Sweeney Todd at the Adelphi Theatre starring Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton

Following a sell-out run in Chichester, Jonathan Kent’s critically acclaimed production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd transfers to London’s Adelphi Theatre for a limited season starring Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton.

Sweeney Todd starring Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton to play West End in March

Production photos: Sweeney Todd starring Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton

Production photos of Sweeney Todd at the Chichester Festival Theatre starring Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton

Chichester’s 2011 festival closes this year with a new production of Stephen Sondheim’s classic musical Sweeney Todd.

Leading the cast are two of British Theatre’s biggest names, with distinguished musical performer Michael Ball and Oscar-nominated actress Imelda Staunton starring in the show.

The deliciously dark musical depicts Sweeney Todd’s savage quest for justice and retribution after years of false imprisonment. Aided and abetted by the pie-shop owner, Mrs Lovett, he sets out to avenge the wrongs done to him and his family. Combining a gory sensibility with elements of English music hall, the production offers a fascinating portrait of a man driven to madness by injustice and grief.

Michael Ball plays Sweeney Todd in the show, joined by Imelda Staunton as Mrs Lovett.

The show is directed by Jonathan Kent and designed by Anthony Ward, and runs at Chichester until 5 November 2011.

Photos by Roy Tan.

LINKS

Chichester Theatre website

West End Production: Book tickets to Sweeney Todd at the Adelphi Theatre starring Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton

Michael Ball And Imelda Staunton In Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street

Chichester’s Festival 2011 closes with Sweeney Todd, the musical commonly acknowledged to be Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece, in a cast led by distinguished musical performer Michael Ball and Oscar-nominated actress Imelda Staunton.

Set in nineteenth century London and laced with Sondheim’s characteristically brilliant wit and dark humour, the musical depicts Sweeney Todd’s savage quest for justice and retribution after years of false imprisonment. Aided and abetted by the pie-shop owner, Mrs Lovett, he sets out to avenge the wrongs done to him and his family. Combining a gory sensibility with elements of English music hall, the production offers a fascinating portrait of a man driven to madness by injustice and grief.

Michael Ball plays Sweeney Todd. His theatre credits include Hairspray, Les Misérables, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Passion, Aspects of Love, The Woman in White and The Phantom of the Opera. He made his English National Opera debut as Hajj/Poet in Kismet and in 2005 he made his debut with the New York City Opera as Reginald Bunthrone in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience. Ball co-produced Chichester Festival 2010’s West End transfer of Love Story. He also has a successful recording career, and released his eighteenth album, Heroes, and completed a nationwide tour earlier this year.
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Imelda Staunton plays Mrs Lovett. Her theatre credits include A Delicate Balance at the Almeida Theatre, the West End production of Entertaining Mr Sloane, Life x 3 (National Theatre and The Old Vic) and Guys and Dolls (National Theatre). Film credits include the Harry Potter series, Taking Woodstock, and the title role in Vera Drake, for which she received BAFTA, European Film and Venice Film Festival Awards, as well as an Oscar nomination. Television credits include Psychoville and Cranford.

John Bowe plays Judge Turpin. His credits include the West End production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, The Lady from the Sea and Heartbreak House (Almeida Theatre), Edward Bond’s Lear (RSC and European tour) and Saint Joan (The Old Vic).

Peter Polycarpou plays Beadle Bamford. He was last seen at Chichester in Festival 2010’s Love Story, which later transferred to the West End. His other credits include the West End productions of Les Misérables, Miss Saigon and The Secret Garden, Oklahoma! for the National Theatre, and the popular BBC sitcom, Birds of a Feather.

The cast also features Robert Burt, Luke Brady, Lucy May Barker, Daniel Graham, Gillian Kirkpatrick, James McConville and Simeon Truby. The ensemble includes Valda Aviks, Will Barratt, Josie Benson, Emily Bull, John Coates, Robine Landi, Brian McCann, Tim Morgan, Aoife Nally, Adam Pearce, Vincent Pirillo, Wendy Somerville, Anton Stephans, Kerry Washington and Annabelle Williams.

