Richard III at the Old Vic Theatre starring Kevin Spacey – Round-up of Reviews
June 29, 2011
A round-up of reviews of Richard III at the Old Vic Theatre starring Kevin Spacey.
Kevin Spacey as Richard III at the Old Vic
The final season of the Old Vic’s The Bridge Project sees Kevin Spacey in the title role of Richard III, directed by Sam Mendes.
See a round-up of reviews for Richard III, below.
Donmar Warehouse names new head
March 12, 2011
The Donmar Warehouse in London has named Josie Rourke as the new artistic director of the successful Covent Garden venue. She will take over from Michael Grandage at the beginning of 2012.
Josie Rourke
It has been rumoured for some time that Rourke, 34, who is currently artistic director of the Bush Theatre, would take over at the Donmar. Her stewardship of the Bush since 2007 has seen a number of high profile productions, successful funding drives and the relocation of the venue to a new home, which will open in September this year. She has also worked in Sheffield, at the Royal Court, the Old Vic and London’s National Theatre.
Rourke is also directing the forthcoming high-profile production of Much Ado About Nothing at the Wyndham’s Theatre (from 16 May) starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate.
Grandage has proved a hugely successful artistic director at the Donmar over the past 10 years through a succession of hit shows including his Olivier and Tony Award winning production of Red starring Alfred Molina . He in turn inherited the venue from Sam Mendes, who cemented the Donmar’s reputation as a world-class theatre.
Rourke said that she was “thrilled and honoured” to be taking up the post and that, “ten years ago, I started my career as the Resident Assistant Director at the Donmar. Nothing could make me more proud than to return to the place where I began. Both Michael Grandage and Sam Mendes have always been great friends and invaluable mentors and when I take over as the Donmar’s Artistic Director I will inherit their legacy of twenty years of wonderful productions, extraordinary performances and great nights out at the theatre.”
Michael Grandage commented that the Donmar’s board of directors had made “an inspired appointment” and that “the Donmar will now benefit from that energy and leadership.”
Grandage’s last season at the Donmar will include Jude Law and Ruth Wilson starring in Eugene O’Neill’s play Anna Christie, Douglas Hodge in John Osborne’s Inadmissible Evidence and Eddie Redmayne in Richard II.
LINKS
Book tickets to Josie Rourke’s new production of Much Ado About Nothing
Richard III tickets at the Old Vic Theatre starring Kevin Spacey
February 4, 2011
Oscar winner Sam Mendes directs Oscar winner Kevin Spacey in the title role of Shakespeare’s Richard III in the final season of their multi-award winning Bridge Project venture.
Shows closing in September
August 17, 2010
It’s all change in the West End next month as September sees a number of shows bid farewell.
La Bete
September marks a busy time for Theatreland as a slate of new shows open in town, which means a number of summer hits are closing to make way.
This month, Sam Mendes’ Bridge Project shows at the Old Vic, As You Like It and The Tempest, starring Stephen Dillane and Juliet Rylance, closes on 21 August. They are swiftly followed by La Bete at the Comedy Theatre, which closes on 28 August before heading off to Broadway. The Matthew Warchus-helmed show features a starry cast including David Hyde Pearce, Mark Rylance and Joanna Lumley.
In September, things start to get really shaken up and we lose some of the big summer shows. In a reversal of La Bete, HAIR made its debut on Broadway and then came to London – and you only have until 4 September to see what all the fuss was about and catch the New York cast, including Gavin Creel, before they head home.
Burn The Floor
Also on the 4th we lose David Essex penned musical All The Fun of the Fair, and dance spectacular Burn The Floor , which is clearing its tango shoes and sequins out of the Shaftesbury Theatre to make room for another big dance show, Flashdance The Musical. This will star Matt Willis and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt and is choreographed by Arlene Phillips.
And it’s never just one big dance show that goes: butch and blue-collar Tap Dogs starring Adam Garcia is also leaving the West End the day after Burn The Floor, on 5 September.
The short run of The Secret of Sherlock Holmes, riding high after the BBC’s Sherlock series, will end on 11 September at the Duchess Theatre to make way for Michael Gambon in Krapp’s Last Tape.
And we wave goodbye to Jeff Goldblum and Mercedes Ruehl on 25 September as Neil Simon’s The Prisoner of Second Avenue leaves the Vaudeville Theatre.
BOOKING AND OFFERS
Save £19 on tickets to see HAIR at the Gielgud Theatre
Save £30 on tickets to see All The Fun of the Fair at the Garrick Theatre
Save £21 on tickets to see Burn The Floor at the Shaftesbury Theatre
Save £11 on tickets to see Tap Dogs at the Novello Theatre
Half Price tickets to see The Secret of Sherlock Holmes at the Duchess Theatre
Save £14 on tickets to see The Prisoner of Second Avenue at the Vaudeville Theatre
Give theatre some media credit
July 19, 2010
The MediaGuardian has published its annual ONE HUNDRED featuring the 100 most powerful and influential media people in the UK.
