Download London Musicals 2016.pub

2016
1
GREY GARDENS
London run: Southwark Playhouse, January 2nd – February 6th
Music: Scott Frankel
Lyrics: Michael Korie
Book: Doug Wright
Director: Thom Southerland
Choreographer: Lee Proud
Musical Director: Michael Bradley
Cast: Sheila Hancock (Edith Bouvier),
Jenna Russell ( Edith Beale/Little Edie )
Rachel Anne Rayham (Young Little Edie),
Aaron Sidwell (Joseph Kennedy),
Billy Boyle (Major Bouvier), Jeremy Legat, Ako Mitchell,
Grace Jenkins, Eleanor Waldron, Rebecca Nardin, Alana Hinge.
Songs: The Girl Who Has Everything, Mother Darling, Marry Well,
Daddy’s Girl, The Revolutionary Costume for Today, The House We
Live In, Jerry Likes My Corn, Another Winter in a Summer Town.
Story: Grey Gardens is about two extraordinary women - the aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy
Onassis - and tells the story of their lives from 1941 when they lived in their mansion on Long Island as
American aristocratic socialites, to thirty years later when they had become recluses in the same, now
crumbling, mansion – “a house that once played host to Howard Hughes and the Rockefellers, but is now a
refuge for 52 stray cats, a few rabid racoons and its two reclusive inhabitants”.
Photo by Scott Rylander
Notes: Based on a 1975 documentary film, the musical adaptation was first staged on Broadway in 2006,
winning three Tony Awards and 12 Drama Desk awards. This British premiere was less rapturously received.
The structure of the work was criticised by several reviewers: the first half “needlessly” contained
flashbacks from 1973 to 1941, with Jenna Russell playing Edith’s younger self, and its contrast of a “High
Society” world to the “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” of Act Two was felt by some to be a major
imbalance in the show. However, in spite of reviews like “one for the cognoscenti, I fear” (Telegraph), “cult
appeal for lovers of the grotesque” (Guardian), there was universal acclaim for the two leading performances,
and much praise for the director of this “bizarrely beautiful and beautifully bizarre” show. (Tribune)
Jenna Russell & Sheila Hancock
2016
2
ROAD SHOW (1st Revival)
London run: Union Theatre, Feb 3rd – March 5th
Music & Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Book: John Weidman
Director: Phil Willmot
Choreographer: Thomas Michael Voss
Musical Director: Richard Baker
Cast: Andre Refig (Wilson Mizner), Howard Jenkins (Addison Mizner),
Joshua LeClair (Hollis Bessemer), Cathryn Sherman (Mama Mizner),
Steve Watts (Papa Mizner), Cameron Hay, Amy Perry, Amy Reitsma,
Phil Sealey, Laura Jade Clark, Damian Robinson, Sam Sugarman,
Alexander McMorran, Jonny Rust, Christina Thornton
Songs: Waste, It’s In Your Hands Now, Gold, Brotherly Love, That Was a Year,
Isn’t He Something?, Land Boom, Talent, The Best Thing That Has Ever Happened, Boca Rato, Get Out
Photo by Scott Rylander
Story: A moving story of love, antagonism and reconciliation between two brothers, “Road Show” tells how
the ill-matched Wilson and Addison move across the USA, stopping off at some of the key moments which
shaped modern America.
Notes: This was promoted as the first British production of “Road Show”, because the 2011 staging at the
Menier Chocolate Factory had been a re-creation of John Doyle’s off-Broadway version. The show is
noteworthy for prominently
featuring a romance between
Addison and an idealistic young
male artist, portraying
Sondheim's first openly gay
characters and one of his most
haunting love songs, notably
sung by one man to another. The
reviews felt the production
emphasised the show’s lack of
psychological weight, with the
story itself weighed down with
its theatrical baggage.
Original London run:
Menier Chocolate Factory, July
2011
Joshua LeClair, Howard Jenkins & Andre Refig
THE WORLD GOES ROUND (1st Revival)
London run: St James Studio, February 3rd – 7th
Music: John Kander
Lyrics: Fred Ebb
Director: Neil Eckersley
Musical Director: Kris Rawlinson
Cast: Oliver Tompsett, Debbie Kurup, Steffan Lloyd-Evans,
Sally Samad, Alexandra Da Silva
Notes: With a four-piece band, this show had undertaken a brief stint at the
Pheasantry in Chelsea in 2015, and was revived for one week in the St James
Studio. It was well received, with the Times critic asking “How many
glorious numbers can you cram into a single evening?”.
Original London run: Union Theatre, January 2014
2016
3
ANDY CAPP The Musical (1st Revival)
Cast: Roger Alborough (Andy Capp),
Lynn Robertson Hay (Florence Capp),
Todd James (Chalkie ), Tom Pepper (Elvis Horsepole),
Jennifer Clement (Ruby), Terence Frisch (Mr Scrimmett),
Tori Hargreaves (Raquel Scrimmett),
Paddy Navin (Mrs Scrimmett), David Muscat (Geordie).
Notes: Based on the Reg Smythe cartoon characters as
featured in the “Daily Mirror”, the show had a gritty reality
which didn’t sit too comfortably with its musical format, and
managed just 99 performances with Tom Courtenay at the
Aldwych in its original run. This first revival, thirty-five years
later, was given as part of the “re-discovered musicals” at the
Todd James, Lynn Robertson Hay & Roger Alborough
Finborough. With a two person band, augmented by a
versatile cast doubling as actor-musicians, its decidedly nonPC content was considerably lessened by the cartoon nature of its characters, and it was regarded as “not exactly a
neglected classic” but not without its pleasures.
Original London run: Aldwych, Sep 1982
THE KISSING DANCE (1st Revival)
London run: Ye Olde Rose & Crown, February 10th – 28th
Music: Howard Goodall
Book & Lyrics: Charles Hart
Director: Brendan Matthew
Choreographer: Charlotte Tooth
Musical Director: Aaron Clingham
Cast: Andrew Truluck (Mr Hardcastle), Laurel Dougall (Mrs Hardcastle), Kira Morsley (Kate),
Emily Peach (Constance), Jacob Jackson (Tony Lumpkin), Toby Hine (Sir James Marlow),
David Zachary (Charles Marlow), Robert Metson (George Hastings), Emily Chesterton (Bet),
Rebecca Withers, Kate Hume, Scott Hunter, Nicholas Chiapetta, Steven Dalziel
Notes: Based on Oliver Goldsmith’s 1773 comedy of manners, “She Stoops to Conquer”, this production had been
updated to the early 20th Century and
performed with a five-piece band. The
updating caused a problem for some critics
who felt the exaggerated and stylised style
of the 18th Century plot seemed overdone
and too broad for its “modern” setting. It
was also felt to be somewhat unbalanced,
being dialogue-heavy in Act 1, and overfilled with musical numbers in Act 2.
This was its first professional revival, having
been performed at the Lyric Hammersmith
and the Linbury Studio in non-professional
productions.
Original London production:
Jermyn Street, March 2011
Photo by David Ovenden
Photo by Darren Bell
London run: Finborough, February 7th – 23rd
(Sundays to Tuesdays)
Music: Alan Price
Lyrics: Alan Price & Trevor Peacock
Director: Jake Smith
Choreographer: Chris Cuming
Musical Director:Tim Shaw
2016
4
MRS HENDERSON PRESENTS
London run: Noel Coward Theatre, February 9th—June 18th
Music: George Fenton, Simon Chamberlain
Lyrics: Don Black
Book: Terry Johnson
Director: Terry Johnson
Choreographer: Andrew White
Musical Director: Barney Ashworth
Cast: Tracie Bennett (Mrs Henderson),
Ian Bartholomew (Vivian Van Damm),
Emma Williams (Maureen), Jamie Forman (Arthur),
Robert Hands, Matthew Malthouse, Samuel Holmes,
Katie Bernstein, Lizzy Connolly, Lauren Hood, Liz Ewing,
Oliver Jackson, Alexander Delamere, Sarah Bakker,
Rhiannon Chesterman, Victoria Hay, Andrew Bryant,
Katrina Kleve, Tania Newton, Sam O’Rourke, Neil Stewart,
Dickie Wood.
Songs: If Mountains Were Easy to Climb, Living in a Dream World
Story: In the late 1930s the widowed Mrs Laura Henderson has acquired the small, struggling Windmill
Theatre in London’s Soho. When presented with a huge bill for costumes, inspiration strikes: together with
her manager, Vivian Van Damm, she persuades the girls to work nude. She persuades the censor that if the
girls stand still, they will be no more offensive than the classical canvases of Rubens and other painters. When
the War breaks out, her shows defy Hitler, proudly claiming “We never closed”, and showing true British
spirit by carrying on even as the bombs are falling. Other characters include Arthur, the cockney-patter comic
who has to provide the front-of-curtain fillers whilst the immovable nude “tableaux” are changed, and
Maureen, the timid tea-girl who transforms into a feisty model.
Notes: Based on the 2005 British film with Judi Dench and Bob Hoskins, this musical version was given a
try-out at the Theatre Royal, Bath in the summer of 2015. For most critics it was a triumph - a gloriously
reminder of how the whole nation stuck two fingers up at Adolf Hitler, celebrating the Blitz spirit whilst
gently mocking the contemporary muddled attitudes to nudity and sex. However, for a few others, it failed to
resolve the question of whether the nudity constituted empowerment or exploitation of the women, it lacked
true characterisation, and ran out of plot once the nudity was established.
MOTOWN THE MUSICAL
Photo by Joan Marcus
London run: Shaftesbury Theatre, February 11th
2016
5
MOTOWN THE MUSICAL
London run: Shaftesbury Theatre, February 11th
Music & Lyrics: Various
Book: Berry Gordy
Director: Charles Randolph-Wright
Choreographer: Patricia Wilcox & Warren Adams
Musical Director: Gareth Weedon
Cast: Cedric Neal (Berry Gordy), Cindy Belliot (Anna Gordy),
Lucy St Louis (Diana Ross), Charl Brown (Smokey Robinson),
Sifiso Mazibuko (Marvin Gaye), Keisha Amponsa Banson (Mary Wells),
Samuel Edwards (Jackie Wilson), Aisha Jawando (Martha Reeves),
Simeon Montague (Jerman Jackson), Cheryl Williams (Mary Wilson),
Cleopatra Rey (Gladys Knight), Jordan Shaw (Stevie Wonder), Tanya Nicole Edwards (Florence Ballard),
Eshan Gopal/Kwame Kandekore/ Joshua Tikare (Michael Jackson), Portia Harry, Joshua Libard,
Brandon Lee Sears,
Story: In 1983, at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, recording stars are gathered to celebrate the 25th anniversary of
Motown Records. In a flashback, the young Berry Gordy dreams of forming his own record label, and in 1957, with
a borrowed 800 dollars, creates Motown and begins his professional and personal relationship with recording artists/
singers such as Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, The Jackson Five, the Supremes and Diana Ross. By the time of
the 25th anniversary things have changed, some relationships have broken down, but the music has been an
overwhelming success and Gordy believes he has gone a long way towards his goal of bridging the racial divide of
segregated America.
Notes: The show opened on Broadway in March 2013 and closed in January 2015 after 775 performances. A return
for an 18 week limited-run was announced for the summer of 2016. The musical was based on Berry Gordy’s 1994
autobiography “To Be Loved: The Music, the Magic, the Memories of Motown”. The musical’s script was written
by Gordy himself and was heavily criticised as a piece of hagiography, with one reviewer claiming “the ego has
landed”. The presentation of Gordy himself - a loving father abandoned by ungrateful children - came over as
whitewash, with the several serious charges against him ignored. Rather than a complex portrait of this fascinating
businessman, the “shoddily written book is essentially a self-serving theatrical memoir”. However, there was still
the music: well over 50 glorious classics celebrating the songs that brought America's black and white populations
together in a way nothing else ever did, and performed by an outstandingly talented cast.
WAR OF THE WORLDS
London run: Dominion, February 8th— April 30th
Music & Lyrics: Jeff Wayne
Lyrics: Gary Osborne, Paul Vigrass
Book: Doreen Wayne
Director: Bob Tomson
Choreographer: Liam Steel
Musical Director: Jeff Wayne
Cast: David Essex (The Voice of Humanity), Michael Praed (George Herbert 1898),
Madalena Alberto (Carrie), Heidi Range (Beth), Jimmy Nail (Parson Nathaniel),
Daniel Bedingfield (The Artilleryman),
Video projection: Liam Neeson (George Herbert 1904)
Notes: Jeff Wayne's musical version of H.G. Wells’s “The War of the Worlds” was
originally a 1978 concept album combining progressive rock and string orchestra.
A concert-arena tour, based on the album, began in the UK in April 2006 and then
was staged in various international arenas through the following years. “The War
of the Worlds – the New Generation” was a 2012 follow-up album, where Jeff Wayne re-visited his score and
adapted it for a new generation of audiences. This, too, was launched as a UK arena tour, playing the O2 for one
night in December 2012. This Dominion Theatre production was its first outing as a stage show. It was spectacular
and advertised as “probably the starriest cast the West End has seen” , but was mostly dismissed as over-loud, overhyped and over-done. “. . . a bombastic, bloated, bonkers beast of a show” (Independent), “. . . melodrama on
steroids, kitsch on stilts” (Daily Mail), “. . . the whole stupefying self-regarding affair is almost certainly the worst
West End show I have seen in the current decade” (Financial Times).
2016
6
BEYOND THE FENCE
Photo by Robert Workman
London run: Arts Theatre, Feb 26th - March 5th
Writing team: Benjamin Till, Nathan Taylor
Director: Luke Sheppard
Choreographer: Cressida Carré
Musical Director: Candida Caldicot
Cast: Llio Millward (Ceridwen),
Laura Jane Matthewson (Helen),
Leonie Elliot (Raven), Annie Wensak (Margie),
C.J. Johnson (Mary), Ako Mitchell (Jim),
Hollie Owen (George), Christine Allado (Girlie),
Rebecca Brewer (Kim), Rob Castell,
Steffan Lloyd-Evans, Michelle Moran, Guy Mott
Story: Set in the Greenham Common Women’s Peace
Camp, the story concerned the passions, humour and
conviction of the protestors, including Ceridwen, a
horny Welsh woman; Helen, a cheerful overweight Northerner; Raven, a young black girl with attitude and
Margie, a motherly old matron. At the centre is the unlikely love relationship that develops between Mary, the
leader of the protest, and Jim, the troubled US airman guarding the base. The catalyst in this romance is Mary’s
12 year old daughter, George, who has been mute for seven years, since she saw her father beat her mother.
Notes: Promoted as the world’s first computer-generated musical, this was the result of a Sky Arts TV
documentary “Computer Says Show”. The details of 1,669 different musicals were fed into a computer to
achieve the formula for story line, musical styles and suggested lyrics. These were then “fine-tuned” by the
writing team to fit their proposed story. It was regarded as an interesting experiment that worked quite well for
the “protest” part of the plot, but was unconvincing in the love-story element. The music was said to be a
combination of “piano led ballads and squealy 80s power-rock” (Independent), whilst the characterisation was too
formulaic and clichéd.
BAR MITZVAH BOY (1st revival)
London run: Upstairs at the Gatehouse, March 2nd – April 10th
Music: Jule Styne
Music & Lyrics: Don Black
Book: Jack Rosenthal revised by David Thompson
Director-Choreographer: Stewart Nicholls
Musical Director: Edward Court/ Neil Macdonald
Cast: Sue Kelvin (Rita Green), Robert Maskell (Victor Green),
Adam Bregman (Elliot Green), Nicholas Corre (Harold),
Lara Stubbs (Lesley ), Jeremy Rose (Rabbi),
Hannah Rose-Thompson (Denise).
Story: Young Eliot Green, filled with apprehension about his
Adam Bregman & Lara Stubbs
forthcoming bar mitzvah, escapes from the synagogue, much to
the dismay of Rita and Victor, his middle-class parents, who have invested their savings in a lavish party to
celebrate their son's coming of age. Elliot is supported by his sister, Lesley, when he tells her that looking at the
adult world, he doesn’t feel he can belong to it.
Notes: The original 1978 musical version of Rosenthal's award-winning TV play was a 77 performance flop. The
earlier play version, an honest portrayal of a family, had been turned into a series of clichés with the action halted
for songs and dances which didn’t really fit in. An off-Broadway revival, adapted from 1970s London to
Brooklyn in 1946 did no better. Jack Rosenthal himself later wrote a play called “Smash”, an hilarious but
scathing look at how a show could be ruined on its journey from page to stage. For this first revival, almost forty
years later, Don Black has written new lyrics to previously unheard Styne compositions and a revised script has
been written by David Thompson (writer of The Scottsboro Boys, Steel Pier, etc.).
