Emma Bunton talks new Spice Girls musical Viva Forever!

Emma Bunton returned to Heart FM last week following the birth of her second child. In an interview with Tobi Anstis she talks briefly about the new Spice Girls musical Viva Forever!

The new show, which has been written by Jennifer Saunders and will be directed by War Horse’s Marianne Elliott, is based on the songs of the Spice Girls and promises to be a modern fable of camaraderie, love and loyalty.

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Tony Award Winners: War Horse, Book of Mormon sweep Tony Awards; Mark Rylance named Best Actor

At a star-studded ceremony last night, Sunday 12 June 2011, at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, the American Theatre Wing’s 65th annual Tony Awards were announced. British play War Horse triumphed at the awards winning 5 gongs, including Best Play. British actor Mark Rylance won a Best Actor awards for his performance in the Royal Court’s Jerusalem.

The Book of Mormon, which has proved an unlikely smash-hit on Broadway, swept the awards with 9 wins out of its 14 nominations, including Best New Musical, and Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score for its authors Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, and Robert Lopez.

Neil Patrick Harris hosted a fun and unusually irreverent night, which opened with a tongue-in-cheek “did they really say that?” song-and-dance number, arguing that the range of Broadway shows on offer meant that the Great White Way was no longer “just for gays”.

The National Theatre’s production of War Horse, which is currently running at the New London Theatre in London and also at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in New York, won 5 awards including Best Play for author Nick Stafford, Best Direction of a Play for Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, Best Scenic Design of a Play for Rae Smith, Best Lighting Design of a Play for Paule Constable and Best Sound Design of a Play for Christopher Shutt. A special Tony Award was also given to the Handspring Puppet Company, who have produced the life-size horse puppets for the show.

Other big winners last night included two revivals, Anything Goes, which won 3 awards including Best Revival of a Musical and Larry Kramer’s 1985 hit The Normal Heart, which also won 3 awards including Best Revival of a Play.

Big name stars who brought home awards included our very own Mark Rylance, who beat Al Pacino for the Best Actor in a Play award for his bravado performance in Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem, his second Tony awards following his 2008 win for Boeing-Boeing, Ellen Barkin in The Normal Heart, and Frances McDormand winning Best Actress in a Play for Good People.

The most impassioned acceptance speech of the night came from AIDS activist Larry Kramer, whose play The Normal Heart scooped 3 awards and who said: “I could not have written it had not so many of us so needlessly died.. Learn from it, and carry on the fight. Let them know that we are a very special people, an exceptional people. And that our day will come.”

Brits who were nominated but missed out on awards this year included Jerusalem author Jez Butterworth, Joanna Lumley and costume designer Mark Thompson for La Bete, Kneehigh’s production of Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter and its leading lady Hannah Yelland, Vanessa Redgrave for Driving Miss Daisy, Adam Godley for Anything Goes, Brian Bedford for The Importance of Being Earnest and Tom Stoppard’s play Arcadia.

The awards were broadcast live by CBS in the States.

See the full list of 2011 Tony Award winners here.

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Tony Award winners 2011
Tony Award nominations 2011
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War Horse – 290,000 Tickets Released For Sale In London

MICHAEL MORPURGO’S WEST END HIT GALLOPS INTO OCTOBER 2012

Today, 6 June, the National Theatre’s award-winning production of War Horse at the New London Theatre will release over 290,000 new tickets for sale, taking bookings up to 20 October 2012.

Nick Stafford’s adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s book has been playing to packed houses at the New London Theatre since March 2009. The Broadway production of War Horse, which recently opened at the Lincoln Center’s Vivien Beaumont Theatre, has won 8 awards as well as being nominated for 5 Tony Awards. In addition Handspring Puppet Company will receive a Special Tony Award at this year’s ceremony on 12 June.

A further production is due to open in February 2012 at the Princess of Wales Theatre, Toronto, with a US tour scheduled to start in Los Angeles in June 2012.

At the outbreak of World War One, Joey, young Albert’s beloved horse, is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France. He’s soon caught up in enemy fire, and fate takes him on an extraordinary odyssey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in no man’s land. But Albert cannot forget Joey and, still not old enough to enlist, he embarks on a treacherous mission to find him and bring him home.

Directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, War Horse is designed by Rae Smith, with puppet design and fabrication by Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler for Handspring Puppet Company, lighting by Paule Constable, and movement and horse choreography by Toby Sedgwick; the puppetry directors are Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler, with video design by Leo Warner and Mark Grimmer, songmaker John Tams, music by Adrian Sutton and sound by Christopher Shutt.

