Di and Viv and Rose By Amelia Bullmore
Directed by Anna Mackmin
Designed by Paul Wills with lighting by Jason Taylor and sound design by Simon Baker.

14 September to 15 October 2011

‘How do you want to live here? I mean we could come and go and lead separate lives. Or we could really live together. What do you think?’

Anna Mackmin will direct Claudie Blakley, Tamzin Outhwaite and Nicola Walker in the world premiere of Amelia Bullmore’s insightful and funny new play, Di and Viv and Rose, as part of Hampstead Downstairs. Di and Viv and Rose reunites the creative team behind Amelia Bullmore’s award-winning Mammals.

Aged 18, three women join forces. Life is fun. Living is intense. Together they feel unassailable. Di and Viv and Rose is an hilarious and thoughtful exploration of friendship’s impact on life and life’s impact on friendship.

Tamzin Outhwaite plays Di. Outhwaite’s stage credits include Sweet Charity (Haymarket and Menier Chocolate Factory), Boeing Boeing (Comedy), Breathing Corpses and Flesh Wound (Royal Court), Oliver (London Palladium). She is known for television roles in Law and Order, Paradox , The Fixer Hustle, Francs Tuesday, Hotel Babylon and EastEnders. On film. her credits include Woody Allen’s Cassandra’s Dream, Radio Cape Cod and Back Waters.

Nicola Walker plays Viv. Walker’s theatre credits include Seasons Greetings (National), Mrs Klein (Almeida Theatre), Gethsemane (National) and Relocated at the Royal Court. Her extensive television credits include Being Human, Inside Men, Spooks, Luther and The Turn of the Screw.

Claudie Blakley plays Rose. Blakley’s stage credits include most recently The Cherry Orchard at the National Theatre. Her other credits include Attempts on Her Life (National) Love and Money (Royal Exchange and Young Vic) and A Girl in A New Car with A Man (Royal Court). Television credits include Lark Rise to Candleford, Blue Geranium, Cranford and Fallen Angel . Her film credits include Lennon Naked, Pride and Prejudice and Gosford Park.

Amelia Bullmore’s debut play Mammals was awarded the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, when it opened at the Bush Theatre. Bullmore is a well known actress from stage and screen and was most recently seen in the ITV drama Scott and Bailey, other television credits include Twenty Twelve and Shamless. Her writing credits include This Life, Attachments and Big Train.

Director Anna Mackmin’s recent credits include The Real Thing, Dancing at Lughnasa (Old Vic), Really Old Like Forty Five (National), Hedda Gabler (Gate Dublin), Under the Blue Sky, In Celebration (Duke of York‘s), Breathing Corpses, Food Chain (Royal Court); Dying for It, The Lightning Play (Almeida); In Flame (Bush); Cloud Nine, The Crucible, Iphigenia, Teeth ‘n’ Smiles and The Arbor (Crucible, Sheffield).

Hampstead Downstairs is a unique development opportunity for new writing. It enables writers from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences to trial new work in a studio environment free from the pressures of commercial interests or formal reviews, but in front of a paying audience. Each production is resourced to a level appropriate to the ticket prices charged, with members of the public invited to feedback their opinions of what they have seen to the production team. Although there will be no formal press nights, a limited number of tickets each night will be made available to critics who wish to see the shows and write about them informally.

Release issued by: Clióna Roberts

LINKS

Hampstead theatre website

Matthew Kelly in Lend Me A Tenor

Based on Ken Ludwig’s award-winning play, the show opened on 15 June but has failed to find an audience and will now close on Saturday 6 August 2011.

The producers, Martin Platt and David Elliott, said in a statement that, “Despite mostly wonderful notices from the press, great feedback from our audiences and nightly standing ovations, this has not translated into growing sales and we feel it is in everyone’s best interests to close the production on August 6th.”

The show stars Matthew Kelly, last seen in the West End in the short-lived production of Sign of the Times at the Duchess Theatre, and Joanna Riding, who previously starred in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, also at the Gielgud, and which also closed early.

Other cast include Damian Humbley, Michael Matus, Sophie-Louise Dann and Cassidy Janson, with direction by Ian Talbot.

Critics largely enjoyed the show, with Michael Coveney in the Independent saying that, ““Sure, the whole shebang’s a bit of a throwback, but it’s fun and finished to a very high standard”, but others, including Nick Curtis in the Standard, found that there was, “a disjunction here between retrogressive comedy and modern musical sentiment, and the result is blandness.”

