LEE MEAD in Legally Blonde The Musical
June 1, 2011
West End star Lee Mead joins the cast of Legally Blonde The Musical at the Savoy Theatre.
Lee Mead. Photo: © Roy Tan
Legally Blonde is on a roll!
The show has already scooped three 2011 Olivier Awards including Best New Musical. And now the multi-talented actor Lee Mead is joining the cast from 20 June 2011 in the role of Emmett.
Lee Mead’s story is a classic showbiz tale for the 21st Century: a chorus boy struggling to break into the big time enlists on a TV talent show and ends up a star.
Mead came to prominence by winning BBC One’s talent show Any Dream Will Do in 2007, and going on star in Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s major revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Adelphi Theatre. However, before winning the show he was a jobbing West End actor having played in a number of musicals including The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon and Tommy.
He left Joseph in 2009 to release a successful solo album and then took the title role in the UK tour of Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime. He released a second album and has performed around the UK whilst also starring as Fiyero in Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre last year.
Lee Mead is married to TV and stage performer Denise Van Outen, who was on the judging panel for Any Dream Will Do. They married in April 2009 and have recently had a baby daughter, Betsy.
And in a bid to keep it in the family Denise is currently starring as beautician Paulette in the show – although there may not be a cross-over between the two performers. Other cast include Susan McFadden as Elle Woods, Siobhan Dillon as Vivienne and Peter Davison as Professor Callahan.
SPECIAL OFFER: Save on tickets to Legally Blonde at the Savoy Theatre in London
Love never dies but does take rests
October 22, 2010
Are Andrew Lloyd Webber and Bill Kenwright best buddies or what? It’s like a true West End bro-mance.
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Bill Kenwright with Sophie Evans
Bill and Andy have been commercial partners for a while now, with Bill producing national tours of Andrew’s shows, notably Evita and Joseph – which has made millions for the two men.
Plus Bill is helping Andrew out producing his next biggie, The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium next February, starring Danielle Hope. Their announcement that Sophie Evans will be Dorothy First Reserve for the show at Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff in July, was a nice two-hander that demonstrated how close the two rivals have become (see photo).
And now we hear that Bill is assisting the Lord in doing a bit of light tinkering with Love Never Dies at the Adelphi Theatre. Most who’ve seen the show seem to enjoy it, but Andrew has been unhappy since the opening and his creative team – Hairspray’s Jack O’Brien and Jerry Mitchell – have fled back to Broadway to work on Catch Me If You Can (quite apt!)
So ALW has pressed on with some changes of his own – including some revised lyrics by Phantom lyricist Charles Hart, Ben Elton has been involved in adding his thoughts, and Bill is going to have a stab at making the ending more satisfying.
The show will take a four day break from 22 November for the changes to take place.
Will the critics be invited to review the show all over again we ask?
SPECIAL OFFER: Save on tickets to Love Never Dies at the Adelphi Theatre in London
Joseph at the Adelphi Theatre
May 17, 2010
Joseph at the Adelphi Theatre in London
SORRY THIS SHOW HAS NOW CLOSED
Other shows you might enjoy:
Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace Theatre – BOOK TICKETS
Grease at the Piccadilly Theatre – BOOK TICKETS
Oliver! at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane – BOOK TICKETS
Mamma Mia! at the Prince of Wales Theatre – BOOK TICKETS
Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Palace Theatre – BOOK TICKETS
Sister Act at the London Palladium – BOOK TICKETS
Wicked at the Apollo Victoria – BOOK TICKETS
The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium – BOOK TICKETS
MORE ABOUT JOSEPH IN LONDON
Adelphi Theatre, London
Opened: 17 July 2007
Closed: 30 May 2009
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat returned to the West End in 2007. This colourful retelling of the famous biblical story about Joseph, his uncanny dream-deciphering abilities and his flashy jacket, is filled with popular songs, including Close Every Door and Any Dream Will Do.