The current West End cast comprises Stuart Angell (Joey/Topthorn heart), Nigel Betts (Arthur Narracott/Sgt. Thunder), Nicholas Bishop (Captain Nicholls), Joshua Blake (John Greig), Hannah Boyde (Annie Gilbert), Pascale Burgess (Paulette), Ellie Burrow (Baby Joey heart/hind) Emily Cooper (Joey/ Topthorn hind/Goose), Matt Costain (Topthorn hind), Ewen Cummins (Chapman Carter/Colonel Strauss/Soldat Schmidt), Danny Dalton (David Taylor), Salvatore D’Aquilla (Klebb/Sentry Shaw), Matthew Forbes (Joey hind), Thomas Goodridge (Joey/Topthorn hind), David Grewcock (Joey/Topthorn head), Stephen Harper (Joey/Topthorn head/Goose/Geordie), Christian Jenner (Dr Schweyk/Heine/Sgt. Fine), Curtis Jordan (Topthorn head/Goose), Nicolas Karimi (Topthorn heart/Geordie), Sarah Mardel (Baby Joey head/Emilie), Shaun McKee (Joey/Topthorn heart/Geordie), Jack Monaghan (Albert Narracott), Jack Parker (Baby Joey heart/hind/Coco), Malcolm Ridley (Sgt.Allan/Schnabel/Manfred), Patrick Robinson (Friedrich Muller), Ruth Rogers (Joey head), Saul Rose (Songman), Mat Ruttle (Bone/Heine), William Rycroft (Captain Stewart/Rudi), Eliot Short (Fiddler), Anthony Shuster (Priest/Karl/Vet Martin), Nicola Stephenson (Rose Narracott), David Walmsley (Billy Narracott/Coco/Ludwig), Andy Williams (Ted Narracott) and Thomas Wilton (Joey heart).

War Horse is produced in the West End by the National Theatre and National Angels.

Release issued by Premier PR

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Marianne Elliott to direct new Spice Girls musical Viva Forever

Mamma Mia! producer Judy Craymer has confirmed that her new musical project, Viva Forever, will be directed by British theatre director Marianne Elliott.

Viva Forever, which is based on the songs of the Spice Girls and promises to be a modern fable of camaraderie, love and loyalty, has been written by Jennifer Saunders.

Marianne Elliott has worked for the Royal Exchange, Royal Court, RSC and National Theatre and is most famous for her direction, along with Tom Morris, of the National Theatre’s War Horse, which is currently playing at the New London Theatre in London and has recently opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on Broadway to rave reviews. Her other productions include Saint Joan at the National starring Anne-Marie Duff and Alan Ayckbourn’s Season’s Greetings.

Judy Craymer said in a statement that Marianne Elliott has a “theatrical aptitude for exploring strong women and their relationships and her meticulousness to detail she is absolutely the right person to direct this new musical which is all about female friendship, celebrity and fame”.

Simon Fuller, the Spice Girls’ manager, said, “The girls and I are delighted that one of the most brilliant female theatre directors Marianne Elliott is to direct Viva Forever. Judy, Jennifer and now Marianne, make an eminent team.”

The show is expected to premiere in London at the end of 2012.

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Marianne Elliott to Direct Viva Forever the Musical Based On the Songs of The Spice Girls

Judy Craymer’s new musical, VIVA FOREVER, a modern fable of camaraderie, love and loyalty based on the songs of the Spice Girls, is to be directed by one of the most illustrious British theatre directors Marianne Elliott.

In confirming the announcement, Judy said: “I am delighted that Marianne has agreed to direct VIVA FOREVER. With her theatrical aptitude for exploring strong women and their relationships and her meticulousness to detail she is absolutely the right person to direct this new musical which is all about female friendship, celebrity and fame. I’m so happy to have her on board, together with Jennifer Saunders, who has written the musical.”

Marianne Elliott started her career in the mid-nineties having graduated in drama from the Hull University. Her credits include work at the Royal Exchange, Royal Court, and the RSC before she joined the National Theatre as an Associate in 2006. Credits for the National Theatre include War Horse (co-directed with Tom Morris and which has just opened to much critical acclaim on Broadway), Pillars of the Community, Therese Raquin, Saint Joan, All’s Well That Ends Well, Harper Regan, Mrs Affleck and most recently with Thomas Middleton’s Woman Beware Women and Alan Ayckbourn’s Season’s Greetings.