Stephen Sondheim’s credits as composer/lyricist include Road Show, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sunday in the Park with George, Company, A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum, Into The Woods and Assassins. He also wrote the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy. His film credits include Reds and Dick Tracy, for which he won an Oscar. He has also received numerous Tony and Grammy Awards and a Pulitzer Prize.

Jonathan Kent’s credits include Chichester Festival 2010’s A Month in the Country. His recent work includes the National Theatre production of Oedipus starring Ralph Fiennes, and The Fairy Queen at Glyndebourne. Kent was joint Artistic Director of the Almeida Theatre where his work included When We Dead Awaken, All For Love, Medea, The School For Wives and Gangster No.1. Other theatre credits include Le Cid, Mother Courage and Her Children and The False Servant, all for the National Theatre.

Design is by Anthony Ward whose credits include Festival 2011’s She Loves Me, ENRON (Festival 2010 and 09), Macbeth (Festival 07), Posh at the Royal Court, as well as West End productions of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Oliver! and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He has won a Tony Award for Costume Design for Mary Stuart, and Olivier Awards for the Set Design of Oklahoma! and the Costume Design of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, La Grande Magia and The Way of the World.

Choreographer is Denni Sayers whose credits include Don Giovanni (Glyndebourne), Ibsen’s Emperor and Galilean and Oedipus (National Theatre), Parsifal and The Flying Dutchman (ENO), Cyrano de Bergerac, Carmen, Paul Bunyan and The Bartered Bride (all for ROH).

Lighting Design is by Mark Henderson whose credits include A Month in the Country (Festival 2010), ENRON (Festival 2010 and 09, the Royal Court Theatre, West End, Broadway and tour), West End productions of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Iceman Cometh, Copenhagen, Hamlet and The Real Thing (all also on Broadway), All My Sons, Mourning Becomes Electra, The History Boys and The Habit of Art (National Theatre).

The musical director is Nicholas Skilbeck whose credits include West End productions of Sister Act, Hairspray, Billy Elliott – The Musical, Mamma Mia! and Cats.

Orchestration is by Jonathan Tunick whose credits include Road Show, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Into the Woods, Passion, A Chorus Line, The Color Purple and Nine.

Sound design is by Paul Groothuis whose credits include Festival 2011’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead; His Dark Materials, Edmond, Henry V and A Streetcar Named Desire (all for the National Theatre), Anything Goes, My Fair Lady and All My Sons (National Theatre and West End), as well as the West End productions of Children’s Hour and Flare Path.

Sweeney Todd is at Chichester Festival Theatre from 24 September – 5 November, 7.30pm (except Press Night Thursday 6 October, 7.00pm), matinees 2.15pm. Tickets £10 – £28 (University of Chichester Previews), £13 – £33 (Previews/Press Night) and £14 – £38 (Evenings/Matinees) are available online at www.cft.org.uk or from the Box Office on 01243 781312.
Age guideline: 12+

Join Jonathan Kent in conversation on how his production of Sweeney Todd has been staged at Chichester. This free pre-show talk is on Tuesday 4 October at 6.00pm in the Steven Pimlott Building.
After Words – join some of the Sweeney Todd cast and creative team for a post-show discussion on Thursday 13 October.

Release issued by: Chichester Theatre

LINKS

Chichester Theatre website

West End Production: Book tickets to Sweeney Todd at the Adelphi Theatre starring Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos: Ghost The Musical Press Night at the Piccadilly Theatre in London

Backstage at the 2011 Olivier Awards

Acclaimed photographer Charlie Gray went behind the scenes at this year’s Olivier Awards at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane to capture the stars of West End Theatre.

Charlie Gray is a prominent London photographer, well known for his film and TV work and his coverage of the BAFTA film awards.

