Alan Titchmarch celebrates West End musicals

All week on ITV1 in the UK, TV host Alan Titchmarsh has been celebrating West End musicals on his daytime show.

His weekday The Alan Titchmarsh Show, running Mondays to Fridays at 3pm on ITV1, has seen the cast of Wicked (Monday 2 May), Grease (Tuesday), Les Miserables with Gareth Gates (Wednesday), Legally Blonde (today, Thursday 5 May at 3pm) and Billy Elliot (Friday) perform in front of a live studio audience.

LINKS

Watch Wicked perform on the Alan Titchmarsh Show

Watch Grease

Watch Les Miserables

Watch Legally Blonde

Alfie Boe and Matt Lucas cast in Les Mis

Internationally acclaimed singer Alfie Boe and Little Britain’s Matt Lucas have been confirmed as the new stars of Les Miserables in London.

Their turns in the Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert at the O2 last  October brought the house down and were some of the most memorable performances of the night. And now Les Miserables producer Cameron Mackintosh has confirmed that Alfie Boe and Matt Lucas are to star in the original production of Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre in London, from 23 June 2011.

Alfie Boe is one of the country’s leading tenors and best selling recording artists and will play Jean Valjean in the show until 26 November 2011. Matt Lucas is one of Britain’s most successful comic actors and writers, with TV credits including Little Britain and Come Fly With Me. He will play Thénardier until 10 September 2011.

They will join a cast that will also include Hadley Fraser as Javert and Gareth Gates as Marius.

LINKS

Book tickets to Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre in London

GARETH GATES in Les Miserables

Gareth Gates stars in the original West End production of Les Miserables

It’s been a spectacular journey for Gareth Gates, from Pop Idol runner-up to currently playing Marius in Les Misérables in the West End.

He is no stranger to the role having recently played Marius in the new, UK touring production of the show directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell and designed by Matt Kinley.

That production finished its UK run in September at the Barbican Theatre, and now he’s having a go at the original London production of Les Miserables, directed 25 years ago by Trevor Nunn and John Caird.

Gareth Gates came to fame by entering the first ever Pop Idol TV talent show, making it to the final. He went on to have four number one singles and to sell 3.5 million records in the UK alone, and has appeared on ITV1’s Dancing on Ice and starred as Joseph in the West End production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Cameron Mackintosh’s legendary production of Boublil and Schonberg’s Les Misérables is the world’s longest-running musical, having been seen by over 57 million people worldwide in 291 cities.

NOTE: Gareth will play Marius at the Queen’s Theatre until 20 November 2010, and then from 31 January to 18 June 2011.

Book tickets to Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre in London

Gareth Gates to join London Les Mis

Actor to join the London cast of Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre

Gareth Gates is to reprise his role as Marius in the original London production of Les Miserables. He will join the cast at the Queen’s Theatre from 18 October to 20 November 2010, and from 31 January to 18 June 2011.

The singer and actor has recently been playing Marius in the new, UK touring production of Les Misérables directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell and designed by Matt Kinley. Earlier this month he also joined the casts of Les Mis past and present at a spectacular O2 Arena concert to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the show.

Gates told fans on his Twitter page that he was “excited to have a crack at the Original production” and is getting to grips with Trevor Nunn and John Caird’s production and set, as opposed to the slimmed-down UK tour: “the revolve is quite something, and the Barricade too huge”, he said.

Gareth Gates came to fame by entering the first ever Pop Idol TV talent show, making it to the final. He went on to have four number one singles and to sell 3.5 million records in the UK alone, and has appeared on ITV1’s Dancing on Ice and starred as Joseph in the West End production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Cameron Mackintosh’s legendary production of Boublil and Schonberg’s Les Misérables is the world’s longest-running musical, having been seen by over 57 million people worldwide in 291 cities.

The show currently stars Simon Bowman, Norm Lewis and Samantha Barks.

Book tickets to Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre in London

Les Mis celebrates 25th birthday

A spectacular concert performance of Les Miserables was held at the O2 Arena in London last night, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the musical.

A number of cast members from the original 1985 production of the show, including Colm Wilkinson and Michael Ball, came together with the casts of the current West End production at the Queen’s Theatre in London and the UK touring production to celebrate the record-breaking musical.

The producer of Les Miserables, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, who has become a multi-millionaire through the 42 worldwide productions of the show, said that the event had been one of the “most astonishing” nights of his life. “Seeing everybody love this material so much and love their fellow performers is something I have never encountered in the theatre and I never will for the rest of my life”, he said.

