Douglas Hodge to follow La Cage Aux Folles by starring in Barnum?

More Sondheim for Menier

The award winning Menier Chocolate Factory in South London intends to produce two new Stephen Sondheim productions in the next two years, including the UK premiere of Road Show.

The news comes following their success at this year’s Tony awards, where the theatre’s revivals of Jerry Herman’s La Cage Aux Folles and Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music picked up a number of awards, including Best Revival of a Musical for La Cage.

Artistic director of the Menier, David Babani, has told Playbill that he has further Sondheim in his sights, and plans to produce Sondheim’s 2008 show Road Show, originally debuted as Bounce, in 2011 and the following year a production of Merrily We Roll Along, helmed by Maria Friedman. She has already developed an abridged version of the show that she performed in two Sondheim birthday concerts this year at the Cadogan Hall in London and Derngate Theatre in Northampton. Friedman appeared in the original UK production of the show.

Road Show is small-scale musical about the eccentric Mizner brothers and their adventures across America, and has a book by John Weidman. Merrily We Roll Along is about three friends whose story is told backwards, and has a book by George Furth.

The Menier, and Babani in particular, have a strong association with Sondheim, with their stagings of Sunday in the Park With George and A Little Night Music both transferring  into the West End and on to Broadway. Babani cut his theatrical teeth on Sondheim, producing in 1997, at the age of 19, a successful revival of Assassins at the New End Theatre in Hampstead which toured the UK .

This year marks Sondheim’s 80th year and the Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and lyricist’s work and career has been celebrated in a number of shows and events staged around the world. A new production of his 1994 musical Passion will premiere at the Donmar Warehouse this summer, starring Elena Roger, Assassins will get a short run at the Union Theatre in Southwark from 30 June to 24 July, and Into The Woods is playing at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park starring Hannah Waddingham from 5 August.

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Actor Winners

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Actor Winners

Best Actor

2011 Roger Allam for Henry IV Parts 1 & 2
2010 Mark Rylance for Jerusalem
2009 Derek Jacobi for Twelfth Night
2008 Chiwetel Ejiofor in Othello
2007 Rufus Sewell for Rock ‘N’ Roll
2006 Brian Dennehy for Death Of A Salesman
2005 Richard Griffiths for The History Boys
2004 Matthew Kelly for Of Mice And Men
2003 Simon Russell Beale for Uncle Vanya
2002 Roger Allam for Privates On Parade
2001 Conleth Hill for Stones In His Pockets
2000 Henry Goodman for The Merchant Of Venice
1999 Kevin Spacey for The Iceman Cometh
1998 Ian Holm for King Lear
1997 Antony Sher for Stanley
1996 Alex Jennings for Peer Gynt
1995 David Bamber for My Night With Reg
1994 Mark Rylance for Much Ado About Nothing
1993 Robert Stephens for Henry IV (Parts 1 and 2)
1992 Nigel Hawthorne for The Madness Of George III
1991 Ian McKellen for Richard III
1989/90 Oliver Ford Davies for Racing Demon
1987 Michael Gambon for A View From The Bridge
1986 Albert Finney for Orphans
1985 Antony Sher for Richard III and Torch Song Trilogy

Actor of the Year in a New Play

1988 David Haig for Our Country’s Good
1984 Brian Cox for Rat In The Skull
1983 Jack Shepherd for Glengarry Glen Ross
1982 Ian McDiarmid for lnsignificance
1981 Trevor Eve for Children Of A Lesser God
1980 Roger Rees for Nicholas Nickleby
1979 Ian McKellen for Bent
1978 Tom Conti for Whose Life Is It Anyway?
1977 Michael Bryant for State Of Revolution
1976 Paul Copley for King And Country

Actor of the Year in a Revival

1988 Brian Cox for Titus Andronicus
1984 Ian McKellen for Wild Honey
1983 Derek Jacobi for Cyrano De Bergerac
1982 Stephen Moore for A Doll’s House
1981 Daniel Massey for Man And Superman
1980 Jonathan Pryce for Hamlet
1979 Warren Mitchell for Death Of A Salesman
1978 Alan Howard for Coriolanus
1977 Ian McKellen for Pillars Of The Community
1976 Alan Howard for Henry IV (Parts 1 and 2) and Henry V