He started his career shooting reportage for magazines and this style of capturing the glamour of the entertainment industry, combined with the drama of normal life, has stood him in good stead. He has become well-known for getting beautiful shots of beautiful people outside of their on-camera, on-stage lives.

Last year he completed a “Year Behind The Scenes of British Film” project for The Sunday Times, requiring him to visit 20 film sets. Projects like this, and his work as the official photographer for BAFTA for the last four years, means that he has built up an impressive portfolio packed full of famous faces.

In recognition of the Olivier Award’s step-change this year, to become an altogether more glamorous face of the West End theatre industry, the Sunday Times commissioned Gray to go behind the scenes at the Olivier Awards for a Spectrum feature that ran in the Sunday Times magazine on 3 April. The beautiful colour and black and white shots feature a who’s who of London theatre including Amanda Holden, Stephen Sondheim, Barry Manilow, Elisabeth Moss, Angela Lansbury, Michael Ball, Sheridan Smith and Anne-Marie Duff.

A book and exhibition are the next the logical next steps for Gray, but for the time being he’s happy to be busy out there, getting the work done. “Perhaps next year after my 5th BAFTA”, he said.

LINKS

Charlie Gray’s website

The Sunday Times website

GALLERY

SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE SPREAD

Olivier Awards: National, Legally Blonde

In a star-studded awards ceremony last night, Sunday 13 March, at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London, the Society of London Theatre held their 35th annual theatre awards ceremony.

Hosted by musicals star Michael Ball and actress Imelda Staunton, the awards celebrate the best of the year’s London theatre.

Big winners last night included the National Theatre, which swept up seven awards for two of its productions: Thea Sharrock’s revival of Terence Rattigan’s After the Dance, which won awards including best revival, best actress for Nancy Carroll and best actor in a supporting role for Adrian Scarborough; and its production of Mikhail Bulgakov’s The White Guard, including best director for Howard Davies and best set design for Bunny Christie.

In other subsidised venues the Royal Court picked up three awards, including best new play for Bruce Norris’s comedy Clybourne Park, which is now playing at the Wyndham’s Theatre in the West End, and two awards for the Donmar Warehouse, including David Thaxton picking up best actor in a musical for Passion.

Roger Allam won best actor for his performance as Falstaff in Shakespeare’s Globe’s production of Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, beating stiff competition from Rory Kinnear, Derek Jacobi, David Suchet and Mark Rylance.

The most successful musical of the night was Legally Blonde at the Savoy Theatre, which picked up three major awards: best new musical, best actress in a musical for Sheridan Smith and best performance in a supporting role in a Musical for Jill Halfpenny.

Other musicals rewarded at the event included We Will Rock You, which won the Olivier Audience Award voted for by members of the theatregoing public, and the Open Air Theatre’s summer production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods.

Stephen Sondheim was presented with an Olivier Special Award for his enormous contribution to theatre, with the award presented by Sir Cameron Mackintosh and legendary actress Angela Lansbury.

Big shows to miss out on awards this year included Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies, which failed to pick up any awards despite seven nominations, and End of the Rainbow at the Trafalgar Studios, which was nominated for four awards including best actress for Tracie Bennett in her performance as Judy Garland.

Notable performances during the ceremony included a star turn by legendary American singer Barry Manilow, who also sang a duet with Wicked and Oliver! star Kerry Ellis; current and former stars of The Phantom of the Opera and Love Never Dies – Ramin Karimloo, John Owen-Jones and Sierra Boggess; Emma Williams and Michael Xavier singing Everything We Know from Love Story; Alfie Boe, who is soon to star in Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre, singing Some Enchanted Evening from South Pacific; Susan McFadden and the current cast of Legally Blonde; and Adrian Lester paying tribute to Stephen Sondheim by singing Being Alive from Company, along with Angela Lansbury singing a moving rendition of Liaisons from A Little Night Music and 400 students from national drama schools singing Our Time from Merrily We Roll Along.

