Cold Feet reunited for Coward

Two of the stars of long-running Mike Bullen TV drama Cold Feet are to reunite on stage in a forthcoming production of Blithe Spirit.

Hermione Norris (Spooks) and Robert Bathurst (Alex), who played a husband and wife in the drama, will reunite on stage as spouses Charles and Ruth Condomine in the play.

Blithe Spirit will also star Alison Steadman (Gavin and Stacey) as Madame Arcati, and opens at the Theatre Royal Bath in November before a UK tour. The show will then come to the Apollo Theatre in London from 2 March.

Noel Coward’s comedy will be directed by Thea Sharrock, who is currently enjoying enormous success for her production of Terence Rattigan’s After The Dance at the National Theatre. She will return to Rattigan next year for his Centenary by directing Cause Célèbre, which will open at the Old Vic Theatre on 17 March, a few days after Blithe Spirit opens in London.

No stranger to Blithe Spirit, Sharrock directed a 2004 production of the play at the Savoy Theatre starring Penelope Keith. The Noel Coward classic, first produced in 1941, has had numerous UK revivals in the last few years. In the play, the novelist Charles Condomine (Bathurst) and his second wife Ruth (Norris) are haunted when an eccentric medium (Steadman) manages to conjure up the ghost of Charles’s neurotic first wife, Elvira, at a seance.

Robert Bathurst has recently completed a UK tour of Noel Coward’s Present Laughter.

Book tickets to Blithe Spirit at the Apollo Theatre in London

Apollo Theatre

Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 7ES

West End Star Watch: Update

Our regular round-up of theatre names hitting town or making the news. This issue includes Alison Steadman, Jenny Galloway, Catherine Zeta-Jones, David Haid, Robert Lindsay and Anthony Sher.

ALISON STEADMAN

Director of the moment Thea Sharrock, who enjoyed rave notices last week for her new production of Terrence Rattigan’s After the Dance at the National Theatre, will turn to Noel Coward later this year.

A new production of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit will materialise at the Theatre Royal Bath and then transfer to the Apollo Theatre from 2 March 2011 starring award-winning actress Alison Steadman (Gavin and Stacey) as Madame Arcati.

No stranger to Blithe Spirit, Sharrock directed a 2004 production of the play at the Savoy Theatre starring Penelope Keith. The Noel Coward classic has had numerous UK revivals in the last few years. The director told Baz in the Daily Mail that, “You cannot really mess with those old boys  -  the structure is so particular”. Indeed.

The only question is, will Rupert Everett reprise his recent Broadway performance as Charles Condomine for the production?

JENNY GALLOWAY

Amongst many standout performances in Thea Sharrock’s production of After the Dance is that of Jenny Galloway as Miss Potter, an actress who is s one of the most accomplished stars you’ve (probably) never heard of. She has recently been cast in Cameron Mackintosh’s enormous 25th anniversary concert version of Les Miserables at the O2 Arena on 3 October playing Madame Thénardier, a role she played in the London and New York productions.

Galloway’s career spans musicals and plays including two Olivier Award winning performances – as Rosie in Mamma Mia! (2000) and Luce in The Boys from Syracuse (1992). She also originated the role of Mrs Brill in Mackintosh’s production of Mary Poppins – in London and Broadway – and recently appeared in the Donmar in the West End’s production of Madame De Sade with Judi Dench.

DAVID HAIG

The great migration of classic TV shows to stage (see Porridge, Inspector Morse, Dad’s Army etc) shows no sign of abating. Jenny Galloway’s fellow Mary Poppins cast mate David Haig, who originated the role of Mr Banks in the show, will be back in London this Autumn in a stage production of TV classic Yes, Prime Minister.

Haig plays Prime Minister Jim Hacker in the Chichester production that will run at the Gielgud Theatre from 17 September, penned by the show’s original TV writers Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. The comedy will also star Henry Goodman as Sir Humphrey Appleby.