This small-cast fringe production was well received, although “there remains a basic imbalance between
Rosenthal’s sharply observed comedy of Jewish manners and Styne’s gloriously brash Broadway
rhythms” (Sunday Express).
Original London run: Her Majesty’s, October 1978
2016
7
TORSTEN, THE BEAUTIFUL
LIBERTINE
Cast: Andy Bell, Lana P, Peter Straker
Notes: This was more a song-cycle than a
musical, with Andy Bell, part of the 80s pop
group Erasure, delivering a succession of
songs telling the character’s life from his
runaway days as a “beautiful libertine” 15
Andy Bell
year old drug addict through to his older years.
The other characters in his story are his former admirers (Peter Straker) and the “transvestite hooker of
Totteridge Park” (Lana P.) This was the musical theatre debut for Andy Bell, and the general critical reaction
was cool, feeling the show was underwritten and that Andy Bell himself was a singer rather than actor.
MISS ATOMIC BOMB
London run: St James Theatre, March 7th – April 9th
Music, Book & Lyrics: Adam Long, Gabriel Vick, Alex Jackson-Long
Director: Adam Long & Bill Deamer
Choreographer: Bill Deamer
Musical Director: Matthew Brind/ Richard John
Cast: Catherine Tate (Myrna), Simon Lipkin (Lou Lubowitz), Dean John-Wilson (Joey),
Florence Andrews (Candy), Daniel Boys, Michelle Andrews, Stephane Anelli, David Birrell,
Charles Brunton, Jessica Buckby, Olivia Fines, Ryan Gover, Alyn Hawke, Sion Lloyd, Suzie McAdam,
Kirk Patterson, Sasi Strallen
Photo by Tristram Kenton
Story: It’s 1952 in Las Vegas, with tourists flocking to see the mushroom clouds, but they are not flocking to
the mob-owned Golden Goose Hotel, run by Lou Lubowitz who is under pressure to make some money. His
brother, Joey, a deserter from the US army, has met Candy, a Calamity-Jane-type country girl and her wouldbe fashion-designer friend, Myrna – and the girls have come up with a potential money-making scheme:
organise a beauty pageant to discover Miss Atomic Bomb 1952. A series of subplots involve gunshots to the
feet, sheep, pigs, and the
repossession of Candy’s
Winnebago.
Notes: With a confusing number
of plots,
“ragtag musical
forms” (Daily Express), and
“clichéd characterisation,
amateurish capering and a lack of
conviction” (Sunday Times), the
show was roundly condemned,
though several critics congratulated
the cast for working their socks
off. “The satire is lame, the songs
desperately derivative. . . its chaotic
and formless comic structure lacks
purpose, polish and point” (The
Stage)
Catherine Tate as Myrna
Photo by PicsbyGaz
London run: Above the Stag, March 2nd – 27th
Music: Christopher Frost
Book & Lyrics: Barney Ashton
Director: Robert McWhir
Musical Director: Iain Vince Gatt
2016
8
SOMETHING SOMETHING LAZARUS
London run: King’s Head, March 8th – April 2nd
Music: Simon Arrowsmith
Book & Lyrics: John Myatt
Director: Dan Phillips
Choreographer: Alice Bendall
Musical Director: Daisy Amphlett
Cast: Ralph Bogard (Daniel), Daniel Cech-Lucas (Jay),
Valerie Cutko (Vee), Daisy Amphlett (Della)
Songs: Cathedral, Alive, Promises, Apologies
Story: The action takes place in the Midnight Sun, a seedy cabaret bar run by
the aggressive bar manager, Daniel. The cabaret artists include Daniel’s young
lover, the singer-compère Jay, the pianist Della, and Vee, a fading torch-singer
with a drink problem. The characters explore their fragmented relationships in an experimental and surreal
dramatic construction. A significant eight-second gap between life and death as Jay is strangled by his lover,
Daniel, becomes an extended exploration of the characters and their separate demons.
Notes: With its mix of social-media technology display, a score combining conventional cabaret with more
tonally challenging music, and a deliberately non-linear plot construction, the critical reaction was wideranging. On the one hand it was welcomed as a “cross-over piece with the potential of cult status” but on the
other it was described as “atrociously ill-conceived” and “cripplingly adolescent”.
BAD GIRLS – The Musical (1st revival)
London run: Union Theatre, March 9th – April 2nd
Music & Lyrics: Kath Gotts
Book: Maureen Chadwick & Ann McManus
Director: Will Keith
Choreographer: Jo McShane
Musical Director: Alex Bellamy
Cast: Gareth Davies (Jim Fenner), Tori Evans (Helen Stewart), Sinead Long (Shell),
Ceili O’Connor (Nikki Wade), Sarah Goggin (Rachel Hicks), Christine Holman (Yvonne),
Maggie Robson (Sylvia ‘Bodybag’ Hollamby), Catherine Digges (Julie Saunders),
Jayne Ashley (Julie Johnson), Livvy Evans (Crystal), Francine Rowan (Noreen Biggs),
Imelda Warren-Green (Denny Blood), Amy Christen-Ford, Meg McCarthy, Eloise Davies, Melissa Po.
Photo by Darren Bell
Notes: The original run
was described as a camp
piece of glorious bad
taste which failed to
catch on and flopped
after a two month run.
This revival managed to
include some poignancy,
some bleakness, as well
as some heart and true
comedy, and was well
received.
Original London run:
Garrick, September 2007
2016
9
FABLES FOR A BOY
Cast: Bethan Maddocks, Anya Hamilton,
Mikey Wooster, Zac Hamilton,
Owen Liggett, Mairin Miller
Story: A changeling boy is adopted by a
dysfunctional couple, but fails to engage
with the real world. He is haunted by the
ghost of his grandmother, whose dark fairy stories mirror his troubled psyche.
Notes: Combining puppetry and mime with the dialogue and music, this was praised as beautifully staged and
flamboyantly designed, but condemned for being unrelentingly gloomy. “Seemingly endless passages of pseudopsychological mumbo-jumbo drain every ounce of charm from a story that was already spiralling into a black hole
of melancholy” (The Stage)
PRINCESS CARABOO
London run: Finborough,
March 30th – April 22nd
Music: Phil Willmott & Mark Collins
Book & Lyrics: Phil Willmott
Director: Phil Willmot
Choreographer: Thomas Michael Voss
Musical Director: Freddie Tapner
Cast: Christian James (Eddie Harvey),
Nikita Johal (Princess Caribou),
Sarah Lawn (Lady Elizabeth Worrell),
Joseph O’Malley (Osvaldo Agathias),
Phil Sealey (Sir Charles Worrell),
Oliver Stanley (Lord Marlborough),
Althea Burey, Ruben Kuppens,
Hilary Murnane, Rebecca Ridout,
Songs: I Am My Own Person
Photo by Scott Rylander
Photo by Silhouette
London run: Lost Theatre,
March 28th – April 24th
Music: Sindre Kayman
Book & Lyrics: Adrian Sandvaer,
Ragnhild Kristoffersen, Gabriel Owen.
Director: Ryan Duncan
Choreographer: James Houlbrooke
Musical Director: Adrian Sandvaer
Hilary Murnane, Oliver Stanley, Christian James, Nikita Johal & Althea Burey
Story: Based on a true story, this tells of a beautiful young woman, a destitute Devonshire cobbler’s daughter, who
tricked her way from vagrancy to wealth and power in Regency England by pretending to be a shipwrecked
Princess. Unfortunately what began as a clever trick by a petty criminal to escape the law develops into something
much bigger. She is taken in by a bereaved couple, Sir Charles and Lady Worrell, and then amorously pursued by
the caddish Lord Marlborough and the ardent Christian James. “Princess Caraboo” quickly becomes a society
“superstar”, and her presence threatens ruin for those whose compassion, lust or ambition has blinded them to the
truth.
Notes: Originally part of a staged reading at the Festival of Finborough Playwrights, “Princess Caraboo” was
developed with workshops at Bristol Old Vic overseen by Tom Morris and James Peries. The narrative was
framed as an amateur scientific lecture, and the music combined a blend of modern jazz with lively ballads. The
critical response was very complimentary, with much praise for its comic performances, and entertaining
originality.
2016
10
UKIP! THE MUSICAL
London run: Waterloo East, March 30th – April 3rd
Music, Book & Lyrics: Cath Day
Director: Jessica Williams
Choreographer: Victoria Gimby
Musical Director: Malcolm C. Godsman, Alex Hunt
Cast: Matthew Atkins, Emily Barnett-Salter, Joe Bence,
James Douglas-Brennan, Eleanor Dillon-Reams, Laura Franek,
Lisa Lynn, Katy Oliver, Jarrard Richards, Joseph Tweedale
Songs: Bongo Bongo Land, Europa -You Raped Her, Let’s Pull Up the
Drawbridge.
Story: Nigel Farage is a haunted man. Tormented by feelings of impotence and
inadequacy, he just doesn't know how to rescue Britain from Europe's clutches. However, following a
visitation from the Ghosts of Britain Past (Churchill) and Britain Quite Recent (Thatcher) he suddenly sees a
way to win over the public - only to watch his plan to save Britannia backfire spectacularly.
Notes: Described as “a rollicking satirical swipe at the most radical political party of our time” this was
written by two RADA graduates and premiered at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe
ALL OR NOTHING
London run: The Vaults, March 31st – May 21st
Return: July 27th – August 27th
Music & Lyrics: Small Faces
Book: Carol Harrison
Director: Tony McHale
Choreographer: Cameron Hall
Musical Director: Pat Davey
Cast: Chris Simmons (Older Steve), Mark Newnham (Younger Steve),
Joshua Dowen (Ronnie Lane), Drew Levi-Huntsman (Kenney Jones),
Josh Maddison (Ian McLagan), Joseph Peters (Jimmy Winston),
Russell Floyd ( Manager Don Arden), Dami Olukoya (P.P. Arnold),
Sophia Benn (Dusty Springfield), Danielle Johnson (Cher),
Daniel Beales (Tony Blackburn/ Sonny Bono/ Stanley Unwin),
Carol Harrison (Kay Marriott)
Songs: All or Nothing, Whatcha Gonna Do About It, Itchykoo Partk, Sha la la la Lee, Lazy Sunday, Tin
Soldier, Here Comes the Nice
Story: The older Steve Marriott looks back on the heady days of 1966. Back then, he was the cocky frontman of the Small Faces, an East End group of pop-star wannabes, and suddenly saw his group rise to the top
of the charts with their first big hit “All or Nothing”. They even knocked the Beatles from the Number One
spot, and went on to become legends of the Swinging London “mod” scene. Reflecting on those days of anger
and arrogance, Steve recognises where they went wrong – but too late to counter the pitfalls of drug addiction.
Notes: This was a jukebox musical telling the story of the Small Faces. It had an initial try-out in Brighton in
2013, being the brainchild of the award-winning “Eastenders” actress Carol Harrison – and was directed by
the BAFTA winning TV director, Tony McHale. Following its opening at the Vaults, which was much praised
for its energy, drive and performances, the run was extended due to word of mouth demand for tickets. The
show then went on tour for the rest of the year, but was able to return to London for the month of August
11
Photo by Dan Wooller
Photo by Kevin Wilson
2016
Glenn Close at her curtain-call
Ria Jones at her curtain-call
SUNSET BOULEVARD (2nd Revival)
London run: Coliseum, April 1st – May 7th
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics: Don Black, Christopher Hampton
Director: Lonny Price
Choreographer: Stephen Mear
Musical Director: Michael Reed
Cast: Glenn Close (Norma Desmond), Michael Xavier (Joe Gillis), Fred Johanson (Max von Mayerling),
Siobhan Dillon (Betty), Mark Goldthorp (Sheldrake), Julian Forsyth (Cecil B. DeMille), Carly Anderson,
Michelle Bishop, Emily Bull, Jacob Chapman, Katie Kerr, Aaron Lee Lambert, Matthew McKenna,
James Peterson, Tanya Robb, Ashley Robinson, Vicki Lee Taylor, Gary Tushaw, Adam Vaughan,
Anna Woodside
Notes: In 1993 the lavish original production had a troubled run, and closed temporarily for re-casting and a
“re-vamp” However, this was nothing compared to its troubles in the USA, with lawsuits and controversy.
Despite long runs, the show was said to have lost a fortune. Its first London revival was a pared-down affair
with actor-musicians enabling many critics to claim that concentrating on the essence of the characters and the
score revealed a “great and undervalued” musical. However, that revival managed less than a six month run.
This production, “semi-staged” with a 50 piece orchestra and with the legendary Glenn Close was described as
the theatre event of the year. It was a huge box office draw. It received enormous praise, and rapturous
critical acclaim for Glenn Close. A month into the run Glenn Close was taken ill and missed four
performances. The announcement that she would not appear was greeted by booing and a few people walking
out. Her understudy was Ria Jones- and at the end of the evening Ria was given a five-minute standing
ovation, and acclaimed as a quite outstanding performer, equal to the Hollywood superstar.
Original London production: Adelphi, July 1993
1st revival: Comedy Theatre, December 2008
FOREVER PLAID (2nd revival)
London run: St James, April 5th – 24th
Music: Various
Book: Stuart Ross
Director-Choreographer: Grant Murphy
Musical Director: Anthony James Gabriele
Cast: Jon Lee (Jinx), Matthew Quinn (Smudge),
Keith Jack (Sparky), Luke Stiffler (Frankie)
Notes: There was much praise for the cast who “sing and dance up a storm” (Stage)
and the super-slick production, which “at times gets pretty close to harmony heaven”.
Original London production: Apollo Theatre, September 1993
2016
12
THE GREAT GATSBY MUSICAL (2nd Revival)
London run: Union, April 6th—30th
Music & Lyrics: Joe Evans
Adaptation: Linnie Redman & Joe Evans
Director: Linnie Redman
Choreographer: Nick Pack
Musical Director: Barnaby Southgate
Photo by Roy Tan
Cast: Blair Robertson (Nick Carroway),
Nicolas Fagerberg (Jay Gatsby),
Joanna Brown (Daisy Buchanan),
Zed Josef (Tom Buchanan),
Kate Marlais (Jordan Baker),
James Rallison (George Wilson),
Ferne McCann (Myrtle Wilson),
Emma Whittaker, Katie Beudert, Lewis Rae,
Mark Townsend, Paul Dubois, Samantha Louise Clark
Notes: This revival, re-worked from earlier productions, was poorly received: “Flabby, slipshod, vocally
underpowered and forgettably scored. . .” (Stage); “. . .in the end we don’t care enough about the characters. .
. (Review Hub). It marked the theatre debut of Ferne McCann (from TV’s “The Only Way is Essex”.)
Original London run: King’s Head, August 2012
First revival : Riverside Studios, May 2013
SHOWBOAT (6th Revival)
London run: New London Theatre, April 9th - August 27th
Music: Jerome Kern
Book & Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II
Director: Daniel Evans
Choreographer: Alistair David
Musical Director: David White
Cast: Rebecca Trehearn (Julie), Chris Peluso (Ravenal), Gina Beck (Magnolia), Emmanuel Kojo (Joe),
Sandra Marvin (Queenie), Malcolm Sinclair (Cap’n Andy), Leo Roberts (Steve), Lucy Briers (Parthy Ann),
Alex Young (Ellie May), Danny Collins (Frank Schultz)
Photo by Johann Perrson
Notes: Originally a Sheffield Theatres production, this was performed in a new version developed for the
Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut. It was hugely praised for its all-round excellence, receiving five
stars from almost every critic. “An
absolute joy from start to
finish” (Express); “Exhilarating
update of a true classic is now one of
the West End’s most gorgeous
shows” (Stage). However, a month
after opening it announced that it
would be closing on August 27th, four
months earlier than originally stated.
Original London production:
Drury Lane 1928;
1st revival: London, 1943 ;
2nd revival: Adelphi, June 1971;
3rd revival: London Palladium,
July 1990 (and again, March 1991)
4th revival: Prince Edward,
April 1998
5th revival: Royal Albert Hall,
June 2006
13
Photo by Craig Sugden
2016
Elton John with many of Billys from the eleven year run of “Billy Elliot” at the Victoria Palace
BILLY ELLIOT – THE MUSICAL (Closing Performance)
London run: Victoria Palace, May 11th 2005 – April 9th 2016
Music: Elton John
Book & Lyrics: Lee Hall
Director: Stephen Daldry
Choreographer: Peter Darling
Musical Director: Philip Bateman
Final Cast: Brodie Donougher/ Thomas Hazelby/ Nat Sweeney/ Euan Garrett (Billy),
Ruthie Henshall (Mrs Wilkinson), Deka Walmsley (Dad), Matthew Seadon-Young (Tony),
Gillian Elisa (Grandma), Howard Crossley (George), Phil Snowden (Mr Braithwaite),
Claudia Bradley (Dead Mum), James Butcher (Older Billy), Nathan Jones/Bradley Mayfield/ Ben Robinson
(Michael), Connie Fisher/Beatrice Bartley/Hollie Creighton (Debbie),
Notes: The musical opened on March 31st 2005, with its press night on May 11th and closed on April 9th 2016,
after some 4,600 performances. Based on the 2000 film of the same name – which itself was inspired by A.J.