Andrew Lloyd Webber cast the lead role through BBC talent show Any Dream Will Do, with Lee Mead winning the role of Joseph. Lee Mead is currently starring in Wicked at the Apollo Victoria in London.
Lee was followed by Gareth Gates, who found fame by finishing second to Will Young in the first series of Pop Idol in 2002. He made his West End debut in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and is currently in the UK tour of Les Miserables.
Jenna Lee James played the Narrator, was the runner up in the Voice Of Musical Theatre 2005 and has previously appeared in We Will Rock You in the West End, playing the roles of Meatloaf and Scaramouche.
LEE MEAD in Wicked
May 13, 2010
The talent show star who captured the West End
Lee Mead
Lee Mead’s story is a classic showbiz tale for the 21st Century: a chorus boy struggling to break into the big time enlists on a TV talent show and ends up a star. He is currently starring as Fiyero in Wicked at the Apollo Victoria in London.
Mead came to prominence by winning BBC One’s talent show Any Dream Will Do in 2007, and going on star in Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s major revival of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Adelphi Theatre. However, before winning the show he was a jobbing West End actor having played in a number of musicals including The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon and Tommy.
He left Joseph in 2009 to release a successful solo album and then took the title role in the UK tour of Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime. He released a second album in 2009, and will start an eight date UK tour on selected Sundays from 23 May.
Lee Mead is married to TV and stage performer Denise Van Outen, who was on the judging panel for Any Dream Will Do. They married in April 2009 and have recently had a baby daughter, Betsy.
Book tickets to Wicked at the Apollo Victoria in London
SPECIAL OFFER: Fantastic Fridays – 4* hotel and Wicked top ticket only £79pp
Lee Mead starts Wicked
May 13, 2010
Lee Mead started his stint in award-winning West End show Wicked this week, playing the role of Fiyero.
Currently one of the busiest boys in show-business, Lee and his wife Denise van Outen gave birth to their first child, Betsy Mead, on 1 May. He joined the cast of major Broadway and West End show Wicked on Monday 10 May playing the role of Fiyero,a prince who falls in love with Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. He also begins a series of eight Sunday concerts (on his Wicked day off!) from 23 May.
Initial feedback from his debut performance in Wicked has been largely positive, with fan sites such as the Lee Mead Appreciation Society busy with reviews from his performance.
Following his performance on Monday, fellow Wicked co-star Rachel Tucker posted on Twitter that, “Lee was so wonderful… such pressure on him and u would have thought he’d been doing it for weeks”.
Winner of BBC One talent show Any Dream Will Do, Mead went on to star in the 2007 revival of Joseph at the Adelphi Theatre in London, and has since appeared in a UK tour of Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime. He has also released two albums.
Book tickets to see Lee Mead in Wicked at the Apollo Victoria in London
Major shows to close on 30 May
May 19, 2009
Sunset Boulevard, Spring Awakening, Shout and Joseph to all close on 30 May.
A number of major West End shows are closing this month – with only days left for theatregoers to catch them.
Despite astonishing critical acclaim, Spring Awakening at the Novello Theatre is to close early on 30 May. Spring Awakening had its European premiere at Lyric Hammersmith earlier this year, where the mix of Frank Wedekind’s classic story about teenage sexual discovery fused with teen rock garnered numerous five star reviews. Stephen Daldry’s 1992 National Theatre production of JB Priestley’s An Inspector Calls will go into the Novello from 22 September.
Also on 30 May, the successful production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard at the Comedy theatre will close. Directed by Strictly Come Dancing’s Craig Revel Horwood, the Watermill Theatre’s production stars Kathryn Evans and Dave Willetts.
Another Andrew Lloyd Webber show, Joseph, starring Gareth Gates at the Adelphi Theatre, will also close on 30 May. The production originally starred Lee Mead, winner of the BBC talent show Any Dream Will Do.