ANTHONY SHER

A big name he may be, but Anthony Sher is not averse to playing the odd small venue: he will debut in Arthur Miller’s Broken Glass at the Tricycle Theatre from 30 September, directed by Iqbal Khan. Let’s hope it also transfers to the West End to follow the current Arthur Miller success in town – All My Sons at the Apollo Theatre starring David Suchet and Zoe Wanamaker.

CATHERINE ZETA-JONES

Anthony Sher’s cousin, Ronald Harwood, received a knighthood this week in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his enormous contribution to stage and screen writing, including classic theatrical play The Dresser. Congrats also go to Catherine Zeta-Jones who has been appointed a CBE. Currently wowing them on Broadway in A Little Night Music, here’s hoping this week proves a double-success for Mrs Michael Douglas and she wins a Tony award tonight for her performance in the show.

ROBERT LINDSAY

The Novello Theatre will see out Tap Dogs in September and follow with Onassis on 30 September starring Robert Lindsay. He will resurrect his performance as Aristotle Onassis in Martin Sherman’s play Onassis following a run in Derby. Based on the last years of the controversial Greek tycoon, the play was originally produced as Aristo at Chichester to mixed reviews but with glowing praise for Lindsay’s performance. Sherman and director Nancy Meckler have subsequently rewritten the piece.

The cast will also include Tom Austen, Liz Crowther, Ben Grove, Robert Hastie, John Hodgkinson, Sue Kelvin, Graeme Taylor and Gawn Grainger.

All My Sons – Reviews Round-up

A round-up of reviews of All My Sons at the Apollo Theatre in London, starring David Suchet and Zoe Wanamaker.

STAR RATINGS

The Sunday Times

The Independent

The Telegraph

The Guardian

Evening Standard

THE TELEGRAPH

Charles Spencer

IN SUMMARY: This is a stunning production of a modern classic and one that those who see it will never forget.
THE PLAY: This is a play of extraordinary power and emotional depth, and when it is performed as wonderfully as it is here, Miller’s theme of man’s responsibility towards his fellow men feels genuinely noble rather than merely didactic.
THE CAST: The great David Suchet has never been better than he is here as the initially jovial Joe Keller, who seems to shrink within his own body as the chickens come home to roost; Zoë Wanamaker is also outstanding as his wife, clenched with grief and driven almost mad by the lie on which her life is based, and there is terrific support from Stephen Campbell Moore as the honourable surviving son and Jemima Rooper as the girlfriend who delivers the coup de grace.

Read the review

THE GUARDIAN

Michael Billington

IN SUMMARY: Not only is the acting tremendous and every visual detail precise, Davies also makes you realise Miller’s play is a portrait of a society as well as of a flawed individual.
THE PLAY: You could quarrel with Miller’s occasional melodramatic touches, in particular the fiancee’s revelation of a crucial letter she has kept hidden for three years. But the power of the production lies in the stripping away of protective illusion.
THE CAST: David Suchet’s superb Joe is a man who conceals his guilt under a backyard bonhomie… Zoe Wanamaker is no less astonishing as Joe’s wife…. There is fine support from Stephen Campbell Moore as the impossibly idealistic surviving son, and from Jemima Rooper as the tenacious fiancee.
Read the review

EVENING STANDARD

Henry Hitchings

IN SUMMARY: You won’t find better performances in the West End right now than those of David Suchet and Zoë Wanamaker in Howard Davies’s meaty, satisfying production of this 1947 Arthur Miller play.
THE PLAY: Of all Miller’s plays, this one throbs most strongly with the influence of Ibsen. It compellingly charts the relationship between actions and their morbid psychological causes, and there’s a note of Nordic mysticism beneath its richly furbished reality.
THE CAST: There’s excellent work from Stephen Campbell Moore as Joe’s affectionate, attentive son Chris, and from Jemima Rooper, warm and twinkly but soulful as Ann, his brother’s one-time lover and the woman he now aspires to marry. Wanamaker is husky, poised and poignant, a model of tortured seriousness. It’s Suchet, though, who dominates. He invests Joe with a lovely geniality, yet also with gravitas and a wounded, anxious manliness. Every nuance of his performance feels perfectly weighted.
Read the review

