Lend Me A Tenor to close early at the Gielgud

Lend Me A Tenor, the musical comedy by Peter Sham and Brad Carroll, is to close early at the Gielgud Theatre in London.

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.

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Lend Me A Tenor – Reviews Round-up

Lend Me A Tenor The Musical To Close On Saturday 6 August

LEND ME A TENOR THE MUSICAL, the uproarious new musical comedy by Peter Sham and Brad Carroll, based on Ken Ludwig’s award-winning play, which opened at the Gielgud Theatre earlier this summer to some rave reviews, is to close. Despite receiving a series of 4-star reviews and standing ovations, the production’s last performance will be Saturday 6 August.

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

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Lend Me A Tenor – Reviews Round-up

Lend Me A Tenor at the Gielgud Theatre – Round-up of Reviews

A round-up of reviews of Lend Me A Tenor at the Gielgud Theatre starring Matthew Kelly and Joanna Riding.

Lend Me A Tenor is the new musical comedy 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 show features mistaken identities and unexpected romance and is based on the award-winning West End and Broadway hit comedy by Ken Ludwig.

Lend Me A Tenor stars Matthew Kelly and Joanna Riding alongside Damian Humbley, Michael Matus, Sophie-Louise Dann, Cassidy Janson, Gay Soper, Jane Quinn and Michelle Bishop.

See a round-up of Lend Me A Tenor reviews, below.

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Production photos of Lend Me A Tenor at the Gielgud Theatre starring Matthew Kelly and Joanna Riding

Matthew Kelly and Joanna Riding star in Lend Me A Tenor at the Gielgud Theatre in London.

Lend Me A Tenor is the uproarious new musical comedy which is currently running at the Gielgud Theatre.

The hilarious show features mistaken identities and unexpected romance and is based on the award-winning West End and Broadway hit comedy by Ken Ludwig.

The multi-talented cast stars award-winning actors Matthew Kelly and Joanna Riding alongside Damian Humbley, Michael Matus, Sophie-Louise Dann, Cassidy Janson, Gay Soper, Jane Quinn and Michelle Bishop.

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.

The company also features Jemma Alexander, Karen Aspinall, Natasha J. Barnes, Nick Butcher, Kelly Chinery, Sharon Eckman, Daniel Farrow, Andrew Keelan, Kara Lane, Connor McAllister, Haydn Oakley, Stephen Oliver-Webb, Ryan Pidgen, Jeremy Secomb, Emma Sewell, John Stacey, Robert Traynor, and Michelle White.

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).

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New shows this week: Dominic West in Butley, David Tennant and Catherine Tate, Lend Me A Tenor

What’s opening in the West End this week including Dominic West in Butley, David Tennant and Catherine Tate in Much Ado About Nothing and Matthew Kelly and Joanna Riding in Lend Me A Tenor.

NEW SHOWS 30 MAY to 5 JUNE 2011

On Wednesday 1 June Much Ado About Nothing gets its official opening night at the Wyndham’s Theatre. David Tennant and Catherine Tate star as Beatrice and Benedick in this high-profile new production directed by Josie Rourke.

Also on Wednesday, Dominic West (The Wire) returns to the West End as previews start for Simon Gray’s savage, witty and remarkable play Butley at the Duchess Theatre, directed by Lindsay Posner and also starring Paul McGann.

Also starting previews this week is Lend Me A Tenor on Thursday 2 June at the Gielgud Theatre in London. Ian Talbot directs this fun new musical comedy by Peter Sham and Brad Carroll, based on the Broadway classic and starring Matthew Kelly and Joanna Riding.

OPENING NEXT WEEK

The Royal Court’s revival of Arnold Wesker’s Chicken Soup With Barley opens, starring Samantha Spiro and directed by Dominic Cooke (Press night 7 June).

The Donmar Warehouse production of Schiller’s Luise Miller directed by Michael Grandage and starring Alex Kingston, Felicity Jones, Finty Williams, Max Bennett and David Dawson (Previews from 8 June).

Friday 10 June marks the centenary of British playwright Terence Rattigan and on the following day, Saturday 11 June, two of his classic plays, Cause Celebre at the Old Vic and Flare Path at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, both close in the West End.

Finally, Sunday 12 June sees this year’s Tony Awards announced. A big, glitzy ceremony is planned with Danielle Radcliffe, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Vanessa Redgrave handing out gongs and the Royal Court’s Jerusalem and National Theatre’s War Horse in line for multiple awards.

AND OPENING LATER IN JUNE

The Flying Karamazov Brothers come crashing into the Vaudeville Theatre with much kilt wearing, flame throwing and general madcap hysteria (from 9 June); Shrek The Musical has its press night at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane starring Amanda Holden and Nigel Lindsay (14 June); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead starring featuring Samuel Barnett and Jamie Parker at the Theatre Royal Haymarket (from 16 June); Kristin Soctt Thomas leads the cast in previews of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal at the Comedy Theatre, in a new production directed by Ian Rickson, also starring Douglas Henshall and Ben Miles (Press night 16 June); The Royal Ballet’s sumptuous and large-scale production of Romeo and Juliet comes to the O2 Arena (from 17 June); Kevin Spacey as Richard III in Sam Mendes’s new production of Shakespeare’s play at the Old Vic (from 18 June); The Railway Children comes steaming back into the Waterlook Station Theatre for a summer run (from 19 June); and 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).

