Following A Record-Breaking UK Tour Arlene Phillips And Adam Spiegel Present Strictly’s Vincent And Flavia In Their New Show Midnight Tango In London’s West End For A Strictly Limited Season

“MIDNIGHT TANGO” TO OPEN AT THE ALDWYCH THEATRE ON 20 JANUARY 2012

MIDNIGHT TANGO is the creation of Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace, stars of the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. The show has been touring the United Kingdom since April and has been the fastest selling show of the year in many of the venues. Producers of the show, Arlene Phillips and Adam Spiegel, are delighted to announce that MIDNIGHT TANGO will now be seen in the West End at the Aldwych Theatre for a strictly limited season, opening on 20 January 2012. The season must end on 31 March.

MIDNIGHT TANGO is set in a late-night bar in downtown Buenos Aires. Vincent and Flavia both star in and have choreographed the show, which brings to life all the drama, sensuality and elegance of the tango. They are joined on stage by some of the finest tango dancers in the world, and, between them, they take the audience on a journey into the heart of this intoxicating city, as danger and excitement, joy and jealousy, pain and passion combine into a spectacular and explosive evening.

Of the announcement of the West End season, producer Arlene Phillips said, “I’m thrilled with how well the show has been received around the country, and sell-out shows and standing ovations are every producer’s dream. Vincent and Flavia in MIDNIGHT TANGO are a must-see, and I hope the show’s arrival into the West End is just as successful.” Vincent and Flavia are equally delighted: “We are so incredibly pleased at how MIDNIGHT TANGO has been received and appreciated by our audiences. It’s an absolute thrill that we are taking the show to the West End. We sincerely hope to continue giving pleasure and making our audiences smile and cry with our show.”

MIDNIGHT TANGO is directed by Olivier Award-winning choroegrapher Karen Bruce, who has choreographed for both Strictly Come Dancing and So You Think You Can Dance on BBC 1, and whose theatre credits include Pacific Overtures (Donmar Warehouse) and Footloose (West End and UK Tour). Choreography is by Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace, design by Morgan Large and lighting by James Whiteside. The live music will be provided by top tango band, Tango Siempre, featuring vocalist Guillermo Rozenthuler.

The current nationwide tour of MIDNIGHT TANGO ends in Glasgow on 30 July and is produced by Arlene Phillips and Adam Spiegel.

Release issued by: Amanda Malpass PR

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Classic Ealing comedy The Ladykillers gets West End adaptation

A major new adaptation of classic Ealing Comedy The Ladykillers is to come to the West End this winter starring Peter Capaldi, James Fleet and Ben Miller.

Award-winning TV writer Graham Linehan (Father Ted, The IT Crowd) has penned the adaptation, which will be his first West End comedy. The play will be directed by Sean Foley (Play What I Wrote, Joan Rivers: A Work In Progress) and designed by Michael Taylor. Produced by the Liverpool Playhouse, the show will run at the Gielgud Theatre from 26 November 2011.

An all star cast will include Peter Capaldi, James Fleet, Ben Miller, Clive Rowe, Stephen Wight and Marcia Warren as Mrs Wilberforce.

The story tells of an eccentric little old lady Mrs Wilberforce who lives alone with her parrots in a strange lopsided house in King’s Cross. Her life is turned upside down by the arrival of Professor Marcus and his four friends, who between them make up the most unlikely group of criminals. Planning the heist of a security van, they decide to use Mrs Wilberforce as cover and involve her unwittingly in the plot. Things do not go well and the Professor’s plan starts to unravel in spectacular and hilarious fashion.

Peter Capaldi who is best known for his role as Malcolm Tucker in the television series The Thick Of It. James Fleet has played numerous TV, film and stage roles including Tom in Four Weddings And A Funeral and Hugo Horton in The Vicar of Dibley. Ben Miller is one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller. Clive Rowe’s credits include Nicely Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls, and Feste in Twelfth Night at the Open Air Theatre Regent’s Park. Stephen Wight won the Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer in the Evening Standard Awards for his performances in Don Juan In Soho at the Donmar Warehouse. Marcia Warren has won two Olivier Awards for roles in Stepping Out and Humble Boy and is best known for playing Vera in TV sitcom No Place Like Home.

The 1955 Ealing comedy featured actors including Alec Guinness, Peter Sellars, Frankie Howerd and Katie Johnson and won two BAFTA awards and was nominated for an Oscar.