A chorus of over 150 singers joined a number of internationally renowned performers at the event including Alfie Boe as Jean Valjean, Nick Jonas as Marius, Norm Lewis as Javert, Matt Lucas as Thénardier, Lea Salonga as Fantine, Jenny Galloway as Madame Thénardier, Ramin Karimloo as Enjolras, Samantha Barks as Eponine and Katie Hall as Cosette.

Students who have performed school productions of the show also took to the stage for the finale. At the event Mackintosh also revealed that work had begun on a screenplay of the musical, to be made into a major film.

Les Miserables is the world’s longest running musical and has been seen by over 55 million people worldwide.

Book tickets to Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre in London.

Countdown to Les Mis at the O2

Last few tickets remain for major Les Miserables concert at the 02 this Sunday; Katie Hall to replace Camilla Kerslake as Cosette; concert to be shown live in cinemas around the world

An epic concert will be staged this Sunday, 3 October 2010, by impresario Cameron Mackintosh to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Les Miserables.

In association with Universal Pictures, the extraordinary staged concert will feature over 500 actors and musicians, with star performances from a host of internationally renowned performers including Alfie Boe as Jean Valjean, Nick Jonas as Marius, Norm Lewis as Javert, Matt Lucas as Thénardier, Lea Salonga as Fantine, Jenny Galloway as Madame Thénardier, Ramin Karimloo as Enjolras and Samantha Barks as Eponine.

The part of Cosette, which was originally to have been played by Camilla Kerslake, will now be played by former I’d Do Anything contestant Katie Hall. She is currently performing in the 25th anniversary UK tour of the show, now playing at the Barbican Theatre, alongside Gareth Gates and John Owen Jones. The cast of this production, plus the London cast at the Queen’s Theatre, will all perform on stage at the O2.

Les Miserables has made theatrical history with three different productions running in London: the original production at the Queen’s Theatre, the new 25th anniversary UK tour at the Barbican, and the concert at the O2. The show overtook Cats in 2006 as the World’s Longest Running Musical and celebrated its 10,000th performance in January this year.

Les Mis Concert In Cinemas

The Les Mis concert will also hit cinemas as part of the 25th Anniversary celebrations. The show at the O2 Arena will be transmitted live via satellite on 3 October to more than 175 cinemas across the UK – and in Australia, Germany, Ireland and Norway. See a list of cinemas showing the Les Miserables concert here.

LINKS

Book tickets to see Les Miserables in Concert at the O2 Arena

Cinemas showing the Les Miserables 25th Anniversary concert: UK, Germany, Ireland and Northern Ireland, Norway, Australia

MORE INFO

Heading The O2 Concert cast is Alfie Boe, one of the country’s leading tenors and best selling recording artists. Alfie shot to fame while starring in Baz Luhrmann’s “La Boheme” on Broadway, winning a Tony Award for his performance. His other credits include a nomination for a Classical Brit Award for his album “Onward” and a sell-out production of “The Merry Widow” at the London Coliseum. His future opera engagements will see Alfie return to the English National Opera to sing ‘Nadir’ in a new production of “The Pearl Fishers” and also his return to the Royal Opera House in Gounod’s”Roméo et Juliette”.

Matt Lucas is one of Britain’s most successful comic actors and writers. His TV credits include the multi award-winning “Little Britain”, “Shooting Stars”, BBC’s “Wind in the Willows” and most recently Tim Burton’s film of “Alice in Wonderland”. Jenny Galloway is regarded as a legendary ‘Madame Thénardier’, and has played the part many times, including the 10th Anniversary concert at the Royal Albert Hall. She has also created the roles of ‘Rosie’ in “Mamma Mia!” for which she won an Olivier Award, and ‘Mrs Brill’ in “Mary Poppins” both in the West End and on Broadway.

Lea Salonga will fly in from Manilla to play ‘Fantine’. No stranger to “Les Miz”, Lea has played ‘Eponine’ in London and ‘Fantine’ on Broadway. She became an international star by creating the role of ‘Kim’ in the original production of “Miss Saigon” at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and subsequently on Broadway. Lea won a multitude of awards for this role, including the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Theatre World Awards. Lea will join her former “Les Miz” co-star Norm Lewis, who has just received rave reviews for “Sondheim on Sondheim” at Studio 54 in New York. Norm played ‘Javert’ in the Broadway production of “Les Misérables” and his other Broadway credits include ‘John’ in “Miss Saigon” and ‘King Triton’ in Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”.