Cronin’s 1935 novel “The Stars Look Down” – it was highly praised from the start, winning four Olivier
Awards, including Best New Musical and Best Actor in a Musical awarded jointly to all three boys who played
Billy. The original production had reportedly cost £5.5 million to produce The Broadway production opened in
November 2008, earning rave reviews, ten Tony Awards, and recovering its entire $18 million investment in
14 months, finally closing on January 8th, 2012 after 40 previews and 1,304
performances. It went to on have productions in Chicago, Toronto, Sydney,
Melbourne, and non-English stagings in South Korea, Norway, Holland,
Denmark, Estonia, Italy and Israel, amongst others.
Over the eleven year run in the West End, the Victoria Palace Theatre was
home to 531 young performers including 42 Billys, 26 Michaels, 22
Debbies and 350 ballet girls. In total, world-wide, ninety four boys have
played the iconic role on stage . A current UK national tour is underway.
2016
14
CORBYN THE MUSICAL:
THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES
London run: Waterloo East Theatre, April 12th – 24th
Music: Jen Green
Book & Lyrics: Bobby Friedman, Rupert Myers
Director: Adam Lenson
Choreographer: Mel Simpson
Musical Director: Tim Shaw
Cast: Martin Neely (Jeremy Corbyn), Natasha Lewis (Diane Abbott),
James Dinsmore (Tony Blair), David Muscat (Boris Johnson/Vladimir
Putin), Jennifer Hepburn, Jonathan Chambers.
Story: Jeremy Corbyn has become Prime Minister with Boris Johnson as
leader of the opposition; Donald Trump is the President of the USA;
Vladimir Putin is still running Russia and threatening nuclear war against
the West. How can the pacifist PM handle this? The answer lies in a
flashback to the Seventies, and a fateful motorbike holiday taken by young Corbyn and his then-lover Diane
Abbot through pre-unification East Germany. This is the world of British politics, where Tony Blair will do
anything for a cheque; Abbott anything for a free taxi fare; Boris thinks he’s a bit of a Lothario, and Corbyn,
the PM, strips down to do yoga and sings in praise of Islington tofu.
Notes: This was a show lampooning political parties both left-wing and right, with the songs parodying
everything from Book of Mormon, Lloyd Webber, Gilbert & Sullivan, Gloria Gaynor to Amy Winehouse.
Every performance was a complete sell-out. “. . . veers towards am-dram, done on the cheap – but then this is
a small space under a railway arch.” (Times)
London run: Southwark Playhouse,
April 22nd – May 21st
Music & lyrics: David Bryan
Book & lyrics: Joe DiPietro
Director: Benji Sperring
Choreographer: Lucie Pankhurst
Musical Director: Alex Beetschen
Cast: Mark Anderson (Melvin/Toxie) ,
Hannah Grover (Sarah),
Lizzie Hills (Mayor/ Ma Ferd/Nun),
Marc Pickering (White Dude, etc),
Ashley Samuels (Black Dude, etc)
Songs: Who Will Save New Jersey?, Jersey
Girl, Get the Geek, Kick Your Ass, My Big French Boyfriend, Thank God She’s Blind, Hot Toxic Love,
Bitch-Slut-Liar-Whore, Everybody Dies.
Story: Tromaville, New Jersey, is on the receiving end of all New York’s toxic waste, so nerdy Melvin Ferd
plans to clean it up. This impresses Sarah, the blind librarian, but upsets Tromaville’s corrupt mayor, who gets
her heavies to dump Melvin in a vat of toxic goo as a warning. However, that radioactive goo turns Melvin
into “Toxie”, a mighty muscled Incredible Hulk, a one-eyed, deformed mutant who sets out to get revenge on
the Mayor, and his hands on the girl (who being blind is only aware of the size of his attributes, not their look.)
Notes: Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman’s 1984 send-up violent B-movie “The Toxic Avenger” was the
inspiration for this musical, first produced in New Jersey in 2008 (by the creators of the more successful
“Memphis” ). It premiered off-Broadway in April 2009 and, praised for its great sense of fun, ran for more
than 300 performances before setting off on a North America tour. In April 2016 it opened in both London and
Melbourne. The general reaction was huge praise for the cast of five whose versatility, quick-changes and
madcap energy were exhilarating; and for the “jubilant score” with “deliciously juvenile lyrics” (Telegraph).
It was “a nuclear meltdown of arse-kicking choruses and eco-savvy bodily dismemberment” (Time Out). On
the other hand it was described as “witless, charmless and pointless. . . a lurid celebration of stoopid” (Times)
Photo by Claire Bilyard
THE TOXIC AVENGER
2016
15
SAUCY JACK & THE SPACE VICTIMS (4th Revival)
London run: King’s Head, April 26th-May 21st
Music & Lyrics: Robin Forrest & Jonathan Croose
Book & Additional lyrics: Charlotte Mann & Michael Fidler
Director: Mike Fidler
Choreographer: Aimee-Marie Bow
Musical Director: Tim Stuart
Cast: Hugh Stubbins (Saucy Jack), Jamie Birkett (Jubilee),
Lorna Hall (Anna), Zoe Nicholls (Bunny), Sophie Cordwell James (Booby),
Tom Whalley (Dr Whackoff), Ashton Charge (Sammy),
Kristopher Bosch (Mitch)
Notes: This revival, marking the show’s 20th anniversary, was technically a year
early, since the original production was at the 1997 Edinburgh Fringe. As always,
the show divided the critics: “Highly entertaining and brilliant piece of
theatre” (Everything Theatre); “If it were a standard 7.30pm show, it would be
hard to say a single kind thing about this faux Rocky Horror perennial, but the 8.45pm start time allows for
some food and a few drinks beforehand and relaxes expectations to the point where just-passable singing and
acting, and the level of chaos inherent in both the script and production, somehow manage to numb the senses
and hijack the heart.” (Islington Gazette)
Original London Production: Queen’s Theatre, March 1998; 1st revival: The Venue, Dec 2005;
2nd revival: Leicester Square Theatre, Aug 2013; 3rd revival: Upstairs at the Gatehouse, Aug 2015
THE BUSKERS’ OPERA
London run: Park 200, April 28th – June 4th
Music & Lyrics: Dougal Irvine
Book: Dougal Irvine
Director: Lotte Wakeham
Choreographer: Lucie Pankhurst
Musical Director: Sean Green
Cast: David Burt (Peachum), Simon Kane (Lockitt), George Maguire (Macheath),
Lauren Samuels (Polly Peachum), Natasha Cottriall (Lucy Lockitt), John McCrea (Filtch),
Maimuna Memon (Jenny), Giovanna Ryan, Ishmael Gander,
Photo by Simon Annan
Story: For the London Olympics of 2012, the world is watching media mogul Jeremiah Peachum’s TV
programme, hosted by his media star, Lockitt, the Mayor of London. They are a wily pair, perfectly placed to
make money out of Team GB and to push their political agenda. But they haven’t reckoned with the street
busker, Macheath, and his gang – all of whom are out to take down the fat cats, and stir up political mayhem.
And when Macheath starts sleeping with Peachum’s daughter, it’s time to take action. How about reintroducing
capital
punishment?
Notes: As well as its verve
and energy, the show was
praised for “the most
original British musical
score since Bend it Like
Beckham”
(Stage).
Performed with a band of
three – guitar, cello,
keyboards it did
“showcase Irvine’s musical
virtuosity and witty lyrics,
but the “two hours of
rhyming couplets, however
whiplash smart, can be
more than a mite
wearying.” (Guardian)
2016
16
FOOTLOOSE (1st Revival)
London run: Wimbledon Theatre, May 3rd – 7th
Music: Tom Snow
Lyrics: Dean Pitchford
Additional music: Eric Carmen, Sammy Hagar,
Kenny Loggins & Jim Steinman
Book: Dean Pitchford & Walter Bobbie
Director: Racky Plews
Choreographer: Matthew Cole
Musical Director: Mark Crossland
Cast: Luke Baker (Ren), Lee Brennan (Willard),
Nicky Swift (Ethel), Nigel Lister (Rev Shaw Moore),
Hannah Price (Ariel), Maureen Nolan (Vi Moore),
Joanna Sawyer, Matthew Tomlinson, Natasha Brown,
Miracle Chance, Scott Haining, Lauren Storer, Natalie Morton-Graham, Luke Thornton, Alex Marshall,
Thomas Cotran
Notes: This show returned to London for one week as part of a UK tour which had opened in Bridlington in
January, and was scheduled to run until October. The role of Willard was shared between Lee Brennan and
Gareth Gates.
Original London production: Novello Theatre, April-November 2006, then after a short tour, returned to the
Playhouse from August-December 2007.
COMEBACK! THE KARL MARX MUSICAL
London run: Upstairs at the Gatehouse, May 3rd – May 14th
Music, Book & Lyrics: Maximilian Reeg, Steffen Lukas & Tobias Künzel
Translated: Pauline Kingsbury & Graham Laybourne
Director: Harry Meacher
Choreographer: Paula Brett
Musical Director: Gon von Zola
Cast: Tim Thomas (Manfred), Harry Meacher (Rasputin),
Maria Karelina (Jenny Acreman), Jorge Franco (Marc),
Brian Hands (Mortimer Pickledigger), Colleen Daley (Mrs Abramowitch)
Story: Manfred Acreman, the head of Acreman Bank, is about to see his
bank collapse and the consequent financial meltdown of London itself. The
only solution is to call on the services of the devilish Rasputin
Mammonson, who has the answer: the collapse is all down to the theories
of Karl Marx. The solution is to bring him back to life, get him to
withdraw his theories, and then everything will be sorted. Rasputin’s price for this rescue act will be to marry
Jenny, Manfred’s rebellious, socialist daughter.
Meantime Jenny has been hanging about Highgate Cemetery where she has met and fallen for young Marc,
sleeping rough next to the Karl Marx tomb. Inevitably the bankers assume that Marc is the reanimated Marx,
and he is bribed with wads of cash to play it the bankers’ way. If he accepts he can live the life of the superrich. But he, too, has fallen in love with Jenny. What’s going to win? Corporate greed? Or Love among the
tombstones?
Notes: Written by Tobias Künzel, one of Germany’s best-known and most successful rock musicians, this
part parody, part political satire was a great hit in Hamburg and Berlin. It was described as one of the strangest
things London has ever seen “you’ll leave, possibly at the interval, wondering what on earth you’ve just seen
and laughing for all the wrong reasons” (Reviewshub). It was damned for its pointless story, its weak music,
and its general lack of purposes. However, the scene where Marc is given an onstage bubble-bath was felt to
have some merit, and Colleen Daley’s over-the-top Polish cleaning lady was said to be fun.
2016
17
DEVILISH!
London run: Landor, May 4th – 29th
Music: B.B. Cooper
Book & Lyrics: Chris Burgess
Director: Marc Urquhart
Choreographer: Adam Scown
Musical Director: Ian MacGregor
Cast: Alex Green (Angel), Louie Westwood (TV Host),
Katie Ann Dolling (Maddie, the Weather Girl),
Victoria Hope (Good woman), Gareth James, George Longworth
Notes: H.G. Wells wrote “The Wonderful Visit”, a novel inspired by
John Ruskin’s comment that an angel appearing on earth would be shot on
sight. This is a modern take on the same subject. However, it was
generally condemned for its flagging story line, poor script and weak songs
Photo by Scott Rylander
Story: An Angel crash-lands in Clapham North and is so enamoured of the
place he wants to become a human. And so begins his journey through the
sinful world of the metropolis. Beautiful of face and body, he is soon
lusted after by all manner of admirers and is persuaded to appear on a
“Freak Idol” TV show. Will he sell his soul to the fleshpots of the Big
City? Or will he be saved by the love of a good woman?
Alex Green
THE SINS OF JACK SAUL
London run: Above the Stag,
May 11th - June 12th
Music: Charles Miller
Book & Lyrics: Glenn Chandler
Director: Steven Dexter
Choreographer: Carole Todd
Musical Director: Aaron Clingham
Cast: Jack McCann (Jack Saul),
Michael Gonsalves (Fergus),
Ciaran Bowling (Lieutenant Kirwan),
Felicity Duncan, Hugh O’Donnell,
Sam Chipman
Songs: I Could Be Jane Austen, I
Always Wanted a Man in Uniform,
It’s a Fine Life on the Dilly, The
Ballad of the Dublin Seven
Story: Jack Saul, “Dublin Jack” was a male prostitute involved in the Cleveland Street scandal of 1889, when a
male brothel employing telegraph messenger boys was raided by the police. Clients included Lord Arthur
Somerset, Equerry to the Prince of Wales, the Earl of Euston, Mr George Cavendish-Bentinck MP, and numerous
top military personnel. Rumours that Prince Albert Victor Edward, 'Prince Eddy', Heir Presumptive and grandson
to Queen Victoria was a regular visitor, elevated the scandal into an affair that the establishment became anxious to
suppress at all costs. In this telling, Dublin Jack is dead, and about to enter the gates of Hell manned by Fergus. If
Jack can prove he has done one good thing in his life, then Fergus will relent, and Jack can enter Heaven instead.
Notes: Jack Saul’s memoirs, “The Sins of the Cities of the Plain”, was banned in Victorian times and placed in the
forbidden books section of the British Library. Glenn Chandler’s research led first to a biography, and then to a
musical version of the story of what really went on behind the front door and velvet curtains of No 19 Cleveland
Street. It was described as an energetic and entertaining look at a moment in gay history. This was the
professional debut of Jack McCann, and he was highly praised for a performance of “panache and aplomb,
simmering with saucy sexuality, and gifting pathos and soul” (Gay Times)
2016
18
THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL
London run: Waterloo East Theatre, May 11th – June 5th
Music & Lyrics: David Nehls
Book: Betsy Kelso
Director: Kirk Jameson
Choreographer: Rebecca Howell
Musical Director: James Taylor
Cast: Michelle Bishop (Betty), Jodie Steele (Linoleum),
Rosemary Ashe (Pickles), Jemma Alexander (Jeannie),
Sabrina Aloueche (Pippi), Adam Vaughan (Norbert), Josh Denver (Duke)
Songs: This Side of the Tracks, Immobile in My Mobile Home, The Buck Stops
Here, Flushed Down the Pipes, Storm’s a Brewin’ Road Kill, Panic, Big Billy’s NoTell Motel
Story: “The Girls” - three dysfunctional Greek-chorus-like harpies, Betty, Linoleum
and Pickles, tell the story, past and present, of the tenants of the Armadillo Acres
Trailer Park in Florida. The tenants include the agoraphobic Jeannie Garstecki and her toll-booth collector
husband, Norbert, whose twenty-year marriage is threatened when he falls for the charms of a young newcomer,
Pippi, a stripper on the run from Duke, her glue-sniffing ex-boyfriend. The story includes adultery, spray cheese,
hysterical pregnancy, a broken electric chair, a disco-eatery called “Stand by Your Flan” and a hurricane.
Notes: The show premiered off-Broadway in September 2005 and ran for 121 performances before undertaking a
national tour of the USA. The American tour included a visit to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2008. The
reviews were somewhat dismissive: “. . .it’s the kind of show that improves in direct relation to how much you’ve
had to drink” (What’sOnStage); and “ Go as a group, have a few glasses of wine and just enjoy” (Off WestEnd),
but overall the reaction implied it was not a great musical, but was a fun evening with a great cast.
THE DARK MIRROR
London run: Barbican, May 12th – 14th
Music: Schubert, Hans Zender
Book: Wilhelm Müller
Director: Netia Jones
Musical Director: Baldur Brönnimann
Photo by Hugo Glendinning
Cast: Ian Bostridge
Notes: Schubert’s original 1828 score
for voice and piano was a song cycle
telling of the protagonist’s “winter
journey” from the maniacal mood
swings of his first encounter with the
girl who “spoke of love” to the
ultimately hopeless end, accompanied
by his doppelgänger – a hurdy-gurdy
man, with no audience, no hope,
endlessly grinding out his repetitive
tune for a hostile universe. The unrelieved bleakness of the work was innovative in the early Romantic era, and,
for many, a fore-runner of 20th century nihilism and the post-apocalyptic world of Samuel Beckett .