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Closing Time: End of the Rainbow, Ghost Stories, Dirty Dancing depart the West End

It’s all change in the West End over the next few weeks as a number of high-profile West End shows bring down their curtains for the final time, including Tracie Bennett in End of the Rainbow, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, In A Forest, Dark And Deep, Flare Path and Dirty Dancing.

Tracie Bennett may have missed out on an Olivier award this year for her stellar performance as Judy Garland in Peter Quilter’s End of the Rainbow at the Trafalgar Studios, but audiences and critics have hailed the show a massive hit. With a UK tour planned and rumours that the show may now go on to Broadway, Bennett won’t be putting down the whiskey bottle just yet. But her bravura performance in London will come to an end on 21 May.

Also on the 21 May, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg will depart the Gielgud Theatre starring Joanna Riding and Meow Meow. There was much anticipation for Kneehigh’s return to the West End following its smash-hit production of Brief Encounter, but the show didn’t click with critics and swiftly announced its closing notices. However, Joanna Riding will be spared having to pack up her knick-knacks from her dressing room as she is remaining at the Gielgud to star in Lend Me A Tenor, from 2 June.

Trevor Nunn’s bullet-proof production of Terence Rattigan’s Flare Path closes on 11 June at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. The play, which stars Sienna Miller, Sheridan Smith and James Purefoy, will make way for another Nunn production, this time his Chichester Festival Theatre revival of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead from 16 June featuring Tim Curry, Samuel Barnett and Jamie Parker.

The West End has been doubly terrified over the past year with both The Woman in Black and Ghost Stories scaring audiences senseless. The Woman in Black is still going strong, and is promised a boost from a forthcoming movie adaptation of the classic ghost story starring Daniel Radcliffe. But the Lyric Hammersmith transfer of Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson’s spine-tingling Ghost Stories is ending its run, finishing up at the Duke of York’s Theatre on 19 June.

Director-of-the-moment Thea Sharrock’s current West End productions, running at the Apollo Theatre and Old Vic, both come to an end in June. Her revival of Rattigan’s Cause Celebre starring Anne-Marie Duff ends at the Old Vic on 11 June, swiftly followed on 18 June by her production of Noel Coward’s comedy Blithe Spirit at the Apollo Theatre starring Alison Steadman and Ruthie Henshall.

The show that has done more than any other to shift the audience profile of the West End is leaving the Aldwych Theatre on 9 July after an impressive run of just under 4 years. Dirty Dancing, based on the hit 80′s movie, is off on a UK tour but the original London production, which has inspired a myriad of also-rans and shown them how its done, is still the one to see.

Also closing in the next few weeks are two high-profile plays: Mike Leigh’s Ecstasy at the Duchess Theatre, closing on 28 May, and Neil LaBute’s play In A Forest, Dark And Deep, which ends its run at the Vaudeville Theatre on 4 June, starring Matthew Fox and Olivia Williams as dysfunctional siblings in this dark comedy come psychological thriller.

AND OPENING SOON…

Shows closing in the West End means a raft of new productions opening in London this summer.

Plays and musicals opening shortly in London include soon-to-be artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse Josie Rourke’s new production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing at the Wyndham’s Theatre, starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate as the sparring Beatrice and Benedick (from 16 May); a new production of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, which kicks off the 2011 season at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park (from 19 May); Eve Best in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare’s Globe (from 21 May); Kristin Scott Thomas in Harold Pinter’s Betrayal at the Comedy Theatre (from 27 May); Dominic West in Simon Gray’s Butley at the Duchess Theatre (from 1 June); Broadway musical Lend Me A Tenor at the Gielgud Theatre starring Joanna Riding (from 2 June);  The Flying Karamazov Brothers come crashing into the Vaudeville Theatre with much kilt wearing, flame throwing and general madcap hysteria (from 9 June); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead starring featuring Tim Curry, Samuel Barnett and Jamie Parker at the Theatre Royal Haymarket (from 16 June); Kevin Spacey as Richard III in Sam Mendes’s new production of Shakespeare’s play at the Old Vic (from 18 June); a big-budget new movie-to-stage musical comes to town as Ghost The Musical opens at the Piccadilly Theatre starring Caissie Levy, Richard Fleeshman and Sharon D Clarke, with music by Dave Stewart (from 22 June); and early July sees the return of classic TV comedy Yes, Prime Minister, at the Apollo Theatre (from 6 July).

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Marianne Elliott to direct new Spice Girls musical Viva Forever

Mamma Mia! producer Judy Craymer has confirmed that her new musical project, Viva Forever, will be directed by British theatre director Marianne Elliott.