Simon Fuller, the Spice Girls’ manager, said, “The girls and I are delighted that one of the most brilliant female theatre directors Marianne Elliott is to direct VIVA FOREVER. Judy, Jennifer and now Marianne, make an eminent team.”

VIVA FOREVER is produced by Judy Craymer in association with Universal Music, Simon Fuller and the Spice Girls.

VIVA FOREVER, a romantic comedy musical, based on the songs of the Spice Girls, is expected to open in the West End towards the end of 2012.

Release issued by: Borkowski

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Brian Cox to reveal Frankenstein science

The National Theatre is to run a series of talks in their Platform series this winter around the new production of Frankenstein.

“Beyond Frankenstein” will see leading figures from arts and science discuss a wide range of topics around the themes and history of Mary Shelley’s original novel, Frankenstein, including discussions by TV physicist Professor Brian Cox and acclaimed biographer Claire Tomalin.

The platform series will take place in the National’s Olivier Theatre and is linked to the forthcoming stage adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic horror novel, directed by  Danny Boyle and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller from 5 February 2011. Frankenstein will also be broadcast live to cinemas across the UK and around the world on 17 March as part of National Theatre Live.

Frankenstein on Film on 24 February will see film historian Kim Newman take a look at movie versions of the Frankenstein tale, including Hollywood’s many interpretations of Shelley’s famous create.

On 4 March, Frankenstein’s Science will feature popular TV scientist Professor Brian Cox (Wonder of the Solar System) in discussion with Romantic biographer Richard Holmes on Mary Shelley’s remarkable exploration of man’s desire to bring life to an inanimate object. They will also explore whether the notion is possible, in both the 19th century and today.

Frankenstein’s Creator: Mary Shelley on 15 March sees award-winning biographer Claire Tomalin offer a glimpse into the life of Mary Shelley. Tomalin wrote the biography of Mary’s mother Mary Wollstonecraft, and will be joined by author of Young Romantics, Daisy Hay.

Finally, Josephine Hart presents Romantic Poetry on 15 April will see the acclaimed novelist and presenter offer star-studded readings that will bring the great romantic-gothic world of Frankenstein to life in the form of the work of Shelley, Byron and their Romantic contemporaries.

In addition to the Beyond Frankenstein platforms, Frankenstein director Danny Boyle and adaptor Nick Dear will discuss their new production on 14 March 2011.

Other platforms running alongside the National’s new season include director Marianne Elliott on her new production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Christmas tale, Bill T Jones on FELA!, Ron Moody on his new memoir, Edward Petherbridge discusses his work, Nicholas Hytner explores the rehearsal process for Hamlet with members of the acting company, there will be a series of afternoon interviews with members of the companies of Twelfth Night and Hamlet, including Rory Kinnear, Clare Higgins, David Calder, Rebecca Hall and Simon Callow, and a series of “in conversations” will feature Mark Gatiss, Catherine Tate and David Troughton.

Book tickets to Frankenstein at the National Theatre

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News: Frankenstein at the National Theatre
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Women Beware Women – National Theatre – Review

At the end of Thomas Middleton’s 1621 tragedy Women Beware Women, there are more dead bodies on stage than in the final moments of Hamlet. It’s the gory, Grande Guignol climax to a rude, crude Jacobean romp in which lust, greed, incest, murder, sexual infidelity and rape are the order of the day – and night.

It all begins when a rather nerdish and indigent Florentine bank clerk called Leantio (Samuel Barnett), elopes with the beautiful Bianca (Lauren O’Neil), a wealthy heiress, and marries her.

Unbeknownst to the hapless Leantio, Bianca has caught the eye of the libidinous Duke of Florence (Richard Lintern), who, with the conniving help of the reptilian widow Livia (Harriet Walter), lures Bianca to his courtly residence where he rapes her.

Livia also cunningly contrives a marriage between her niece Isabella (Vanessa Kirby) to a punkish idiot (Harry Melling) while at the same time paving a way for her brother Hippolito and Isabella to have an incestuous affair on the side.

And if that’s not damage enough, she then sets her sites on poor Leantio whom she seduces with promises of wealth and status.
Though it is the scheming of the kind of treacherous woman the play’s title asks you to beware, it’s the Duke and Hippolito who benefit most from her machinations.

As in most Jacobean tragedies, immorality comes at quite a price with the web of deceit in which the protagonists are ensnared resulting in murder most foul.

Director Marianne Elliott stages the play’s bloody final act as an orgiastic masque in which actions speak more ghoulishly than words. She’s assisted by Lez Brotherston’s set which goes into permanent revolve mode during this elaborate and inventively staged dance of death.