The next confirmed production at the Gielgud is not until November, with a stage adaptation of movie classic The Ladykillers.

LINKS

SPECIAL OFFER: Book tickets to Lend Me A Tenor at the Gielgud Theatre in London

Lend Me A Tenor – Reviews Round-up

Producers Martin Platt and David Elliott said, “We wish to thank the extremely dedicated cast of LEND ME A TENOR THE MUSICAL, author Peter Sham and composer Brad Carroll and everyone who has taken part in the project.

Despite mostly wonderful notices from the press, great feedback from our audiences and nightly standing ovations, this has not translated into growing sales and we feel it is in everyone’s best interests to close the production on August 6th.”

Lend Me A Tenor The Musical stars Matthew Kelly as ‘Henry Saunders’, Joanna Riding as ‘Maria Merelli’, Damian Humbley as ‘Max’, Michael Matus as ‘Tito Merelli, Sophie-Louise Dann as ‘Diana Divane’, Cassidy Janson as ‘Maggie Saunders’, and Gay Soper, Jane Quinn and Michelle Bishop as the ‘Ladies of the Opera Guild’. The production is directed by Olivier award-winning director Ian Talbot and choreographed by Tony-nominated choreographer Randy Skinner. The production is designed by Paul Farnsworth, with lighting by Tim Mitchell, and sound by Terry Jardine and Nick Lidster. The Musical Supervisor is Tony Award Winner Paul Gemignani, the Musical Director is Colin Billing, and orchestrations are by Chris Walker.

LEND ME A TENOR THE MUSICAL is produced by Martin Platt and David Elliott and Eileen & Allen Anes with Jason E. Grossman and M. Kilburg Reedy.

Release issued by: Target Live

LINKS

SPECIAL OFFER: Book tickets to Lend Me A Tenor at the Gielgud Theatre in London

Lend Me A Tenor – Reviews Round-up

Baz Bamigboye

As you may know from previous columns, we are in awe of Baz Bamigboye, the Daily Mail’s veteran showbiz reporter.

The Stage may have popped husband and wife double-act Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire of Ambassador Theatre Group at the top of their power 100 list for 2011, but really the honour should go to Baz, whose Friday column sets the agenda for theatre and film news for the week.

But it’s interesting that his piece this week about Betty Blue Eyes, Cameron Mackintosh’s big new musical project which is in previews at the Novello Theatre, is dangerously close to a review:

• “Sarah Lancashire was a revelation to me as the snooty wife of Reece Shearsmith’s chiropodist. And Ann Emery, as ‘Mother Dear’, almost steals the production from everyone, including the pig.”
• “Adrian Scarborough is terrific as Wormwold, the Nazi-esque food inspector.”
• “Betty Blue Eyes could be the King’s Speech of London theatre. Because, frankly, it’s adorable.”

Baz sidesteps the strict protocol that exists between producers and critics that reviews should not be published until the official opening night of the production because he’s at the sparkly showbiz end of arts journalism rather than the hardened, haven’t-seen-daylight-since-1973 career critic. But should this be so?

The hoo-hah over New York critics breaking ranks with producers to review Spider-Man on Broadway in previews, and Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s fury with bloggers for previewing Love Never Dies before it’s First Night, has brought the subject into focus more than ever.

We love you Baz, and we love your scoops (which feed most theatre website’s gossip pages, including this one) but is a scoop sometimes a puff piece masquerading as a review?

Paul Raven

Ahead of the building’s inaugural season later this year, the company will throw open the doors of the new venue and invite the public to play a part in the transformation of the space, from library to theatre, in a production entitled Where’s My Seat?

As a final farewell to the theatre’s long term home, the Bush will present non zero one and their interactive site-specific production this is where we got to when you came in to celebrate the history of this unique and special space.

To mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, the Bush presents In the Beginning written by Nick Payne with extracts from the KJV selected by the Revd Dr James Hawkey. This one off theatrical event on 24 March will see audience members taken on an after opening hours, intimate journey around the Abbey.

The new season also includes a return to Latitude for the fourth year with The Flooded Grave. Originally produced by the theatre as part of their Broken Space Season, this new production of Anthony Weigh’s play will be performed as darkness falls in a hidden location at the festival.