THE INDEPENDENT

Paul Taylor

IN SUMMARY: … watching Howard Davies’s emotionally searching, expertly acted revival, you’re persuaded that this is a small price to pay for the play’s fierce moral fervour and the psychological penetration of its insights.
THE PLAY: Miller’s Ibsenite plot occasionally creaks and is marred by certain implausibilities; but while it lasts, you are swept up by the production’s splendid self-conviction.
THE CAST: Zoë Wanamaker is superlative in the role, showing you a woman who is a heartbreaking and deeply unnerving mix of agitated neurosis and indomitable will… David Suchet is on magnificent form as Joe Keller… Stephen Campbell Moore, in a finely judged performance, lets you see, as well as the principled idealism, the aggrieved priggishness of a youth who affects to despise his father’s soiled money without decisively renouncing it.

Read the Review

THE SUNDAY TIMES

Christopher Hart

IN SUMMARY: Along with some excellent acting, we can admire all over again the way in which this family drama also perfectly illustrates how man’s responsibility to his fellow man goes way beyond his family and the domestic economy.
THE PLAY: Act I takes a while to warm up, and there is little hint of the drama to come. You’re reminded here of what Miller’s plays offer and what they don’t: compelling moral drama, rich characterisation, humanity, yes; but no real wildness, madness or mystery.
THE CAST: You’re riveted not least by the acting. David Suchet, as Joe Keller, is magnificent… Less convincing is Zoë Wanamaker, as Kate. Her fragility seems too obvious, and her sudden grief too actorly: arms over the head, animal howl, slow subsidence to the floor… Most compelling of all, though, is Chris, superbly played by Stephen Campbell Moore. Here is a good man who is also fascinating, tormented, passionate, upright and angry, the epitome of the Miller hero, set on doing the right thing and disgusted when others don’t. He is the play’s moral centre, and Moore invests him with all the power and presence to be so.

Read the review

Book tickets to All My Sons at the Apollo Theatre in London

New shows this week

The Fantasticks, The Crucible, All My Sons and Dream of the Dog

New shows starting this week in the West End include long-running Broadway musical The Fantasticks, which began previews at the Duchess Theatre last night. Also previewing from last night is The Crucible, Arthur Miller’s play at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park. Another Arthur Miller play, All My Sons, gets its first night premiere on Thursday 27 May at the Apollo Theatre starring David Suchet and Zoe Wanamaker. Also opening on Thursday 27 May is South African-set Dream of the Dog at the Trafalgar Studios starring Janet Suzman. Finally, previewing from this Thursday is Simon Gray’s play The Late Middle Classes at the Donmar Warehouse starring Helen McCrory, Eleanor Bron and Robert Glenister.

THE FANTASTICKS

Duchess Theatre, from 24 May 2010

The world’s longest-running musical finally makes it to London after first wowing audiences on Broadway 50 years ago. Since its debut in 1960 it has played in over 2,000 cities and towns in 67 countries worldwide, and now makes its UK debut at the Duchess Theatre in London.

This brand new production of the much-loved musical is directed by Amon Miyamoto, bringing a fresh visual, emotional and musical energy to the show. The Fantasticks tells an allegorical story about two neighbouring fathers who put up a wall between their houses to ensure that their children fall in love, because they know children always do what their parents forbid.

After the children do fall in love, they discover their fathers’ plot and each go off and experience the world. Finally, they return to each other and appreciate the love they had after learning to recognise their true feelings.

An impressive cast includes David Burt (Les Miserables, Chess, Taboo), Edward Petherbridge (The Woman in White ), Clive Rowe (Chicago, Caroline, or Change), Carl Au (High School Musical), Luke Brady (Nightfall), Hadley Fraser (Peter Pan), Paul Hunter (The Fahrenheit Twins),  and Lorna Want (Footloose The Musical).