This staged version was performed in the 1993 orchestration by the contemporary German composer, Hans
Zender, and backed with surreal monochrome video projections. It was performed by the tenor Ian Bostridge,
who has been singing this cycle for many years and is generally recognised as one of its greatest interpreters.
Appearing both in person and on the screen (courtesy of extracts from Ian Bostridge’s 2007 TV performance on
Channel 4) “at one point staring a younger version of himself in the eye, at another sprawled lifelessly in the
snow. . .It’s elegant, inventive, a haunting take on alienation. . and stokes rather than smothers our
imagination” (Hannah Nepil, Financial Times). This was unanimously praised as a memorable and important
staging of one of the greatest song cycles ever composed.
2016
19
TOM, THE STORY OF TOM JONES –
THE MUSICAL
London run: Richmond Theatre, May 17th -21st
Music: Various
Book: Mike James
Director: Geinor Styles
Musical Director: Greg Palmer
Photo by Simon Gough
Cast: Kit Orton/ Tim Bonsor (Tom Jones),
Elin Phillips (Linda), Nicola Reynolds, Phylip Harries,
Richard Corgan, Deborah Thomas, John McClarnon,
Daniel Lloyd, Kieran Bailey, Tom Connor, Nicola Bryan.
Songs: Ghost Riders in the Sky, Spanish Harlem, Lucille, It’s Not
Unusual, Delilah, Green Grass of Home, What’s New Pussycat,
etc.
Kit Orton as Tom Jones
Story: The story focuses on the early years, with the teenage
Tommy Woodward nursing dreams of global stardom, encouraged by his hard-put-upon wife, Linda, whom he
married when he was just 16. There are some tough times when his band The Senators take second place to the
raffle of a 12lb turkey, and a nasty incident when Tommy panics over the none too subtle gay advances of Joe
Meek, then panics even more when Joe fires a gun at him. There’s also a moment of despair and the thought of
suicide, but. . . the show ends with his record contract, and his first No. 1 hit, “It’s Not Unusual”. (The mega-mix
encore naturally allows the many succeeding hits to be performed.)
Notes: The one-week run at Richmond Theatre was part of its UK tour, following the premiere at the Wales
Millennium Centre on March 7th. Initially the tour had a three month run, ending on June 4th in Birmingham.
Photo by Geraint Lewis
THE THREEPENNY
OPERA (5th Revival)
London run: Olivier,
May 18th – Oct 1st
Music: Kurt Weill
Lyrics: Jeremy Sams
Book: Bertolt Brecht
(trans. Anthony Meech)
Director: Rufus Norris
Choreographer: Imogen Knight
Musical Director: David Shrubsole
Cast: Rory Kinnear (Macheath),
Nick Holder (Peachum),
Haydn Gwynne (Mrs Peachum),
Rosalie Craig (Polly), Debbie Kurup (Lucy Brown), Sharon Small (Jenny), George Ikediashi (Balladeer) ,
Peter De Jersey (Tiger Brown), Sarah Amankwah (Filch), Dominic Tighe, Jamie Beddard, Andrew Buckley,
Hammed Animashaun, Toyin Ayedun-Alase, Rebecca Brewer, Ricky Butt, Matt Cross,
Notes: Rufus Norris, the “newish” National Theatre boss, was under pressure with this musical, following the
failure of his earlier direction on “wonder.land”. Generally the critical reaction was mixed: the 1950s setting
seemed to be stated and then ignored, and some basic premises turned upside down “. . such as turning Peachum
from an embodiment of bourgeois criminality into a louche figure in high heels and a Louise Brooks
wig” (Evening Standard). Sex and drugs were emphasised, with Macheath portrayed as a polysexual ex-lover of
Tiger Brown, Jenny Diver dipping into a tin marked “drugs”, and Mrs Peachum spraying drunken vomit. This
“filth-encrusted adaptation largely succeeds in having and eating its grubby cake” (Time Out). There was praise
for the eight-piece onstage band, and the performances “in a production that finally suggests it is Weill’s score
that really keeps the piece alive today” (Guardian). The song “Surabaya Johnny” was interpolated from “Happy
End”.
See Original London production, Royal Court, Feb 1956;
1st revival: Prince of Wales, Feb 1972; 2nd revival: Olivier Theatre, March 1986;
3rd revival: Donmar Warehouse, Dec 1994; 4th revival: Albany Nov 2002 (then Cottesloe, Feb 2003)
2016
20
ALADDIN
London run: Prince Edward Theatre, May 27th
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Howard Ashman & Tim Rice
Book & lyrics: Chad Beguelin
Director-Choreographer: Casey Nicholaw
Musical Director: Michael Kosarin
Cast: Trevor Dion Nicholas (Genie), Dean-John Wilson (Aladdin), Jade Ewan (Jasmine), Don Gallagher
(Jafar), Peter Howe (Iago), Irvine Iqba (The Sultan), Nathan Amzi (Babkak), Stephen Rahman-Hughes
(Kassim), Rachid Sabitri (Omar)
Songs: From the original film: Arabian Nights; One Jump Ahead; Prince Ali; A Whole New World. Cut
from the original film: Proud of Your Boy; Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim; High Adventure. Newly written
for the stage version: These Palace Walls; A Million Miles Away; Diamond in the Rough; Somebody’s Got
Your Back.
Photo by Deen van Meer
Notes: Based on the 1992 Disney animated film, this stage adaptation was given a first outing in Seattle for
the month of July 2011, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw. It then received further USA
regional productions in Utah and St Louis under a different director, as well as productions in the Philippines
and Colombia, before Casey Nicholaw returned to the show, with a pre-Broadway tryout in Toronto in
November 2012, and a Broadway opening in February 2014. The Broadway production was nominated for
five Tony Awards. The London production earned mostly favourable reviews, with much praise for its
opulent production values, sheer splendour and breath-taking effects – “The sheer sense of spectacle is aweinspiring” (Stage); “ . production numbers of such over-the-top razzle-dazzle that you expect a kitchen sink to
emerge from the wings any second” (Observer). There was universal praise for Trevor Dion Nicholas – “. . .
if Nicholas doesn’t win an Olivier next year I will eat a metal lamp” (Time Out). Somewhat inevitably, the
London production drew comparisons to British pantomime tradition (not a problem in the USA!). Several
critics commented on the fact that “although the cast list their birthplaces as Middlesbrough, Bolton and
Orpington, they adopt mid-Atlantic accents . . .it would benefit hugely from a dose of honest, home-grown
humour. Where is Widow Twankey when you need her?” (Sunday Express)
“Aladdin” is the second current West End hit to be directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw – the other
is “Book of Mormon” – and when the planned “Dreamgirls” opens at the Savoy at the end of the year, he is
expected to achieve a rare hat-trick of successes
2016
21
THE GO-BETWEEN
Cast : Michael Crawford (Older Leo),
Gemma Sutton (Marian Maudsley),
Stuart Ward (Ted Burgess),
Stephen Carlile (Viscount Trimingham) ,
Issy Van Randwick (Mrs Maudsley),
Julian Forsyth (Mr Maudsley),
Silas Wyatt-Burke (Denys),
Jenni Bowden (Leo’s Mother),
John Addison (Henry), Johnny Evans-Hutchison/
Luka Green/ William Thompson (Leo),
Samuel Menhinick/ Matty Norgren/
Archie Stevens (Marcus)
Photo by Tristram Kenton
London run: Apollo, May 27th – October 15th
Music & Lyrics: Richard Taylor
Book & Lyrics: David Wood
Director: Roger Haines
Musical Director: Nigel Lilley
William Thompson & Michael Crawford
Story: Leo Colston is an elderly man looking back on his childhood – “the past is a foreign country: they do things
differently there” - to the summer of 1900, which he, a poor fatherless young boy, spent as a guest at Brandham
Hall in Norfolk, the luxurious home of his school-friend Marcus Maudsley. Leo developed a crush on Marcus’s
sister, Marian, and she used him as a secret "go-between", delivering messages to Ted Burgess, the neighbouring
tenant farmer. Initially innocent, Leo is being manipulated by the couple, whose relationship is impossible due to
differences in their social class. But Marian is about to become engaged to Hugh, Viscount Trimingham, and the
situation is now highly dangerous for all concerned. Leo tries to end his role as go-between, but is forced to
continue, and ultimately his involvement has disastrous and tragic consequences. Prompted by these memories,
Leo returns to Branham Hall, 52 years later, only to meet up with Marian once more
Notes: Based on L.P. Hartley’ elegiac novel, written in 1953, “The Go Between” has been adapted several times
for stage and screen, most notably for the award-winning 1970 Joseph Losey film, scripted by Harold Pinter. The
story was even re-created as an opera by the South African composer, David Earl. This musical-theatre version
was first produced at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in 2011, and won Best Musical Production in the Theatre
Management Association’s UK Awards. It is a chamber musical, written to be accompanied by a solo piano - and
this seemed to be the problem for most of the critics: it was a piece for a studio venue rather than an 800-seat West
End Theatre. The reviews fell neatly into two camps: “ it has an elegiac elegance. . .but how we long for this
elegance to be supplanted for just a few minutes by something more powerful, more tuneful” (Eve. Standard); it
was “a muted conservative show” (Time Out); “You want to scream ‘oh, get on with it!” (Daily Mail). On the
other hand, it was “enthralling and beautifully-textured” (Independent) , a “powerful, theatrical and heartfelt
exploration” (Mail on Sunday) and Michael Crawford was praised for “a marvellous, wounding performance and
it tops a production of subtle humanity” (Daily Express)
Photo by Scott Rylander
TITANIC
(1st Revival)
London run:
Charing Cross Theatre,
May 28th – August 6th
Music & Lyrics: Maury Yeston
Book: Peter Stone
Director: Thom Southerland
Choreographer: Cressida Carré
Musical Director: Mark Aspinall
2016
22
TITANIC (1st Revival)
Photo by Scott Rylander
London run: Charing Cross Theatre, May 28th – August 13th
Music & Lyrics: Maury Yeston
Book: Peter Stone
Director: Thom Southerland
Choreographer: Cressida Carré
Musical Director: Mark Aspinall
David Bardsley as Ismay
Cast:
David Bardsley (J. Bruce Ismay),
Sion Lloyd (Thomas Andrews),
Claire Machin (Alice Beane),
Dudley Rogers (Isidor Straus),
Judith Street (Ida Straus), Helena Blackman (Lady Caroline)
Philip Rham (Captain Smith), Niall Sheehy (Barrett),
Victoria Serra (Kate McGowan), Shane McDaid (Jim Farrell),
James Gant (Purser), Alistair Barron, Scarlett Courtney,
Scott Cripps, Matthew Crowe, Luke George,
Douglas Hansell, Rob Houchen. Jessica Paul, Peter Prentice.
Notes: This was a re-creation of Thom Southerland’s multi-award winning production from 2013, substantially recast, but including several performers from the original. It was revived to mark the opening of Thom Southerland’s
artistic directorship of the newly re-organised Charing Cross Theatre. As with the earlier production, it was said to
offer “the best piece of musical staging you will find in London” (Guardian).
Original London run: Southwark Playhouse, July 2013
WALLIS: A CERTAIN PERSON
London run: Upstairs at the Gatehouse, May 28th – June 26th
Music: Simon Slater
Book & Lyrics: Jennifer Selway
Director: John Plews
Musical Director: Simon Slater
Story: This telling of the Abdication Crisis, unlike the 1997 flop “Always” is not a gushing romantic affair.
Edward is emotionally stunted and totally
unsuited to power; Wallis has no feminine
wiles, and is more of a nagging wife than a
mistress. The story is set in the luxurious
world of cocktail parties and weekends in the
country, and is more or less a straight play
regularly interrupted by musical interludes
from a bi-sexual valet and his parlour maid
wife, who comment on the situation.
Notes: The specially written songs for the
musical interludes were not just a device for
changing the scenes, but were considered to
be a witty and pertinent commentary on the
action. The show, however, was basically a
play with songs rather than a musical show.
Nick Kyle, Zoe Doano, & Alastair Brookshaw
Photo by Mitzi de Margary
Cast: Emma Odell (Wallis Simpson), Grant McConvey (Edward, Prince of Wales), Robert Hazle (Valet),
Katie Arnstein (Maid), Bernard O’Sullivan (Stanley Baldwin), Eliza McClelland (Lady Cunard/ Mrs Baldwin),
Alice Pitt-Carter (Thelma Furness), Lee Ormsby, Tom Slatter
2016
23
NORMA JEANE – THE MUSICAL (1st Revival)
London run: Lost Theatre, May 30th – June 19th
Music & Lyrics : Several credited
Book: T.L. Shannon
Director: Christopher Swann
Choreographer: Adam Scown
Musical Director: Alex Bellamy
Cast: Joanne Clifton (Marilyn Monroe), Joseph Bader (Dr McCarthy),
Ruth Betteridge (Young Norma), Sarah Orris (Norma Jeane), Will Teller (Stanley ),
Maggie Robson (Gladys Monroe), Darrie Gardner, Hugo Joss Catton, Martin Rossen,
John McInnes, Erica Martin, Bradley Richardson, James Andrews,
Martyn Ian Davies, Jasmine Avis
Notes: This was a re-worked version of the show originally staged a year earlier, and the enhanced production
values and the addition of a live band were felt to be a great improvement. The songs (written by Anton Mullan,
David Martin, Verity Smith, Graham Noon, Orna Klement, Geoff Cotton and Mike Daniels) were still felt to give
the show a distinct lack of any musical style. However, the leading performances were praised.
Original London Production: Ye Olde Rose & Crown, March 2015
JACKIE THE MUSICAL
London run: New Wimbledon Theatre, June 7th – 11th
Songs: Various
Book: Mike James
Director: Anna Linstrum
Choreographer: Arlene Phillips
Musical Director: Dan de Cruz
Cast: Janet Dibley (Jackie), Michael Hamway (David), Graham Bickley (John), Tricia Adele Turner (Gemma),
Daisy Steere (Young Jackie), Laura Mullowney (Cathy), Hayley-Jo Whitney (Claire), Nicholas Bailey (Max),
Lori Haley-Fox (Jill), Bob Harms (Frankie), Sam O’Hanlon, Gemma Archer, Matthew Barrow,
Dominic Adam Griffin, Liam Paul Jennings, Ricky Johnston, Lacy Jordinson, Anna Muuray, Gemma Naylor,
Adam Philpott, Anthony Starr
Songs: Crazy Horses, Love is in the Air, Tiger Feet, Puppy Love, The Things We Do For Love, I Love to Love,
Hold Me Close
Story: 54 year old Jackie, mother to teenage son, David, is in the midst of divorcing her fickle husband, John, who
is shacked up with Gemma, a younger woman. Downsizing, Jackie comes across a dusty box filled with old copies
of “Jackie”, her favourite 70s teen-magazine. Out of the box pops a sort of genie – Young Jackie - eager to help
with relationship advice, backed up by Cathy and Claire, the magazine’s agony sisters. Older Jackie’s search for
love involves the internet, mobile phones and a blind date with a man called Max, but Young Jackie’s advice comes
from the days of “Be cheerful and say hello”, “Your Jackie Guide to Kissing”, “Don’t date marrieds” and “Use
lemons to soften your elbows”. Older Jackie also
receives advice from her contemporary friend, Jill,
and from Frankie, the barman – only to end up with
both a married man and her ex-husband declaring
their love for her. Jackie decides she’ll be okay in
the end.
Notes: The Wimbledon week was part of the March
to July UK tour. The Telegraph asked: “Cheerfully
dire? A bargain basement version of Mamma Mia?
Or a cult hit in the making?” With a live band of
five it was also described as a jukebox musical about
female empowerment, “packed with the target
audience of 50-something women, who brought
their hands together high above their heads,
although it was impossible to tell if their elbows
were lemon soft” (Guardian)
2016
24
BUGSY MALONE (2nd Revival)
London run: Lyric, Hammersmith, June 11th - September 4th
Music & Lyrics: Paul Williams
Book: Alan Parker / Micky Dolenz
Director: Sean Holmes
Choreographer: Drew McOnie
Musical Director: Phil Bateman
Cast: Adryan Dorset-Pitt (Bugsy), Leni Ziegelmeier (Fat Sam),
Rhianna Dorris (Tallulah), Tabitha Knowles (Blousey Brown),
Oliver Emery (Fizzy) , Alessandro Bonelli (Dandy Dan),
in a company of 37 performers aged between 9 and 19.
Notes: This was a return visit of the 2015 production.