On the 29 March the Bush will hold a fundraising gala reading of Simon Stephens’ Sea Wall, read by the playwright.

Rourke will leave the Bush Theatre at the end of 2011 once the company is established in its new home at the old library on the Uxbridge Road, leaving the legacy of a new theatre for the incoming Artistic Director – this position will be advertised in due course. She departs the company after four years to become the new Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse.

Josie Rourke said today, “My final nine months at the Bush will see the company open its new home ready for the theatre’s fortieth anniversary in 2012. This will also mark five years in which I have led a resilient and inspiring team, who faced down adversity to present the work of some exceptional playwrights and build and serve our audiences. The legacy of 40 years of brilliant plays and great nights out at the Bush will be realised in this beautiful building. I look forward with great excitement to taking the Bush into its next incarnation .”

WHERE’S MY SEAT?

The Old Shepherds Bush Library
15 June – 2 July

Director: Tamara Harvey

“One new theatre, three experts, three playwrights and you”

As the Bush prepares to open the doors of our new home in autumn this year, we’re asking you to test drive the space and be a part of its transformation from library to theatre.

Over the course of one evening, you’ll see three short plays by three hot Bush playwrights performed in three different layouts. Each play will be inspired by a set of challenging stage directions selected by three theatre experts and nine curious props chosen by the National Theatre.

As the stage transforms and the seats move around, we’ll ask you to feedback your views from the stalls – and to put to the test other areas of the building from the bathrooms to the bar.

Alan Ayckbourn is an Olivier, Tony and Molière award-winning playwright, who has written 75 plays – more than half of which have been produced in the West End, Broadway and around the world. His principle works include Relatively Speaking, Absurd Person Singular, The Norman Conquests, Absent Friends, Bedroom Farce, Season’s Greetings, A Chorus of Disapproval, A Small Family Business, The Revenger’s Comedies and House & Garden. As an acclaimed director, he has worked extensively in the West End and has also run his own company at the National Theatre. Between 1972 and 2009 he was the Artistic Director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, where the majority of his work has and continues to be premièred.

Michael Grandage is Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse. Previous work for the Donmar includes King Lear (Critics’ Circle Award for Best Director), Red (also Broadway – Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Director of a Play), The Chalk Garden (Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Director), Othello(Evening Standard Award for Best Director), John Gabriel Borkman, Don Juan in Soho, Frost/Nixon (also West End and Broadway), The Cut, The Wild Duck (Critics’ Circle Award for Best Director), Guys and Dolls (Donmar in the West End – Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production), Grand Hotel (Evening Standard Award for Best Director, Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production), Henry IV, After Miss Julie, Caligula (Olivier Award for Best Director) and The Vortex. As part of the Donmar in the West End season Grandage directed Ivanov- Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Director, Twelfth Night, Madame de Sade and Hamlet (also Kronborg Castle and Broadway). Other West End work includes Evita. He was the Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres 1999 – 2005, where his many productions included Don Carlos (Evening Standard Award for Best Director).

Josie Rourke is Artistic Director of the Bush Theatre where she has directed How To Curse by Ian McHugh, Tinderbox by Lucy Kirkwood and 2000 Feet Away and Like a Fishbone by Anthony Weigh, Apologia by Alexi Kaye Campbell and If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet by Nick Payne. Prior to joining the Bush she worked for five years as a freelance director and was Associate Director of Sheffield Theatres and Trainee Associate Director at the Royal Court. For Sheffield she directed World Music and The Unthinkable – both by Steve Waters, Much Ado About Nothing, The Long The Short and The Tall and Kick for Touch. At the Royal Court she directed Crazyblackmuthafuckin’self by DeObia Oparei and Loyal Women by Gary Mitchell. Her other work includes Frame 312, World Music and The Cryptogram (Donmar Warehouse), My Dad’s a Birdman (Young Vic) and for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Believe What You Will and King John (part of the RSC Complete Works Season). She has also directed the 24 Hour Plays at The Old Vic Theatre and in New York. Her most recent work outside The Bush includes Twelfth Night and Taming of the Shrew for Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Here by Eve Ensler for Sky Arts, and the critically acclaimed production of Men Should Weep for the National Theatre. Rourke will direct Catherine Tate and David Tennant in Much Ado About Nothing at the Wyndham’s Theatre in May for Sonia Friedman Productions.

