Grease fans to be treated to free show
February 4, 2011
Show laid on for Grease fans to celebrate launch of new bagel range
The Piccadilly Theatre in London will host a 20 minute lightnin’ version of Grease The Musical on 24 March 2011. But it’s an early start – 8AM – timed to launch the New York Bagel Company’ s new breakfast bagels range.
The bagel brand has been on a PR offensive in the UK, having recently brought famous Times Square busker the Naked Cowboy over to London to promote its range.
To enter for two free tickets to see the breakfast performance of Grease, simply email musical@breakfastbagels.com. 450 tickets are up for grabs, and email entries will go into a hat to each win a pair of tickets for the show.
Carina Gillespie and Matthew Goodgame in Grease. Photo: Paul Coltas.
A new cast joined Grease at the Piccadilly Theatre on 24 January, with Carina Gillespie replacing Over The Rainbow finalist Lauren Samuels as Sandy alongside Matthew Goodgame as Danny, and Michael Pickering, who recently starred in All The Fun of the Fair at the Garrick Theatre, as Doody.
The hit show, which has run for four years at the Piccadilly Theatre, will end its run on 30 April.
SPECIAL OFFER: Save £23.50 on tickets to Grease at the Piccadilly Theatre
Natasha Hamilton in Blood Brothers tonight
January 24, 2011
This week in the West End two big shows see a change of stars as Atomic Kitten’s Natasha Hamilton joins the cast of Blood Brothers, and Carina Gillespie replaces Lauren Samuels as Sandy in Grease.
Natasha Hamilton in Blood Brothers
Natasha Hamilton to star in Blood Brothers
Former Atomic Kitten star Natasha Hamilton is to follow Spice Girl Melanie C into the West End tonight playing the lead role in Blood Brothers at the Phoenix Theatre.
Mel C scored a huge hit with the show, making the transition from pop star to stage star, and Hamilton will be hoping for more of the same.
Natasha said on her Twitter page last week that she “can’t begin to describe how tired I am” but that she had been loving every minute of the rehearsals and preparation for tonight’s first show.
Hamilton, 28, is the youngest actress to play the lead role of Mrs Johnstone at the Phoenix Theatre in London. She told the Liverpool Echo today that by the end of the show “I’ve been sobbing, crying my eyes out when my sons are dead on the floor. It’s just hard not to feel that emotion. The play’s so powerful and it tugs at those heart strings so much.”
Her husband Riad and sons Josh, Harry and baby Alfie will all be there tonight to support her in her first big acting role in the West End.
Natasha joins a roll call of famous theatrical ladies who have played the part of Mrs Johnstone including Mel C, Barbara Dickson, Petula Clark, Kiki Dee, X-Factor runner-up Nikki Evans and most recently Maureen Noaln.
SPECIAL OFFER: Half-price tickets to Blood Brothers at the Phoenix Theatre
Carina Gillespie in Grease
Carina Gillespie and Matthew Goodgame in Grease. Photo: Paul Coltas.
Another West End debut is also made tonight by another Liverpudlian actress: Carina Gillespie will replace Over The Rainbow finalist Lauren Samuels this evening as Sandy in Grease. She will be joined by Matthew Goodgame as Danny.
Carina Gillespie trained at the Liverpool Theatre School and has appeared in Buddy- The Buddy Holly Story, Bloodbath- The Musical and Jack in the Beanstalk.
Also joining the cast will be Michael Pickering as Doody, who recently starred in All The Fun of the Fair at the Garrick Theatre.
SPECIAL OFFER: Save £23.50 on tickets to Grease at the Piccadilly Theatre
New cast for Grease The Musical
January 12, 2011
Lauren Samuels to leave Grease; New cast to join the show in its final months in London
A new cast will join Grease at the Piccadilly Theatre from 24 January 2011. The hit show, which has run for four years at the Piccadilly Theatre, will end its run on 30 April.
Carina Gillespie and Matthew Goodgame in Grease. Photo: Paul Coltas.
Replacing Over The Rainbow finalist Lauren Samuels as Sandy will be Carina Gillespie, who will make her West End debut in the part alongside Matthew Goodgame as Danny.
Carina Gillespie trained at the Liverpool Theatre School and has appeared in Buddy- The Buddy Holly Story, Bloodbath- The Musical and Jack in the Beanstalk.