Original Production: Her Majesty’s, May 1983; 1st Revival: Lyric Hammersmith, April 2015
THE DONKEY SHOW
London run: Proud Camden, June 21st—August 21st
Music & Lyrics: Various
Book: Diane Paulus and Randy Weiner
Director: Ryan McBryde
Choreographer: Lucy Ridley
Musical Director: Paul Herbert
Cast: Vikki Stone (Oberon), James Gillan (Lady Puck), Siobhan Athwal (Dmitri), Bronté
Barbé (Helen), Melissa Bayern, Natalie Chua, Samuel Fogell
Songs: Car Wash, I Will Survive, We Are Family, Ring My Bell, You Sexy Thing, I’m
Every Woman, etc.
Story: In a 1970s Camden Town Disco, Oberon, the sleazy club-owner, introduces Lady Puck, a roller-skating
drag queen, and a motley collection of debauched and decadent guests who recreate the main story elements of “A
Midsummer Night’s Dream”.
Notes: With a great deal of audience participation, this was a kind of disco party-night adaptation of “A Midsummer
Night’s Dream” first presented off-Broadway in August 1999 by the husband-and-wife team of Paulus and Weiner
and members of the Project 400. It had a cult following and was staged in many different cities in several countries,
and claimed to have been seen by “over a million party-goers world-wide”. “Part drag-show, part singalong, it’s
doubtful whether you’d have any idea what was going on if you weren’t already familiar with the plot” (The Stage)
GET ‘EM OFF
London run: Above the Stag, June 22nd – August 28th
Music & Lyrics: Jon Bradfield
Book: Jon Bradfield & Martin Hooper
Director: Robert McWhir
Choreographer: Carole Todd
Musical Director: Ian Vince-Gatt
Cast: Dereck Walker (Quinny), Tom Bowen (Luke), Joe Goldie (Mitch),
Michael Nelson (Milosh), Ashley Daniels (Ricky), Stuart Harris (Brian),
David Michael Hands (Headmaster/Therapist, etc)
Songs: Gotta Get Your Dick Out, Netflix and Chill
Story: Quinny is the manager and resident drag queen of the failing Yellow Canary gay club. So, the staff and
clientele come up with a rescue plan – no more tired old cabaret, and in with competitive stripping. The
enthusiastic Canary boys include Luke, the straight electrician who strips strictly for cash; Mitch, the twerking
twink; Milosh and Ricky, a pair of star-crossed lovers; and Butch Brian, a college tutor. The strippers form a team,
and things get serious when they find themselves heading for the Amateur Gay Strip Night regional finals.
Notes: Described as “The Full Monty meets Glee” this was reviewed as “the most fun we’ve ever had with our
clothes on”.
2016
25
London run: Menier Chocolate Factory,
July 1st – September 17th
Music & Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Book: James Lapine
Director: Noah Brody & Ben Steinfeld
Choreographer: Lisa Shriver
Musical Director: Evan Rees
Cast: Vanessa Reesland (Witch),
Liz Hayes (Jack’s Mother/Cinderella’s Mother),
Emily Young (Red Riding Hood/ Rapunzel),
Ben Steinfeld/ Harry Hepple (Baker),
Jessie Austrian/ Laura Tebbutt (Baker’s Wife),
Claire Karpen (Cinderella/ Granny),
Noah Brody/ Steffan Lloyd Evans (Cinderella’s Prince/ Wolf),
Andy Grotelueschen (Milky White / Rapunzels’ Prince),
Paul L. Coffey (Mysterious Man), Patrick Mulryan (Jack/ Steward).
Notes: This production by the Fiasco Theater Company was originally staged in Princeton, NJ, and then
transferred to New York’s Roundabout Theater. With a cast of 10, and costumed in early Pioneer skirts and
shawls, this visiting American import was described as “Charming, large-hearted and endearing” (Stage). The
music was provided chiefly by Evan Rees on an upright piano, with the cast members adding such instruments
as a bassoon, banjo, trumpet, autoharp and even a bucket. A bearded Milky White (the cow) with a baby’s bottle
for an udder, and “two ungroomed-looking blokes with facial hair playing Cinderella’s step-sisters, holding
between them a pair of flowery curtains to suggest their dresses” (Daily Telegraph) caused some critics to feel it
was adding more levels of “cleverness” to a show that was already complicated and clever enough. As always,
a Sondheim show raised the widest range of responses. From August 9th Harry Hepple, Steffan Lloyd-Evans and
Laura Tebbut replaced the original American performers.
Original London Production: Phoenix Theatre, Sept 1990
1st Revival: Donmar Warehouse, Nov 1998; 2nd revival: Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House, Jun 2007
3rd revival: Upstairs at the Gatehouse, Dec 2008; 4th: Open Air, Regent’s Park, Aug 2010 ;
5th revival: Ye Olde Rose & Crown, Oct 2014
I’M GETTING MY ACT TOGETHER
AND TAKING IT ON THE ROAD (1st Revival)
London run: Jermyn Street Theatre, July 6th – 23rd
Music: Nancy Ford
Lyrics & Book: Gretchen Cryer
Director: Matthew Gould
Choreographer: Uncredited.
Musical Director: Nick Barstow
Cast: Landi Oshinowo (Heather), Nicolas Colicos (Joe), Rosanna Hyland (Cheryl),
Kristen Gaetz (Alice), David Gibbons (Jake) Alice Offley (Scottie), Nick Barstow,
Rich Craig
Songs: Natural High, Miss America, Dear Tom, Old Friend, Strong Woman Number, Put in a Package and Sold,
Lonely Lady
Story: A divorced 39 year old pop singer attempts a comeback and auditions before her dubious manager as
honestly as she can, without make-up or sexy clothes. Through her songs she gradually becomes the
embodiment of the outspoken totally liberated woman who knows exactly who she is and where she is going.
Notes: Although this show ran for three years in New York, and had a West End transfer, it has had to wait 35
years for a London revival. Perhaps this is due to the form of the show – neither a developed musical story nor a
song cycle, it is “more a debate between performer and manager with music” (Stage). However, the general
reaction was very favourable and its description: “a metaphor for the relationships between men and women.
He liked her the way she used to be. He doesn’t like this new version of her” was felt to be as meaningful today
as it was in the late 1970s.
Original London production: Apollo, March 1981
Photo by Tristram Kenton
INTO THE WOODS (6th Revival)
2016
26
THE STRIPPER
London run: St James Studio, July 7th– Aug 13th
Music & Lyrics: Richard O’Brien,
& Richard Hartley
Book: Carter Brown
Director: Benji Sperring
Choreographer: Lucie Pankhurst
Musical Director: Alex Beetschen
Cast: Sebastian Torkia (Al Wheeler),
Gloria Onitiri (Patty Keller/Deadpan Dolores),
Hannah Grover, Marc Pickering,
Michael Steedon
Songs: The Lonely are Legend, Men Like That, Hearts and Flowers, Man of Steel, Cry On, There’s Many a
True Word Said in Bed, Planning my Big Exit, Trouble in Pine City.
Story: Set in California in 1961 where Al Wheeler, an over-sexed cop, fails to save a suicidal Patty Keller
from a window ledge. Investigating her death, he discovers she and her cousin, the stripper Deadpan Dolores,
were involved with some heavies at a dubious lowlife strip-club-cum-knocking-shop. However, solving the
case takes longer than it should because of Al’s attempt to bed almost every woman with whom he comes into
contact.
Notes: Based on the 1961 book by Carter Brown, “The Stripper” was first staged by the Sydney Theatre
Company in Australia. It was not a happy premiere, with the original director banning Richard O’Brien from
the rehearsals, and the show failing in its attempt to cash in on the Rocky Horror Show market. With lyrics
like “I want to fondle your tits. . . Baby you give me a hard-on” this European premiere was slated by the
critics. “Wearingly misogynistic” (E. Standard); “oozes unpleasantly like a cheap, overfilled meat
pie” (Guardian); “ a toe-curler” (Daily Mail); “The enterprise feels, to quote O’Brien’s greatest hour: Lost in
time. And lost in space. And meaning” (Stage)
AMERICAN IDIOT (1st Revival – Return Visit)
London run: Arts Theatre, July 8th – September 25th
Music & Lyrics: Billie Joe Armstrong
Book: Michael Mayer & Billie Joe Armstrong
Director-Choreographer: Racky Plews
Musical Director: Mark Crossland
Cast: Alexis Gerred (Tunny), Steve Rushton (Will), Newton Faulkner (Johnny),
Lucas Rush (St. Jimmy), Amelia Lily (Whatsername), Cellen Chugg Jones (Theo),
Alice Stokoe (Extraordinary Girl), Jemma Geneaus (Alysha), Emma Housley (Heather),
Llandyll Gove (Gerard), Karina Hind (Libby.
Notes: This production had played the Arts Theatre from July to November 2015, and then undertook a UK
tour. It came back to the Arts for a limited run.
Original run:
Hammersmith
Apollo,
December 2012
First revival:
Arts Theatre,
July 2015
2016
27
GROUNDHOG DAY
London run: Old Vic, July 15th – September 17th
Music & Lyrics: Tim Minchin
Book: Danny Rubin
Director: Matthew Warchus
Choreographer: Peter Darling , Ellen Kane
Musical Director: Alan Berry
Cast: Andy Karl (Phil Connors), Carlyss Peer (Rita Hanson),
Georgina Hagen (Nancy), Andrew Langtree (Ned Reyerson)
and an ensemble of 21
Story: Phil Connors, a cantankerous TV weatherman is sent to Punxatawney, Pennsylvania to cover the
annual Groundhog Day celebrations, where the behaviour of the celebrity resident woodchuck will determine
whether spring is on its way, or whether winter will hang around a bit longer. This small-town folksy
nonsense is far below the arrogant Phil, who then gets trapped by a blizzard, marooned amongst the people he
sneers at, and is forced to relive the same day over and over. He is trapped in a never-ending time loop until he
breaks the cycle by becoming a nicer person, and a caring human being. Initially he attempts to break the
monotony by sleeping with Nancy and all the other women in the town, though the one he really wants is Rita,
his perpetually new colleague. Every single day he has a set-to with an old school-friend, Ned, who is serially
and inevitably punched. Finally the déjà-vu is too much, and he kills himself with an electric toaster in the
bath - only to wake up back where he started the next day. Eventually, Scrooge-like, redemption provides a
rescue.
Notes: This was based on the 1993 film with Bill Murray, with the book by the original screenplay writer,
Danny Rubin and the music and lyrics by Tim Minchin (of “Matilda” credit). Its limited ten week run at the
Old Vic was intended as a try-out for a Broadway run, with the American, Andy Karl in the Bill Murray role.
Photo by Manuel Harlan
It was a great success with audience and critics alike: “equal to, and perhaps better than, the movie” (D.
Telegraph); “. . .funny, frantic and at times, very touching” (Times”) ; “. . .makes the tale of redemption of a
wisecracking heel irresistible” (Sun). The magic illusions of Paul Kieve, the choreography , design and
direction , as well as the score with its ballads, bluegrass and rock all came in for high praise, though the
highest was for the tour-de-force performance of Andy Karl. Before the show had ended its limited season in
London, the New York opening had been announced for March 2017.
Andy Karl and Carlyss Peer
2016
28
THE FIX (2nd Revival)
Photo by Darren Bell
London run: Union Theatre, July 13th – Aug 6th
Music: Dana P. Rowe
Book & Lyrics: John Dempsey
Director-Choreographer: Michael Strassen
Musical Director: Josh Sood
Cast: Fra Fee (Cal Chandler),
Lucy Williamson (Violet Chandler),
Ken Christiansen (Grahame Chandler),
Madalena Alberto (Tina), Sam Barrett (Peter),
Kate Parr (Deborah), Rhys Benjamin,
Peter Saul Blewden, Laura Bryars, Alastair Hill,
Francesca Leyland, Sarah-Marie Maxwell
Ken Christiansen & Fra Fee
Notes: A revival of Michael Strassen’s 2012
production at the old Union Theatre was his choice for the opening of the “new” Union, almost across the road
from the old venue. The earlier production was staged during a USA Election Year, and scored with its
contemporary satire. However, the present USA election offers a far more grotesque view of American politics
than this revival and for many critics the satire falls short of the real thing.
Original London run: Donmar Warehouse, May 1997
First revival: Union Theatre, June 2012
THE BODYGUARD (1st Revival)
London run: Dominion, July 15th – January 7th, 2017
Music & Lyrics: Various;
Book: Alex Dinelaris
Original Screenplay: Lawrence Kasdan
Director: Thea Sharrock
Choreographer: Arthur Pita
Musical Director: Richard Beadle / Mike Dixon
Producer: Michael Harrison & David Ian
Photo by Alessandro Pina
Cast: Beverley Knight/ Carole Stennett (Rachel Marron), Ben Richards (Frank Farmer),
Mark Holden (Bill Devaney), Alex Andreas (Tony Scipelli), Rachel John (Nikki Marron),
Dominic Taylor (Sy Spector), Matthew Stathers (The Stalker), Glen Fox (Ray Court)
Notes: The original London run ended in August 2014 when the contract with the Adelphi expired, and no
suitable venue was available for a transfer. The show was re-staged in February 2015 for a UK tour with
Alexander Burke
playing Rachel –
with Zoe Birkett as
an alternate. There
were also several
E u r o p e a n
productions. For
its return visit to
the West End,
Beverley Knight
was back playing
the lead role (with
Carole Stennett
playing matinees.)
Original
production:
Adelphi, Dec 2012
2016
29
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (3rd Revival)
London run: Open Air, July 15th – August 27th
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics: Tim Rice
Book: Tom O’Horgan
Director: Timothy Sheader
Choreographer: Drew McOnie
Musical Director: Tom Deering
Photo by Johann Persoon
Cast: Declan Bennett (Jesus), Tyrone Huntley (Judas),
Anoushka Lucas (Mary Magdalene), Peter Caulfield (Herod),
David Thaxton (Pilate), Cavin Cornwall (Caiaphas),
Joel Harper-Jackson (Simon Zealotes), Sean Kingsley (Annas),
Phil King (Peter), Ashley Andrews, Will Barratt, Billy Cullum,
Joshua Dever, Omari Douglas
Photo by George Beard
Tyrone Huntley as Judas
Notes: “Shorn of hippy excesses,
infused with melancholy, this
production is a work of rare mission
and artistic merit” (Daily Mail) –
this was a typical reaction to a much
praised open-air production. The
staging, choreography and
performances – especially Tyrone
Huntley as Judas – were almost
unanimously acclaimed. “If you
need any reminding how skilled
British musical actors have become in recent years,. . . the ensemble is terrific and there’s not a weak link in the
cast” (Guardian). The one dissenting voice complained of “. . . the banality of the lyrics and bombast of the
music. . . ugly iron-girder set, largely monochrome costumes, aerobics-class choreography and undistinguished
performances” (Sunday Express). However this latter was a lone voice in overwhelming acclaim.
Original London run: Palace, Aug 1972 ; 1st Revival: Lyceum, Nov 1996 ; 2nd Revival: O2 Arena, Sept 2012
CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG (1st Revival)
London run: New Wimbledon Theatre, July 20th – one week
Music & Lyrics: Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman
Book: Jeremy Sams ;
Director: James Brining
Choreographer: Stephen Mear
Musical Director: Robert Scott
Cast: Lee Mead (Caractacus Potts), Andy Hockley (Grandpa Potts),
Hope Fletcher (Truly Scrumptious), Matt Gillet (Childcatcher),
Hayden Goldberg/Henry Kent/Elliott Morris (Jeremy),
Lucy Sherman/ Darcy Snares/ Caitlin Surtees (Jemima),
Shaun Williamson (Baron Bomburst), Michelle Collins (Baroness Bomburst), Ewan Cummins (Toymaker),
Notes: This was a touring production which had played the Christmas season at the West Yorkshire Playhouse
2015-2016 , and then started a UK tour which is scheduled to end at the Bristol Hippodrome in February 2017.
Original London production: London Palladium, April 2002
2016
30
BABES IN ARMS (1937 Version)
London run: Ye Olde Rose & Crown, July 20th – August 7th
Music: Richard Rodgers
Lyrics: Lorenz Hart
Book: Rodgers & Hart
Director: Brendan Matthew
Choreographer: Carole Todd
Musical Director: Aaron Clingham
Cast: Andrew Truluck (Sheriff Reynolds), Ruth Betteride (Billie Smith), Anthony Matteo (Lee Calhoun),
James Tait (Irving DeQuincy), Alex Okoampa (Ivor DeQuincy), Jack McCann (Valentine Lamar),
Joey Warne (Peter), Meg McCarthy (Dolores), Dominic Owen (Gus), Beth Bradley (Baby Rose),
Austin Garrett (Marshall Blackstone), Paige Mackenzie (Bo Calhoun), Jordan Ginger, Annabel Edwards.
Songs: Where or When, Babes in Arms, I Wish I Were in Love Again, Light on our Feet, Way out West, My
Funny Valentine, Johnny One Note, All at Once, The Lady is a Tramp.
