End of the Rainbow tickets at the Trafalgar Studios starring Tracie Bennett
October 8, 2010
Olivier Award winner Tracie Bennett puts in a career-defining performance as Judy Garland in Peter Quilter’s new musical play based on the star’s final days, directed by Terry Johnson.
Prisoner of Second Avenue – Save £9
July 20, 2010
A new production of Neil Simon’s 1971 comedy The Prisoner of Second Avenue is the first West End project for Kevin Spacey’s Old Vic Theatre. The bitter-sweet comedy stars Hollywood actors Jeff Goldblum (Tall Guy) and Mercedes Ruehl (The Fisher King) for a limited season at the Vaudeville Theatre.
In the show Goldblum stars as Mel Edison, a man at breaking point. In the heat of a New York City summer his air-conditioning has broken, his neighbours won’t shut-up, his job is hanging by a thread and there are a gang of burglars on the prowl.
Terry Johnson, flush from his Tony success for La Cage Aux Folles on Broadway, directs the show.
Book tickets to The Prisoner of Second Avenue at the Vaudeville Theatre in London
The Prisoner of Second Avenue – Reviews Round-up
July 15, 2010
The Old Vic’s first adventure north of the river under the stewardship of Kevin Spacey has not been a critical smash, but pleased the critics sufficiently to be a respectable launch pad for further projects.
The show’s performances, notably the two leads Jeff Goldblum and Mercedes Ruehl, and direction fared better with the critics than Neil Simon’s play.
The Prisoner of Second Avenue at the Vaudeville Theatre is a revival of Neil Simon’s 1971 comedy starring In the show Goldblum stars as Mel Edison, a man at breaking point. In the heat of a New York City summer his air-conditioning has broken, his neighbours won’t shut-up, his job is hanging by a thread and there are a gang of burglars on the prowl.
Terry Johnson, flush from his Tony success for La Cage Aux Folles on Broadway, has directed the show.
Book tickets to The Prisoner of Second Avenue at the Vaudeville Theatre in London
The Prisoner of Second Avenue – Review
July 14, 2010
Like Alan Ayckbourn, Neil Simon’s reputation has been built on a solid foundation of enduring comedies only a handful of which have successfully crossed the Atlantic.
Jeff Golblum and Mercedes Ruehl
For Americans, Ayckbourn’s humour is too British, and for the Brits Simon’s witty one-liners are too American. Also, what both writers have in common is that after initially establishing themselves with plays that made no concession to profundity, they set out, with varying degrees of success, to blend laughter with domestic angst as their comic horizons widened to take in some of the graver aspects of the human condition.
Simon’s The Prisoner of Second Avenue, produced in 1971 was the first of his plays with a serious undercurrent at its heart. It’s about the day to day travails of 47 year-old Mel Edison (Jeff Goldblum) and his wife Edna (Mercedes Ruehl) as they attempt to fend off the frustrations imposed on them simply by being middle-class New Yorkers, living in a middle-class part of Manhattan, in a middle-class apartment Mel describes as ‘an egg box that leaks.’
The paper-thin walls are cracked, the air-conditioner doesn’t work, the window in their bedroom doesn’t open and the toilet won’t stop flushing unless it’s jiggled. Noise is also a problem. At 2.30 in the morning, ‘there’s one car driving round in Jackson Heights and we can hear it,’ Mel complains, not to mention the noise of the subway, barking dogs and inconsiderately loud neighbours. On top of that, it’s sweltering hot, the garbage stinks – and we’re still only in the first scene!
In scene two, their apartment is burgled and Mel announces that he and a handful of his colleagues at work have been fired.
Inevitably, as this Job-like scenario continues to unfurl, Mel suffers a mini breakdown necessitating Edna finding an office job herself. But even that doesn’t last and, after a visit from his four siblings, who tentatively offer to help the couple financially, the play ends with Mel surfacing from his breakdown and Edna heading towards one of her own.
Though some of Simon’s plays have a dated quality to them, the financial crisis we’re currently in the midst of makes a revival of Prisoner fortuitous. And because there’s no feel-good, happy-ever-after ending, there’s an edge to the piece absent from most mainstream Simon.
The structure, however, isn’t all that satisfactory. The Edison’s two collegegoing daughters are barely mentioned so that what should really have been a two-hander is compromised by the unnecessary appearance of his brothers and sisters in a scene that contributes little, if anything, to the play other than adding four additional salaries to the paylist.
As Mel, Jeff Goldblum, terrific in the recent revival of David Mamet’s Speed the Plow, gives the role a pretty good shot, but is basically miscast. His trademark physical shtick is predictably engaging but its very effectiveness draws attention away from the pain engendered by the character’s mid-life crisis. What we’re looking at is a funny performance from a delightfully quirky actor rather than an honest portrait of a man in deep despair.