A day after these three shows close, Shout – the musical set in the swinging 60s starring Su Pollard – is closing at the Arts Theatre a month early on 31 May.
And finally, The Last Cigarette starring Felicity Kendal, Jasper Britton and Nicholas Le Prevost is to close early, with its final performance on 23 May. The show transferred from the Chichester Minerva theatre last month into the Trafalgar Studios.
Save £20 on discount tickets to Spring Awakening
Save £24.50 on discount tickets to Sunset Bouelvard
Save £15.25 on discount tickets to Joseph
Save £13 on discount tickets to Shout!
Save £20 on discount tickets to The Last Cigarette
Theatre pieces: Hunter Parrish, August:Osage County, Chichester
February 20, 2009
After Gareth Gates, do we have a new Joseph?
Gareth Gates seems to be doing a fine job in Joseph at the Adelphi Theatre – at least if comments on the westendtheatre blog are anything to go by. Whilst musing on Spring Awakening’s demise on Broadway, we turn our attention to Hunter Parrish – pot smoking star of TV’s Weeds – who recently played the lead role of Melchior on Broadway.
Well known for his love of all things theatrical, in a recent interview he said: “I want them to bring back Joseph [and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat]. If anyone has that idea, I’m your man!” Could he be prize casting post-Gareth – or in any future Andrew Lloyd Webber Broadway plans?
August the Movie?
Apparently a film version of August: Osage County, the play by Tracy Letts that wowed critics and audiences alike at the National Theatre recently, is on the cards. Written by Letts herself, the Weinstein Company is backing the adaptation and aiming for a 2011 release. There are some potential dream casting scenarios for this one.
Starry Chichester
There is much oo-ing and ahh-ing over this year’s Chichester Festival Theatre season, with lots of big name stars. Chief amongst them is Joseph Fiennes who is to headline Trevor Nunn‘s staging of Cyrano de Bergerac; also Rupert Goold directs Enron before it makes it’s way to the Royal Court; Oklahoma! gets a revival from Sweeney Todd stage director John Doyle, Iain Glen stars in a new adaptation of Friedrich Schiller play Wallenstein, and Diana Rigg stars as Judith Bliss in a revival of Noel Coward’s Hay Fever.
DISCOUNT THEATRE TICKETS – AT WESTENDTHEATRE.COM
Free hotels offer
January 12, 2009
Free London hotel rooms on offerin major new West End theatre promotion
Thousands of free rooms included in the price of a ticket to 13 major West End shows
Westendtheatre.com has announced a major new promotion offering free hotel rooms in London when buying a theatre ticket.Shows included in the promotion include successful musicals Hairspray, Joseph, Grease, Sunset Boulevard, Chicago, Billy Elliot, Wicked, The Sound of Music and Zorro.
Running until 31st March 2009, the promotion features a range of hotels across London. A 3* hotel is offered free when booking one of the 13 shows available, with also the opportunity to upgrade to a 4* or 5* hotel for a small additional fee. Prices start at only £44.75 per person for a twin room and tickets to a show, based on two people sharing.
www.westendtheatre.com/hotels.php
Special ticket offers
January 5, 2009
January means a host of special offers on London theatre tickets. This month westendtheatre.com features a range of discounted shows including £20 off Dirty Dancing, £16 off Joseph – featuring Gareth Gates, £20 off Sunset Boulevard, £26 off Carousel, £20 off Billy Elliot £26 off Woman in Mind starring Janie Dee – plus offers from the National Theatre.
For the latest special offers visit: www.westendtheatre.com/offers
London Theatre – 2009 Preview
December 30, 2008
If theatre mirrors life then you would expect 2009 to be a bad year for the performing arts in London: economic downturns and credit crunches sound like gloomy news for our discretionary entertainment spending. But West End theatre box office figures have kept on going up in recent years, and the huge number of new productions sailing into town during 2009 could mean that Theatreland manages to buck the trend.
