Oliver! sets date to close
June 21, 2010
Cameron Mackintosh’s big-budget production of Oliver! at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane will close on 8 January 2011.
Russ Abbot as Fagin in Oliver!
The show, which originally cast Jodie Prenger in the lead role of Nancy through BBC talent show I’d Do Anything, premiered on 14 January 2009 at the venue. This month the show’s fourth Fagin started work, with Russ Abbot stepping into Griff Rhys Jones’s beard and hat to take on the role. Rowan Atkinson originated the part in the current production.
Lionel Bart’s musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’s classic novel Oliver Twist first premiered in London in 1960. The current production is directed by Rupert Goold (Enron), based on Sam Mendes 1994 production.
Other cast include Kerry Ellis (Wicked) as Nancy, Steven Hartley as Bill Sikes and Stephen Moore as Mr Brownlow.
Large-scale shows hovering as possible replacements for Oliver! at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane include a rumoured Broadway transfer of Disney show Shrek.
Special offer: Save £21 on tickets to see Oliver! at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London
OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Actor Winners
June 18, 2010
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
CASTING: Wolfboy, Dirty Dancing, Oliver!
June 1, 2010
Emma Rigby and Daniel Boys in Wolfboy; Ray Quinn to strut his stuff in Dirty Dancing at the Aldwych Theatre; Russ Abbot takes over from Griff Rhys Jones in Oliver!
WOLFBOY
- Emma Rigby
Former Hollyoaks star Emma Rigby and recent Avenue Q lead Daniel Boys will appear at the Trafalgar Studios this summer to star in the psycho-sexual musical thriller Wolfboy (6 – 31 July).
The new musical premiered at the Edinburgh Festival fringe last year and has a book by Russell Labey, music and lyrics by Leon Parris and is based on a play by Brad Fraser.
The musical is a dark and disturbing tale of two troubled teenage boys locked in an asylum for their own good. Bernie has attempted suicide; David may or may not have the powers of a wolf. For them the outside world is a frightening place of abuse and violence. Bernie’s brother Christian and Cherry the young nurse on the unit, also hide secrets that surface in the night, when the moon is full.
Emma Rigby won a Best Actress British Soap Award in 2008 for her role on TV’s Hollyoaks playing Hannah Ashworth.
Daniel Boys appeared on BBC talent show Any Dream Will Do in 2007 and has since performed in a number of concerts and events including a special guest artist on John Barowman’s UK tour, and is a regular on BBC Radio 2′s Friday Night is Music Night.
The cast also includes Paul Holowaty and Gregg Lowe.
Book tickets to see Wolfboy at the Trafalgar Studios in London
DIRTY DANCING
Ray Quinn
X Factor and Dancing on Ice star Ray Quinn is to join the cast of Dirty Dancing at the Aldwych Theatre this summer, from 26 July to 27 November 2010.
Quinn, who recently appeared as Danny in Grease at the Piccadilly Theatre, will play the role of Billy Kostecki, Johnny Castle’s cousin, in the show for a limited season from 26 July. He will sing two iconic songs from the show – “Do You Love Me?” and “(I’ve Had) the Time of My Life”.
Other cast includes Martin Harvey as Johnny Castle and Hannah Vassallo as Baby.
Dirty Dancing is now in its fourth year at the Aldwych Theatre and brings the action and music of the iconic film to the stage.
Special offer: Save £22.50 on tickets to Dirty Dancing at the Aldwych Theatre in London
OLIVER!
Russ Abbot as Fagin
He stepped in for Rowan Atkinson last year and proved such a hit that Russ Abbot is to make his return to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in June, starring as Fagin in Cameron Mackintosh’s big-budget production of Oliver!
Taking over the role from Griff Rhys Jones from 14 June, Abbot will join Kerry Ellis as Nancy, Steven Hartley as Bill Sikes and Stephen Moore as Mr Brownlow.
No stranger to the role of Fagin, Abbot played the part in Mackintosh’s 1997 revival of the show at the London Palladium and then on tour. The comedian and actor best known for his TV appearance including “The Russ Abbot Show” has also appeared in numerous musicals including My Fair Lady and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Doctor Dolittle and The Producers.
Special offer: Save £21 on tickets to see Oliver! at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London
LEND ME A TENOR
Sally Ann Triplett and Matthew Kelly are to star in a new production of Lend Me a Tenor the Musical this autumn. The show will run at the Theatre Royal Plymouth from 24 September and then transfer to the West End (theatre to be announced).
Peter Sham and Brad Carroll’s musical, based on Ken Ludwig’s comedy, will be directed by Ian Talbot.
Other cast members include Damian Humbley and Michael Matus.
Links: Theatre Royal Plymouth
