from other iconic movie musicals from Come Alive, Saturday Night’s Alright and Shallow to Show Me How You Burlesque. Travel back in time as the children of the revolution take you into the sexy, disreputable and glamorous underworld of Paris at the Moulin Rouge.  Have a musical peep into the flamboyant world of Elton John, journey on into the imagination of the original showman P.T Barnum before heading to the bright lights of Los Angeles as well as the kitsch glamour of Sunset Boulevard’s Burlesque Lounge.  

Come What May is presented by Sweeney Entertainments and Sisco Productions. The show is created by Barricade Boys Scott Garnham and Simon Schofield for Sisco Productions with choreography by Scott Coldwell and arrangements/musical Supervision by James Doughty.

 

 

Casting for workshop of new musical Tinker Bell

The  new musical Tinker Bell is loosely based on the J M Barrie novel  and a prequel to the story of Peter Pan and Wendy. The musical is penned by Ryan Carey-Hills and Lauren Hendricks (Nursery Crimes) and follows  Tinker Bell and her friends who flee Neverland to find refuge in London’s Kensington Gardens alongside a group of fairies as alike as they are different. 

 

As outcasts so far from home, they must face the challenges of a new world and use their collective strength to overcome adversity.Set during the scientific revolution of Victorian England, our heroes must take control of the situation before they are discovered, and their way of life destroyed forever. This ground-breaking new musical sets out to change hearts and minds in a moving reflection of the modern-day, presented in a fairy tale Victorian world of magic and wonder.

The workshop is directed by Anna Fox with assistant director Ayoade Bamgboye, with a  cast featuring Alice Fearn, Courtney Bowman, Oliver Savile, Miracle Chance, Tosh Wanogho-Maud, Patrick Munday, Charlie Kristensen, Beth Hinton-Lever, Kyle Birch, Gwion Morris Jones, Ying Ue Li, Faye Wheeler, Matthew Ellis and Harriet Caplan-Dean.

The workshop runs all of next week, with an industry showcase taking place on 27th August.

 

Full cast announced for tour of School of Rock

The full adult and children cast has just been announced for the new extensive UK and Ireland 2021/22 tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber`s School of Rock which kicks off at Hull New Theatre in early September

Jake Sharp is Dewey Finn (the role played by Jack Black in the film), with Alex Tomkins taking on the role for select performances. Rebecca Lock is the uptight headmistress Rosalie Mullins, Matthew Rowland is Ned Schneebly and Nadia Violet Johnson is Patty Di Marco.

The remaining adult cast features Ryan Bearpark, James Bisp, Joanna O'Hare, Samuel Haughton, Tom Hext, Harveen Mann, Richard Morse, Annell Odartey, Amy Oxley, Helena Pipe, Michaela Powell, Richard Vorster and Craig Watson.

There are three teams of 12 children performing each night in the following roles: Freddy / Eva McGrath, Emerson Sutton, , Thomas Harvey and Isaac Forward .Katie / Chloe Marler , Marikit Akiwumi, Daisy Hanna and Ivy Balcombe .Lawrence /Oliver Forde, Angus McDougall, David Gluhovsky and Oliver Pearce . Zack / Joseph Sheppard , Harry Churchill , Hanley Webb and William Laborde .Billy/Wilf Cooper , Logan Matthews and Alfie Morwood.Summer / Keira Laver , Florrie May Wilkinson and Saffia Layla. Tomika / Jasmine Djazel, Souparnika Nair and Angel Lucero .James /Hadlee Snow , Darmani Eboji and Devon Francis and Riotafari Gardner.Marcy / Lily Rose Martin, Elodie Salmon and Paris Banyong. Mason / Caelan Wallington, Alex Shotton and Nesim Adnan . Shonelle / Kyla Robinson , Eden Anthony and Elisha Kerai . Sophie/ Ophelia Parsons, Jemima Newman, Ava Masters and Inez Danielak.

Bat Out of Hell tour cast announced

Jim Steinman and Meatloaf's new tour of Bat Out of Hell has revealed the full cast for when the show opens in Manchester in September.