Also joining the cast will be Michael Pickering, who recently starred in All The Fun of the Fair at the Garrick Theatre, as Doody, David O’Reilly as Roger, Zoe Doano as Frenchy, Matthew Russell-Jones as Eugene, Nancy Hill as Miss Lynch and Kristina MacMillan as Cha Cha.
Cast continuing in the show include Siubhan Harrison as Rizzo and Jason Capewell as Teen Angel/Vince Fontaine.
Grease is the longest running show at the Piccadilly Theatre.
SPECIAL OFFER: Save £23.50 on tickets to Grease at the Piccadilly Theatre
All the Fun of the Fair – Half Price
June 10, 2010
Save £30 on tickets to see All The Fun of the Fair at the Garrick Theatre in London
£55 tickets for only £25 on 7th July to 5th September (excludes Saturday evenings)
David Essex and Boogie Nights creator Jon Conway invite you to a roller coaster ride of a musical, underscored by a helter- skelter of David Essex hit songs.
Inspired by David’s debut album ‘All The Fun Of The Fair’, David plays fun fair owner Levi Lee, recently widowed and father of a rebellious teenage son. Danger and mysticism lurk in the future, as predicted by the gypsy fortune teller who is in love with Levi. This moving and contemporary story with a heartbreaking twist, reaches out to every parent and anyone who has ever been torn in love.
Dodgems and motorbikes, crafty cons and candy floss, fairground horses and fights, along with romance and rock and roll bring out the carnival atmosphere in this fun-loving show.
Fabulous songs in the show- all hits for David Essex – include A Winter’s Tale, Hold Me Close, Gonna Make You A Star and Silver Dream Machine.
Alongside David Essex, the cast includes Christopher Timothy, Louise English and the leading role of the son, Jack, will be played by Michael Pickering.
The show is directed by David Gilmore with set and costume designs by Ian Westbrook.
BOOK NOW: Save £30 on tickets to see All The Fun of the Fair at the Garrick Theatre in London
£55 tickets for only £25 on 7th July to 5th September (excludes Saturday evenings)
MICHAEL PICKERING in All The Fun of The Fair
May 7, 2010
Michael Pickering stars in All The Fun of The Fair.
Michael Pickering
A central role in David Essex’s new musical All The Fun of The Fair at the Garrick Theatre is that of Jack, the son of David Essex’s character Levi.
This role has gone to relative newcomer Michael Pickering. He’s no novice though, having made his West End debut in Wicked at the Apollo Victoria and swiftly followed this by taking the lead role High School Musical at the Apollo Hammersmith.
He then toured the world in Mamma Mia! before heading back to the UK and showcasing his talent at the Garrick Theatre. And with critics such as the Telegraph’s Charles Spencer hailing him as “”a fresh young talent to watch”, we expect much from Michael Pickering’s career.
Following All The Fun of the Fair, Michael will star as D’Artagnan in a new musical based on Alexandre Dumas’s classic tale The Three Musketeers, at the Rose Theatre, Kingston, Surrey from November 27. The show will also star Clive Rowe, Paul Thornley and Matt Rawle as the three Musketeers, and has a score by George Stiles, lyrics by Paul Leigh and book by Peter Raby and Francis Matthews.
One to watch.
Book tickets to All The Fun of The Fair at the Garrick Theatre in London
All the Fun of the Fair – Reviews Round-up
May 3, 2010
There was much critical “compare and contrasting” going on last week between David Essex’s musical All The Fun of the Fair, which opened at the Garrick Theatre, and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Coney Island-set Love Never Dies over at the Adelphi. All The Fun came off better, perhaps as just another opportunity for the critics to put the boot into ALW, but also as a pleasurable way to hear some good old pop tunes from Essex’s back catalogue, woven into a not-overly-bad plot.
STAR RATINGS
The Times 
Daily Express
The Independent
The Telegraph
DAILY EXPRESS
Critic: Paul Callan
ON DAVID ESSEX: “Not quite the rocking luminary of the Seventies we remember but he still has that roguish appeal and can belt out such memorable numbers as Hold Me Close and my old favourite Silver Dream Machine… Essex still has that great, gravelly voice and plays the old-time boss with smooth style.”
IN A NUTSHELL: “A slender framework for 23 of Essex’s best songs but, as jukebox musicals go, it has some dramatic and edgy moments”.
KEY PERFORMANCES: “Michael Pickering is a powerfully voiced Jack, particularly in his solo Lamplight, and Tim Newman as Slow Jonny was highly comical, apart from his “Ooooh Betty” Michael Crawford voice”.