Special Offer: Save £20 on tickets to The Fantasticks at the Duchess Theatre in London

THE CRUCIBLE

Open Air Theare Regent’s Park, from 24 May 2010

One of Arthur Miller’s greatest plays, The Crucible is set amid the Salem witch hunts of the 1600s, in which a community is divided by jealousy and superstition.

The cast of this powerful new production includes Patrick O’Kane, Emma Cunniffe, Emily Taaffe, Oliver Ford Davies, Lucy May Barker, Charlie Cameron, Philip Cumbus, Anni Domingo, Susan Engel, Christopher Fulford, Patrick Godfrey, Christopher Hunter, Bettrys Jones, Paul Kemp, Geoff Leesley, Alexandra Mathie, Gary Milner, Ellie Paskell and Malcolm Rogers. The director is Timothy Sheader.

Special Offer: Save £10 on tickets to The Crucible at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park

ALL MY SONS

Apollo Theatre, opens 27 May 2010

All My Sons is Arthur Miller’s compelling story of forbidden love, loyalty, guilt and the corrupting power of greed, and marks the first great success of Miller’s influential career.

Acclaimed actors David Suchet and Zoe Wanamaker return to the West End to star in the play, directed by Howard Davies.

In All My Sons, Joe Keller (Suchet) is alleged to have supplied World War II fighter planes with defective engines, leading to the deaths of innocent pilots, a crime for which his business partner took the fall. One of Keller’s sons, himself a pilot, is thought to have been killed in action. His mother (Wanamaker) can’t accept his death and equally can’t accept that her dead son’s fiancée has transferred her affections to her other son. The confrontations that ensue lead to the uncovering of a world-shaking family secret.

Director Howard Davies previously won a Laurence Olivier Award for his 2000 production of All My Sons, which was staged at the National Theatre.

Book tickets to All My Sons at the Apollo Theatre in London

DREAM OF THE DOG

Trafalgar Studios, from 27 May 2010

Oscar nominated actress Janet Suzman returns to London to star in Dream of the Dog, a rich and complex story set in South Africa. Dream Of The Dog takes an unflinching look at the twin mantras of the post-Mandela age, reconciliation and forgiveness, asking whether black and white can ever live together peacefully.

The cast includes Janet Suzman alongside Ariyon Bakare, Gracy Goldman and Bernard Kay, is written by Craig Higginson and directed by Katie McAleese.

Special offer: Save £5 on tickets to Dream of the Dog at the Trafalgar Studios in London

SPONSORED NEWS UPDATE:

If you live outside of London then your theatre trip may require an overnight stay. There are numerous London hotels to choose from, so check out Simon Seeks for reviews, offers and advice on London hotels.

London theatre tickets can be purchased from a number of sources including established ticket agencies such as UK Tickets, who offer a variety of shows including Wizard of Oz Tickets and Lion King Tickets.

DAVID SUCHET in All My Sons

TV’s Poirot returns to the West End stage in Arthur Miller classic

David Suchet is back in the West End this season to play Joe Keller in Arthur Miller’s powerful drama All My Sons.

Acting alongside Zoe Wanamaker, the production is directed by Howard Davies and marks the first great success of Arthur Miller’s influential career.

A compelling story of love, guilt and the corrupting power of greed, Suchet plays Joe Keller, who is alleged to have supplied World War II fighter planes with defective engines, leading to the deaths of innocent pilots – a crime for which his business partner took the fall. One of Keller’s sons, himself a pilot, is thought to have been killed in action. But his mother (Zoe Wanamaker) can’t accept his death and equally, can’t accept that her dead son’s fiancee has transferred her affections to her other son. The confrontations that ensue lead to the uncovering of a shameful family secret…

Book tickets to All My Sons at the Apollo Theatre in London

ZOE WANAMAKER in All My Sons

Acclaimed actress to star in Arthur Miller’s All My Sons at the Apollo Theatre

Zoë Wanamaker will return to the London  stage this spring starring alongside David Suchet (Poirot) in Arthur Miller’s classic play All My Sons. Zoë Wanamaker was born in 1949 in New York, the daughter of American film and stage actor Sam Wanamker.

