Shows closing in September

It’s all change in the West End next month as September sees a number of shows bid farewell.

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.

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

Great offers on West End plays

Fancy seeing a good play – and saving money?

The West End is having a bit of a Plays renaissance at the moment and to celebrate we have put together some great offers on the best drama and comedy in London.

LA BETE

Hotly anticipated, must-see production by critically acclaimed comedy by American playwright David Hirson.

Starring the extraordinary 2010 Olivier Award-winning actor Mark Rylance (Jerusalem, Boeing-Boeing), ‘the most exciting stage actor of his generation’ (Times), the wonderful Tony and Emmy Award-winning David Hyde Pierce (best known as Niles in the smash-hit sitcom Frasier), and one of the country’s most loved and popular actresses, the magnificent Joanna Lumley, this new staging is directed by the internationally acclaimed, multi-award-winning Matthew Warchus (God of Carnage, Boeing-Boeing, Art, The Norman Conquests).

When Princess Conti (Joanna Lumley) invites street clown Valere (Mark Rylance) to inject some bawdy fun and mischief into her staid acting troupe, she anticipates an exciting creative combination. But the troupe’s leader, Elomire (David Hyde Pierce), is an elitist and fervent lover of high-brow theatre who clashes with Valere – a gaudy comic and a fervent lover of …. well, himself.  So begins a gloriously witty and wildly hilarious battle of art and egos.

Written in 1991, La Bete was a huge critical success in London in 1992 and won the Olivier Award for Best Comedy.

BOOK NOW: Tickets from only £12 to see La Bete at the Comedy Theatre in London

GHOST STORIES

Direct from a sell-out season at the Lyric Hammersmith, comes Ghost Stories 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 this is one event not to miss this Summer.

Please be advised that Ghost Stories contains moments of extreme shock and tension. The show is unsuitable for anyone under the age of 15. We strongly advise those of a nervous disposition to think very seriously before attending.

BOOK NOW: Save £13 on tickets to see Ghost Stories at the Duke of York’s Theatre

HOLDING THE MAN

LAST CHANCE to see this acclaimed play starring Kath & Kim’s Jane Turner.

Based on the much loved award winning book by Tim Conigrave, adapted for the stage by acclaimed playwright Tommy Murphy, Holding the Man is a hilariously funny, tender and moving play following the remarkable true life love story of Tim Conigrave and John Caleo. It is a celebration that speaks across generations, sexual preference and culture.

BOOK NOW: Save up to £27 on tickets to see Holding The Man at the Trafalgar Studios

ENRON

One of the most infamous scandals in financial history becomes a unique theatrical event in ‘Rupert Goold’s brilliant production’ (Guardian). Mixing classical tragedy with savage comedy, it reviews the tumultuous 1990s and casts new light on the current financial situation. In what promises to be ‘an outstanding evening’ (ES), Enron is ‘the exhilarating answer to a $60bn question’ (Times). Inspired by real-life events and using music, dance and video, Enron is directed by Headlong Theatre’s Artistic Director Rupert Goold whose recent credits include the award-winning Macbeth and Six Characters in Search of an Author, King Lear, No Man’s Land and Oliver!

BOOK NOW: Save up to £11 on tickets to see Enron at the Noel Coward Theatre

SHIRLEY VALENTINE

Starring Meera Syal in ‘London’s Best Comic Performance’ (Time Out).

Meet Shirley: a middle-aged Liverpudlian housewife who talks to the wall whilst preparing her husband’s egg and chips.  She’s in a rut.  What has happened to her life?  When her best friend Jane pays for a holiday for two to Greece, she packs her bags, heads for the sun and starts to see the world and herself rather differently…..  Commissioned by the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, Willy Russell’s Shirley Valentine premiered in 1986 directed by Glen Walford. In 1988, under the direction of Simon Callow, it opened in the West End, wining the Olivier Award for Best Comedy, and starring Pauline Collins, who went on to play Shirley on Broadway (winning a Tony Award) and in the 1988 film (winning a BAFTA Award and Oscar nomination).

BOOK NOW: Save £7 on tickets to Shirley Valentine at the Trafalgar Studios

AS YOU LIKE IT and THE TEMPEST

Award winning director Sam Mendes returns to the UK to direct two new productions as part of  The Bridge Project.

A stellar transatlantic lineup includes Michelle Beck, Christian Camargo, Ron Cephas Jones, Stephen Dillane, Juliet Rylance and Thomas Sadoski in an intriguing pairing of Shakepeare’s pastoral comedy As You Like It and his late masterpiece The Tempest.