Mercedes Ruehl, on the other hand, is always believable as the long-suffering Edna, which makes her own mini-crisis all the more affecting.
Totally believable too is Lionel Haft as Mel’s older brother Harry. Believable but unnecessary. Terry Johnson directs with his usual flair for comedy, and Rob Howell’s set is spot-on.
Vaudeville Theatre
CLIVE HIRSCHHORN. Courtesy of This Is London.
Book tickets to The Prisoner of Second Avenue at the Vaudeville Theatre
Old Vic’s first West End adventure
July 13, 2010
Old Vic make journey into the West End with The Prisoner of Second Avenue
Kevin Spacey’s Old Vic theatre company will open its first West End show tonight, at the Vaudeville Theatre on the Strand.
A new production of Neil Simon’s 1971 comedy The Prisoner of Second Avenue is the first project for the theatre company in the West End, and stars Hollywood actors Jeff Goldblum (Tall Guy) and Mercedes Ruehl (The Fisher King) for a limited season at the Vaudeville Theatre.
In the show Goldblum stars as Mel Edison, a man at breaking point. In the heat of a New York City summer his air-conditioning has broken, his neighbours won’t shut-up, his job is hanging by a thread and there are a gang of burglars on the prowl.
Terry Johnson, flush from his Tony success for La Cage Aux Folles on Broadway, directs the show.
Book tickets to The Prisoner of Second Avenue at the Vaudeville Theatre in London
ALSO OPENING THIS WEEK:
Wednesday sees the opening of Ghost Stories at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London, following a sell-out season run at the Lyric Hammersmith.
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.
The show is strictly for theatregoers aged 16 and older.
Book tickets to Ghost Stories at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London
Summer Theatre in the West End
June 28, 2010
New shows opening in London this summer
Spring and autumn may be the busiest times for new shows in London, but this summer will still pack quite a punch with some big names, high-profile directors and a few surprises in store.
A range of musicals and plays will open in the capital over the next few months, including classic musicals from Stephen Sondheim (Into the Woods) and Rogers & Hammerstein (State Fair); starry comedy, including David Hyde Pearce and Joanna Lumley in La Bete, Jeff Goldblum in The Prisoner of Second Avenue and Simon Russell Beal and Jonathan Groff in Deathtrap); dance spectaculars (Burn the Floor), new musicals (Wolfboy), ambitious children’s drama (The Railway Children) and a terrifying new play (Ghost Stories).
OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Comedy Winners
June 14, 2010
OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Comedy Winners
Best New Comedy
2010 The Priory
2009 God of Carnage
2008 Rafta Rafta
2007 John Buchan’s The 39 Steps adapted by Patrick Barlow from an original concept by Simon Corble and Nobby Dimon
2006 Heroes by Gerald Sibleyras translated by Tom Stoppard
Best Comedy
2003 The Lieutenant Of Inishmore by Martin McDonagh
2002 The Play What I Wrote by Hamish McColl, Sean Foley and Eddie Braben
2001 Stones In His Pockets by Marie Jones
2000 The Memory Of Water by Shelagh Stephenson
1999 Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle And Dick by Terry Johnson
1998 Popcorn by Ben Elton
1997 Art by Yasmina Reza
1996 Mojo by Jez Butterworth
1995 My Night With Reg by Kevin Elyot
1994 Hysteria by Terry Johnson
1993 The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice by Jim Cartwright
1992 La Bête by David Hirson
1991 Out Of Order by Ray Cooney
1989/90 Single Spies by Alan Bennett
1988 Shirley Valentine by Willy Russell
1987 Three Men On A Horse by John Cecil Holm and George Abbott
1986 When We Are Married by J.B. Priestley
1985 A Chorus Of Disapproval by Alan Ayckbourn
1984 Up’N’Under by John Godber
1983 Daisy Pulls It Off by Denise Deegan
1982 Noises Off by Michael Frayn
1981 Steaming by Nell Dunn
1980 Educating Rita by Willy Russell
1979 Middle Age Spread by Roger Hall
1978 Filumena by Eduardo de Filippo, adapted by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall
1977 Privates On Parade by Peter Nichols
1976 Donkey’s Years by Michael Frayn
Best Comedy Performance
1995 Niall Buggy for Dead Funny
1994 Griff Rhys Jones for An Absolute Turkey
1993 Simon Cadell for Travels With My Aunt
1992 Desmond Barrit for The Comedy Of Errors
1991 Alan Cumming for Accidental Death Of An Anarchist
1989/90 Michael Gambon for Man Of The Moment
1988 Alex Jennings for Too Clever By Half
1987 John Woodvine for The Henrys
1986 Bill Fraser for When We Are Married
1985 Michael Gambon for A Chorus Of Disapproval
1984 Maureen Lipman for See How They Run
1983 Griff Rhys Jones for Charley’s Aunt
1982 Geoffrey Hutchings for Poppy
1981 Rowan Atkinson for Rowan Atkinson in Revue
1980 Beryl Reid for Born In The Gardens
1979 Barry Humphries for A Night With Dame Edna
1978 Ian McKellen for The Alchemist
1977 Denis Quilley for Privates On Parade
1976 Penelope Keith for Donkey’s Years
Tony Awards tonight
June 13, 2010
The annual Tony Awards will be announced tonight, Sunday 13 June 2010, at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
Sean Hayes, presenting this year's Tony awards
The star-studded event will be hosted by Sean Hayes, best known as Jack from Will & Grace and currently starring in Promises, Promises on Broadway.