Best Actor in a Musical

2011 David Thaxton for Passion
2010 Aneurin Barnard for Spring Awakening
2009 Douglas Hodge for La Cage aux Folles
2008 Michael Ball for Hairspray
2007 Daniel Evans for Sunday In The Park With George
2006 James Lomas, George Maguire and Liam Mower for Billy Elliot – The Musical
2005 Nathan Lane for The Producers
2004 David Bedella for Jerry Springer – The Opera
2003 Alex Jennings for My Fair Lady
2002 Philip Quast for South Pacific
2001 Daniel Evans for Merrily We Roll Along
2000 Simon Russell Beale for Candide
1999 The cast of Kat and The Kings
1998 Philip Quast for The Fix
1997 Robert Lindsay for Oliver!
1996 Adrian Lester for Company
1995 John Gordon Sinclair for She Loves Me
1994 Alun Armstrong for Sweeney Todd
1993 Henry Goodman for Assassins
1992 Alan Bennett for Talking Heads
1991 Philip Quast for Sunday In The Park With George
1989/90 Jonathan Pryce for Miss Saigon
1988 Con O’Neill for Blood Brothers
1987 John Bardon and Emil Wolk for Kiss Me Kate
1986 Michael Crawford for The Phantom Of The Opera
1985 Robert Lindsay for Me And My Girl
1984 Paul Clarkson for The Hired Man
1983 Denis Lawson for Mr. Cinders
1982 Roy Hudd for Underneath The Arches
1981 Michael Crawford for Barnum
1980 Denis Quilley for Sweeney Todd
1979 Anton Rodgers for Songbook

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Musicals Winners

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Musicals Winners

Best New Musical

2011 Legally Blonde – The Musical book by Heather Hach, music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin at the Savoy
2010 Spring Awakening, music by Duncan Sheik, book and lyrics by Steven Sater, based on the play by Frank Wedekind, at the Novello theatre
2009 Jersey Boys, book by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice, music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe at the Prince Edward theatre
2008 Hairspray, book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan, music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, based on the John Waters film,
2007 Caroline, Or Change, book and lyrics by Tony Kushner, music by Jeanine Tesori
2006 Billy Elliot – The Musical, book and lyrics by Lee Hall, music by Elton John
2005 The Producers book by Mel Brooks & Thomas Meehan; music and lyrics by Mel Brooks and by special arrangement with StudioCanal
2004 Jerry Springer – The Opera music by Richard Thomas, book and lyrics by Stewart Lee & Richard Thomas
2003 Our House by Tim Firth, music and lyrics by Madness
2001 Merrily We Roll Along — music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by George Furth, suggested by a play by George S Kaufman and Moss Hart
2000 Honk! The Ugly Duckling – music by George Stiles, book and lyrics by Anthony Drewe, based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen
1999 Kat And The Kings by David Kramer and Taliep Petersen
1998 Beauty And The Beast – music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, book by Linda Woolverton
1997 Martin Guerre – book by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Edward Hardy and Stephen Clark, original French text by Alain Boublil, additional lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil
1996 Jolson The Musical – written by Francis Essex and Rob Bettinson
1995 Once On This Island – book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, music by Stephen Flaherty, based upon the novel My Love My Love by Rosa Guy
1994 City Of Angels – book by Larry Gelbart, music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by David Zippel
1993 Crazy For You – music and lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin, book by Ken Ludwig
1992 Carmen Jones by Oscar Hammerstein II, based on Meilhac and Halévy’s adaptation of Prosper Merimée’s Carmen with original music by Bizet
1991 Sunday In The Park with George – music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine
1989/90 Return To The Forbidden Planet by Bob Carlton
1988 Candide – book adapted from Voltaire by Hugh Wheeler, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Richard Wilbur
1987 Follies – music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by John Goldman
1986 The Phantom Of The Opera – music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart, additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe
1985 Me And My Girl – book and lyrics by L. Arthur Rose and Douglas Furber, music by Noel Gay
1984 42nd Street – music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Al Dubin, book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, based on a novel by Bradford Ropes
1983 Blood Brothers by Willy Russell
1982 Poppy – book and lyrics by Peter Nichols, music by Monty Norman
1981 Cats – music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot
1980 Sweeney Todd – music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler, based on the play by Christopher Bond
1979 Songbook – music by Monty Norman, lyrics by Julian More, book by Monty Norman and Julian More
1978 Evita – lyrics by Tim Rice, music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
1977 The Comedy Of Errors by William Shakespeare, music by Guy Woolfenden
1976 A Chorus Line – book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban

Outstanding Musical Production

2007 Sunday In The Park With George, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine
2006 Guys And Dolls, based on a story and characters of Damon Runyon, music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows
2005 Grand Hotel book by Luther Davis; music & lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest; additional music and lyrics by Maury Yeston; based on Vicki Baum’s Grand Hotel
2004 Pacific Overtures music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by John Weidman, additional material by Hugh Wheeler
2003 Anything Goes music and lyrics by Cole Porter, original book by PG Wodehouse and Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse, new book by Timothy Crouse & John Weidman
2002 My Fair Lady book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, music by Frederick Loewe, adapted from Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion and Gabriel Pascal’s motion picture
2001 Singin’ In The Rain — based on the MGM film, original choreography by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, screenplay and adaptation by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed
2000 Candide – music by Leonard Bernstein, book adapted from Voltaire by Hugh Wheeler, in a new version by John Caird, lyrics by Richard Wilbur, additional lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, John Latouche, Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker and Leonard Bernstein
1999 Oklahoma! music by Richard Rodgers, book & lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
1998 Chicago – lyrics by Fred Ebb, music by John Kander, book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse
1997 Tommy – music and lyrics by Pete Townshend, book by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff

Best Musical Revival

2011 Into the Woods at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
2010 Hello Dolly!, book by Michael Stewart, music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, based on the play The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder, at the Open Air theatre
2009 La Cage aux Folles, music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, book by Harvey Fierstein, based on the play “La Cage Aux Folles” by Jean Poiret, at the Playhouse theatre
2008 The Magic Flute – Impempe Yomlingo
1995 She Loves Me – book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and based on a play by Miklos Laszlo
1994 Sweeney Todd – music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler, from an adaptation by Christopher Bond
1993 Carousel – music by Richard Rodgers, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, based on the play Liliom by Ferenc Molnár as adapted by Benjamin F Glazer
1992 The Boys From Syracuse – music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, book by George Abbott
1991 Show Boat – book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Jerome Kern

Performance of the Year in a Musical

1978 Elaine Paige for Evita
1977 Ann Sharkey for Maggie

Outstanding Achievement of the Year in Musicals

1984 Ned Sherrin for the conception of The Ratepayers’ Iolanthe
1982 Guys And Dolls
1981 Gillian Lynne, choreographer of Cats

Tony Awards tonight

The annual Tony Awards will be announced tonight, Sunday 13 June 2010, at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

The star-studded event will be hosted by Sean Hayes, best known as Jack from Will & Grace and currently starring in Promises, Promises on Broadway.

The awards, the most important in the US arts calendar, will feature performances from current Broadway shows including American Idiot, Fela!, Memphis, Million Dollar Quartet, La Cage aux Folles, A Little Night Music and Ragtime. Star presenters will include Katie Holmes, Will & Jada Pinkett Smith, Angela Lansbury, Mark Sanchez, Daniel Radcliffe, Barbara Cook, Stanley Tucci, Idina Menzel and Laura Bell Bundy!

Other appearances and performances will include Glee’s Lea Michele and Matthew Morrison, Paula Abdul, Antonio Banderas, Cate Blanchett, Kristin Chenoweth, Michael Douglas, Scarlett Johansson, Lucy Liu, Helen Mirren, Chris Noth, Bernadette Peters, Raquel Welch and David Hyde Pierce, who will receive a special Tony Award and is slated to appear in London next month in La Bete at the Comedy Theatre.

Shows up for awards this year include a revival of August Wilson’s Fences starring Denzel Washington (10nominations); Broadway musical Fela! (11 nominations) – and which makes its UK premiere at the National Theatre in November; and nods for a number of high-profile Hollywood stars including Christopher Walken (Behanding in Spokane), Liev Schreiber (A View From The Bridge), and Scarlett Johansson (A View from the Bridge).

Recent Broadway musical The Addams Family starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth, failed to find favour with the Tony awards committee, scoring only two nominations – best original score and best supporting actor in a musical for Kevin Chamberlin.