Once again the full resources of the Olivier’s remarkable facilities are effectively employed with particularly striking use being made of a quartet of impressive chandeliers.

Yet the most memorable scene is the intimate chess-playing encounter between Livia and Leantio’s frumpy old mum (Tilly Tremayne) which takes place while the Duke is having his way with Bianca in another part of the court. Unaware that her daughter-in-law is being ravished against her will, the old woman listens innocently to the chess-related metaphors and sexual innuendos spoken not so innocently by the knowing Livia.

It’s staged in modern dress and with an accompanying jazz score. But as the atmosphere at its very core is so endemic to the morals, mores and machinations of Jacobean tragedy, to take it out of the period that defines it seems pointless.

Still, it’s a generally well-staged revival with a deliciously subtle yet poisonous performance from Harriet Walter, who, with Harry Melling’s preening, doltish idiot, stands out from a cast that’s merely routine.

National Theatre Olivier.

CLIVE HIRSCHHORN. Courtesy of This Is London.

OTHER REVIEWS

INDEPENDENT

‘Marianne Elliott’s magnificent and disturbing National Theatre revival benefits from updating the Italian Renaissance to a period mish-mash of New Look couture, dead cool and punk primitivism.’

‘The wealthy widow Livia, played in the very likeness of the Duchess of Windsor by an elegantly acerbic Harriet Walter.’

DAILY TELEGRAPH

‘Almost indecently enjoyable.’

‘The anti-heroine, Livia, played by Harriet Walter like a mix of Cruella De Vil, the White Witch in the Narnia books and Margaret Thatcher in her prime.’

‘The closing carnage… presented as a brilliantly choreographed dance of death complete with black angels and sinister exotic references.’

‘As well as Walter’s compelling performance, there is much fine work elsewhere, especially from Lauren O’Neill as the initially warm and loving Bianca, whom we see hardening in the play; from Richard Lintern as the suave, fascistic Duke; Vanessa Kirby as the sweet teenager gulled into incest with her uncle; and Harry Melling as the idiotic ward she is supposed to marry, and who spends much of his time trying to look up her dress.’

‘Dark, decadent and immensely stylish, Women Beware Women makes you laugh even as you shiver.’

MAIL ON SUNDAY

‘Wicked. It’s the only worf for this stylish revival of Thomas Middleton’s seldom staged, dark, devilish and decadent Women Beware Women.’

‘The climactic scene of heartless lust, greed and carnage is one of the best ever staged at the Olivier. The stage – haunted by devilish creatures in skull caps and black wings – revolves, revealing one spectacular4 fatality after another in a whirling dance of death.’

‘Wickedly entertaining theatre. And thanks to the Travelex £10 ticket scheme, available for £10.’

FINANCIAL TIMES

‘Womanly wiliness is centre stage in [Marianne Elliott's] magnificently seductive production.’

‘Elliott updates the action from Renaissance to 1950′s Florence. This makes for a slinkily good-looking production, with women in Dior New Look, as set from Lez Brotherston that is at once opulent and oppressive, and lashings of sultry, dark jazz music (Olly Fox).’

‘It is a world steeped in glamour, decadence and greed. Here men treat women like parcels, trading them, owning them, locking them away. It is only Livia, a wealthy widow, who can pull strings. Harriet Walter’s Livia is superb: her poise, acid wit and attractive energy put you in mind of Richard III’

‘The acting is beautifully precise, with strong performances from Samuel Barnett as Bianca’s jealous husband, Vanessa Kirby as Isabella and Harry Melling as the idiot she must marry. It is a witty production, revelling in Middleton’s bitter black humour and enthusiasm for sexual innuendo.’

‘The production gradually darkens as it approaches the climactic masked ball, delivered here on the revolving stage as a dizzying dance of murder.’

‘This is a staging that wraps its inky fingers around you and holds you, spellbound’

DAILY EXPRESS

‘Here is a court thick with corruption and Marianne Elliott’s almost hypnotic production updates the action to the late fifties / early sixties and perfectly captures the louche immorality.’

‘It all adds up to a typically Jacobean-style bloodbath but this terrific production gives us enough humour to lighten the load, particularly with Harry Melling’s ludicrously camp heir.’

‘In a top quality cast, Harriet Walter is magisterial as Livia and Lauren O’Neill makes for an impassioned Bianca.’

‘Most effective of all is the finale of the masked ball, where the swirling set, smoky air and seductive music turns the final roll call of bodies into a heady orgy of death.’