The awards, the most important in the US arts calendar, will feature performances from current Broadway shows including American Idiot, Fela!, Memphis, Million Dollar Quartet, La Cage aux Folles, A Little Night Music and Ragtime. Star presenters will include Katie Holmes, Will & Jada Pinkett Smith, Angela Lansbury, Mark Sanchez, Daniel Radcliffe, Barbara Cook, Stanley Tucci, Idina Menzel and Laura Bell Bundy!
Other appearances and performances will include Glee’s Lea Michele and Matthew Morrison, Paula Abdul, Antonio Banderas, Cate Blanchett, Kristin Chenoweth, Michael Douglas, Scarlett Johansson, Lucy Liu, Helen Mirren, Chris Noth, Bernadette Peters, Raquel Welch and David Hyde Pierce, who will receive a special Tony Award and is slated to appear in London next month in La Bete at the Comedy Theatre.
Shows up for awards this year include a revival of August Wilson’s Fences starring Denzel Washington (10nominations); Broadway musical Fela! (11 nominations) – and which makes its UK premiere at the National Theatre in November; and nods for a number of high-profile Hollywood stars including Christopher Walken (Behanding in Spokane), Liev Schreiber (A View From The Bridge), and Scarlett Johansson (A View from the Bridge).
Glee's Lea Michele rehearsing on Friday for the Tony Awards
Recent Broadway musical The Addams Family starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth, failed to find favour with the Tony awards committee, scoring only two nominations – best original score and best supporting actor in a musical for Kevin Chamberlin.
UK creatives or shows have garned 28 nominations this year. The Menier Chocolate Factory in South London will be awaiting news on two of its successful productions that have transferred to Broadway and received 15 Tony nominations: La Cage Aux Folles opened at the Longacre Theatrein April to enormous critical acclaim. The show features original London star Douglas Hodge and US actor Kelsey Grammer, both of whom have been nominated in the best actor in a musical category. In total the show has picked up 11 nominations, including best revival of a musical, scenic design (Tim Shortall), costume design (Matthew Wright), lighting design (Nick Richings), sound design (Jonathan Deans), direction (Terry Johnson), choreography (Lynne Page), orchestrations (Jason Carr) and best supporting actor (Robin De Jesus).
Also A Little Night Music, which started life at the Menier in 2008 before transferring to the Garrick theatre in the West End, opened on Broadway at the Walter Kerr theatre in December 2009. It has picked up 4 nominations, including competing against La Cage in the best musical revival category, and nods for Catherine Zeta-Jones (best actress in a musical), Angela Lansbury (best supporting actress in a musical), and sound design (Dan Moses Schreier and Gareth Owen).
Douglas Hodge and Kelsey Grammer in La Cage Aux Folles
Other nominated UK shows include the Donmar Warehouse’s transfer of Red which enjoys 7 nominations including best play, best actor for Alfred Molina, best supporting actor for Eddie Redmayne, and best scenic design (Christopher Oram), lighting design (Neil Austin), sound design (Adam Cork) and direction (Michael Grandage). The Donmar production of Hamlet sees a nod for Jude Law and best lighting design of a play for Neil Austin. And the Royal Court’s production of Enron, which failed on Broadway but continues to sell well in London is nominated for best original score (music by Adam Cork and lyrics by Lucy Prebble), best supporting actor for Stephen Kunken, best sound design (Adam Cork) and best lighting design (Mark Henderson). Also veteran UK actress Rosemary Harris also received a best supporting nod for The Royal Family and one of the UK’s greatest living playwrights, Alan Ayckbourn, will receive a lifetime achievement award.