Tamara Harvey returns to the Bush to direct. Her previous credits for the company include Resillience as part of Steve Water’s The Contingency Plan and tHe dYsFUnCKshOnalZ!. In the West End , she has directed Plague Over England (also the original production at the Finborough), One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (Co-Director) and Whipping It Up (from the original production at the Bush by Terry Johnson). Her other theatre work includes Dancing at Lughnasa (Birmingham Rep), Tell Me On A Sunday (UK tour), the première of Alistair McGowan’s Timing, Who’s The Daddy? (King’s Head Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare’s Globe), Bedroom Farce (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Romeo and Juliet (Theatre of Memory at Middle Temple Hall), Rock (UK tour), Touch Wood, Purvis, Storm In A Tea Chest, The Prodigal Son (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough), Closer (Royal Theatre, Northampton), One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (UK tour), Bash (Trafalgar Studios), An Hour And A Half Late (Theatre Royal Bath and UK tour), The Importance Of Being Earnest (Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, USA), Sitting Pretty (Watford Palace), Markings (Southwark Playhouse/Traverse, Edinburgh), The Graduate (UK tour), Young Emma and Something Cloudy, Something Clear (Finborough), The Lion, The With And The Wardrobe (Maitisong, Botswana). Harvey spent much of 2010 directing the theatre plays that form an integral part of Roland Emmerich’s new film, Anonymous. She is a trustee of the Peggy Ramsay Foundation, a selector for the National Student Drama Festival and is a member of the 2011 panel for the George Devine Award for most Promising Playwright.

this is where we got to when you came in

Bush Theatre
15 – 30 September

this is where we got to when you came in is a fond farewell to the old Bush Theatre. Allow your curiosity to lead you through the building that has been home to the Bush for the last 40 years. Stolen kisses in the corner, furrowed brows on the fire escape, those final deep breaths before lines are spoken for the first time – encounter the past and dance with the future – what will you take from this place, and what will you leave behind?

this is where we got to when you came in is an interactive journey through the Bush Theatre, giving participants the chance to take their last, or perhaps even first, steps around the building before its doors close after 4 decades of performances.

non zero one make interactive performances using popular technologies. Their work explores the relationship between performer and participant. It discovers ways in which ties can be made and broken; power won and lost, and experiences shared or made deeply personal, both during and after the performance itself.

non zero one made their London debut with would like to meet at the Southwark Playhouse in 2009, which was presented as part of BITE ’10 at the Barbican Centre last year. They have also presented work at The Basement in Brighton, Forest Fringe in Edinburgh and Bring The Happy Festival in Leeds. non zero one are supported artists of The Basement, Brighton.

IN THE BEGINNING
By Nick Payne with extracts from the KJV selected by the Revd Dr James Hawkey

Westminster Abbey
24 March

Co-directed by Josie Rourke and Christopher Haydon in conjunction with the Dean and Chapter of Westminster

The Bush Theatre has teamed up with Westminster Abbey and the Kings James Bible Trust to create a unique, intimate and highly theatrical event to celebrate the 400th year anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible (KJV), a book that changed the world. In the Beginning is a creative tribute to both the book and the building and it is the first time Westminster Abbey has collaborated in this way.

Exactly four hundred years ago, in 1611, a group of scholars gathered together in the Jerusalem Chamber at Westminster Abbey to finalise their translation of the King James Version of the Bible (KJV). Subsequent centuries have seen this book become one of the most significant works of literature in the English language.

In The Beginning, a short work by Bush playwright, Nick Payne, interweaves selected extracts from the KJV with an extraordinary journey round the Abbey. It will access areas that are rarely open to the public and cast a fresh and surprising light on the Abbey itself. The script highlights some of the more idiosyncratic parts of the Abbey’s history; the fact that playwright Ben Johnson was buried standing up for he could only afford to buy one square foot of land.

As the audience travels round the building an ensemble of the country’s most talented actors will lead these intimate tours providing a uniquely theatrical experience for the audience.

Nick Payne won the George Devine Award in 2009 with his play If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet. This was produced at the Bush Theatre in October 2009 directed by Josie Rourke and starring Rafe Spall. Nick studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama and the University of York. He made his debut at the Royal Court theatre in September 2010 with his comedy Wanderlust and is currently under commission for a new play for the Court. His adaptation of Electra for The Gate Theatre opens in March and his first radio play will be recorded for Radio 4 in May 2011.