Nick Jonas is one third of the phenomenally successful pop music artists, the Jonas Brothers. Worldwide they have sold over 8 million albums, played to millions of fans on three continents, earned dozens of international awards and have garnered 36 gold and platinum album certificates. No stranger to “Les Miz”, Nick played the part of ‘Gavroche’ for the final nine months of the show’s original Broadway run. Camilla Kerslake is an English classical crossover singer who became the first signing to Gary Barlow’s new record label. Her debut album shot to number 4 in the Classical Album Charts and has been nominated for a Classical Brit Award. Camilla also sings the Christian hymn, “How Can I Keep from Singing?” in the 2009 Waitrose supermarket Christmas advert. Nick will also appear in the London production of Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre for three weeks only from 21 June 2010. Book tickets now.

The O2 Concert will also feature the casts of the original London production (still playing to packed houses at the Queen’s Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue), the cast of the acclaimed New 25th Anniversary Production and members of the original 1985 cast. The new production, which is breaking box office records all over the UK and opening in countries all over the world has played a short run at the Barbican, London where the show originally premiered.

The magnificent score of “LES MISÉRABLES” includes the songs, ‘I Dreamed a Dream’, ‘On My Own’, ‘Stars’, ‘Bring Him Home’, ‘Do You Hear the People Sing?’, ‘One Day More’, ‘Empty Chairs at Empty Tables’, ‘Master Of The House’ and many more.

“LES MISÉRABLES” originally opened in London at the Barbican Theatre on 8 October 1985, transferred to the Palace Theatre on 4 December 1985 and moved to its current home at the Queen’s Theatre on 3 April 2004 where it continues to play to packed houses. When “LES MISÉRABLES” celebrated its 21st London birthday on 8 October 2006, it became the World’s Longest Running Musical, surpassing the record previously held by “Cats” in London’s West End. In January 2010, the West End production broke another record by celebrating an historic 10,000th performances.

Seen by over 56 million people worldwide in 42 countries and in 21 languages, “LES MISÉRABLES” is undisputedly one of the world’s most popular musicals ever written, with new productions continually opening around the globe, with seven more currently scheduled. There have been 36 cast recordings of “LES MISÉRABLES”, including the multi-platinum London cast recording, the Grammy Award-winning Broadway cast and complete symphonic albums and the soon to be released live recording of the New 25th Anniversary production. The video of the 10th Anniversary Royal Albert Hall Gala Concert has sold millions of copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling musical videos ever in the UK. There are over 2,500 productions of the Les Misérables School’s Edition scheduled or being performed by over 125,000 school children in the UK, US and Australia, making it the most successful musical ever produced in schools. Cameron Mackintosh is currently developing a film of “LES MISÉRABLES” with Working Title and Universal.

Cameron Mackintosh’s production of “LES MISÉRABLES” is written by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg and is based on the novel by Victor Hugo. It has music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and original French text by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel and additional material by James Fenton. The original London 1985 production of “LES MISÉRABLES” was adapted and directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird.

The New 25th Anniversary production and the O2 Concert are directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell and designed by Matt Kinley. Original costumes by Andreane Neofitou, additional costumes by Christine Rowland, lighting by Patrick Woodroffe and Paule Constable and sound by Mick Potter.

Book tickets to see Les Miserables in Concert at the O2 Arena

Opening this week in London

It’s a busy week for London theatre as comedy, Shakespeare, showgirls and Ben Barnes hit the West End stage.

OPENING THIS WEEK

Monday 27 September

Yes, Prime Minister opens at the Gielgud Theatre. Following a sell-out season at Chichester Festival Theatre, the original writers of the BBC series, Antony Jay & Jonathan Lynn, have reunited for this 30th anniversary production of Yes, Prime Minister starring Henry Goodman and David Haig. BOOK TICKETS

Tuesday 28 September

Birdsong opens at the Comedy Theatre. A new stage adaptation of Sebastian Faulks’ acclaimed novel Birdsong, adapted by Rachel Wagstaff, directed by Trevor Nunn and starring the Chronicles of Narnia’s Ben Barnes, Nicholas Farrell, Iain Mitchell, Genevieve O’Reilly and Lee Ross. BOOK TICKETS

Wednesday 29 September

Caroline O’Connor – The Showgirl Within opens at the Garrick Theatre. The international award-winning musicals star Caroline O’Connor is back in London with a new one-woman show following sell-out seasons in New York and Sydney. BOOK TICKETS

Traces opens at the Peacock Theatre. After a sell-out run in 2009, The 7 Fingers return to London with their fresh, urban and seriously high-energy smash-hit circus show Traces. Circus with a distinctly 21st century edge. BOOK TICKETS

Thursday 30 September

Hamlet starts previews at the National Theatre. Following his celebrated performances at the National in Burnt by the Sun , The Revenger’s Tragedy , Philistines and The Man of Mode, Rory Kinnear plays Hamlet, joined by Clare Higgins as Gertrude, Patrick Malahide as Claudius and David Calder as Polonius.