UK creatives or shows have garned 28 nominations this year. The Menier Chocolate Factory in South London will be awaiting news on two of its successful productions that have transferred to Broadway and received 15 Tony nominations:  La Cage Aux Folles opened at the Longacre Theatrein April to enormous critical acclaim. The show features original London star Douglas Hodge and US actor Kelsey Grammer, both of whom have been nominated in the best actor in a musical category. In total the show has picked up 11 nominations, including best revival of a musical, scenic design (Tim Shortall), costume design  (Matthew Wright),  lighting design (Nick Richings), sound design (Jonathan Deans), direction (Terry Johnson), choreography (Lynne Page), orchestrations (Jason Carr) and best supporting actor (Robin De Jesus).

Also A Little Night Music, which started life at the Menier in 2008 before transferring to the Garrick theatre in the West End, opened on Broadway at the Walter Kerr theatre in December 2009. It has picked up 4 nominations, including competing against La Cage in the best musical revival category, and nods for Catherine Zeta-Jones (best actress in a musical), Angela Lansbury (best supporting actress in a musical), and sound design (Dan Moses Schreier and Gareth Owen).

Other nominated UK shows include the Donmar Warehouse’s transfer of Red which enjoys 7 nominations including best play, best actor for Alfred Molina, best supporting actor for Eddie Redmayne, and best scenic design (Christopher Oram), lighting design (Neil Austin), sound design (Adam Cork) and direction (Michael Grandage). The Donmar production of Hamlet sees a nod for Jude Law and best lighting design of a play for Neil Austin. And the Royal Court’s production of Enron, which failed on Broadway but continues to sell well in London is nominated for best original score (music by Adam Cork and lyrics by Lucy Prebble), best supporting actor for Stephen Kunken, best sound design (Adam Cork) and best lighting design (Mark Henderson). Also veteran UK actress Rosemary Harris also received a best supporting nod for The Royal Family and one of the UK’s greatest living playwrights, Alan Ayckbourn, will receive a lifetime achievement award.

US viewers can watch the awards on CBS from 8pm ET. Selected countries are also airing the awards over the next week, although not in the UK. TonyAwards.com will only be featuring live footage of the red carpet arrivals and Creative Arts Awards from 6pm until 8pm ET.

See a list of Tony Award 2010 nominations here

www.tonyawards.com

BROADWAY UPDATE: Spiderman

BROADWAY UPDATE: Reeve Carney, Daniel Radcliffe, Christina Ricci, Lee Aaron Rosen, Douglas Hodge, Jonathan Groff and more…

SPIDER-MAN:

The pain of mounting Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark continues apace. Financial problems have dogged pre-production of the enormous project but it seems that rehearsals will finally begin this summer for a November opening at the Hilton Theatre.

Directed by Julie Taymor (The Lion King) with music by Bono, Alan Cumming dropped out as the Green Goblin, with rumours that Patrick Page (Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas) will take the role.

The latest name attached to play Spidey himself is Reeve Carney, who’s just finished playing Ferdinand in Taymor’s new film version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, alongside Helen Mirren, Alfred Molina, Alan Cumming, Chris Cooper and Ben Whishaw.

The investment in mounting Spider-Man is believed to huge, and the show is having to  rip apart the Hilton Theatre to accommodate the lavish and complex sets.

BROADWAY MONEY:

The Broadway League, Broadway’s trade body, released its biannual report this week on the economic impact of spending by Broadway production companies, theatre operators and visitors drawn to New York by Broadway. The figures come close to $10 billion in the 2008-09 season, which is a whole lot of money.

Charlotte St. Martin, Executive Director of The Broadway League, said that the figures, “remind us of how important Broadway is to tourism.” The majority of the money stemmed from visitors’ spending on hotels, restaurants, shopping and transport. Broadway also supported 84,400 jobs and generated $477.7 million in New York City taxes, according to the report. The increasingly lavish spending by producers on new productions (see above) also boosted the total.

We haven’t yet seen the Society of London Theatre’s recently published West End Theatre Audience Report 2010 to determine if a calculation on the West End Theatre’s economic impact on London has been made, but the last public figure was way back in 1997 in their  Wyndham Report. This tallied the impact at just over £1 billion. Given that box office revenue was over half a billion pounds in 2009 we imagine the economic impact has gone up somewhat since then.

TALENT UPDATE:

Ricci Time: She didn’t have the good sense to get a part in The Addams Family on Broadway (!) so Christina Ricci is making do by joining the Tony nominated play Time Stands Still in September, replacing Alicia Silverstone in the play that also stars Laura Linney. Linney is currently filming her new Showtime TV series The Big C.