Christopher Haydon is Associate Artist of the Bush, and the Associate Director of On Theatre. As a director, his work includes Wittenberg (Gate Theatre), Pressure Drop (On Theatre/Wellcome Collection), A Safe Harbour for Elizabeth Bishop (Southbank Centre) Monsters (Arcola Theatre May 2009), A Number (Salisbury Playhouse): Grace (British Council/On Theatre, Theatre Du Poche, Brussels, Belgium): Notes from Underground (Arcola Theatre).

SEA WALL
By Simon Stephens

Fundraising gala at The Old Shepherds Bush Library
29 March

For a one-off fundraising event, award-winning playwright Simon Stephens returns to the theatre to read his critically acclaimed play Sea Wall – a story about family, fear and the things that can’t be undone – as part of a special evening of Bush Theatre hospitality. The evening will begin with cocktails and canapés, and after the performances, a themed soirée.

Simon Stephens’ previous plays include Pornography , Port (Pearson Award for Best Play), Christmas, On the Shore of the Wide World (Olivier Award for Best New Play), Motortown, Harper Regan, Punk Rock, A Thousand Stars Explode Into the Sky (with David Eldridge and Robert Holman) and the musical Marine Parade.

Two tickets are £350 which includes a Rising Star Annual Membership. For existing supporters tickets are £125 each.

THE FLOODED GRAVE
By Anthony Weigh

Latitude Festival
14 – 17 July

“Why have you come here then? In the face of all you’ve heard. To here. To me.
I know why you have come”

When night falls, take the road up from the motorway to the village. Along the path from the farmhouse there’s an open field. You’ll see a crowd is gathering in the darkness by the side of an empty grave. If you listen carefully you will hear a man desperately whispering a prayer. He has a story to tell you about an empty grave and a woman possessed.

Dare to follow the crowd as darkness descends and witness this bloodcurdling tale of faith, insanity and murder.

The Bush will be haunting Latitude Festival with this chilling graveside tale by Anthony Weigh which premiered in October 2008 as part of their Broken Space Season. The show will be performed at night in a hidden location at the Festival.

Anthony Weigh’s continues his collaboration with the Bush where he was Associate Playwright – his 2,000 Feet Away received its UK première at the theatre. The company also presented Like a Fishbone: An argument and an architectural model (with a simultaneous productions also being staged by the Sydney Theatre Company). Other works include Broad Street, or, How do I strike you? (University of Birmingham 20/20 season 2010), (I’m in) Brooklyn, (not Dagenham Parkway) (Miniaturists 27, London). In 2009 Anthony was Playwright in Residence at the National Theatre and his new version of Federico Garcia Lorca’s Yerma will première at The Gate Theatre later this year.

Release issued by: Blueprint PR

LINKS

Bush Theatre website

The first buildings at Hampton were acquired by the Knights Hospitallers Of St John Jerusalem in 1236 but Henry VIII remains the Palace’s most famous occupant and by the time Henry had finished his renovations it was one the of the most modern, sophisticated and magnificent in the world.

Sir Christopher Wren, under the instruction of William III, developed the second part of the palace in the late 1600′s and transformed the east and south facades of Hampton Court with the grand and elegant baroque exteriors that dominate the Formal gardens today.

When visiting Hampton Court do not miss the Tudor Kitchens – a living monument to 230 years of royal cooking. The kitchens were designed to feed at least 600 people twice a day and are still regularly used to prepare Tudor meals.

Hampton Court also boasts amazing gardens; the park covers 750 acres, the formal gardens 60 acres and the actual palace buildings 6 acres. Do not miss the restored Privy Garden and the famous Maze!

Everyday at the palace its history and stories are brought to life by costumed guides.

Book tickets to Hampton Court Palace

MORE INFO

Disabled access:
Hampton Court Palace is a historic building and, therefore, has uneven surfaces. However, many of the staircases are wide and shallow (having been built for William III who was asthmatic). Most of the routes within the palace are accessible to visitors unable to climb stairs as there is a lift to take visitors to the State Apartments on the first floor. Please ask a warder for assistance. However, for evacuation reasons, due to the size of the refuge areas, only six wheelchairs are permitted on the first floor at any one time. As a consequence, visitors may occasionally have to wait or visit an alternative part of the palace.