BOOK NOW: Save £12 on tickets to see As You Like It and The Tempest at the Old Vic Theatre

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Opera Winners

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Opera Winners

Best New Opera Production

2010 The Royal Opera’s Tristan und Isolde
2009 English National Opera’s Partenope
2008 Pelleas Et Melisande
2007 English National Opera’s Jenufa
2006 English National Opera’s Madam Butterfly
2005 The Royal Opera’s Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk
2004 English National Opera’s The Trojans (Parts I and II)
2003 The Royal Opera’s Wozzeck
2002 The Royal Opera’s Boulevard Solitude
2001 The Royal Opera’s The Greek Passion
2000 Welsh National Opera’s Hansel And Gretel
1999 Welsh National Opera’s La Clemenza Di Tito
1998 The Royal Opera’s Paul Bunyan
1997 English National Opera’s Tristan And Isolde
1996 The Royal Opera’s Billy Budd
1995 English National Opera’s Khovanshchina
1994 The Royal Opera’s La Damnation De Faust
1993 The Royal Opera’s Stiffelio

Outstanding Achievement in Opera

2010 Nina Stemme for her performance in the Royal Opera’s Tristan und Isolde
2009 Edward Gardner for conducting English National Opera’s Boris Godunov, Cavalliera Rusticana, Der Rosenkavalier, I Pagliacci, Riders To The Sea, and Punch And Judy At The Young Vic
2008 Natalie Dessay for her performance in La Fille Du Regiment
2007 Amanda Roocroft for her performance in English National Opera’s Jenufa
2006 Simon Keenlyside for his performances in the Royal Opera’s 1984 at the Royal Opera House and English National Opera’s Billy Budd
2005 Thomas Adès and the Royal Opera House for the world premiere of The Tempest
2004 Cristina Gallardo-Domas for The Royal Opera’s Madama Butterfly
2003 Antonio Pappano for a distinguished opening to his tenure as Music Director of The Royal Opera with Ariadne Auf Naxos and Wozzeck
2002 Bernard Haitink for his contribution to The Royal Opera’s Jenufa and The Queen of Spades and the musical directorship of a season of great distinction by the Royal Opera
2001 Mark-Anthony Turnage (composer) and Amanda Holden (librettist) for creating English National Opera’s The Silver Tassie
2000 English National Opera for its high standard of production and for championing the works of Handel
1999 The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House for its consistently outstanding musicianship in The Royal Opera’s Le Nozze Di Figaro, The Bartered Bride and The Golden Cockerel
1998 Paul Daniel for conducting English National Opera’s From The House Of The Dead and for his contribution to English National Opera
1997 Elgar Howarth for conducting English National Opera’s Die Soldaten and The Prince of Homburg
1996 Bernard Haitink for conducting The Royal Opera’s Siegfried and Gotterdämmerung
1995 Roberto Alagna for his performance in The Royal Opera’s Roméo Et Juliette
1994 The Orchestra of English National Opera for Lohengrin and Inquest Of Love
1993 Sir Edward Downes for conducting The Royal Opera’s The Fiery Angel and Stiffelio
1992 The Royal Opera’s Mitridate, Rè Di Ponto
1991 Mark Elder for conducting English National Opera’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, Macbeth, Pelléas Et Méllisande, and Wozzeck
1989/90 The Komische Oper’s Orpheus and Eurydice
1988 Leontina Vaduva for her performance in The Royal Opera’s Manon
1987 English National Opera’s Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk
1986 English National Opera’s Doctor Faust, Graham Clark and Thomas Allen specially commended
1982 English National Opera’s Rigoletto
1981 The Royal Opera’s Les Contes D’Hoffman
1980 English National Opera’s Così Fan Tutte
1979 The Royal Opera’s The Rake’s Progress
1978 English National Opera for their enterprising repertoire
1977 Glyndebourne Festival Opera’s Don Giovanni

Additional Opera Awards

1985 Kathleen Battle for Ariadne Auf Naxos (The Royal Opera)
1985 English National Opera’s Xerxes
1984 Welsh National Opera’s From The House Of The Dead
1984 Philip Langridge for Osud (English National Opera)
1983 The Cologne Opera’s Il Matrimonio Segreto
1983 Valerie Masterson for Semele (The Royal Opera)
1982 Jeffrey Tate for La Clemenza Di Tito (The Royal Opera)
1981 Anne Mackay for The Gypsy Princess (Sadler’s Wells Theatre production)
1980 Rosalind Plowright for The Turn Of The Screw (English National Opera)
1978 The Royal Opera’s Lohengrin

London Theatre – 2009 Preview

If theatre mirrors life then you would expect 2009 to be a bad year for the performing arts in London: economic downturns and credit crunches sound like gloomy news for our discretionary entertainment spending. But West End theatre box office figures have kept on going up in recent years, and the huge number of new productions sailing into town during 2009 could mean that Theatreland manages to buck the trend.