Her numerous credits include TV sitcom My Family, and stage roles in Piaf, Mother Courage, Loot, Electra (Olivier Award winner), Boston Marriage and Awake and Sing!

Book tickets to All My Sons at the Apollo Theatre in London

Rylance Broadway bound

The West End’s man-of-the-moment Mark Rylance will star in a revival of David Hirson’s comedy drama La Bete, initially in London and then New York.

Rylance, who is currently appearing in the Royal Court’s Jerusalem at the Apollo Theatre having garnered rave reviews and an Olivier Award nomination for his standout role as Johnny “Rooster” Byron, will follow La Bete on Broadway by taking Jerusalem to New York.

The cast of La Bete will also feature Joanna Lumley, making her Broadway debut in the play, and Frasier’s David Hyde Pierce.

Set in 17^th century France, La Bete is a comedy about a conflict within a theatre troupe, and will be directed by Matthew Warchus and run in the West End for a short season before transferring to New York.

DEBBIE REYNOLDS in Alive and Fabulous

Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds comes to London inone-woman show

There aren’t many 50s Hollywood stars still living, let alone kicking, but Debbie Reynolds is most certainly still with us and on incredible form.

Star of classic films Singin’ In The Rain, The Unsinkable Molly Brown and That’s Entertainment, Ms Reynolds brings her one-woman show Alive and Fabulous to the Apollo Theatre in London for only 10 dates (28 April – 9 May).

Discovered at 16 and contracted to MGM, her career spans a wealth of movies and musicals including Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. In the show she uses old movie clips as a backdrop to reminisce about her life, her many husbands and her incredible career in the golden age of song and dance. “It’s a variety show”, said Reynolds recently, “I get to do impressions of Barbra Streisand, Mae West, Katherine Hepburn – even Jimmy Stewart.”

SPECIAL OFFER: Save £17.50 on tickets to Debbie Reynolds Alive and Fabulous at the Apollo Theatre

London theatre – summer preview

SAVE UP TO HALF PRICE ON LONDON THEATRE AT WESTENDTHEATRE.COM

London theatre is pulling out all of the stops this summer to ensure that the capital’s theatre scene remains a chief attraction for millions of UK and overseas visitors.

A host of big hitting stars and large scale musicals are lined up to showcase a range of new productions, including performances by Jude Law, Helen Mirren, Ethan Hawke, Gillian Anderson and Ian McKellen.

The death of drama in the West End has been greatly exaggerated given the wide ranging slate of classic and contemporary plays premiering this summer. One of the most high profile will be Jude Law, taking to the stage in Shakespeare’s most famous play, Hamlet, directed by Michael Grandage as part of his Donmar in the West End season. A strong supporting cast includes Penelope Wilton as Gertrude and Kevin McNally as Claudius, from 29 May at the Wyndham’s Theatre.

From Danes to Dames and Helen Mirren returns to London and the National Theatre from 4 June in Racine’s tragic play Phedre. The play concerns a woman (Mirren) consumed by passion for her stepson, which is highly plausible given that the stepson is played by hot young thing and Mamma Mia! The Movie star Dominic Cooper.

Helen Mirren starred in successful British movie Calendar Girls – which is now coming to the stage in a brand new production starring Patricia Hodge and Sian Phillips. Written by Tim Firth, the story of a group of middle-aged Women’s Institute members who pose for a calendar with a difference is playing at the Noel Coward Theatre.