Hunk-with-talent Alert: Lee Aaron Rosen has just wowed critics in the Atlantic Theater Company’s new production of English playwright Moira Buffini’s Gabriel at the Linda Gross Theater in New York. The play first premiered at the Soho Theatre in London in 1997. Needless-to-say that Mr Rosen is being pitched as “one to watch” for multiple reasons.

Dan Does Dance: Daniel Radcliffe is putting in the practice for his Broadway role in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, working with a vocal and dance coach in London ahead of rehearsals beginning February 2011. Now that’s forward-planning! The show will be directed by Rob Ashford and co-star Rose Hemingway.

The Mask of Zorba: Antonio Banderas has told WENN that he plans to go back to Broadway next year in a revival of the 1968 Kander and Ebb musical Zorba  – based on Nikos Kazantzakis’ novel Zorba The Greek.

OTHER NEWS:

Hodge Honour: Awards guru Tom O’Neil in the LA Times thinks that Douglas Hodge is a shoo-in for the Best Actor in a Musical Tony award, to be announced in June. Hodge received fabulous notices for his performance as Albin in the Broadway transfer of the Menier Chocolate Factory’s production of La Cage Aux Folles. 

Glad to be Glee: It seems that the spitting and fury over Newsweek’s recent article by arts critic Ramin Setoodeh, arguing that gay actors can’t be taken seriously in straight roles, has finally subsided. Much of Broadway has been up in arms over the article – in which Setoodeh refers to Sean Hayes’ performance in Broadway’s Promises, Promises as “weird seeing Hayes play straight,” and also references Glee’s Jonathan Groff. Glee creator Ryan Murphy waged in calling for an all-out boycott of the magazine for its homophobic opinion. It now seems that Ramin and Ryan have made up. Groff, who is openly gay, will be winging his way to London in the summer to appear alongside Simon Russell-Beale in Deathtrap at the Noel Coward Theatre.

REVIEWS:

Popular theatre blog West End Whingers made a Broadway sojourn recently and posted a great round-up of what to see – and what not.

La Cage dominates Tony nominations

The UK’s Menier Chocolate Factory has scored another hit with its production of La Cage Aux Folles – this time on Broadway.

The small South London arts venue has dominated this year’s Tony Awards nominations – with a total of 15 nods. Its musical productions of Jerry Herman’s La Cage Aux Folles and Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music have both garnered multiple nominations for their Broadway transfers.

La Cage Aux Folles premiered at the Chocolate Factory in 2008 before transferring the Playhouse Theatre in London, and opened at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway last month to enormous critical acclaim.

The show features original London star Douglas Hodge and US actor Kelsey Grammer, both of whom have been nominated in the best actor in a musical category. In total the show has picked up 11 nominations, including best revival of a musical, scenic design (Tim Shortall), costume design  (Matthew Wright),  lighting design (Nick Richings), sound design (Jonathan Deans), direction (Terry Johnson), choreography (Lynne Page), orchestrations (Jason Carr) and best supporting actor (Robin De Jesus).

A Little Night Music, which started life at the Menier in 2008 before transferring to the Garrick theatre in the West End, opened on Broadway at the Walter Kerr theatre in December 2009. It has picked up 4 nominations, including competing against La Cage in the best musical revival category, and nods for Catherine Zeta-Jones (best actress in a musical), Angela Lansbury (best supporting actress in a musical), and sound design (Dan Moses Schreier and Gareth Owen).

Overall, it has been a successful year for the UK on Broadway, with a total of 28 nominations going to UK creatives. Other celebrated UK shows include the Donmar Warehouse’s transfer of Red which enjoys 7 nominations including best play, best actor for Alfred Molina, best supporting actor for Eddie Redmayne, and best scenic design (Christopher Oram), lighting design (Neil Austin), sound design (Adam Cork) and direction (Michael Grandage).

The Donmar also saw its production of Hamlet garner a best actor nod for Jude Law and best lighting design of a play for Neil Austin.

The Royal Court’s production of Enron, which transferred to Broadway but was not well received and has closed early at the Broadhurst Theatre, was nominated for best original score (music by Adam Cork and lyrics by Lucy Prebble), best supporting actor for Stephen Kunken, best sound design (Adam Cork) and best lighting design (Mark Henderson). Enron is currently playing to strong audiences in London at the Noel Coward Theatre.