THE GREAT REVIVAL

The RSC, National Theatre, Donmar and Old Vic dominated straight drama in the West End in 2008, and they haven’t finished yet. Big hitters coming to town include Judi Dench and Rosamund Pike in the Donmar in the West End’s Madame de Sade at the Wyndhams; Jude Law offering us his, hopefully fighting fit, Hamlet; Gillian Anderson in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Rachel Weisz in A Streetcar Named Desire at the Donmar Warehouse; Helen Mirren making her return to the London stage in Phaedra at the National Theatre; and a number of crowd-pleasing revivals at the Old Vic, no more so than Dancing at Lughnasa, Brian Friel’s hugely successful play starring Andrea Corr, and Sam Mendes directing Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard and Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale, both featuring Ethan Hawke, Simon Russell Beale and Sinead Cusack.

STAR POWER

Other stars shimmying into town include Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot at the Haymarket, Ken Stott and Hayley Atwell in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge at the Duke of York’s, heavy-hitter Pete Postlethwaite as King Lear at the Young Vic, and Antony Sher giving us his Prospero in the RSC’s The Tempest. The Gavin and Stacey phenomenon continues to roll on, as we see Joe Orton’s delicious romp Entertaining Mr Sloane at the Trafalgar Studios starring Gavin himself, Matthew Horne, alongside Imelda Staunton; whilst Gavin’s onscreen Mum Alison Steadman plays a barking Leeds housewife in Alan Bennett’s Enjoy at the Gielgud Theatre.

NEW PLAYS

The sharp eyed amongst you will notice that all of these plays are revivals rather than new work, keeping audiences firmly in their comfort zones. That said, new plays may be thin on the ground but not absent all together, with the National offering up Richard Bean’s England People Very Nice, following two lovers across four centuries, and Samuel Adamson’s Mrs Affleck set in the 1950s. Jez Butterworth has two new plays in pre-production, with comedy Parlour Song at the Almeida and Jerusalem at the Royal Court. Also at the Royal Court, Mark Ravenhill will bring his new play Over There. Plus Hollywood man of the moment James McAvoy is to star in Richard Greenberg’s acclaimed play Three Days of Rain at the Apollo, and at The Old Vic Richard Dreyfuss headlines the world premiere of American playwright Joe Sutton’s new play Complicit, directed by Kevin Spacey.

“BASED ON A FILM”

In musical theatre, 2009 promises to be a year of great big fabulous and familiar shows, surely enough to see us through the dark times? And it’s no coincidence that many of them are based on hugely successful films.

Oliver! will be well and truly steaming ahead through 2009 at the Drury Lane Theatre Royal with Rowan Atkinson and Jodie Prenger; La Cage Aux Folles will continue camping it up at the Playhouse but with Graham Norton taking over from Douglas Hodge; and at the Adelphi Theatre Lee Mead will bow out of Joseph to be replaced by Gareth Gates.

Jason Donovan will be donning the wigs and lip gloss to take us on an Australian power-mince in Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Palace Theatre. And Sister Act at the London Palladium will be doing its best to recreate the fun of the film, helped along by Whoopi Goldberg as co-producer. And not quite a musical but as good as, Calendar Girls the stage play will up the naked flesh quotient in the West End, starring Patricia Hodge and Lynda Bellingham at the Noel Coward Theatre.

Also in musicals-land the power of reality TV continues to wield its power, with Gareth Gates going into Joseph at the Adelphi Theatre, the X-factor’s Niki Evans continuing in Blood Brothers at the Phoenix, Jodie Prenger in Oliver at the Drury Lane, and Ray Quinn and Danny Bayne in Grease – joined for a limited time by the legendary Jimmy Osmond.

KIDS RULE

Kids should also see a good year in 2009 with an enormous live theatrical production of Walking with Dinosaurs coming to a stadium near you, and War Horse transfers from its successful run at the National Theatre to the New London Theatre.

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