Hours:
Open Daily 9.30am-4.30pm
Closures:24th -26th December
Last Admission3.30pm

Children:
Child ages:5-15. Children aged 4 and below are free

Pickup:
Please take your voucher/confirmation to the Group Ticket Office entrance along with photo ID for fast track entrance to Hampton Court Palace

Book tickets to Hampton Court Palace

New features of the Zoo include getting breathtakingly close to a colony of western lowland gorillas in the Gorilla Kingdom exhibit; Clore Rainforest Lookout brings a cross-section of the South American rainforest to the Zoo, including marmosets, tamarins, birds and invertebrates, and visitors can walk along the rainforest canopy before descending to the forest floor; also come face to face with some of the hairiest, scariest, tallest and smallest animals on the planet – right in the heart of the capital, including Komodo dragons, the world’s largest lizards with toxic saliva, in their new enclosure; plus see the all-new ‘Night Life’ area, where you’ll discover the bats, rats and nocturnal wonders like the Slender Loris, armadillos and Potto who make the dark their home.

The Zoo gets through thirteen tonnes of carrots and four tonnes of eggs every week – but when you have over 16,000 hungry mouths to feed that’s no surprise!

Run by conservation charity the Zoological Society of London, London Zoo features over 600 different species of animals including unusual and endangered species, all set within beautiful gardens and heritage listed buildings all right in the heart of the capital city.

Book tickets to London Zoo

MORE INFO

Disabled Access:
Wheelchair access is available throughout the park. However, the Zoo also contains a number of heritage and listed buildings, some of which have minor access restrictions.

Hours:
Open daily from: 10.30am to 5.30pm. Last admission: 3pm. Closures: 25th December

Children:
Child ages: 3-15. Children aged 2 and below are free

Pickup:
Please take your voucher/confirmation to the ticket office along with photo ID to collect your entrance tickets to London Zoo.

Book tickets to London Zoo

Amanda Holden to play Princess Fiona in Shrek

Amanda Holden, the TV and stage actress and judge on ITV’s variety show Britain’s Got Talent, has secured a lead role in the forthcoming DreamWorks production of Shrek The Musical®, based on the Oscar-winning film.

Playing Princess Fiona, the down-to-earth and independent heroine of the show, Shrek The Musical opens at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London on 7 June 2011.

Holden has a theatrical background, having trained at Mountview Theatre School and appeared in stage roles including Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Mille at the Shaftsbury Theatre and Liesl Von Trapp in a touring production of The Sound of Music. Her numerous TV credits include Suspicious Circumstances opposite Edward Woodward, Eastenders, Mel in Kiss Me Kate, The Grimleys, Wild At Heart, Cutting It  and Big Top.

Shrek The Musical originally opened on Broadway in December 2008 and was nominated for eight Tony Awards. It closed in January this year after a relatively short run, although is now on a major tour of the USA. A number of changes have been made to the touring – and forthcoming London version – of the show, including a new opening, new songs, improved magic and illusions, a newly styled dragon and more emphasis on giving the show “heart”.

This has been confirmed by reviews of the US touring show, which opened this month at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago starring Eric Petersen. The Chicago Tribune’s Chris Jones said that the show had, “finally discovered a human scale. Or, to put it another way, “Shrek the Musical” has belatedly found more of a heart”.

Richard Blackwood to play Donkey

Other casting confirmed for the London production includes Richard Blackwood, who will play the Donkey. Blackwood is a comedian, singer and TV and radio presenter and is also step-brother to model Naomi Campbell. Recent stage appearances include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Novello Theatre alongside James Earl Jones and Adrian Lester.

The London stage musical is based on the irreverent fairy tale from William Steig’s book Shrek and the Oscar-winning Dreamworks Animation film. The creative team includes directors Jason Moore (Avenue Q) and Rob Ashford (Promises, Promises), with book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire, music by Olivier Award winner Jeanine Tesori, scenic, costume and puppet design by Tim Hatley, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, sound design by Peter Hylenski and choreography by Josh Prince.

The show is the first stage venture for DreamWorks Animation’s theatrical arm and was originally initiated as a project by award-winning director Sam Mendes. The musical will be produced in London by DreamWorks Theatricals’ Bill Damaschke and Mendes’ Neal Street Productions under Caro Newling.