LISTEN & WATCH AGAIN

BBC iPlayer – Radio 2 coverage

BBC iPlayer – BBC News

LINKS

Olivier Awards – list of winners

Olivier Awards microsite

Olivier Awards – news

Olivier Awards – Binkie Blog’s Picks and Pans

Olivier Awards tonight

The 35th annual Laurence Olivier Awards are to be held tonight, Sunday 13 March 2011, at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London.

Organised by the Society of London Theatre, the awards are the most popular and important in the British theatre calendar. This year they are set for an overhaul, with MasterCard sponsoring the event, and a glitzy ceremony planned for the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

The awards will feature full red carpet arrivals and star-studded ceremony that will be hosted by musical theatre star and TV and radio presenter  Michael Ball, and award-winning actress Imelda Staunton.

Star presenters handing out Olivier gongs will include Lost star Matthew Fox, opera tenor Alfie Boe, stars of Frankenstein Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller, Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss, Rupert Everett, Amanda Holden and Elaine Paige. Musical performances will include Barry Manilow and Kerry Ellis.

The awards will be covered extensively by the BBC on television, radio and online – including full red carpet coverage of stars arriving for the awards. A live broadcast of the ceremony will be played out via the BBC’s red button service (digital, cable or satellite viewers only), and also Paul Gambaccini will host Radio 2’s live coverage of the night, along with Jodie Prenger who will cover the red carpet arrivals. Plus BBC News will have special live coverage of the red carpet arrivals, and a post-awards reaction programme presented by Jane Hill and BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz. Also highlights of the awards will be available on BBC iplayer the following week.

This year’s Olivier Awards nominations are lead by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies with 7 nominations and Thea Sharrock’s National Theatre production of Terence Rattigan’s After The Dance with 6 nominations, including best director for Sharrock and best actress for Nancy Carroll.

The National Theatre has 17 nominations in total, including nods for Fela!, Hamlet, Beauty And The Beast, The White Guard, Earthquakes In London and London Assurance. The Royal Court and the Donmar Warehouse have nine nominations each. The Royal Court’s Clybourne Park has 4 nominations including best play, and has recently enjoyed success at a number of awards including the South Bank Sky Arts Awards.

Also tipped for awards are End Of The Rainbow, with 4 nominations including best actress for Tracie Bennett, and Legally Blonde The Musical, with 5 nominations including best actress in a musical for Sheridan Smith. Other nominees for best actress in the musical category include Sierra Boggess for Love Never Dies, Love Story’s Emma Williams and Elena Roger for Passion at the Donmar.

Mark Rylance is nominated for a best actor award for his performance in La Bete, alongside Derek Jacobi, David Suchet, Rory Kinnear and Roger Allam. And in the musical category, Ramin Karimloo has a nod for Love Never Dies, joined by Legally Blonde’s Alex Gaumond, David Thaxton for Passion, Sahr Ngaujah for Fela! and Love Story’s Michael Xavier.

In the Olivier Audience Award category, four shows have been up for public vote: Billy Elliot the Musical, Jersey Boy, Les Misérables and We Will Rock You. Also at the awards, Stephen Sondheim will receive the Society of London Theatre’s Special Award for his outstanding contribution to theatre.

The UK’s most prestigious theatre awards started in 1976 as The Society of West End Theatre Awards, becoming the Laurence Olivier Awards in 1984.

LINKS

Olivier Awards microsite

Olivier Awards – nominations

Olivier Awards – news

 

 

Michael Ball, Imelda Staunton host Oliviers

As previously tipped, Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton will host this year’s Olivier Awards, to be held at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on 13 March 2011

Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton are both past Olivier winners, Michael for Best Actor in a Musical in 2008 for Hairspray and Imelda in 1985 for A Chorus Of Disapproval and The Corn Is Green and 1991 for Into The Woods.

The pair are also set to appear together at the Chichester Festival Theatre this summer in a new production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd (from 24 September), directed by Jonathan Kent and starring Michael Ball in the title role and Imelda Staunton as Mrs Lovett.