We are pleased to see that Sir Nicholas Hytner, director of the National Theatre, still makes the cut at number 39. He first appeared on the list in 2008 and is still wowing the Guardian (and us) with his NT Live cinema releases, Spielberg’s interest in bringing War Horse to the big screen and in attracting big-hitting film directors such as Danny Boyle to his theatre.
All commendable but why is Sir Nick singled-out annually when there is much going on in West End theatre that has large-scale media cross-over, from Andrew Lloyd-Webber fronting BBC One primetime shows (and managing to cross-promote his new West End productions on the BBC – quite an achievement), to Caro Newling at Sam Mendes’ Neal Street Productions. She must rank as one of the most powerful women in theatre/media at the moment, having produced big-budget movies and shows – including the forthcoming DreamWorks Shrek The Musical at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
Shrek The Musical to open in London
July 2, 2010
Everyone’s favourite ogre will be brought to life next year when SHREK THE MUSICAL®, based on the Oscar-winning DreamWorks film, hits the London stage.
Poster for the forthcoming US tour of Shrek the Musical
Produced by DreamWorks Theatricals and Sam Mendes’ Neal Street Productions, the show will open at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in May 2011. Drury Lane is currently home to Oliver!, which will close at the theatre on 8 January 2011.
Shrek The Musical originally opened on Broadway in December 2008 and was nominated for eight Tony Awards. It closed in January this year after a relatively short run, although is about to start a major tour of the USA, starting at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago on 13 July starring Eric Petersen, Haven Burton and Alan Mingo, Jr.
A number of changes will be made to the London version of the show including a new opening, new songs, improved magic and illusions, a newly styled dragon and more emphasis on giving the show “heart”.
The London stage musical is based on the irreverent fairy tale from William Steig’s book Shrek and the Oscar-winning Dreamworks Animation film. The creative team includes directors Jason Moore (Avenue Q) and Rob Ashford (Promises, Promises), with book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire, music by Olivier Award winner Jeanine Tesori, scenic, costume and puppet design by Tim Hatley, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, sound design by Peter Hylenski and choreography by Josh Prince.
The show is the first stage venture for Dreamworks Animation’s theatrical arm and was originally initiated as a project by award-winning director Sam Mendes. The musical will be produced in London by DreamWorks Theatricals’ Bill Damaschke and Mendes’ Neal Street Productions under Caro Newling.
Neal Street Productions is also behind a number of high-profile new London theatre projects including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Current shows include the Mendes’-directed As You Like It and The Tempest at the Old Vic Theatre.
Official casting information will be released soon.
MORE ABOUT THE SHOW:
Shrek The Musical is about a swamp-dwelling ogre in a faraway kingdom, who embarks on a life-changing adventure in order to reclaim the deed to his land. This unlikely hero is joined on his quest by a wise-cracking donkey who won’t shut up, and has to fight a fearsome dragon, rescue feisty Princess Fiona and learn that real friendship and true love aren’t only found in fairy tales.
The final Shrek feature film in the series, Shrek Forever After, is on general release in the UK from today.
OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Director Winners
June 16, 2010
OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Director Winners
Best Director
2011 Howard Davies for The White Guard
2010 Rupert Goold for Enron
2009 John Tiffany for Black Watch
2008 Rupert Goold for Macbeth
2007 Dominic Cooke for The Crucible
2006 Richard Eyre for Hedda Gabler
2005 Nicholas Hytner for The History Boys
2004 Michael Grandage for Caligula
2003 Sam Mendes for Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya
2002 Michael Boyd for Henry VI Parts I, II and III and Richard III
2001 Howard Davies for All My Sons
2000 Trevor Nunn for Summerfolk, The Merchant Of Venice and Troilus And Cressida
1999 Howard Davies for The Iceman Cometh
1998 Richard Eyre for King Lear
1997 Des McAnuff for Tommy
1996 Sam Mendes for Company and The Glass Menagerie
1989/90 Michael Bogdanov for The Wars Of The Roses
1988 Deborah Warner for Titus Andronicus
1987 Declan Donnellan for The Cid, Twelfth Night and Macbeth
1986 Bill Alexander for The Merry Wives Of Windsor
1985 Bill Bryden for The Mysteries
1984 Christopher Morahan for Wild Honey
1983 Terry Hands for Cyrano De Bergerac
1982 Richard Eyre for Guys And Dolls
1981 Peter Wood for On the Razzle
1980 Trevor Nunn and John Caird for Nicholas Nickleby
1979 Michael Bogdanov for The Taming Of The Shrew
1978 Terry Hands for Henry VI
1977 Clifford Williams for Wild Oats
1976 Jonathan Miller for The Three Sisters
Best Director of a Play
1995 Declan Donnellan for As You Like It
1994 Stephen Daldry for Machinal
1993 Stephen Daldry for An Inspector Calls
1992 Deborah Warner for Hedda Gabler
1991 David Thacker for Pericles
Best Director of a Musical
1995 Scott Ellis for She Loves Me
1994 Declan Donnellan for Sweeney Todd
1993 Nicholas Hytner for Carousel
1992 Simon Callow for Carmen Jones
1991 Richard Jones for Into The Woods
Willy Wonka to come to London
June 7, 2010
A lavish new stage production of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is to come to London, directed by Sam Mendes.
Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman
Slated for the end of 2011, the major new West End musical from the stage theatrical arm of Warner Bros, will see Mendes directing and his production company with Carol Newling, Neal Street Productions, producing the show. Warner Bros produced the 2005 Tim Burton movie. The recent success of Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is predicted to give a boost to further movie-to-stage children’s tales.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will follow Andrew Lloyd Webber’s spring opening of The Wizard of Oz, another children’s book made famous by film and making its way back to the West End stage. No theatre or casting has been announced for the Charlie project.
The musical will feature songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, the successful writing duo whose latest show, Catch Me If You Can, will premiere on Broadway in Spring 2011. They also wrote Hairspray The Musical. The book is by David Greig based on Roald Dahl’s original children’s story.
The first Act of the new musical was read in New York last week and it is believed that the show will also open on Broadway after its London premiere.
OLIVIER AWARDS – Special and Outstanding Achievement Award Winners
June 3, 2010
OLIVIER AWARDS – Special and Outstanding Achievement Award Winners
The Society’s Special Award
2011 Stephen Sondheim
2010 Maggie Smith
2009 Sir Alan Ayckbourn
2008 Andrew Lloyd Webber
2007 John Tomlinson
2006 Sir Ian McKellen
2005 Alan Bennett
2004 Dame Judi Dench
2003 Sam Mendes
2002 Rupert Rhymes
1999 Sir Peter Hall
1998 Ed and David Mirvish
1997 Margaret Harris
1996 Harold Pinter
1994 Sam Wanamaker
1993 Sir Kenneth MacMillan
1992 Dame Ninette de Valois
1991 Dame Peggy Ashcroft
1988 Sir Alec Guinness
1985 Sir John Gielgud
1984 Lord Goodman
1983 Joan Littlewood
1982 Charles Wintour
1980 Sir Ralph Richardson
1979 Lord Olivier
Outstanding Achievement
2010 Michael Codron
2003 Gregory Doran and the Jacobean Season acting ensemble
2002 Trevor Nunn
2000 Peter O’Toole
1997 Sir Richard Eyre
The Observer Award for Outstanding Achievement (In Memory of Kenneth Tynan)
1993 The Almeida, Islington for The Rules of the Game, Medea, No Man’s Land and The Deep Blue Sea
1992 The Gate Theatre, Notting Hill for A Season of Classics from The Spanish Golden Age
1991 Cameron Mackintosh
1989/90 Declan Donnellan for Fuente Ovejuna
1988 Maly Theatre of Leningrad for Stars in the Morning Sky
1987 Thelma Holt for producing the International Festival at the National Theatre
1986 The Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith for The House of Bernarda Alba
1985 Anthony Hopkins for Pravda
The Times Award
1994 Peter Brook
Hot new shows in June
May 28, 2010
June is proving to be a busy month for West End Theatre with a number of high-profile openings, including work from big name directors such as Sam Mendes, Richard Eyre and Matthew Warchus.
Tap Dogs at the Novello Theatre
At the National Theatre, a revival of Terence Rattigan’s After The Dance starts previews from 1 June 2010 featuring Benedict Cumberbatch, and Richard Eye directs Moira Buffini’s new play Welcome to Thebes from 15 June. Also starting on the 15th is Tap Dogs at the Novello Theatre, which returns to London starring hot song and dance man Adam Garcia.
Wartime land girls play Lilies on the Land begins previews at the Arts Theatre from 8 June, and at the Almeida Ruth Wilson stars in a stage version of Ingmar Bergman’s Through a Glass Darkly from 10 June.
The Old Vic sees the next of its Bridge Project plays start on 12 June, in a new Sam Mendes production of As You Like It starring Stephen Dillane and Juliet Rylance.
Sticking with the Shakespeare theme, the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park starts previews of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors on 24 June, and the following day the Lyric Hammersmith transfers its sell-out fright-night chiller Ghost Stories to the Duke of York’s Theatre.
Finally, all-star, Broadway-bound comedy La Bete opens at the Comedy Theatre from 26 June starring Joanna Lumley, Mark Rylance and David Hyde Pierce.
