Absent Friends at the Harold Pinter Theatre

Alan Ayckbourn’s classic comedy of manners makes a welcome return to the West End starring The IT Crowd’s Katherine Parkinson, Kara Tointon and Reece Shearsmith.

Pygmalion – Round-up of Reviews

Reviews round-up of Pymalion at the Garrick Theatre, starring Rupert Everett, Kara Tointon and Diana Rigg.

Following a sell-out run in Chichester, George Bernard Shaw’s classic play Pygmalion comes to town starring Rupert Everett as egocentric Professor Henry Higgins and Kara Tointon (EastEnders) as Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle.

Read a round-up of Pygmalion reviews, below.

LINKS

Book tickets to Pygmalion at the Garrick Theatre in London

Diana Rigg joins Rupert Everett in Pygmalion at the Garrick Theatre

Dame Diana Rigg is to join Rupert Everett and Kara Tointon in the Chichester transfer of Pygmalion.

The Chichester Festival Theatre’s 2010 revival of Pygmalion, directed by Philip Prowse, is transferring to the Garrick Theatre this Spring (12 May to 3 September 2011).

Revisiting the part of Professor Henry Higgins will be stage and screen star Rupert Everett, joined by Strictly Come Dancing winner and former EastEnders actress Kara Tointon as Eliza Doolittle. George Bernard Shaw’s famous play was turned into the successful1956 musical My Fair Lady.

The play will also star Peter Eyre as Colonel Pickering, alongside Rigg as Mrs Higgins.

Diana Rigg’s credits include Hay Fever and The Cherry Orchard at Chichester, Honour, Suddenly Last Summer, Follies, All About My Mother, Mother Courage and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. She won a Tony award on Broadway for her performance in the Almeida production of Medea.

Book tickets to Pygmalion at the Garrick Theatre in London

Pygmalion tickets at the Garrick Theatre starring Alistair McGowan and Kara Tointon

Following a sell-out run in Chichester, George Bernard Shaw’s classic play Pygmalion comes to town, now starring Alistair McGowan as egocentric Professor Henry Higgins and Kara Tointon (EastEnders) as Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle. Also stars Diana Rigg.

KARA TOINTON in Pygmalion

Strictly Come Dancing winner Kara takes to the West End stage as Eliza Doolittle

British actress Kara Tointon is on the fast-track to fame. She beat stiff competition last year on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing to be crowned the winner, and this year takes to the West End stage to play Eliza Doolittle in George Bernard Shaw’s classic play Pygmalion, alongside stage and screen star Rupert Everett as Henry Higgins.

Kara’s career to date includes some early stage work in The Sound of Music and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but has been dominated by TV acting, including parts in Teachers, Dinotopia, Mile High, Dream Team and four years playing Dawn Swann in EastEnders.

The Chichester Festival Theatre’s 2010 revival of Pygmalion, directed by Philip Prowse, will transfer to the Garrick Theatre this Spring (12 May to 3 September 2011).

George Bernard Shaw’s famous play was turned into the successful1956 musical My Fair Lady.

Book tickets to Pygmalion at the Garrick Theatre in London

RUPERT EVERETT in Pygmalion

Rupert Everett revisits Henry Higgins in Chichester transfer of Pygmalion

The Chichester Festival Theatre’s 2010 revival of Pygmalion, directed by Philip Prowse, will transfer to the Garrick Theatre this Spring (12 May to 3 September 2011).

Revisiting the part of Professor Henry Higgins will be stage and screen star Rupert Everett, joined by Strictly Come Dancing winner and former EastEnders actress Kara Tointon as Eliza Doolittle. George Bernard Shaw’s famous play was turned into the successful1956 musical My Fair Lady.

Rupert Everett has had a long and eventful showbiz career that encompasses theatre, film, TV and writing novels and autobiographies.

His stage work includes Waste of Time (Citizens Theatre Glasgow), Don Juan (Glasgow and London), Chinchilla (Glasgow and London), Another Country (Greenwich Theatre and Queen’s Theatre in the West End), Mass Appeal (Lyric Hammersmith), Heartbreak House (Citizens Theatre Glasgow), The Vortex (Citizens Theatre Glasgow and Garrick), The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore (Glasgow and London), Some Sunny Day (London), and most recently playing Charles Condomine in Blithe Spirit on Broadway.

Rupert’s TV work includes The Far Pavilions, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking, and films range from his first break-out hit, Another Country alongside Colin Firth in 1984, to Dance with a Stranger, Arthur the King, Duet for One The Comfort of Strangers, Pret-à-Porter 1994, The Madness of King George, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Shakespeare in Love, An Ideal Husband, The Importance of Being Earnest, the Shrek movies and Stardust. He is currently working on Hysteria alongside Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jonathan Pryce.

Book tickets to Pygmalion at the Garrick Theatre in London

 

 

 

Burn the Floor opens at Shaftesbury

Acclaimed dance show Burn The Floor opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre last night featuring a starry audience and some spectacular dancing.

There was lots of support in the audience for Brian Fortuna and Ali Bastian, who wowed BBC audiences on Strictly Come Dancing last year and take guest spots in the show. Ricky Whittle, Mark Ramprakash, Kara Tointon, Craig Revel Horwood and Arlene Phillips were out in force to see the show and support their dancing pals.

The show’s dynamic mix of Latin and ballroom dancing brings some fiery, passionate power to the Shaftesbury Theatre. Burn The Floor was first conceived as a special performance at Sir Elton John’s 50th birthday celebrations in 1997, and made its UK premiere two years later before setting off on a world tour.

And now it’s back in London, featuring the talents of 20 award-winning dancers from around the globe including 18 year old Robbie Kmetoni from Sydney, who was the winner of the Australian version of So You Think You Can Dance, and Cuban salsa dancer Janette Manrara.

Some of the passionate dances featured in the show include the elegance of the Viennese Waltz, the exuberance of the Jive, the intensity of the Paso Doble as well as the Tango, Samba, Mambo, Quickstep and Swing.

Burn The Floor plays at the Shaftesbury Theatre until 4 September, to be followed by another great dance show, Flashdance.

SPECIAL OFFER: Save £21 on tickets to Burn The Floor at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London