This year’s Awards are being covered by BBC Radio 2, which Michael Ball is also hosting, and on the BBC’s red button service.

MORE NEWS

• Stephen Sondheim to receive Special Olivier Award
• More presenters announced for Olivier Awards, including Benedict Cumberbatch, Elaine Paige, Danielle Hope

LINKS

Olivier Awards microsite

Olivier Awards – nominations

LISTEN: Elaine Paige announces the Olivier Audience Award short list

VIDEO: Michael Ball interviews Imelda Staunton on The Michael Ball Show

Olivier Awards 2011 – Awards Night

This year’s Awards night promises to be one of the most glamorous in years, with a host of well known stage and music stars coming together at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London to celebrate the best of the West End.

HOST

This year’s awards will be hosted by Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton. Past hosts of the awards include Kevin Spacey, Clive Anderson, Angela Lansbury, Barry Norman, Anthony Hopkins, Sue Lawley, Diana Rigg, Edward Fox, Jane Asher and Angela Rippon.

PRESENTERS

Confirmed presenters for this year’s awards include:

• Lost star Matthew Fox, star of In A Forest, Dark and Deep at the Vaudeville Theatre
• Olivia Williams, Matthew’s co-star in In A Forest, Dark and Deep
• Alfie Boe, opera and musicals leading man, who will play Jean Valjean in the West End production of Les Miserables this summer
• Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller, current stars on Frankenstein
• Anne-Marie Duff, star of the Old Vic’s Cause Celebre
• Elisabeth Moss (Peggy from Mad Men), currently appearing in The Children’s Hour at the Comedy Theatre
• Actor Rupert Everett
• The League of Gentlemen and the National’s Season’s Greetings star Mark Gatiss
• Amanda Holden from Shrek The Musical
• Elaine Paige
• Tamara Rojo, Royal Ballet star
• Star of The Wizard of Oz, Danielle Hope
• Wicked’s Rachel Tucker
• Actor Patrick Stewart
• More presenters to be announced shortly

MUSICAL NUMBERS

Barry Manilow will perform a number alongside West End star Kerry Ellis (Wicked, Oliver!). More musical numbers to be announced.

TIMELINE

7 February 2011: Olivier Award nominees announced
In a launch event at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the 2011 nominees were announced. See the full list here.

22 February 2011: Nominees’ Lunch at the Haymarket Hotel
The Nominees’ Lunch to celebrate all performers and practitioners who have received nominations for the awards.

27 February 2011: BBC Radio 2 Audience Award shortlist announced:
The shortlist for the BBC Radio 2 Audience Award is announced on Elaine Paige’s Sunday morning Radio 2 show. This shortlist is based on the first round of public voting (vote for your favourite show here). Then a second round of public voting will take place, before the winner is announced on 13 March.

Late February: Public tickets to the Olivier Awards go one sale
For the first time in the Olivier Award’s history, theatregoers will be able to attend the Olivier Awards ceremony at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on 13 March. Details of how to get tickets will be announced by The Society of London Theatre in late February.

Early March: Olivier Award Special Award winner announced
Each year the Society of London Theatre presents a Special Award to a theatre practitioner who has made an invaluable contribution to the stage arts in London. Previous winners include Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, John Gielgud, Alec Guinness, Peggy Ashcroft, Harold Pinter, Peter Hall, Judi Dench, Alan Bennett, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alan Ayckbourn. Last year Dame Maggie Smith was honoured with the award.

13 March 2011: The Awards ceremony at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane

WATCH & LISTEN

This year’s awards will be broadcast via the BBC’s red button service (digital, cable or satellite viewers only), and also Paul Gambaccini will host Radio 2’s live coverage of the night, along with Jodie Prenger who will cover the Red Carpet arrivals. Plus BBC News will have special live coverage of the red carpet arrivals, and a post-awards reaction programme presented by Jane Hill and BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz. Also highlights of the awards will be available on BBC iplayer the following week.

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