Glenn Adamson and Martha Kirby will lead as Strat and Raven with Rob Fowler as Falco, Sharon Sexton as Sloane, Killian Thomas Lefevre as Tink, Joelle Moses as Zahara, James Chisholm as Jagwire, Kellie Gnauck as Valkyrie and Danny Whelan as Ledoux.

They will be joined by Laura Johnson as Kwaiden, Jamie Jukes as Markevitch, Rebecca Lafferty as Scherzzo, James Lowrie as Denym, Rory Maguire as Astroganger, Amy Matthews as Vilmos, Samuel Pope as Hoffman & Alternate Strat, Luke Street as Hollander, Leonardo Vieira as O'Dessasuite, Beth Woodcock as Spinotti and  Jayme-Lee Zanoncelli as Goddesilla.

2022 tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

The London Palladium production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is confirmed to go on a tour of the UK next year.

Dates so far are  the Birmingham Hippodrome from 4th – 16th April and the Southampton Mayflower  from 19th – 23rd April 2022.

More dates and casting news to follow.

Natalie Mendoza completes cast of Moulin Rouge for Broadway opening

According to Playbill,   Natalie Mendoza will play the lead role of Satine when Baz Luhrmann`s hit Moulin Rouge! Musical reopens on Broadway on September 24th at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.

Mendoza, who also appeared in the original Baz Luhrmann film, replaces Tony winner Karen Olivo who  announced in April she would not lead the show upon its reopening, citing a commitment to activism and humanitarian efforts in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement and abuse allegations against producer Scott Rudin.

Australian performer Natalie Mendoza played China Doll in the 2001 film of  Moulin Rouge, with other theatre and TV credits including Miss Saigon in the West End, The Descent horror franchise, and the BCC’s Hotel Babylon. She appeared as Arachne in early performances of the Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, though departed during its long preview period due to injury. 

She joins  a principal cast which  also includes the previously reported returning players: Tony nominees Aaron Tveit as Christian, Danny Burstein as Harold Zidler, Sahr Ngaujah as Toulouse-Lautrec, and Robyn Hurder as Nini, as well as Ricky Rojas as Santiago and Tam Mutu as the Duke of Monroth. Ashley Loren will continue as the Satine Alternate.

Completing the company are a mix of new and original cast members: Jacqueline B. Arnold, Holly James, Jeigh Madjus, Joe Beauregard, Keely Beirne, Giovanni Bonaventura, Olutayo Bosede, Maya Bowles, Kyle Brown, Sam J. Cahn, Bobby Daye, Mia DeWeese, Karli Dinardo, Tilly Evans-Krueger, Aaron C. Finley, Bahiyah Hibah, Ericka Hunter, Cameron Mitchell Jackson, Tasia Jungbauer, Jose-Luis Lopez Jr., Reed Luplau, Kara Menendez, Kaitlin Mesh, Fred Odgaard, Dylan Paul, Khori Michelle Petinaud, Benjamin Rivera, Julius Anthony Rubio, and Brandon Stonestreet.

Moulin Rouge makes its London debut  at the  Piccadilly Theatre from November 12th (Opening night December 8th ) The American creative team have been holding auditions but no casting news is forthcoming at the moment.

Sean Needham joins cast of tour of Dolly Parton's 9 to 5

It has just been announced that Stephanie Chandos will play Doralee Rhodes (the part played by Dolly Parton in the film) and Sean Needham is returning as Franklin Hart Jr. after playing the boss on the 2019 tour and in London with Vivian Panka making her professional stage debut as Judy alongside previously announced Louise Redknapp as Violet Newstead in the new tour of Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 Musical which opens in Southampton at the end of August touring through to March 2022.

Stephanie  has played Amber Von Tussle in Hairspray and Teen Queen in We Will Rock You (Royal Caribbean). She covered the role of Doralee in 2019 when Redknapp played Violet  at the Savoy Theatre .

Sean's most recent theatre credits include Don in Kinky Boots (Adelphi); Mamma Mia! (Prince of Wales) and Wicked (Apollo Victoria).