Story: A group of teenagers, left at home in Rhode Island while their parents are travelling for work, decide they
will put on a show to avoid being sent to a work camp by the local sheriff. They are helped by outsiders who
happen to be passing through. The first is a smart-talking woman called Billie who persuades the local rich boy
Lee Calhoun to fund the show. However, he refuses to put up the money if two black boys, Irving and Ivor are
allowed to be in the show. But the group includes Valentine, who has read Karl Marx, and others who support
Roosevelt, the reforming President, not to mention the fiercely independent Billie, and her philosophy “no man has
the right to own any woman”. The plot also involves an aviator forced to make a crash landing in Rhode Island
when his attempt at a trans-Atlantic flight goes wrong; a dream-sequence ballet involving Peter, the communist;
and a secondary love story between Dolores, the Sheriff’s daughter, and her ex, Gus.
Notes: The 1937 original version had strong political overtones with discussions of Nietzsche, a Communist
character and two African-American youths who are victims of racism. For the Broadway revival in 1959 George
Oppenheimer created a "sanitized, de-politicized rewrite" which changed the story so the young people were trying
to save a local theatre from being demolished, not trying to avoid being sent to a work farm. The sequence of the
songs was re-arranged, many dance numbers eliminated and all references to Communism erased.
Photo by David Ovenden
The 1959 revision was the only one allowed for the next forty years, until the Cincinnati College Conservatory of
Music presented the original version (with a few race references slightly re-edited) in 1998. This prompted the
American playwright John Guare, with the Richard Rodgers’ estate approval, to create the third version of “Babes
in Arms”, restoring much of the political content. This was staged in New York by the City Centre's Encore
Company in 1999. (Yet another version was created for the Chichester production in 2007, using a combination of
Oppenheimer and Guare, but adding extra characters and interpolating songs from other Rodgers & Hart shows.)
The present Rose and Crown production was of the original 1937 version (with some small changes relevant to
“political correctness”) and was its first performance in the UK. The 1988 production at Regents Park used the
George Oppenheimer
adaptation and had been
roundly condemned for its
staging and performance.
This version, performed with
a five-piece band, was
welcomed as an interesting
piece of musical theatre
history, a fascinating glimpse
of how Rodgers’ work
developed from his
collaboration with Hart to
that with Hammerstein, and
w a s p r a i s e d f or i t s
performances and especially
Carole Todd’s choreography.
Original London production:
Open Air, Regent’s Park,
August 1988
2016
31
EXPOSURE THE MUSICAL –
Life Through a Lens
Cast: David Albury (Jimmy), Natalie Anderson (Tara),
Michael Greco (Mike Mason), Niamh Perry (Pandora),
Kurt Kansley (Jimmy’s Father/ Envy),
Jahrel Thomas (Gluttony/ Aid Worker),
Rhiannon Duncan (Lust), Andy Barke, Stevie Mahoney,
Cassie Rogers, Lauren Stroud, Manny Tsakanika,
Ella-Rose Whitehouse.
Story: Jimmy, whose photographer father died the day he was
born, follows in his father’s footsteps and wants to become a
top photographer of the biggest celebrities and the top names
in the fashion world. By selling his soul to the Devil, through
the agency of corrupt agent Mike Mason, Jimmy achieves his
ambition, only to find one of his models is Pandora, an old
childhood friend, now pregnant and a drug-addict pop-star, and then to fall in love with Tara, a homeless
woman who makes angels out of Coke cans.
Notes: Heavily criticised for its clunky construction, a “relentless, repetitive score” (Stage), and a muddle of
fashion floorshow and photo slideshow. Other comments: “This is cringe theatre. Some of the numbers were
so bad that I couldn’t watch and held my breath” (Times); “jaw-droppingly crass melodrama and grating
pomposity without a glimmer of guiding intelligence” (Time Out) . Most critics commented on the fact that
whenever the show dipped, the solution was to send on David Albury in his skimpiest underwear. Gratuitous
and pointless for some, and, for others, the only entertaining thing in the show.
MARCO POLO –An Untold Love Story
London run: Shaw Theatre, August 5th – September 4th
Music, Book & Lyrics: Rogelio Saldo Chua
Director: Preece Killick
Musical Director: Paul Ooi
Cast : Lawrence Olsworth-Peter (Marco Polo), Stephanie Rees (Princess Kogajin),
Marie Glorieux (Empress Wu), Gian Carla Gloria, Nicholas Lupu, Chingoy Alonso
Story: On Marco Polo’s journey from
Venice to Central Asia he meets and
falls in love with Princess Kogajin, the
daughter of Kublai Khan.
Notes: “The wild mix of different
accents” (The Stage), “The acting is
woefully declamatory and over the
top” (London Theatre.co.uk) and “it
feels like a weak imitation of
Gondoliers or The Mikado crossed with
Turandot” (Musical Theatre Review
Online) - these were typical of the
critical response to this Malaysian
musical receiving its European premiere
following productions in the Philippines
and Paris. It was staged with a cast of
26 and an offstage seven-piece band
Photo by Pamela Raith
London run: St James, July 16th – August 27th
Music, Book & Lyrics: Mike Dyer
Director: Phil Willmott
Choreographer: Lindon Barr
Musical Director: Mark Collins
2016
32
London run: Southwark Playhouse,
August 5th – September 10th
Music: Richard Rodgers
Book & Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II
Director: Thom Southerland
Choreographer: Lee Proud
Musical Director: Dean Austin
Cast: Gary Tushaw (Joe Taylor),
Emily Bull (Jenny Brinker),
Katie Bernstein (Emily),
Steven Watts (Joe’s father),
Julia J. Nagle (Joe’s mother) ,
David Delve (Ned Brinker),
Dylan Turner (Charlie Townsend) ,
Susan Travers (Grandma Taylor), Cassandra McCowan, Matthew McDonald, Louise Olley, Benjamin Purkiss,
Jacqueline Tate, Samuel Thomas, Leah West, Matthew Woodyatt.
Songs: A Fellow Needs a Girl, You Are Never Away, So Far, Money Isn’t Ev’rything, The Gentleman is a
Dope, Come Home
Story: The story follows the life of Joe Taylor from his birth in a small Midwest American town to his 35th
birthday. Joe goes to school, marries Jenny, a local beauty, and follows in his father’s footsteps by qualifying as a
doctor. He goes to work in a large Chicago hospital which devotes itself to pandering to wealthy hypochondriacs.
When he discovers his wife is cheating on him, he returns to his home town with Emily, his adoring nurse, and rededicates his life to healing the sick and helping the needy.
Notes: This was Rodgers & Hammerstein’s third collaboration, following the great successes of “Oklahoma” and
“Carousel”. By those standards, it was a flop, opening on Broadway in 1947 and closing after nine months.
Hammerstein’s aim in book and lyrics was to tell the story of an American Everyman, and to present the tale in
the bare-stage, no-props style of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town”. The show’s other innovations included a Greek
chorus commenting on the action both to the actors and the audience. The show suffered from being oversentimentalised and way ahead of its time in musical staging (this latter aspect had a great influence on the future
work of Stephen Sondheim) but this UK premiere was regarded as a “fascinating collector’s item” (Guardian),
and “A lovely heartfelt production that takes you into the soul of a lost gem” (Independent).
THE BURNT PART BOYS
London run: Park 90, August 10th – September 3rd
Music: Chris Miller
Lyrics: Nathan Tysen
Book: Mariana Elder
Director: Matthew Iliffe
Musical Director: Nick Barstow
Cast: Joseph Peacock (Pete), Ryan Heenan (Dusty), Chris Jenkins (Jake),
Grace Osborn (Frances), David Haydn (Ghost of Father), David Leopold (Chet),
Danny Black-George, Tomas Wolstenholme, Jonathan Bourne, Jamie Fillery.
Story: The burnt part of the mountain in West Virginia got its name after a mining
disaster in 1952, which left many of town’s children fatherless. Ten years later the
owners of the mine decide to go back on their original promise, and plan to re-open the section where the bodies
of those men are still interred. Pete, who was just four when his father was killed in the accident, is determined to
prevent this, and he and his friend Dusty set off with explosives to blow up the mountain. They are hotly pursued
by Pete’s older brother, Jake, and his friend, Chet, who both, with no other choice, work for the mining company,
and by Frances, a girl who also lost her father in the disaster.
Notes: With a five piece band creating an authentic “Texan” sound of elegiac bluegrass, and an ingenious design,
this received all round high praise. All ten performers were acclaimed, and the score and libretto contributed to “a
powerful coming of age story.” The one act show was first staged at Playwrights Horizon, off-Broadway, in
April 2010. This was its British premiere.
Photo by Scott Rylander
ALLEGRO
2016
33
CHILDREN OF EDEN
(2nd Revival)
Cast: Stephen Barry (Adam/Noah),
Natasha O’Brien (Eve/Mama Noah),
Nikita Johal (Yonah), Daniel Miles,
Guy Woolf, Kris Marc-Joseph
Notes: This revival marked the 25th
anniversary of the show’s West End
premiere. That original production,
and the fringe revival nine years later
were both flops. It was hoped this
Stephen Barry and Natasha O’Brien
might be third time lucky. Sadly this
was not the case. The critics were able to praise the musical content and performance, but generally decried the
very literal and plodding book.
Original London Production: Prince Edward, January 1991;
.LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (4
London run: New Wimbledon, August 22nd – 27th
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Howard Ashman
Director: Tara Louis Wilkinson
Choreographer: Matthew Cole
Musical Director: Mark Crossland
th
1st revival: Landor, February 2000
Revival)
Cast: Sam Lupton (Seymour), Stephanie Clift (Audrey), Rhydian Roberts (Orin), Paul Kissaun (Mushnik),
Sasha Latoya (Crystal), Vanessa Fisher (Chiffon), Cassie Clare (Ronette), Josh Wilmott (Audrey II)
Notes: This played Wimbledon as part
of a UK tour which opened at the
beginning of August in Bournemouth,
and was scheduled to run until
November 26th. The cast was highly
praised – Sam Lupton and Stephanie
Clift who managed to convey extreme
vulnerability and truthfulness in roles
that could easily have been sent up,
and the former X-Factor winner,
Rhydian, for delightfully “chewing the
scenery” (Times) in the over-the-top
role of the dentist. This was a touring
production of excellent vocal
performances, though, for some, its
production and scenic values were
somewhat lacking.
Photo by Matt Martin
Photo by Scott Rylander
London run: Union Theatre,
August 10th – September 10th
Music & Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz
Book: John Caird
Director: Christian Durham
Musical Director: Inga Davis-Rutter
Sam Lupton and Stephanie Clift
Original London production: Comedy Theatre, Oct 1983 ;
1st revival: Landor, May 2001; 2nd revival: Upstairs at the Gatehouse, Dec 2002;
3rd revival: Menier Chocolate Factory, Nov 2006 (trans. Duke of York’s/New Ambassadors)
2016
34
GHOST – THE MUSICAL (1st Revival)
London run: New Wimbledon Theatre, September 1st – 10th
Music & Lyrics: Dave Stewart & Glen Ballard
Book: Bruce Joel Rubin
Director: Bob Tomson
Choreographer: Alistair David
Musical Director:
Notes: This revival began its UK tour at Wimbledon and
immediately met with very poor reviews for Sarah Harding’s
performance. The online follow-up was damningly vitriolic.
The former Girls Aloud singer was having difficulty with the
singing and the practicalities of the famous “clay” scene.
Things did not improve, and the mental and physical strain led
to her missing several performances, and failing to complete one
performance at Blackpool, with her understudy Kelly Hampson
taking over half-way through the show. After a short break she
returned to the show, fulfilling her original six month contract.
From January 2017 she was replaced by Carolyn Maitland for
the remainder of the tour, planned to run through to April 2017
Photo uncredited
Cast: Andy Moss (Sam Wheat),
Sarah Harding (Molly Jensen),
Sam Ferriday (Carl Bruner), Leo Sene (Willy Lopez),
Jacqui Dubois (Oda Mae Brown), James Earl Adair,
Gary Lee Netly, Tarisha Rommick, Simbi Akande,
Lori Baker, Ethan Bradshaw, Lauren Drew,
Matthew Vinetot, Mike Ward, Kelly Hampson
Sarah Harding & Andy Moss
Original London run: Piccadilly Theatre, July 2011
GODSPELL – In Concert (6th revival)
London run: St Paul’s , Covent Garden, August 30th & 31st
Music & Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz
Book: John-Michael Tebelak
Director: Dean Johnson
Choreographer: Billy Cullum
Musical Director: Michael Bradley
Cast: Kerry Ellis, Ramin Karimloo, Preeya Kalidas , George Maguire, Dominic Anderson
Notes: This was a fund-raising
event with established performers
joining a group of young
performers from the British
Theatre Academy.
Photo by Roy Tan
Original London Production:
Wyndham’s, Nov 1974;
1st revival: Her Majesty’s,
May 1977;
2nd Revival: Shaftesbury
July 1978;
3rd revival: Barbican,
August, 1993;
4th revival: Union,
April 2011;
5th revival: Hackney Empire,
April 2015
George Maguire & youth ensemble
2016
35
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
London run: The Scoop (Free open-air theatre),
August 31st – September 25th
Music & Lyrics: Toyah Wilcox & Simon Darlow
Book: Phil Willmott
Director: Phil Willmott
Choreographer: Francesca Bridge-Cicic
Musical Director: Pre-recorded tracks uncredited
Photo by Susan Burnett
Cast: Alec Porter (Raskolnikov),
Rachel Delooze (Sonja),
Steve Graney (Andrei),
Zac Hamilton (Dimitri), Angelas Laverick,
Phil Willmott, Reuven Gershonn,
Jasmeen James, Aran MacRae, Lizzie Frain
Songs: I Want to be Free, It’s a Mystery
Notes: A rock-musical based on Dostoyevsky’s
novel “Crime and Punishment”, and featuring the music of Toyah Wilcox and Simon Darlow, this show was
originally announced as “Gods and Monsters” before reverting to the original title. Its “soft-punk” score was said
by some critics to be an ill-fit with the setting of 19th century St Petersburg, but several of the numbers were
praised as crowd-pleasing. Overall, it was felt this was more a colourful and theatrical play with added songs
rather than a piece of musical theatre. The individual performances were praised, and the 90 minute show was
performed in the open-air near Tower Bridge, however “. . . the best thing about this production is that it’s
free” (Times). During the run Alec Porter broke his ankle and the role was taken over by understudy Jack Watson.
VANITIES – The Musical
London run: Trafalgar Studios2 ,
September 1st – October 1st
Music & Lyrics: David Kirshenbaum
Book: Jack Helfner
Director-Choreographer: Racky Plews
Musical Director: Tamara Saringer
Cast: Lauren Samuels (Mary),
Ashleigh Gray (Kathy),
Lizzy Connolly (Joanne)
Songs: Mystery, I Don’t Wanna Miss a
Thing, An Organised Life, I Can’t Imagine,
Fly Into the Future, Cute Boys with Short
Haircuts, Let Life Happen, The Same Old
Music, Friendship Isn’t What it Used to
Be, Letting Go.
Lauren Samuels, Ashleigh Gray & Lizzy Connolly
Story: Self-assured Mary, sweet and naïve Joanne, and organised Kathy are popular High School cheerleaders
when they first become friends. They go to college together, and eventually Joanne gets married and becomes
extremely conservative; Mary opens an art gallery and becomes sexually liberated; and Kathy lives the high life
in Manhattan. At a reunion in Kathy’s luxurious apartment they end up fighting over the different paths of their
lives, but later, at a funeral, they all reconcile and end as they started, three best friends.
Notes: The play version of “Vanities” began off-Broadway in January 1976, and went on to become one of the
longest running off-Broadway plays, closing in August 1980 after 1,785 performances. Following try-outs in
Palo Alto in 2006, and a production in Pasadena, California in 2008, the musical adaptation opened off-Broadway
in July 2009 for a short but much praised run. This London premiere included some new songs and omitted some
of the material used in New York. Generally the critics felt it was a bland attempt at a tale of female friendship
and empowerment, but there was praise for several of the individual songs and much praise for the performers
themselves
2016
36
[TITLE OF SHOW] (1st Revival)
London run: Waterloo East
Music & Lyrics: Jeff Bowen
Book: Hunter Bell
Director: Will Keith
Musical Director: Oliver Rew
September 6th – 25th
Cast: Daniel Mack Shand (Jeff), Louie Westwood Garnham (Hunter),
Malindi Freeman (Susan), Chloe Hawkins (Heidi)
Photo by James Beedham
Notes: Originally a one-act offBroadway hit, this had been
performed in London in 2013.
