The Bodyguard starring Heather Headley

A major new West End musical version of hit 90′s movie The Bodyguard will come to London in 2012.

Directed by Thea Sharrock, the show will star Tony Award-winning Broadway actress Heather Headley (Aida, The Lion King) in the role played by Whitney Houston in the film.

Produced by David Ian and Michael Harrison, the theatre and casting is to be confirmed.

BOOKING

Details to be confirmed. Sign up to our news alerts service to hear about booking for this show.

LINKS

Heather Headley on Facebook
David Ian Productions

Flashdance to close early

Flashdance The Musical has posted early closing notices at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London

Based on the 80s movie about an 18 year old girl from Pittsburgh who is a welder by day and a ‘flashdancer” by night, the musical features the star of the UK tour, Victoria Hamilton Barritt, and former Busted boyband member Matt Willis.

Producers of the show have confirmed that it will close at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 15 January 2011. The show received mixed reviews when it opened at the theatre in October, with Michael Billington in the Guardian typical of the critical response to the show: “Thanks to Arlene Phillips’s choreography and Nikolai Foster’s direction, the show brims with physical energy and is full of visual invention. All the same, there are aspects of this blue-collar Cinderella story that don’t quite add up.”

Written by Tom Hedley and Robert Cary, with music by Robbie Roth, lyrics by Robert Cary and Robbie Roth, Flashdance The Musical is directed by Nikolai Foster with choreography by Arlene Phillips and orchestrations and musical supervision by Phil Edwards. Flashdance The Musical, is based on the Paramount Pictures film and its well-known score includes Maniac, Manhunt, Gloria and the Academy Award winning title song Flashdance – What a Feeling. Ten original songs have also been created for the musical.

SPECIAL OFFER: Save £19.50 on previews to Flashdance The Musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London

FURTHER INFORMATION

Customers who have booked tickets for the show from 17 January onwards should contact their original point of sale for refunds. Customers who have booked through westendtheatre.com, please contact Encore Tickets on +44 (0) 207 492 1606 between 10am and 5pm Monday to Friday or email hdesk@encoretickets.co.uk with your booking details.

Flashdance The Musical starts Saturday

Flashdance The Musical starts previews Saturday at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London

After technical problems postponed the start of previews yesterday for Flashdance the Musical, the show starts tonight, 25 September, at the Shaftesbury Theatre, with its press night on 14 October 2010.

Based on the 80s movie about an 18 year old girl from Pittsburgh who is a welder by day and a ‘flashdancer” by night, the musical features the star of the UK tour, Victoria Hamilton Barritt, and former Busted boyband member Matt Willis.

The David Ian production is directed by Nikolai Foster with choreography by Arlene Phillips (Grease, Strictly Come Dancing), and the show’s well-known score includes Maniac, Manhunt, Gloria and the Academy Award winning title song Flashdance – What a Feeling. Ten original songs have also been created for the musical.

SPECIAL OFFER: Save £18.50 on previews to Flashdance The Musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London

SHOWS CLOSING:

Saturday 25 September: The Prisoner of Second Avenue at the Vaudeville Theatre. Jeff Goldblum and Mercedes Ruehl end their run in Neil Simon’s brilliant New York comedy.

Casting: Flashdance at the Shaftesbury

Busted’s Matt Willis and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt to star in Flashdance The Musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre

Flashdance The Musical will shimmy its way into the Shaftesbury Theatre this Autumn featuring the star of the UK tour of the show, Victoria Hamilton Barritt, and former Busted boyband member Matt Willis.

Based on the 80s movie about an 18 year old girl from Pittsburgh who is a welder by day and a ‘flashdancer” by night, the show starts previews on 24 September, with its press night on 14 October 2010.

Produced by David Ian (Grease), choreography will be by multi award-winning Arlene Phillips (Grease, We Will Rock You, Starlight Express, Saturday Night Fever, Strictly Come Dancing). She choreographed the recent UK tour but will re-choreograph the West End show from the ground-up.

The musical features a well-known score that includes Maniac, Manhunt, Gloria and the Academy Award winning title song Flashdance – What a Feeling. Ten original songs have also been created for the musical.

Victoria Hamilton-Barritt is currently starring as Rizzo in Grease at the Piccadilly Theatre and created the role of Alex in the UK tour of Flashdance. Other credits include Mamma Mia!, Fame, Desperately Seeking Susan, Saturday Night Fever and West Side Story.

Matt Willis came to fame as a member of boyband Busted and went on to have a solo music career. He won the 2006 series of ITV’s I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here and has presnted a number of TV shows. He trained at the Sylvia Young acting school. Flashdance The Musical will be his West End theatre debut, fulfilling a long held ambition.

Flashdance is directed by Nikolai Foster and written by Tom Hedley and Robert Cary, with music by Robbie Roth, lyrics by Robert Cary and Robbie Roth, and musical supervision by Phil Edwards.

The full cast is: Victoria Hamilton-Barritt (Alex), Matt Willis (Nick), Sarah Ingram (Hannah), Charlotte Harwood (Gloria), Hannah Levane (Keisha) and Twinnie-Lee Moore (Jazmin), plus Brendan Cull, Russell Dixon, Sam Mackay, Ricky Rojas, Andrew Spillett and Robbie White, as well as Ivan Blackstock, Tyman Boatwright, Myles Brown, Joseph Conner, Natalie Edmunds, Nicholas Gilligan, Zoe Green, James Hall, Ben Harrold, Emily Hawgood, Kirby Huges, Sia Kiwa, Lindsay Shaw, Maria Swainson, Amy Thornton and Daniel Uppal.