Stage legends Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart are reuniting after their onscreen antics in the X-Men movies to give us Waiting for Godot at the Haymarket Theatre from 20 April, in what promises to be a standout production of Samuel Beckett’s classic.

Talents from New York and London will converge at The Old Vic from 23 May for The Bridge Project – a three year partnership between The Old Vic, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Neal Street Productions. Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes will direct a new version of The Cherry Orchard plus Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, in a cast that features Ethan Hawke, Simon Russell Beale, Sinead Cusack and recent star of Woody Allen’s Vicky Christina Barcelona, Rebecca Hall.

The Cherry Orchard is a new translation by Tom Stoppard, who will also see his 1993 play Arcadia revived in a new production at the Duke of York’s Theatre starring his son Ed Stoppard and Samantha Bond and Dan Stevens. In its first run at the National Theatre the play won a slew of awards including Critics’ Circle, Evening Standard and Olivier Awards.

Other notable players making their way into town include Prunella Scales (Fawlty Towers) in Carrie’s War at the Apollo Theatre, and Gillian Anderson, who will star in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House at the Donmar Warehouse, joining a stellar cast that includes Christopher Eccleston, Toby Stephens, Tara Fitzgerald and Anton Lesser.

Musical theatre is firmly “based on a film” this year as a blockbuster stage production of Sister Act joins a West End brimming with adaptations of movies, including recent addition Priscilla Queen of the Desert starring Jason Donovan and long-runners Hairspray with Michael Ball, Dirty Dancing, The Lion King, Billy Elliot, Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Sunset Boulevard – and Grease, which will star Dancing on Ice winner Ray Quinn as Danny from 11 May.

Sister Act, which runs from 7 May at the London Palladium, is produced by the film’s original star Whoopi Goldberg and features Sheila Hancock and rising star Patina Miller, with music courtesy of Alan Menken (Disney’s Beauty & The Beast).

Other movie-to-stage shows on the horizon include the Broadway production of Legally Blond opening at the Savoy Theatre at the end of the year and a stage adaptation of Oscar winning film Ghost, directed by Matthew Warchus, set for 2010.

Chief amongst the new musicals opening in London in the later part of 2009 will be Andrew Lloyd Webber’s world premiere of The Phantom of the Opera sequel Love Never Dies at the Adelphi Theatre in early November. The show is set to star current London Phantom Ramin Karimloo and will follow its London opening with productions in Toronto, Shanghai and then Broadway.

A number of shows that have run successfully in other venues are also making their way into the West End including Juliet Stevenson (Truly Madly Deeply) and Henry Goodman in Duet For One at the Vaudeville Theatre; the acclaimed production of Steven Sondheim’s A Little Night Music starring Maureen Lipman at the Garrick Theatre; the National Theatre’s War Horse, a family drama set during World War I about a boy’s adventures to find his beloved horse, at the New London theatre; and following its smash-hit run on Broadway – a new UK production of uber hip musical Spring Awakening at the Novello Theatre.

Other long running musicals that continue to extend their runs and pack them in include Avenue Q – now at the Gielgud Theatre, Blood Brothers, We Will Rock You, Chicago, Wicked, Jersey Boys, Stomp, Oliver!, Mamma Mia!, Les Miserables, Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Joseph, Roger’s and Hammerstein’s Carousel, Thriller Live featuring the songs of Michael Jackson and an award-winning production of La Cage Aux Folles.

Long-running plays in London include scary thriller The Woman in Black, hilarious comedy The 39 Steps based on Alfred Hitchcock’s film and Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap.

Finally, the V&A Museum in London has opened its new Theatre and Performance galleries following the closure of the Theatre Museum in Covent Garden in 2007. The new galleries will celebrate the UK’s heritage in culture and performance with hundreds of exhibits including costumes, set models, stage props, original posters and playbills, theatrical prints, paintings and photographs from some of London’s most famous theatrical productions.

SAVE UP TO HALF PRICE ON LONDON THEATRE AT WESTENDTHEATRE.COM

Next Page »