MORE INFORMATION AND BOOKING
National Theatre, from 1 June 2010
With next year’s centenary of playwright Terence Rattigan fast approaching, expect to see a number of high-profile revivals of his work – both on stage and screen.
This new production of his 1939 play After the Dance is directed for the National by Thea Sharrock (The Misanthrope, Equus) and is a subtle expose of the hedonistic 1920s generation, dealing with themes of repression and love.
As the world races towards catastrophe, a crowd of Mayfair socialites party their way to oblivion. At its centre is David, who idles away his sober moments researching a futile book until the beautiful Helen decides to save him, shattering his marriage and learning too late the depth of both David’s indolence and his wife’s undeclared love. But with finances about to crash and humanity on the brink of global conflict, the drink keeps flowing and the revellers dance on.
Book tickets to After the Dance at the National Theatre in London
Arts Theatre, from 8 June 2010
Lilies On The Land is moving and funny portrait of some of Britain’s pluckiest, unsung heroes. This charming, gripping tale celebrates the Women’s Land Army during World War II – an extraordinary episode in Britain’s history. This play charts the personal journeys of four women who sign up to become Land Girls, determined to work backbreaking hours on the land in a bid to do their bit for the war effort.
Based on letters and interviews with the original Land Girls, these women, who are all from different backgrounds and torn from their families, must survive the hardships of farming and the pressures of war. The cast of this compelling play features Rosalind Cressy, Sarah Finch, Dorothy Lawrence and Kali Peacock.
Book tickets to Lilies on the Land at the Arts Theatre in London
The Old Vic, from 12 June
Part of the successful Bridge Project – a transatlantic collaboration between the Old Vic in London and the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York – this year sees Oscar winning director Sam Mendes direct Shakespeare’s As You Like It and The Tempest.
The company is led by Stephan Dillane, Christian Camargo, Ron Cephas Jones and Juliet Rylance.
As You Like It is Shakespeare’s pastoral romantic comedy that features Juliet Rylance and Michelle Beck as the heroines Rosalind and Celia, and Christian Camargo and Thomas Sadoski as Orlando and Touchstone.
Young British actress Rylance, the daughter of acclaimed actor Mark Rylance, has appeared on stage both in New York and London, including Shakespeare’s Globe. Dillane, who plays Jacques in As You Like It, returns to the stage for the first time since winning a Tony Award for Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing.
Books tickets to As You Like It at the Old Vic Theatre in London
Novello Theatre, from 15 June 2010
Adam Garcia will return to the London stage this June in the Australian dance show Tap Dogs.
Tap Dogs is a worldwide hit that combines the strength and power of workmen with the precision and talent of tap dancing. The adrenalin-pumped cast of this award-winning show inject raw passion and power into the ultimate visual dance spectacular.
Adam Garcia started his career in 1992 in the Australian tour of Hot Shoe Shuffle – which transferred to the West End – and went on to perform in Grease, Saturday Night Fever, Wicked and as a judge on Sky 1 entertainment show Got To Dance.
Book tickets to Tap Dogs at the Novello Theatre in London
Duke of York’s Theatre, from 25 June 2010
A truly terrifying theatrical experience written and directed by The League of Gentlemen’s master of the macabre, Jeremy Dyson, and Andy Nyman, co-creator and director of Derren Brown’s television and stage shows and star of Dead Set and Severance.
As three men gather together, each has an uncanny, chilling tale to tell. Ghost Stories played a hugely successful run at the Lyric Hammersmith before transferring to the Duke of York’s theatre in the West End. The show stars Nicholas Burns, David Cardy, Ryan Gage and Andy Nyman.
Strictly for theatregoers aged 16 and older.
“Brilliant and deeply unsettling” The Telegraph
“A pant-wetter of a night. It’s terrifying” Daily Mail
“Yes, I gulped and others screeched” The Times
“Hugely entertaining piece of theatre” The Stage
Book tickets to Ghost Stories at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London
Comedy Theatre, from 26 June 2010
American playwright David Hirson’s rollicking 1991 play, La Bete is a comic tour de force about Elomire (David Hyde Pierce – “Frasier”), a high-minded classical dramatist who loves only the theatre, and Valere (Mark Rylance – “Jerusalem”), a low-brow street clown who loves only himself. When the fickle princess (Joanna Lumley – “Absolutely Fabulous”) decides she’s grown weary of Elomire’s royal theatre troupe, he and Valere are left fighting for survival as art squares off with ego in a literary showdown for the ages.
Other cast include Stephen Ouimette, Lisa Joyce, Greta Lee, Robert Lonsdale, Michael Milligan, Liza Sadovy and Sally Wingert. The play will be directed by Matthew Warchus and run for a limited season at the Comedy Theatre before heading to Broadway.
Book tickets to La Bete at the Comedy Theatre in London