THE GREAT REVIVAL
The RSC, National Theatre, Donmar and Old Vic dominated straight drama in the West End in 2008, and they haven’t finished yet. Big hitters coming to town include Judi Dench and Rosamund Pike in the Donmar in the West End’s Madame de Sade at the Wyndhams; Jude Law offering us his, hopefully fighting fit, Hamlet; Gillian Anderson in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Rachel Weisz in A Streetcar Named Desire at the Donmar Warehouse; Helen Mirren making her return to the London stage in Phaedra at the National Theatre; and a number of crowd-pleasing revivals at the Old Vic, no more so than Dancing at Lughnasa, Brian Friel’s hugely successful play starring Andrea Corr, and Sam Mendes directing Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard and Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale, both featuring Ethan Hawke, Simon Russell Beale and Sinead Cusack.
STAR POWER
Other stars shimmying into town include Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot at the Haymarket, Ken Stott and Hayley Atwell in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge at the Duke of York’s, heavy-hitter Pete Postlethwaite as King Lear at the Young Vic, and Antony Sher giving us his Prospero in the RSC’s The Tempest. The Gavin and Stacey phenomenon continues to roll on, as we see Joe Orton’s delicious romp Entertaining Mr Sloane at the Trafalgar Studios starring Gavin himself, Matthew Horne, alongside Imelda Staunton; whilst Gavin’s onscreen Mum Alison Steadman plays a barking Leeds housewife in Alan Bennett’s Enjoy at the Gielgud Theatre.
NEW PLAYS
The sharp eyed amongst you will notice that all of these plays are revivals rather than new work, keeping audiences firmly in their comfort zones. That said, new plays may be thin on the ground but not absent all together, with the National offering up Richard Bean’s England People Very Nice, following two lovers across four centuries, and Samuel Adamson’s Mrs Affleck set in the 1950s. Jez Butterworth has two new plays in pre-production, with comedy Parlour Song at the Almeida and Jerusalem at the Royal Court. Also at the Royal Court, Mark Ravenhill will bring his new play Over There. Plus Hollywood man of the moment James McAvoy is to star in Richard Greenberg’s acclaimed play Three Days of Rain at the Apollo, and at The Old Vic Richard Dreyfuss headlines the world premiere of American playwright Joe Sutton’s new play Complicit, directed by Kevin Spacey.
“BASED ON A FILM”
In musical theatre, 2009 promises to be a year of great big fabulous and familiar shows, surely enough to see us through the dark times? And it’s no coincidence that many of them are based on hugely successful films.
Oliver! will be well and truly steaming ahead through 2009 at the Drury Lane Theatre Royal with Rowan Atkinson and Jodie Prenger; La Cage Aux Folles will continue camping it up at the Playhouse but with Graham Norton taking over from Douglas Hodge; and at the Adelphi Theatre Lee Mead will bow out of Joseph to be replaced by Gareth Gates.
Jason Donovan will be donning the wigs and lip gloss to take us on an Australian power-mince in Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Palace Theatre. And Sister Act at the London Palladium will be doing its best to recreate the fun of the film, helped along by Whoopi Goldberg as co-producer. And not quite a musical but as good as, Calendar Girls the stage play will up the naked flesh quotient in the West End, starring Patricia Hodge and Lynda Bellingham at the Noel Coward Theatre.
Also in musicals-land the power of reality TV continues to wield its power, with Gareth Gates going into Joseph at the Adelphi Theatre, the X-factor’s Niki Evans continuing in Blood Brothers at the Phoenix, Jodie Prenger in Oliver at the Drury Lane, and Ray Quinn and Danny Bayne in Grease – joined for a limited time by the legendary Jimmy Osmond.
KIDS RULE
Kids should also see a good year in 2009 with an enormous live theatrical production of Walking with Dinosaurs coming to a stadium near you, and War Horse transfers from its successful run at the National Theatre to the New London Theatre.