Viva Forever, which is based on the songs of the Spice Girls and promises to be a modern fable of camaraderie, love and loyalty, has been written by Jennifer Saunders.

Marianne Elliott has worked for the Royal Exchange, Royal Court, RSC and National Theatre and is most famous for her direction, along with Tom Morris, of the National Theatre’s War Horse, which is currently playing at the New London Theatre in London and has recently opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on Broadway to rave reviews. Her other productions include Saint Joan at the National starring Anne-Marie Duff and Alan Ayckbourn’s Season’s Greetings.

Judy Craymer said in a statement that Marianne Elliott has a “theatrical aptitude for exploring strong women and their relationships and her meticulousness to detail she is absolutely the right person to direct this new musical which is all about female friendship, celebrity and fame”.

Simon Fuller, the Spice Girls’ manager, said, “The girls and I are delighted that one of the most brilliant female theatre directors Marianne Elliott is to direct Viva Forever. Judy, Jennifer and now Marianne, make an eminent team.”

The show is expected to premiere in London at the end of 2012.

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More news on Viva Forever

Marianne Elliott to Direct Viva Forever the Musical Based On the Songs of The Spice Girls

Judy Craymer’s new musical, VIVA FOREVER, a modern fable of camaraderie, love and loyalty based on the songs of the Spice Girls, is to be directed by one of the most illustrious British theatre directors Marianne Elliott.

In confirming the announcement, Judy said: “I am delighted that Marianne has agreed to direct VIVA FOREVER. With her theatrical aptitude for exploring strong women and their relationships and her meticulousness to detail she is absolutely the right person to direct this new musical which is all about female friendship, celebrity and fame. I’m so happy to have her on board, together with Jennifer Saunders, who has written the musical.”

Marianne Elliott started her career in the mid-nineties having graduated in drama from the Hull University. Her credits include work at the Royal Exchange, Royal Court, and the RSC before she joined the National Theatre as an Associate in 2006. Credits for the National Theatre include War Horse (co-directed with Tom Morris and which has just opened to much critical acclaim on Broadway), Pillars of the Community, Therese Raquin, Saint Joan, All’s Well That Ends Well, Harper Regan, Mrs Affleck and most recently with Thomas Middleton’s Woman Beware Women and Alan Ayckbourn’s Season’s Greetings.

Simon Fuller, the Spice Girls’ manager, said, “The girls and I are delighted that one of the most brilliant female theatre directors Marianne Elliott is to direct VIVA FOREVER. Judy, Jennifer and now Marianne, make an eminent team.”

VIVA FOREVER is produced by Judy Craymer in association with Universal Music, Simon Fuller and the Spice Girls.

VIVA FOREVER, a romantic comedy musical, based on the songs of the Spice Girls, is expected to open in the West End towards the end of 2012.

Release issued by: Borkowski

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Lend Me A Tenor The Musical Swoops Into The West End Opening At The Gielgud Theatre On 15 June

Following a critically acclaimed run at the Theatre Royal Plymouth in 2010, LEND ME A TENOR THE MUSICAL, the uproarious new musical comedy by Peter Sham (book and lyrics) and Brad Carroll (music), will open at the Gielgud Theatre on 15 June, with previews from 2 June.

It’s 1934, and the world’s greatest tenor Tito Merelli has come to Cleveland, Ohio, to save its Grand Opera Company by singing Verdi’s Otello. When he is unexpectedly incapacitated, Max, the opera director’s meek assistant, is given the daunting task of finding a last-minute replacement. Chaos ensues – including a scheming soprano, a tenor-struck ingénue, a jealous wife, shrimp gone bad and the Cleveland Police department.

LEND ME A TENOR THE MUSICAL is a riotous, unpredictable explosion of mistaken identities and unexpected romance – based on the award-winning West End and Broadway hit comedy by Ken Ludwig.

Matthew Kelly will star as ‘Henry Saunders’ (Executive Director of the Cleveland Grand Opera), Damian Humbley will star as ‘Max’ (Henry Saunders’ assistant, and the opera prompter), Michael Matus will star as ‘Tito Merelli, ‘Il Stupendo’ (the great Italian tenor), and Sophie-Louise Dann will star as ‘Diana Divane’ (Prima Donna of the Cleveland Grand Opera). Further casting will be announced.

This brand-new production is directed by Olivier award-winning director Ian Talbot (High Society, Anything Goes) and choreographed by Tony-nominated choreographer Randy Skinner (42nd Street, White Christmas). 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 and the Musical Director is Colin Billing.