The verdict then, as now, for
this first revival, was this is a
charming and fun show
ultimately aimed at musicaltheatre devotees, and unlikely
to hold much interest for the
average theatregoer. This first
revival stretched the show into
two acts, with some feeling the
interval
was
unnecessary,
interrupting the flow of the
action.
Original London production:
Landor, August 2013
27 – RISE OF A FALLING STAR
London run: The Cockpit, September 8th – October 22nd
Music: Matt Wills
Book& Lyrics: Sam Cassidy
Director: Sam Cassidy & Arlene Phillips
Choreographer: Arlene Phillips
Cast: Greg Oliver (Orpheus), Jack Donnelly (Max), Cassie Compton (Amy), Ryan Gibb (Jason), Ryan Molloy,
Lucy Martin, Maisey Bawden, Eloise Davies, Jodie Jacobs, Collette Guitart, Emily Kenwright, Sophie Ayers.
Anthony Selwyn, Jason Kajdi, Kristian Cunningham.
Photo by Nick Ross
Story: Hendrix, Joplin, Cobain, Morrison and Winehouse – all music legends whose lives were tragically cut short
at the age of 27. And now Orpheus has to come to terms with his relationship to himself and to the people closest to
him as he first struggles with the difficulties of being an unknown , penniless artist, and then as a world-famous rock
star. His ultimate quest is to be reunited with his girlfriend, Amy, following her to the underworld after she has died
from an overdose.
His
experience of fame and
notoriety leads him on a
journey of unstoppable selfdestruction.
Notes: The show received a
predominantly negative
reception:
“loud and
flashy. . .hazy, lazy
script” (Stage), “. . . a tacky
mess, high on its own
empty bombast” (Times).
2016
37
London run: Southbank Centre,
Sept 10th & 11th
Music: Ian Hill
Book & Lyrics: Liz Carr
Director: Mark Whitelaw
Choreographer: Jane Turner
Musical Director: Ian Hill
Cast: Liz Carr, David James,
Isaac Bernier-Doyle,
Gillian Dean, Stephanie James,
Claire Willoughby
Story: There is no linear plot as
the show reviews the question of
assisted suicide in a series of songs and sketches, attempting to diffuse any possible distaste with humour. Liz
Carr acts as a kind of suicide tourist, visiting countries that already allow assisted suicide; a marketing team
debate how to “sell” the scheme, and how to come up with a more attractive name for their service; a lady
called Palliative Claire looks at possible alternatives; and there is input from representatives of the Catholic
Church and senior citizens.
Photo by Rob Henderson
ASSISTED SUICIDE
– THE MUSICAL
Notes: This was presented as part of the Southbank Centre’s Unlimited Festival. Reflecting the satirical
nature of the piece, the score consisted of a variety of pastiche numbers in styles ranging from music-hall to
romantic ballads, and came in for some praise. However, the thin pre-recorded tracks and poor quality
technical staging were felt to have handicapped the production and its message.
FLOYD COLLINS (2nd Revival)
London run: Wilton’s Music Hall, September 21st – 15th October
Music & Lyrics: Adam Guettel
Book: Tina Landau
Director: Jonathan Butterell
Musical Director: Tom Brady
Cast: Ashley Robinson (Floyd Collins), Rebecca Trehearn (Nellie Collins),
Sam Thomas (Homer Collins), Daniel Booroff (Skeets Miller),
Ian Burfield (H.T. Carmichael), Sarah Ingram (Miss Jane),
Jack Chissick (Lee Collins), Craig Pinder (Bee Doyle),
Marc Akinfolarin (Ed Bishop), Francesco Lo Giudice (Skeets Miller),
Joel Elferink, Christopher Jordan-Marshall, Alex Spinney
Original London run:
Bridewell, July 1999
First Revival:
Southwark Playhouse,
February 2012
Ashley Robinson
Photo by Tristram Kenton
Notes: This was a highly praised
revival,
“not
to
be
missed” (Stage), with particular
praise for Rebecca Trehearn and
for Ashley Robinson in the title
role. He was described as a
major new discovery and his
performance was acclaimed.
2016
38
GLASGOW GIRLS (1st Revival)
London run: Theatre Royal, Stratford East, September 20th – October 1st
Music & Lyrics: Various
Book: David Greig
Director: Cora Bissett
Choreographer: Natasha Gilmour
Musical Director: Gavin Whitworth
Cast: Callum Cuthbertson, Roanna Davidson, Rebecca Donnelly, Sophia Lewis,
Terry Neason, Stephanie McGregor, Patricia Panther, Aryana Ramkhalawon,
Shannon Swan, Kara Swinney,
Notes: This true story of seven Glasgow teenagers campaigning for a failed asylumseeking classmate seemed even more relevant in this post-Brexit revival.
Original London production: Theatre Royal, Stratford East, February 2013
OUT THERE
London run: Union Theatre, September 2nd – October 8th
Music, Book & Lyrics: Elliot Davis & James Bourne
Director: Michael Burgen
Choreographer: Lisa Mathieson
Musical Director: Joe Louis Robinson
Cast: Dave Willetts (Ned Thomas), Luke Street (Logan Carter), Neil Moors/Chris Howell (David Carter),
Imelda Warren-Green (Jamie Pack), Melissa Veszi (Sheriff Marti Pack), Adam Pettie (Billy),
Rhys Owens (Stan), Jodee Conrad (Celia Carter), Melissa Bayern (Linda Wares),
Thea Jo Wolfe (Hope Carter), Shane Gibb (Newman Carter)
Songs: Space, Walking a Thin Line, Things Are Looking Up, Learn to Dance, Too Late for Change,
What Matters Most, One Step Away
Notes: Like “Loserville”, the earlier
Davis & Bourne musical, this show
was originally commissioned by
Youth Music Theatre UK. It had
received a workshop performance in
the “From Page to Stage” series at
the Tristan Bates Theatre in October
2015 and had now been revised and
given a full staging. It received very
mixed notices, with the story
reported as unbelievable, the
characterisations sketchy, and the
plot development too sprawling and
diffuse.
However, the strong
performances were said to have
saved the show, and the score came
in for some praise. It was agreed
that Davis & Bourne could be a
writing force to be watched.
Photo by Scott Rylander
Story: Logan Carter is a rebellious but gifted high-school drop-out, on the run from his father, David, and from
the local police. His aunt dispatches him to the guardianship of an irascible farmer, Ned Thomas, in Hope,
Texas, a bankrupt town in desperate need of money. Ned’s farm is under offer from a chemical company,
promising to save the town’s fortunes with a new factory, but Ned refuses to sell, in spite of pressure from the
townsfolk, headed by the Sheriff. Logan discovers that Ned is actually his grandfather, Newman Carter, a world
famous astronaut who disappeared forty years earlier, following the death of his wife in a car accident. Newman
had abandoned his son, David, to the care of an aunt. Logan also learns that Ned’s barn contains a self-built
rocket which his ailing grandfather intends to launch for one last flight. (There is some love interest for both
David and Logan, respectively with Linda Wares, a glamorous attorney, and Jamie, a tomboyish mechanic.)
Luke Street, Neil Moors & Dave Willetts
2016
39
THE HIRED MAN (Concert Performance)
London run: Cadogan Hall, September 22nd
Music & Lyrics: Howard Goodall
Book & Lyrics: Melvyn Bragg
Director: Samuel Hopkins
Musical Director: Andrew:Linnie
Cast: John Owen Jones (John), Jenna Russell (Emily), Matthew Seadon-Young (Jackson),
Jessica Louise Parkinson (Sally), James Moore (Harry), Stewart Clarke (Seth), Nigel Richards (Isaac),
Sean Kearns (Pennington), Evelyn Hoskins (May), and an ensemble of 25, with Melvyn Bragg (Narrator)
Notes: This was an acclaimed concert performance: “It is simply breath-taking. Indeed, freed of décor and
costume. . .exposed to the forensic inspection of the concert platform its virtues come across even more
strongly” (britishtheatre.com)
Original London production: Astoria Theatre, October 1984
First revival: Greenwich Theatre, March 2008
Second revival: Landor, August 2011
DIRTY DANCING (2nd Revival)
London run: New Wimbledon Theatre, September 26th – October 1st
Phoenix Theatre, December 6th – 31st
Music & Lyrics: Various
Book: Eleanor Bergstein
Director: Federico Bellone
Choreographer: Gillian Bruce
Musical Director: Richard John
Cast: Lewis Griffiths (Johnny Castle), Katie Hartland (Baby Houseman), Carlie Milner (Penny Johnson),
Julian Harries (Jake Houseman), Simone Craddock (Marjorie Houseman), Roger Martin (Max Kellerman),
Jo Servi (Tito Suarez), Lizzie Ottley (Lisa Houseman), Michael Kent (Billy Kostecki),
Greg Fossard (Neil Kellerman), Tony Stansfield (Mr Schumacher), Daniela Pobega (Elizabeth),
Gabby Antrobus, Imogen Brooke, Simon Campbell, Robert Colvin, Michael Cuckson, Katie Eccles,
Beth Highsted, Michael James Hinchliffe, Samuel John Humphreys, Megan Louch, Camilla Rowland,
Ashley Rumble, Callum Sterling, Austin Wilks, Karl James Wilson (alternate Johnny Castle)
Photo by Alastair Muir
Notes: Following a five year run at the Aldwych, and a two-year provincial tour, the show returned to the
Piccadilly Theatre in July 2013 for a limited six month run before going out on its second UK tour from March
2014 to January 2015. This third UK tour was a completely new production by the Italian director Federico
Bellone, and based on his July
2015 version staged at
Milan’s Teatro Nazionale.
The English version opened
in August in Blackpool, and
was booked to run for a year,
with a week at Wimbledon at
the end of
September.
However, the availability of
the Phoenix Theatre enabled
the show to return for a short
Christmas season back in the
West End.
Original London production:
Aldwych, Oct 2006
First revival: Piccadilly
Theatre, July 2013
Lewis Griffiths & Katie Hartland
2016
40
ADDING MACHINE:
A Musical
Photo by Kristian Guilfoyle
London run: Finborough, Sept 28th – Oct 22nd
Music: Joshua Schmidt
Book & Lyrics: Jason Loewith & Joshua Schmidt
Director: Josh Seymour
Choreographer: Chi-San Howard
Musical Director: Ben Ferguson
Cast: Joseph Alessi (Mr Zero),
Sue Appleby (Mrs Two),
Edd Campbell Bird (Shridiu),
James Dinsmore (Mr One),
Joanna Kirkland (Daisy Dorothea Devore),
Kate Milner-Evans (Mrs Zero),
George Rae (Mr Two), Helen Walsh (Mrs One)
Story: After 25 years loyally working in the accounts of a department store, blind to the doe-eyed devotion of
his timid assistant, Daisy, Mr Zero is suddenly told he will be replaced by a machine. He rebels by murdering
his boss, and is sentenced to death. In his death-cell he and his harridan wife are reconciled, and he encounters
Shridiu, a repentant and fresh-faced matricide. Finally he is transported to the Elysian Fields, only to discover
that love-struck Daisy has chosen to join him there.
Notes: Based on Elmer Rice’s 1923 play “The Adding Machine”, this musical version opened at the Next
Theater in Illinois in 2007 and moved Off-Broadway in 2008, winning a series of awards. Several of the songs
are made up of rhythmic speech, percussive and repetitive to imitate the sound of machines; others are
discordant, operatic, jazzy and gospel-inspired. Running for 95 minutes and billed as an “anti-musical”, this was
felt to be a bizarre, expressionist, and fascinating experiment.
MURDER BALLAD
Photo by Marc Brenner
London run: Arts Theatre, Sept 29th – Dec 3rd
Music & Lyrics: Juliana Nash
Book & Lyrics: Julia Jordan
Director: Sam Yates
Choreographer: Michaela Meazza
Musical Director: Sean Green
Cast: Kerry Ellis (Sara),
Ramin Karimloo (Tom),
Victoria Hamilton-Barritt (Narrator),
Norman Bowman (Michael),
Covers: Natalie McQueen, Matthew Harvey,
Natalie Law
Songs: I Love N.Y., Mouth Tattoo, Little by
Little, Trouble Mind, Promises, Turning into
Beautiful, Coffee’s On, Sugar Cubes & Rock Salt, Built for Longing, You Belong to Me
Kerry Ellis, Ramin Karimloo & Norman Bowman
Story: Tom, a gritty New York bartender, and Sara had a torrid and passionate affair which came to an end
when she met and married Michael, a poetry student at the New York University. After the marriage and the
birth of her daughter, Tom and Sara meet up again and start secretly seeing each other, and she realises how
much she misses the passion and excitement of the old life, compared to the safety and security of her present
situation. This is a love triangle under great threat, the sort of situation that could end in murder. Or could it?
Notes: Running for 80 minutes with no interval, this sung-through rock show had a successful limited run at the
Manhattan Theatre Club in 2012, and then was recreated at the larger Union Square Theatre the following year.
The original cast included Caissie Levy and Will Swenson. The London cast offered four “ferociously good
leads” and a score that “pulses and throbs with desire and passion” (Stage). However, most other reviews
agreed on the quality of the performances and music but found “the characters are not particularly interesting
and the show is full of cliché” (Guardian), “the lyrics let it down, thanks mostly to rhymes that would be
laughable coming from a teenage busker” (Time Out).
2016
41
THIS LITTLE LIFE OF MINE
London run: Park Theatre, October 4th – 29th
Music: Charlie Round-Turner
Book & Lyrics: Michael Yale
Director: Michael Yale
Musical Director: Thomas Duchan
Cast: James Robinson (Jonesy), Kate Batter (Izzy), Greg Barnett , Caroline Deverill
Songs: Just One More, Bella Rose, Drinking Alone
Story: Jonesy and Izzy are an ordinary couple moving into a tiny flat in London’s Zone
2, struggling to make ends meet, but having a fun, modern lifestyle, with a lot of sex and
even dabbling in swinging with a friendly couple. Eventually the urge to enlarge the family arises, but Jonesy’s
sperm-count turns out to be a problem, and the relationship is under threat. (The two other cast members play
everything from swingers, to a barrista, a gynaecologist, a slut, and Izzy’s mother.)
Notes: Was this a musical or a play with songs? It received very mixed notices. For one critic the great lengths of
dialogue were duplicated with interpolated songs that in no way advanced or commented on the action. For
another the “spoken dialogue feels badly stilted” and the show was really “all about the songs”. “It’s like a bad
sitcom, with oversexed best friends and comic bartenders” (The Stage)
RAGTIME (3rd Revival)
London run: Charing Cross Theatre, October 8th – November 26th
Music: Stephen Flaherty
Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens
Book: Terrence McNally
Director: Thom Southerland
Choreographer: Ewan Jones
Musical Director: Jordan Li-Smith
Photo by Scott Rylander
Cast: Anita Louise Combe (Mother),
Gary Tushaw (Tateh),
Earl Carpenter (Father),
Ako Mitchell (Coalhouse),
Jennifer Saayeng (Sarah),
Tom Giles (Henry Ford),
Christopher Dickins (Houdini),
Anthony Cable (JP Morgan)
Valerie Cutko (Emma Goldman),
Joanna Hickman (Evelyn Nesbit),
Simon Anthony, Jonathan Stewart,
Bernadette Bangura,
Nolan Frederick, Lemuel Knights,
Martin Ludenbach, James Mack,
Sufia Manya, Seyi Omooba,
Jonathan Stewart,
Kate Robson-Stuart, Jess Ryan.
Notes: A five-star rating from The Stage claimed this was “A triumphant reclamation of one of the best Broadway
musicals of the 1990s”. On the other hand, most of the other reviews were less enthusiastic: “... too many songs
(32), too many actors (24), it’s too loud and the stage is too cluttered. At nearly three hours it’s a punishing
evening” (Eve Standard); “….there’s little getting round Ragtime’s overwhelming sense of its own
importance” (Telegraph); “…. this overly earnest celebration. . .looks and sounds hopelessly naïve and shamelessly
manipulative” (Guardian). However, there was praise for the actor-musicians and the production itself.
Original London production: Piccadilly Theatre, March 2003
1st revival: Landor, September 2011
2nd revival: Open Air, Regent’s Park, May 2012
2016
42
MOBY DICK (1st Revival)
London run: Union Theatre, October 12th – November 12th
Music: Hereward Kaye & Robert Longden
Book & Lyrics: Robert Longden
Director - Choreographer: Andrew Wright
Musical Director: Lee Freeman
Cast: Anton Stephans (Dorothy Hyman/Ahab), Brenda Edwards (Esta),
Laura Mansell (Starbuck), Rachel Anne Rayham (Ishmael), Aimee Hodnett (Stubb),
Glen Facey (Pip), Sam Barrett (Coffin), Rebekah Lowings (Tashtigo).