Also don’t forget that West End Live – the West End’s free weekend festival – comes to Trafalgar Square for the first time this year on 18 and 19 June, promising star turns from many of the West End’s biggest shows.

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Lend Me A Tenor – Special Offer Save £23.50 on tickets

Save £23.50 on tickets to see Lend Me A Tenor at the Gielgud Theatre in London

Lend Me A Tenor is the uproarious new musical comedy which runs at the Gielgud Theatre from 2 June 2011.

The hilarious show features mistaken identities and unexpected romance and is based on the award-winning West End and Broadway hit comedy by Ken Ludwig.

The show stars award-winning actors Matthew Kelly and Joanna Riding alongside a cast that includes Damian Humbley, Michael Matus, Sophie-Louise Dann, Cassidy Janson, Gay Soper, Jane Quinn and Michelle Bishop.

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.

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).

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SPECIAL OFFER: Save £23.50 on tickets to see Lend Me A Tenor at the Gielgud Theatre in London

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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Full Casting Announced For Lend Me A Tenor The Musical Opening At The Gielgud Theatre On 15 June

The full cast has been announced for the West End production of LEND ME A TENOR THE MUSICAL, the uproarious new musical comedy by Peter Sham (book and lyrics) and Brad Carroll (music), which opens at the Gielgud Theatre on 15 June, with previews from 2 June.

Matthew Kelly will star as ‘Henry Saunders’ (Executive Director of the Cleveland Grand Opera), Joanna Riding will star as ‘Maria Marelli’, Damian Humbley will star as ‘Max’ (Henry Saunders’ assistant, and the opera prompter), Michael Matus will star as ‘Tito Merelli, (the Great Italian tenor known as ‘Il Stupendo’), Sophie-Louise Dann will star as ‘Diana Divane’ (Prima Donna of the Cleveland Grand Opera), Cassidy Janson will star as ‘Maggie Saunders’ (Henry Saunders’ daughter), and Gay Soper, Jane Quinn and Michelle Bishop will star as the ‘Ladies of the Opera Guild’.

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.

The company also features Jemma Alexander, Karen Aspinall, Natasha J. Barnes, Nick Butcher, Kelly Chinery, Sharon Eckman, Daniel Farrow, Andrew Keelan, Kara Lane, Connor McAllister, Haydn Oakley, Stephen Oliver-Webb, Ryan Pidgen, Jeremy Secomb, Emma Sewell, John Stacey, Robert Traynor, and Michelle White.

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, 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.

Release issued by: Target Live

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Umbrellas of Cherbourg to close early at the Gilegud Theatre

Kneehigh theatre company’s latest West End production, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, has posted early closing notices at the Gielgud Theatre in London.

The show will now end its run on 21 May 2011, rather than the original end date of 1 October. The new musical production based on the classic French movie opened on 22 March to lukewarm reviews.

One of the producers of the show, Daniel Sparrow, has issued a statement saying that, “Together with my co-producing team, we are immensely proud to have brought our production of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg to the West End following its run in Leicester earlier this year. However, despite consistently positive audience responses, for economic reasons we are having to close earlier than anticipated. To have worked with Emma Rice, Kneehigh, our hugely talented creative team, cast and company has been a privilege and as producers, our ongoing ambition to bring fresh, innovative and original work to the West End will continue to be pursued. Following positive interest in the show from the global theatrical community, plans for a UK tour and various international productions of Umbrellas are currently in discussion.”

Directed by Emma Rice the show stars Joanna Riding, Meow Meow, Carly Bawden and Andrew Durand.

Based on Jacques Demy’s 1964 film, with a score by Michel Legrand, the show tells the simple love story between a young girl (played by Carly Bawden) who’s mother (Joanna Riding) owns an umbrella shop, and a garage mechanic (Andrew Durand) who has to leave her for his military service.

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Reviews Round-up for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

More news on The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

 

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg – Reviews Round-up

A round-up of reviews for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg at the Gielgud Theatre in London

Innovative theatre company Kneehigh’s new production, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, opened last night at the Gielgud Theatre in London. Directed by Emma Rice the show stars Joanna Riding, Meow Meow, Carly Bawden and Andrew Durand.

Based on Jacques Demy’s 1964 film, with a score by Michel Legrand, the show tells the simple love story between a young girl (played by Carly Bawden) who’s mother (Joanna Riding) owns an umbrella shop, and a garage mechanic (Andrew Durand) who has to leave her for his military service.

Read reviews from the Times, Guardian, Variety, Telegraph and Evening Standard, below.

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