SUNDAY TIMES

“The National’s bravura production”

“This is a rich production, full of the theatrical flourishes that are the director Marianne Elliott’s trademark.”

“Harriet Walter, as Livia, is a cold-eyed manipulator, and comically vampish when seducing Leantio (Samuel Barnett), but the younger actresses are outstanding. Lauren O’Neill, as Bianca, conveys a potent mix of anger and bitter bewilderment, her delivery crystal clear. Vanessa Kirby is excellent and understated as the unwittingly incestuous Isabella. Harry Melling, as the obsessively bawdy Ward, delivers nice clownish comedy.”

OBSERVER

“Harriet Walter dazzles as the subtle villainess.”

“A fiercely felt, finely wrought, seldom-seen play by one of Shakespeare’s contemporaries. A play whose subject is corruption and whose language is pungent. Producing such a drama is, surely, one of the reasons the National theatre needs to exist.”

“Marianne Elliott’s production of Women Beware Women has verve and nerve.”

“It’s an extravaganza that Elliott delivers with relish. There’s a strong case against ever updating Women Beware Women. The inturning, winding verse is of a piece with a Jacobean architecture of dark corners, twists and complications. But this production – in which every densely written line is delivered with brutal clarity – is as good as a modern dress could be.”

“Walter, who is at the peak of her powers as an actor, is, here and throughout, a magnificent source of fascination and energy.”

EVENING STANDARD

‘Marianne Elliott’s production of this 1621 play by Thomas Middleton culminates in a gorgeous, debauched masked ball. ‘

‘Elliott brings a lavish sensibility to his work’

‘Harriet Walter gives a performance at once measured and full of relish: there’s passion in her destructiveness, yet also clarity in her unscrupulous plans. Lauren O’Neill makes a sympathetic Bianca, while Harry Melling gets to prance around in a delightfully cretinous fashion as The Ward, and Samuel Barnett’s Leantio is a nerdy sort of libertine.’

Transfer News: Juliet Stevenson, Avenue Q, Prunella Scales and War Horse

It’s all change in the West End as a number of shows close to make way for transfers from other theatres. In an increasingly risk-averse climate for producers, a hit in a small venue or success in a limited run could mean money if it transfers into the West End.  The subsidised National Theatre and Almeida are bringing in War Horse and Duet for One respectively, Cameron Mackintosh decides to keep Avenue Q running and Carrie’s War and Saturday Night transfer from smaller venues.

Duet For One

The Almeida’s recently acclaimed production Duet for One will transfer to the West End in May.

Tom Kempinski’s two-hander stars Juliet Stevenson and Henry Goodman and centres on a concert violinist (Stevenson) who goes to a psychiatrist (Goodman) in the wake of a tragedy.

Directed by Matthew Lloyd, it will transfer to the Vaudeville Theatre from 7th May.

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Avenue Q

There’s nothing like the threat of missing out to boost a show. Avenue Q - which has already run for 3 years at the Noel Coward Theatre, had announced its closure to make way for Calendar Girls.

But a new demand for tickets to catch the show before it exits London has promoted Cameron Mackintosh to transfer it to another one of his theatres – this time the Gielgud. It will reside there from 1 June.

Avenue Q will replace Enjoy starring Alison Steadman and David Troughton.

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Carrie’s War

Heart-warming family drama Carrie’s War – about two young evacuees during the Second World War and based on the classic kid’s novel by Nina Bawden is transferring from Sadler’s Wells into the West End.

Much loved actress Prunella Scales stars in the play, which will begin on 18 June at the Apollo Theatre. The show also stars Sarah Edwardson, who reprises the role of Carrie, and Amanda Symonds and James Beddard.

Carrie’s War will replace Three Days of Rain at the Apollo, currently starring James McAvoy.

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War Horse

From World War II to the First World War – and the opening this month in the West End of the National Theatre’s critically smash-hit War Horse – galloping across the river from the National to the New London Theatre from next week – 28th March.

The award-winning adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s novel, set during World War I,is directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, and is told using the  puppetry of the South African Handspring Puppet Company – including life-size horses and a tank!

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Sondheim’s Saturday Night

Stephen Sondheim’s first Broadway musical Saturday Night will at long last enjoy a West End premiere, despite being penned by Sondheim in the 1950s.

After selling out run the Jermyn Street Theatre, it will come to the Arts Theatre for a short run from 25 March. Set it New York just before the Wall Street crash of 1929, the show stars Helena Blackman, who was runner up in the BBC1 talent show “How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?”