Pam Ann – Flying High opens at the Vaudeville Theatre. The fabulous Pam Ann will be winging her way into the Vaudeville Theatre featuring the glamorous Australian viper-tongued airline hostess from hell in an hilarious new show co-written by Pam Ann creator Caroline Reid. BOOK TICKETS

SHOWS CLOSING

Saturday 2 October

All My Sons at the Apollo Theatre. Howard Davies’ powerful production of Arthur Miller’s classic play comes to an end at the Apollo, starring David Suchet and Zoe Wanamaker.

Les Miserables at the Barbican Theatre. 

GARETH GATES in Les Miserables

Gareth Gates stars in the 25th anniversary production of Les Miserables

It’s been a spectacular journey for Gareth Gates, from Pop Idol runner-up to currently playing Marius in the year-long touring production of Les Misérables.

The tour will come to an end by arriving at the Barbican Theatre in September, where it all began 25 years ago, for a strictly limited season.

Gareth became head chorister at Bradford Cathedral when he was 11 years old and went on to enter the first ever Pop Idol TV talent show, making it to the final but getting pipped at the post by Will Young. He went on to have four number one singles and sell 3.5 million records in the UK alone.

He then appeared on ITV1’s Dancing on Ice, did panto in Wimbledon and took the lead role of Joseph in the West End production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

In October he will join Les Mis casts past and present for the mega concerts at the O2 Arena, and we predict big musical theatre projects for Gareth in year ahead.

Book tickets to Les Miserables at the Barbican Theatre in London

Opening This Week in the West End

It’s an eclectic mix of shows that are opening this week in the West End, as the autumn season of new productions begins apace. From Wonder Woman to Michael Gambon via Noel Coward and Sebastian Faulks, there’s something for everyone.

On Tuesday 14 September, Les Miserables returns to the Barbican Theatre, where it all began 25 years ago. A brand new production of Boublil and Schonberg’s legendary musical has been touring the UK to celebrate its 25th anniversary and completes its run at the Barbican – but for only 22 performances. The show features a dynamic young cast including Gareth Gates.

Noel Coward is never far from the West End, and Wednesday 15 September sees the opening night of Design for Living at the Old Vic Theatre in Waterloo. Anthony Page directs Coward’s 1932 comedy about the complicated three-way relationship between two men and a woman. The play stars Tom Burke (Telstar), Andrew Scott (Lennon Naked) and Lisa Dillon (Cranford) and runs until 27 November.

On the same day Krapp’s Last Tape starts previews at the Duchess Theatre starring one of Britain’s most accomplished actors, Michael Gambon. The Dublin Gate Theatre transfer of Samuel Beckett’s classic enjoyed rave reviews at the Gate directed by Michael Colgan. The 50 minute show is playing two shows a night, keeping Mr Gambon nicely occupied.

On Friday 17 September  the fabulous Lynda Carter, aka Wonder Women, pops to town for two shows of her Lynda Carter: At Last solo sing-fest. Best known to millions as TV superhero Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter: At Last is a musical evening to celebrate her recent solo album. Following dates in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, Lynda Carter will appear in London on 17 and 18 September 2010 at the Garrick Theatre.

Also on Friday, the Chichester Festival Theatre’s sell-out production of Yes, Prime Minister starts previews at the Gielgud Theatre starring Henry Goodman and David Haig. The original writers of the BBC series, Antony Jay & Jonathan Lynn, have reunited for this hilarious 30th anniversary production, promising much topical wit and political spin-doctoring: Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey Appleby are back and this time to face the country in financial meltdown!

The following day, Saturday 18 September, Trevor Nunn is back in the West End directing Rachel Wagstaff’s adaptation of the best-selling Sebastian Faulks novel Birdsong. The play starts previews at the Comedy Theatre starring British movie star Ben Barnes (The Chronicles of Narnia), Nicholas Farrell, Iain Mitchell, Genevieve O’Reilly and Lee Ross, and tells the moving story of one man’s journey through an all consuming love affair and into the horror of the First World War.

BOOKING INFO

Book tickets to Design for Living at the Old Vic Theatre

Books tickets to Les Miserables 25th anniversary production at the Barbican Theatre

Book tickets to Krapp’s Last Tape at the Duchess Theatre

Book tickets to Yes, Prime Minister at the Gielgud Theatre

Book tickets to Birdsong at the Comedy Theatre

Book tickets to Lynda Carter: At Last at the Garrick Theatre

Les Miserables – Barbican Theatre

Cameron Mackintosh presents a brand new 25th anniversary production of Boublil and Schonberg’s legendary musical, at the Barbican for only 22 performances. Stars Gareth Gates.

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