LEND ME A TENOR THE MUSICAL is produced by Martin Platt and David Elliott, in association with Eileen & Allen Anes.

Release issued by: Target Live

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Matilda West End Transfer

The Royal Shakespeare Company world premiere production of Roald Dahl’s Matilda, A Musical will transfer to the West End in autumn 2011 for an open-ended run.

Tickets go on sale in May when performance dates, casting and venue will be announced.

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s world premiere production of Roald Dahl’s Matilda, A Musical will transfer to London’s West End in the autumn of 2011. Tickets go on sale in May when details of the performances dates, venue and casting will also be announced.

Matilda, A Musical played to sold-out audiences at the RSC’s Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon for twelve weeks from November 2010 to January 2011. Dahl’s magical story about a girl with extraordinary powers has been a favourite novel for millions of people across the world since it was published in 1988.

The new stage musical, which captured the imagination of young and old alike during its short run, is directed by Matthew Warchus; the script is by playwright Dennis Kelly, and the music and lyrics are by the anarchic Australian comedian, musician and composer Tim Minchin.

The production is designed by Rob Howell with choreography by Peter Darling, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, musical supervision and orchestration by Christopher Nightingale, sound by Simon Baker and special effects and illusions are by Paul Kieve.

No further announcements will be made until full production details are available.

Release issued by: RSC press office

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KARA TOINTON in Pygmalion

Strictly Come Dancing winner Kara takes to the West End stage as Eliza Doolittle

British actress Kara Tointon is on the fast-track to fame. She beat stiff competition last year on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing to be crowned the winner, and this year takes to the West End stage to play Eliza Doolittle in George Bernard Shaw’s classic play Pygmalion, alongside stage and screen star Rupert Everett as Henry Higgins.

Kara’s career to date includes some early stage work in The Sound of Music and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but has been dominated by TV acting, including parts in Teachers, Dinotopia, Mile High, Dream Team and four years playing Dawn Swann in EastEnders.

The Chichester Festival Theatre’s 2010 revival of Pygmalion, directed by Philip Prowse, will transfer to the Garrick Theatre this Spring (12 May to 3 September 2011).

George Bernard Shaw’s famous play was turned into the successful1956 musical My Fair Lady.

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RICHARD GRIEVE in Priscilla Queen of the Desert

TV soaps star Richard Grieve gets back to the stage and dons the sequins in Priscilla

Richard Grieve is no stranger to UK television viewers having played roles in Neighbours, Home & Away and Emmerdale. But a love of the stage has also driven him to appear in numerous plays and musicals over his career, both in his native Australia and in the UK. Up next for the versatile actor is his greatest challenge yet, playing the lead role of Tick in Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Palace Theatre, following in the footsteps of Jason Donovan and Ben Richards in the part.

Richard trained at Victoria University in Melbourne and Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art. His stage work includes The Misanthrope, Design for Living, Molière’s The Will, Mame, The Boy from Oz, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in Australia; and in the UK he has appeared in the UK tour of Footloose The Musical, Daisy Miller, Dial M for Murder, Teen Scream, There’s No Place Like a Home, A Daughter’s a Daughter, An Ideal Husband and Bells Are Ringing.

Richard’s TV work includes playing Sam Kratz in Neighbours, Dr Lachlan Frazer in Home & Away, Johnny Foster in Emmerdale, plus roles in The Man from Snowy River, Newlyweds, E Street, State Coroner and Wintertime.

Richard stars in Priscilla alongside Mark Moraghan as Bob, Don Gallagher as Bernadette and Oliver Thornton as Adam.

Book tickets to Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Palace Theatre in London

DON GALLAGHER in Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Don Gallagher stars as former Les Girls Bernadette in Priscilla Queen of the Desert

West End star Don Gallagher has appeared in a wealth of plays and musicals in his long career including Roger de Bris in The Producers, His Dark Materials and Stuff Happens at the National Theatre, a number of seasons at the RSC, and roles in Les Misérables and Martin Guerre.

He is also no stranger to the TV world, with his credits including Casualty, Miss Marple, The Changeling, Hancock and Joan, Poirot, Ballet Shoes, Where the Heart Is and Inspector Linley.

In Priscilla Don stars as glamorous transwoman and drag queen Bernadette, played in the Oscar-winning movie by Terence Stamp.

Don stars in Priscilla Queen of the Desert alongside Richard Grieve as Tick, Mark Moraghan as Bob and Oliver Thornton as Adam.

Book tickets to Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Palace Theatre in London