US viewers can watch the awards on CBS from 8pm ET. Selected countries are also airing the awards over the next week, although not in the UK. TonyAwards.com will only be featuring live footage of the red carpet arrivals and Creative Arts Awards from 6pm until 8pm ET.
See a list of Tony Award 2010 nominations here
Old Vic to produce West End play
May 20, 2010
Jeff Goldblum is star in the Old Vic’s first foray into the West End
Jeff Goldblum
Kevin Spacey’s Old Vic theatre company will produce it’s first West End show this summer, as a new production of Neil Simon’s 1971 comedy The Prisoner of Second Avenue comes to town.
The play will star Hollywood actor Jeff Goldblum for a limited season at the Vaudeville Theatre from 13 July.
Terry Johnson will direct the show, whose credits include current Broadway hit La Cage Aux Folles with Kelsey Grammer, The Graduate with Kathleen Turner and Rain Man with Josh Hartnett.
Goldblum and Spacey are old friends, and appeared together at the Old Vic in 2008 in a revival of Speed-the-Plow.
“This is such an exciting development for the Old Vic and brings so many strong relationships together”, said Old Vic artistic director Kevin Spacey.
Book tickets to see Jeff Goldblum in the Prisoner of Second Avenue at the Vaudeville Theatre
La Cage dominates Tony nominations
May 7, 2010
The UK’s Menier Chocolate Factory has scored another hit with its production of La Cage Aux Folles – this time on Broadway.
La Cage Aux Folles starring Douglas Hodge and Kelsey Grammer
The small South London arts venue has dominated this year’s Tony Awards nominations – with a total of 15 nods. Its musical productions of Jerry Herman’s La Cage Aux Folles and Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music have both garnered multiple nominations for their Broadway transfers.
La Cage Aux Folles premiered at the Chocolate Factory in 2008 before transferring the Playhouse Theatre in London, and opened at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway last month to enormous critical acclaim.
The show features original London star Douglas Hodge and US actor Kelsey Grammer, both of whom have been nominated in the best actor in a musical category. In total the show has picked up 11 nominations, including best revival of a musical, scenic design (Tim Shortall), costume design (Matthew Wright), lighting design (Nick Richings), sound design (Jonathan Deans), direction (Terry Johnson), choreography (Lynne Page), orchestrations (Jason Carr) and best supporting actor (Robin De Jesus).
A Little Night Music, which started life at the Menier in 2008 before transferring to the Garrick theatre in the West End, opened on Broadway at the Walter Kerr theatre in December 2009. It has picked up 4 nominations, including competing against La Cage in the best musical revival category, and nods for Catherine Zeta-Jones (best actress in a musical), Angela Lansbury (best supporting actress in a musical), and sound design (Dan Moses Schreier and Gareth Owen).
Catherine Zeta Jones and Angela Lansbury in A Little Night Music
Overall, it has been a successful year for the UK on Broadway, with a total of 28 nominations going to UK creatives. Other celebrated UK shows include the Donmar Warehouse’s transfer of Red which enjoys 7 nominations including best play, best actor for Alfred Molina, best supporting actor for Eddie Redmayne, and best scenic design (Christopher Oram), lighting design (Neil Austin), sound design (Adam Cork) and direction (Michael Grandage).
The Donmar also saw its production of Hamlet garner a best actor nod for Jude Law and best lighting design of a play for Neil Austin.
The Royal Court’s production of Enron, which transferred to Broadway but was not well received and has closed early at the Broadhurst Theatre, was nominated for best original score (music by Adam Cork and lyrics by Lucy Prebble), best supporting actor for Stephen Kunken, best sound design (Adam Cork) and best lighting design (Mark Henderson). Enron is currently playing to strong audiences in London at the Noel Coward Theatre.
Veteran UK actress Rosemary Harris also received a best supporting nod for The Royal Family and one of the UK’s greatest living playwrights, Alan Ayckbourn, will receive a lifetime achievement award.
Other big hitters nominated this year include a revival of August Wilson’s Fences starring Denzel Washington (10 nominations); Broadway musical Fela! (11 nominations) – and which makes its UK premiere at the National Theatre in November; and nods for a number of high-profile Hollywood stars including Christopher Walken (Behanding in Spokane), Liev Schreiber (A View From The Bridge), and Scarlett Johansson (A View from the Bridge).
Recent Broadway musical The Addams Family starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth, failed to find favour with the Tony awards committee, scoring only two nominations – best original score and best supporting actor in a musical for Kevin Chamberlin.
The 64th awards will be presented on 13 July in New York.
See a list of Tony Award 2010 nominations here