Book tickets to Flashdance The Musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London

LAUREN SAMUELS in Grease

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s loss is David Ian’s gain

TV talent shows have not only boosted the fortunes of the music industry. West End theatre has become increasingly reliant on TV talent and casting shows to generate a new generation of recognisable faces to join the casts of long-running shows.

David Ian’s Grease The Musical - which was itself cast through 2007 ITV talent show Grease Is The Word – has seen Ray Quinn (discovered on The X-Factor, winner of Dancing on Ice) play Danny, and has now cast Over The Rainbow runner-up Lauren Samuels in the part of Sandy in the long-running show.

Lauren trained at the Guildford School of Acting where her roles included Esta in Moby Dick! The Musical, Grace in Anyone Can Whistle, Sarah in Bitter Sweet and Frances in The Matchgirls.

Earlier this year she auditioned for Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s BBC One talent search Over The Rainbow to find a Dorothy for his new production of The Wizard of Oz – starting next year at the London Palladium. She rose up through the weeks of auditions and live shows to get to third place in the contest, attracting many millions of followers on the way.

Last year she made her professional stage debut as Wendy in the Christmas production of Peter Pan at the Curve in Leicester.

Lauren will join the cast of Grease at the Piccadilly Theatre from 26 July.

SPECIAL OFFER: Save £21 on tickets to Grease at the Piccadilly Theatre in London

Flashdance to hit West End

David Ian’s successful touring production of Flashdance The Musical, based on the cult 80s movie, is making its way into the West End.

After spending 2009 touring the UK, the show will premiere at the Shaftesbury Theatre from September 2010, replacing Hairspray which is finishing up at the venue on 28 March.

Riding on the high of movie-to-musical stage shows, and a hard act to follow after the successes of Legally Blonde, Hairspray, Billy Elliot, Dirty Dancing et al, Flashdance The Musical tells the story of 18 year old Alex, a welder by day and ‘flashdancer’ by night, whose dream is to win a place at the prestigious Shipley Dance Academy.

The show features choreography by Arlene Phillips and is based on the Paramount Pictures film – which won an Oscar for its music. Some of the songs from the film feature in the stage show – including  ‘Maniac’, ‘Manhunt’, ‘Gloria’ and the title track ‘Flashdance – What a Feeling’ – as well as 10 original songs created for the musical.

Written by Tom Hedley and Robert Cary, with music by Robbie Roth, lyrics by Robert Cary and Robbie Roth, Flashdance The Musical will be directed at the Shaftesbury Theatre by Nikolai Foster with orchestrations and musical supervision by Phil Edwards. Casting will be announced shortly.

Book tickets to see Flashdance The Musical at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London

Sweet Charity to transfer

The Menier Chocolate Factory’s sold out run of Sweet Charity is to transfer in to the West End.

Starring ex-EastEnders star Tamzin Outhwaite in the title role of Charity Hope Valentine, the show will open at the Theatre Royal Haymarket on 23 April.

Winner of a Tony Award, the musical has a book by Neil Simon, music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Dorothy Fields and features a number of legendary musicals songs including Hey, Big Spender, If My Friends Could See Me Now and The Rhythm of Life.

Directed by Matthew White, with choreography by Stephen Mear and set design by Tim Shortall, the show is being brought in to town by David Ian and David Mirvish.

Sweet Charity follows the misadventures of the gullible and guileless Charity Hope Valentine, a woman who always gives her heart and her dreams to the wrong man.

Tamzin Outhwaite has proved a versatile actress across both stage and screen, having recently appeared in Matthew Warchus’ acclaimed production of Boeing-Boeing at the Comedy Theatre, and on television in Hustle, Hotel Babylon and new dramas The Fixer and Paradox.

Book tickets to Sweet Charity at the Theatre Royal Haymarket

COMMENT: Is the West End complacent?

David Ian speaking on Simon Mayo’s BBC Radio 5 programme today was upbeat about the state of West End theatre saying that “historically people tend to go to the theatre in times of recession”.

I’m sure that there is more than one theatre producer in London praying that he is right.

Whilst musicals continue to be blasted for keeping the West End buoyant, Ian was unapologetic about their continuing appeal, even at the expense of drama, and said that market forces were to blame for the large number of musicals in London.

However, you can’t help but feel that the West End is being a little complacent thinking that it has bucked the current economic trend.

In New York last month, New York’s city tourism and marketing company launched a new campaign to attract people to see a Broadway show driven by the fear that a recession-driven drop in tourism will hurt Broadway ticket sales. The not particularly snappy “Ask New York City about New York City Broadway” campaign will run across posters and in taxis city wide.

18 shows have closed on Broadway over the past few months – some because of business or economic concerns. And yesterday Zorro posted it’s closing notices, joining The Sound of Music which bows out later this month.

Could it be that the UK’s The Society of London Theatre – and the Mayor of London – need to follow New York’s lead and become more aggressive in marketing the West End?

Footnote:

On the subject of using star names to help theatre stay alive, Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League, the industry trade association, told the New York Times recently that “Big stars do bring in audiences… I think they help bring up the visibility”. This was echoed by David Ian today who said “Unknown pieces with unknown actors are very difficult to sell just now.”

David Ian is one of the West End’s most important producers and has played a significant role in recent BBC and ITV talent shows casting musical revivals of Grease and The Sound of Music.