Neal Street Productions is also behind a number of high-profile new London theatre projects including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Official casting information will be released soon. Drury Lane is currently home to Oliver!, which will close at the theatre on 8 January 2011.

Book tickets to SHREK THE MUSICAL at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane

Katie Holmes and Daniel Radcliffe at the Tony Awards

It can seem like sour grapes when “legit” stage performers moan about Hollywood stars outshining them at their own awards ceremony, particularly when it’s said stars that help to bring the world’s attention to their industry.

The Olivier Awards committee must watch and weep at the enormous star count at the Tonys, even if reasons for being there range from the legitimate – treading the Broadway boards (Denzel Washington, Scarlett Johansson), producing a Broadway show (Will Smith) – to the slightly random (Katie Holmes, Paula Abdul, Raquel Welch…).

With a softening of fim production and a desire to legitimise their acting careers with stage work, film stars on both sides of the Atlantic have been taking to the stage in increasing numbers, with recent British examples including Keira Knightley and Jude Law.

Which seems fair enough when theatre is increasingly turning to cinema and TV to broaden its audience, from the Met and the National Theatre’s international cinema programmes, to Glee’s parade of Broadway stars and TV talent shows such as Five’s forthcoming Don’t Stop Believing featuring Sweet Charity’s Tamsin Outhwaite. It’s a two-way street and theatre stars are benefitting from the screen.

In terms of the Tonys, a high star count does at least mean that a major US network, in this case CBS, is willing to televise the awards. In the UK there is no single channel willing to pick  up the Oliviers, a fact put very nicely by Douglas Hodge in his Winners Circle interview after winning his Tony award.

If the Tonys weren’t televised at all, then maybe Hunter et al would have much more to complain about.

Supported by his brothers, Joe, Kevin and Frankie Jonas, and parents Denise and Paul Jonas, Nick, 17, wowed the audience at the Queen’s Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue with his performance as Marius Pontmercy.

Nick Jonas and Camilla Kerslake

In the long-running show, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, his character falls in love with Cosette, played by Camilla Kerslake, a 21 year old classical singer from London who is signed to Gary Barlow’s Future Records.

Nick’s father Paul said on Twitter yesterday: “Nick told me when he was 11 and in Les Miz that he would return someday to play Marius. Today is the day. Your family is proud of you”. And following the show he posted, “Nick was amazing tonight in Les Miz. He blew everyone away. Great to be with the whole family for this wonderful life event”.

Fans who watched the show tonight Laura Jonas-Noyes who said on Twitter: “I am SO proud of Nick. Cried at the end!” Nick posted on his own Twitter page said: “What a night. First show was amazing. Thanks to everyone for the good luck messages. Congrats to all my cast mates”.

Nick will be playing the part of Marius for the next three weeks. He said recently in London that: “There’s pop music and then there’s theatrical style music and I’m just getting used to that mind set. And trying to re-learn how to sing like that has been interesting and a lot of fun as well.”

Nick Jonas will also join the cast of a special concert performance of Les Mis on Sunday 3 October at the O2 in London, featuring more than 300 actors and musicians, including Alfie Boe as Jean Valjean, Nick Jonas as Marius, Norm Lewis as Javert, Little Britain star Matt Lucas as Thenardier, Miss Saigon star Lea Salonga as Fantine, Jenny Galloway as Madame Thenardier, Camilla Kerslake as Cosette and the casts of the original production at the Queen’s Theatre, the UK touring production, including Gareth Gates, and members of the original 1985 London cast.

Nick Jonas is a member of globally successful boyband Jonas Brothers. 17 year old Nick is no stranger to performing on stage, having played the role of Gavroche in Les Miserables on Broadway in 2003. He has also appeared in a number of other Broadway shows from the age of 7 years old onwards, including A Christmas Carol, Annie Get Your Gun, Beauty and the Beast and The Sound of Music.

Nick and his brothers are currently performing a major series of concerts across the US. The Jonas Brothers, Kevin, Joe and Nick, released their first album, It’s About Time, in 2006, which spawned the TRL hit “Mandy”. Their next album, 2007’s Jonas Brothers, went platinum, as did their 2008 release A Little Bit Longer and 2009’s Lines, Vines and Trying Times. They found fame through the Disney Channel movie Camp Rock.

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PHOTO LINKS:

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