Veteran UK actress Rosemary Harris also received a best supporting nod for The Royal Family and one of the UK’s greatest living playwrights, Alan Ayckbourn, will receive a lifetime achievement award.

Other big hitters nominated this year include a revival of August Wilson’s Fences starring Denzel Washington (10 nominations); Broadway musical Fela! (11 nominations) – and which makes its UK premiere at the National Theatre in November; and nods for a number of high-profile Hollywood stars including Christopher Walken (Behanding in Spokane), Liev Schreiber (A View From The Bridge), and Scarlett Johansson (A View from the Bridge).

Recent Broadway musical The Addams Family starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth, failed to find favour with the Tony awards committee, scoring only two nominations – best original score and best supporting actor in a musical for Kevin Chamberlin.

The 64^th awards will be presented on 13 July in New York.

See a list of Tony Award 2010 nominations here

BROADWAY: Douglas Hodge wows critics

The producers of the Menier Chocolate Factory production of  La Cage Aux Folles were celebrating last night as the show opened at the Longacre Theatre in New York to rave reviews.

Ben Brantley of the New York Times, who  recently ripped apart Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new show Love Never Dies, said that Terry Johnson’s production was an “inspired revival” and “greatly affecting entertainment”. Douglas Hodge, who plays the central role of Albin in the show, enjoyed special praise from the critic, particularly in his rendition of the show’s famous song “I Am What I Am”: “Mr. Hodge breathes fire here, his hitherto scratchy, campy voice growing into a white-hot blaze. It is — and who’d a thunk it? — the most electric interpretation of a song on Broadway right now.”

Elisabeth Vincentelli of the New York Post also heaped praise on the British star, “the show is Hodge’s alone”, although was more reserved about the production as whole, finding Johnson’s direction “unbalanced” but concluding that “the show entertains”.

The show also stars Kelsey Grammer (Frasier) as Albin’s partner, George, whose “modest performance… has its own sneaky charm” (Ben Brantley).

LINKS:

Book tickets to Broadway shows

New York Times – Ben Brantley review

New York Post – Elisabeth Vincentelli review

La Cage Aux Folles at the Playhouse Theatre

La Cage Aux Folles at the Playhouse 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

Legally Blonde at the Savoy Theatre – 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

The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium – BOOK TICKETS

MORE ABOUT LA CAGE AUX FOLLES IN LONDON

Playhouse Theatre, London

Opened: 30 October 2008

Closed: 2 January 2010

The Menier Chocolate Factory’s production of Jerry Herman’s La Cage Aux Folles has garnered multiple Tony award nominations for its Broadway transfer. La Cage Aux Folles premiered at the Chocolate Factory in 2008 before transferring to the Playhouse Theatre in London, and opened at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway to enormous critical acclaim.

The show features original London star Douglas Hodge and US actor Kelsey Grammer, both of whom have been nominated in the best actor in a musical category. In total the show has picked up 11 nominations, including best revival of a musical, scenic design (Tim Shortall), costume design  (Matthew Wright),  lighting design (Nick Richings), sound design (Jonathan Deans), direction (Terry Johnson), choreography (Lynne Page), orchestrations (Jason Carr) and best supporting actor (Robin De Jesus).

Other actors who played the part of Albin in London, currently starring Douglas Hodge, include TV stars Graham Norton and John Barrowman.

La Cage to close

La Cage Aux Folles, the glamorous and fun-filled musical currently starring John Barrowman at the Playhouse Theatre in London, is to close on 2 January to head to Broadway.

The Laurence Olivier Award-winning musical will see Douglas Hodge, who opened in the production at the Menier Chocolate Factory in 2007, return to lead the final performances of the show from 30 November. He will then star in a Broadway production to open in 2010.

Hodge will be joined by Denis Lawson, the actor who first performed the role at the Playhouse theatre.

Terry Johnson’s revival of Jerry Herman’s 1983 Broadway musical comedy has a book by Harvey Fierstein and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, whose other classics include Hello Dolly!, Mame and Mack and Mabel. The score features songs including “I Am What I Am”, “The Best of Times”, “Song on the Sand”, “Masculinity” and the title number.

Enjoy discount tickets to see La Cage Aux Folles at the Playhouse Theatre in London

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