CREATIVE TEAM: “Director David Gilmore keeps the energy moving along and Ian Westbrook’s set catches perfectly the faded charm of old fairgrounds”.
FINAL THOUGHTS: “And I wasn’t the only critic who wanted to jump on the stage and drive a Dodgem…”
THE TIMES
Critic: Benedict Nightingale
IN A NUTSHELL: “This is still basically a sentimental, soft-centred show, one in which even Christopher Timothy’s Harvey, Alice’s possessive and supposedly dangerous father, seems happiest when he’s chatting about the good old days with laid-back Levi. But it’s hard to resist the result. If Essex’s book creaks his songs, many or most of them from his backlist, do come across tunefully enough.”
THE INDEPENDENT
Critic: Michael Coveney
IN A NUTSHELL: ““David Gilmore’s production may not have the sinister fairground glamour and technical pizzazz of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Coney Island melodrama across town, Love Never Dies but it does have its own quality of London pride, Essex (as in the place, and the star) nostalgia and delight in making pop music.”
ON DAVID ESSEX: “Essex himself is so laid back as to be virtually horizontal, but he always had something of the Gypsy about him, and the singing voice, though fading, retains enough of its distinctive cracked parchment properties. With librettist Jon Conway, he’s cleverly devised another way of touring his concert show without having to sing everything himself.”
THE TELEGRAPH
Critic: Charles Spencer
ON THE BOOK: “The inspiration for the plot, a book by Jon Conway in which vicious heavies threaten the funfair’s future and true love refuses to run smoothly, is workmanlike rather than inspired”.
ON THE SONGS: “I was amazed at just how many of Essex’s catchy songs —Gonna Make You a Star, Hold Me Close, A Winter’s Tale and Lamplight —had wormed their way into my consciousness, and how good it was to hear them again.”
IN A NUTSHELL: “The show has that essential but often elusive quality for any musical — heart… The plot line may be predictable, the jokes not quite as funny as one would wish, but there are moments when it becomes genuinely touching, and it is a pleasure to watch a West End production that puts its faith in its performers rather than hi-tech special effects”.
ON DAVID ESSEX: “His voice now has a touchingly vulnerable crack in it, lending an unexpected depth of feeling to even trite lyrics, and he moves with elegant, if now rather languid, aplomb during Rock On.”
Book tickets to All The Fun Of The Fair at the Garrick Theatre in London
OPENING TONIGHT: All The Fun of the Fair
April 28, 2010
David Essex’s new musical ALL THE FUN OF THE FAIR will have its London premiere tonight at the Garrick Theatre.
Best known as a recording artist who sold millions of albums in the 70s and 80s, David Essex is also an established writer and performer for theatre. He first came to prominence in musical theatre starring as Jesus in the original West End production of Godspell in 1972 and Che in Evita in 1978 and went on to co-write and star in Mutiny at the Piccadilly Theatre.
And now David returns to the London stage in All The Fun Of The Fair, a show he has co-written with Boogie Nights creator Jon Conway and that features a range of David Essex hits and album favourites – notably inspired by his debut album ‘All The Fun Of The Fair’.
Show show also stars Christopher Timothy and Louise English, with the leading role of David’s son Jack played by Michael Pickering.
Book tickets to All The Fun Of The Fair at the Garrick Theatre in London
All the Fun of the Fair – Save £22.50
April 1, 2010
Save £22.50 on tickets to see All The Fun of the Fair at the Garrick Theatre in London
Valid Tuesday to Sunday performances until the 9th May
David Essex and Boogie Nights creator Jon Conway invite you to a roller coaster ride of a musical, underscored by a helter- skelter of David Essex hit songs.
Inspired by David’s debut album ‘All The Fun Of The Fair’, David plays fun fair owner Levi Lee, recently widowed and father of a rebellious teenage son. Danger and mysticism lurk in the future, as predicted by the gypsy fortune teller who is in love with Levi. This moving and contemporary story with a heartbreaking twist, reaches out to every parent and anyone who has ever been torn in love.
Dodgems and motorbikes, crafty cons and candy floss, fairground horses and fights, along with romance and rock and roll bring out the carnival atmosphere in this fun-loving show.
Fabulous songs in the show- all hits for David Essex – include A Winter’s Tale, Hold Me Close, Gonna Make You A Star and Silver Dream Machine.
Alongside David Essex, the cast includes Christopher Timothy, Louise English and the leading role of the son, Jack, will be played by Michael Pickering.
The show is directed by David Gilmore with set and costume designs by Ian Westbrook.