Grant McConvey (Elijah/Capt Gardiner), Perola Congo (Quuequeg)
Songs: Forbidden Seas, Primitive, Love Will Always, Mr Starbuck, Building
America, Save the Whales.
Story: The sixth-form girls at a St Trinian’s type school decide to create a musical version of Herman
Melville’s classic “Moby Dick”, and to stage it in the school’s swimming pool. They persuade the
headmistress to undertake the role of Captain Ahab, whilst the girls themselves appear as scantily-clad sailors.
Notes: The original 1992 production generally met with critical howls of derision. Cameron Mackintosh kept
the show running for 15 weeks in the hope of building up some kind of cult following – but it finally
succumbed to the inevitable. Over the years it would acquire a “legendary flop” status. This was its first
revival, and for most critics it remained the confusing mess of a musical that failed to work.
Original run: Piccadilly Theatre, March 1992
WONDERFUL TOWN (2nd Revival)
London run: Ye Olde Rose & Crown, October 12th – 30th
Music: Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics: Betty Comden & Adolph Green
Book: Joseph Fields & Jerome Chodorov
Director: Tim McArthur
Choreographer: Ian Pyle
Musical Director: Aaron Clingham
Cast: Lizzie Wofford (Ruth Sherwood), Francesca Benton-Stace (Eileen Sherwood),
Aneurin Pascoe (Robert Baker), Simon Burr (Wreck), Leah Pinney (Violet), Francesca Pim (Helen),
Hugo Joss Catton (Frank), Nicholas Chiapetta (Appopolus), Ashley Holman (Chick Clark),
Jack Keane (Lonigan), Jon R. Harrison (Speedy Valentin), Laurel Dougall, Lucie Horsfall,
Joe Goldie, Kitty Whitelaw, Anna Middlemass.
Photo by David Ovenden
Notes: This was performed
with
just
piano
accompaniment and no
radio mikes – leading
several critics to point out
how “every word of the
clever dialogue and lyrics
comes over”. There was
considerable praise for the
cast and production.
Original London
Production:
Princes Theatre,
February 1955
1st Revival :
Queen’s Theatre,
August 1986
2016
43
London run: National Dorfman,
October 14th – November 29th
Music: Tom Parkinson
Book & Lyrics: Bryony Kimmings
Book: Brian Lobel
Director: Bryony Kimmings
Choreographer: Lizzie Gee
Musical Director: Marc Tritschler
Cast: Amanda Hadinge (Emma),
Hal Fowler (Mark),
Golda Rosheuvel (Laura),
Amy Booth-Steel, Naana Agyei-Ampadu,
Gareth Snook, Jenny Fitzpatrick, Francesca Mills, Max Runham, Rose Shalloo, Lottie Vallis, Gary Wood.
Story: This was a kind of documentary-survey covering the stories of a number of patients awaiting their hospital
appointments. Emma, a young single mother, has brought her baby son for treatment; Stephen is a young man
with testicular cancer, being urged to bank his sperm; Mark has lung cancer, but can’t give up cigarettes; and
another has run out of options, and is advised to go into a hospice. And there is the story of Frank, based on
Bryony Kimmings’ real-life son. At the end of the show the audience are asked to call out the names of cancer
sufferers from their own friends and family.
Notes: This was a most unlikely subject for a piece of musical theatre, performed by a cast of 12 and a five-person
band. For some critics the songs got in the way, and the second half of the show, predominantly Frank’s story with
fewer musical items, was much stronger. But for others “This boring, preachy philistine drama goes around in
circles for two hours and then reveals itself as a hoax” (Spectator), “Nor. . . did this ultimately uncomfortably
mawkish show even remotely persuade me that the theatre is the place for an evangelical group hug” (Daily
Telegraph).
HOTEL FOR CRIMINALS
London run: New Wimbledon Theatre Studio, October 18th – 29th
Music: Stanley Silverman
Book & Lyrics: Richard Foreman
Director-Choreographer: Patrick Kennedy
Musical Director: Kieran Stallard
Cast: Niccolo Curradi (Fantomas), Kate Baxter (Irma Vep), Madelaine Jennings (Helene),
Alistair Frederick (Max Beauchamp), Nick Brittain (Gaston), Louis Rayneau (Duchamp),
Ben Rawlings (Julot), Tom Whalley (Lacloche)
Photo uncredited
Story: Max Beauchamp, a journalist in Paris in 1913, tries to track down the mysterious criminal Fantomas, who
runs a vampire gang, assisted by his associate, the seductive Irma Vep.
Notes: The show was based on a series of
short silent-films from the earliest days of
French cinema, each film telling a separate
tale of various gothic horrors. It was first
staged in 1974. Stanley Silverman is an
award-winning composer and arranger with a
diverse career covering the classical concert
hall, television, film and off-Broadway. The
music for this cult-success defies
categorisation. Among the critical responses
were: “a rich combination of haunting,
discordant phrases and sumptuous melodies
that reflect the other-worldliness of the
narrative”; “elegant melodies dappled
amongst chromatic recitative and horror film
discordance”. It was definitely a show of
specialised interest.
Photo by Mark Douet
A PACIFIST’S GUIDE TO
THE WAR ON CANCER
2016
44
SIDE SHOW
London run: Southwark Playhouse, October 21st – December 3rd
Music: Henry Krieger
Book & Lyrics: Bill Russell
Additional Book: Bill Condon
Director: Hannah Chissick
Choreographer: Matthew Cole
Musical Director: Jo Cichonska
Cast: Louise Dearman (Daisy), Laure Pitt-Pulford (Violet),
Christopher Howell (Boss), Jay Marsh (Jake), Haydn Oakley (Terry),
Dominic Hodson (Buddy), Lala Barlow (Bearded Lady),
Oliver Marshall (Human Dog), David Muscat (Human Pin Cushion),
Newan Hugh Perera (Sheik Fakir), Agnes Pure (Snake Lady),
Nuno Queimado (Reptile Man), Kirstie Skivington (Half Man- Half Woman), Genevieve Taylor (Dolly).
Story: Daisy and Violet Hilton were real-life conjoined sisters, born in England in 1908, and then exhibited
around Europe before being forced into sideshow performances around America, and exploited by their
sinister “Boss”. Aided by Jake, the Human Cannonball, who becomes their protector, and by Terry and
Buddy, who fall for a sister each, they are able to sue their manager, escape the fairground and become highly
paid vaudeville stars. They even become film-stars, appearing in Tod Browning’s notorious 1932 film,
“Freaks”. The story follows the complications facing the sisters as love, marriage and life itself develops, and
their final acceptance that they only have each other and must accept the true nature of their place as outcasts
in a society which welcomes “freaks”.
Notes: “Side Show” was first staged on Broadway in October 1997, but despite some good notices and
several Tony Award nominations, it closed on 4 Jan 1998 after just 31 previews and 91 performances. A
revised version was created in 2013, with several new songs, and a re-written book which took a “darker
approach”. This version was tried out in La Jolla California, and, after a little more tweaking, formed the new
version which returned to Broadway on 16 Nov 2014, reportedly at a cost of $8 million. Again it failed to take
off at the Box Office and closed after just seven weeks.
Photo by Pamela Raith
Its London premiere was given just a month before the first UK production of the same writers’ “Dreamgirls”.
The performances of Louise Dearman and Laura Pitt-Pulford were praised, as was the overall casting, but “the
fault lies with a repetitive book, too many songs and the conflict between the subject matter and the Broadway
musical” (Guardian); “the lyrics rarely leave anything to the imagination. The rhymes are often trite and the
sentiments predictable” (The Times). Overall, the view was “despite its many charms. . . it goes down as a
curiosity rather than a classic” (Time Out).
2016
45
SCHOOL OF ROCK – The Musical
London run: New London, October 24th
New Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics: Glenn Slater
Book: Julian Fellowes
Director: Laurence Connor
Choreographer: Joann M. Hunter
Musical Director: Laurence Connor
Cast: David Fynn / Gary Trainor (Dewey Finn), Florence Andrews (Rosaline Mullins),
Oliver Jackson (Ned Schneeby), Preeya Kalidas (Patti di Marco),
Jonathan Bourne, Nadeem Crowe, Michelle Francis, Rosanna Hyland,
Cassandra McCowan, Joel Montague, Andy Rees, Cameron Sharp, Andrew Spillett,
Lucy Vandi, Charlotte Bradford , Jason Denton, Cellen Chugg Jones, Alfir Parker, Tasha Sheridan.
(The cast also contained 13 children at each performance)
Songs: When I Climb to the Top of Mount Rock, Horace Green Alma Mater, Children of Rock, You’re in the
Band, If Only You Would Listen, Faculty Quadrille, Stick it to the Man, Time to Play, Where did the Rock Go.
Dewey’s Confession (From the film: In the End of Time (Jack Black/ Warren Fitzgerald) ; School of Rock/
Teacher’s Pet (Mike White/ Sammy James Jnr.)
Story: Dewey Finn is a would-be rock star, but has been kicked out of his band and is desperate for money.
His roommate, Ned Schneebly, himself a former rock singer , now works as a supply music teacher. Using
Ned’s documentation, Dewey fakes his way into a teaching job at the Horace Green School, where the very
uptight principal, Rosalie Mullins, has a secret love for rock’n’ roll. Dewey, inspired by the schoolkids’
musical talent forms a band of fifth-graders in an attempt to win the upcoming Battle of the School Bands
contest. But Ned’s domineering girlfriend, Patty di Marco, hates Dewey and wants him out of their lives. Are
his plans for the band about to be blown apart? (A pre-recorded voice-over at the start of the show assures the
audience that the children are playing all their instruments live.)
Photo by Tristram Kenton
Notes: Based on the 2003 film of the same name, with a screenplay by Mike White, the musical was Andrew
Lloyd Webber’s next project after the failure of “Stephen Ward”. The film already contained some original
music associated with the band’s performances, but the idea behind this “musical” adaptation was to focus
more on the individual backgrounds of the students, and to include additional theatrical songs to cover their
stories. The show began previews on Broadway on November 9, 2015, with an official opening on December
6th. The decision to open on Broadway (the first Lloyd Webber show to do so since 1971’s “Jesus Christ,
Superstar”) was said to be due to the more relaxed child labour laws in the USA.
Following the New York success, the London production was similarly acclaimed, “at a stroke rescuing the
ailing
artistic
reputation and rebooting
the
commercial fortunes
of Andrew Lloyd
Webber” (Evening.
Standard).
It was
described as “the
most enjoyable few
hours money can
buy” (Telegraph);
“this show has tons
and tons of heart,
and it has been
executed with a
heartfelt amount of
art” (The Stage);
“this is the finest
musical I’ve ever
witnessed”
(D.
Express)
2016
46
London run:
King’s Cross Theatre,
Oct 25th – Jan 22nd, 2017
Music & Lyrics: David Bowie
Book: Edna Walsh
Director: Ivo van Hove
Choreographer: Annie-B Parson
Musical Director: Henry Hey
Cast: Michael C. Hall
(Thomas Jerome Newton),
Amy Lennox (Elly),
Sophia Anne Caruso (Girl),
Michael Esper (Valentine),
Gabrielle Brooks,
Sydnie Christmas,
Richard Hansell, Maimuna Memon, Jamie Muscato, Tom Parsons, Julie Yammanee
Songs: Lazarus, It’s No Game, This is Not America, Love is Lost, Changes, Where are we Now?. Absolute
Beginners, Dirty Boys, Life on Mars, All the Young Dudes, Sound and Vision, Always Crashing the Same
Car, Valentine’s Day, Heroes. (New songs: No Plan, Killing a Little Time, When I Met You.)
Story: Thomas Jerome Newton, the extra-terrestrial who came to earth in search of water for his droughtstricken planet, is still stranded on earth, decades later. Hidden away in a New York apartment, he survives on
a diet of gin, Twinkies, and the memories of Mary-Lou, his blue-haired love from the old days. Thomas is
unable to die, sleep or return home. Newton’s assistant, Elly, falls into the vortex of his world and loses her
own identity as she tries to reinvent herself as Mary-Lou. Other characters in the story are Girl, a ghostly waif
sent on a mission to help him return to his planet; the psychotic Valentine, a smiling serial-killer who seems to
symbolise the earth’s dark forces
Notes: Featuring both new songs and tracks from Bowie’s back catalogue, including “Life on Mars” and
“Heroes” , this was written as a sequel to “The Man Who Fell to Earth” (the 1976 Bowie film based on the
novel by Walter Tevis.) The show, just under two hours without an interval, was staged for a completely
sold-out limited run at the New York Theatre Workshop from November 2015, and scheduled to close on
January 17th 2016. The American reviews were mixed: "Ice-bolts of ecstasy shoot like novas through the
fabulous muddle and murk of Lazarus, the great-sounding, great-looking and mind numbing new musical built
around songs by David Bowie” (N.Y. Times); it was “a tour de force. . .theater at its finest" (Rolling Stone);
though others were not so fulsome, describing it as a vanity project on the part of the director, and an
indulgence on David Bowie’s part.
The sudden death of David Bowie on January 10th led to an outpouring of tributes to his undoubted multitalented brilliance, and the run was extended to January 20th with additional tribute performances. The New
York City mayor’s office even declared the final day of the show “David Bowie Day” in honour of the late
artist.
With the Americans Michael C. Hall, Michael Esper and Sophia Anne Caruso reprising their original roles, the
London production inevitably took on the aspect of David Bowie’s musical-theatre epitaph: “It feels like the
height of disrespect and ingratitude to do anything other than bow low before Lazarus” (D. Telegraph). Most
critics tried hard to find something kind to say, praising the performances, and the mastery of the individual
songs, with reactions like “Lazarus is a flawed work, but I can’t help but love
it” (Time Out), and “I sat rapt throughout” (Independent”).
Several critics thought it should not be reviewed as a musical - “It is part scifi story, part rock concert, part video installation, part study in
alienation” (Guardian). Others took a tougher line: “Frankly, it’s pretentious
rubbish. . . like an interminable music video from the Nineties: inchoate jerky
movements; Rohrschach ink blots that spread; nubile young women in
lingerie” (Times); “However enticing this final message from Bowie’s vast
empire of images, it’s hard to care for it. Is there life on Mars? Possibly. Is
there life in Lazarus? Barely a flicker” (Sunday Times)
Photo by Johann Persson
LAZARUS
2016
47
THE SOUND OF MUSIC (6th Revival – Return Visit)
London run: New Wimbledon Theatre, October 25th – 29th
Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II
Book: Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse Director: Martin Connor
Choreographer: Bill Deamer Musical Director: David Steadman
Cast: Lucy O’Byrne (Maria), Andrew Lancel (Captain von Trapp),
Rebecca Caine (Mother Abbess), Lucy Van Gasse (Elsa), Howard Samuels (Max),
Kane Verrall (Rolf), Annie Horn (Liesl), Kate Scott (Sister Berthe),
Zoe Ann Brown (Sister Margaretta), Tammy Davies (Sister Sophia), Scott Ainslie,
Piers Bate, Alexander Evans, Jude Neill, Anouska Eaton, Jon de Ville, Pippa Winslow,
Notes: 2015 being the 50th anniversary year of the release of the film, this touring production
opened at Wimbledon in March 2015 and was planned for a UK tour through to January 2016. It was heavily
praised for its casting and for its staging. It was re-staged in May 2016 at Aylesbury and scheduled to end its tour
with this return visit to Wimbledon.
Original London production, Palace Theatre, 1961; 1st revival: Apollo Victoria, Aug 1981;
2nd revival: Sadlers Wells, June 1992; 3rd revival: BAC, Dec 1997; 4th revival: Palladium, Nov, 2006;
5th revival: Open Air, Aug 2013; 6th revival: New Wimbledon, March 2015- Return Oct 2016
STATE FAIR (Concert)
London run: Cadogan Hall, November 6th
Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II
Book: Tom Briggs & Louis Mattioli
Director: Thom Southerland Musical Director: Freddie Tapner
Cast: Clive Carter (Abel), Wendi Peters (Melissa), Celine Schoenmaker (Margy Frake),
Oliver Saville (Wayne), Emma Hattton (Emily), Richard Fleeshman (Pat),
Elizabeth Bright, Hywel Dowsell, Jessica Duncan, Toby Hine, Lizzie Jay,
Charlie-Jade Jones, Richard James King, Chris McGuigan, Matthew Pennington,
Ana Richardson, Rebecca Ridout, Oliver Stanley, Tom Sterling, Rebecca Withers,
Lizzie Wofford.
Notes: Thom Southerland’s 2009 production at the Finborough had been accompanied by solo piano, and expanded
to a trio when revived a year later at the Trafalgar Studios. This time it was performed in concert with a 32-piece
orchestra, using the scoring from the original film. The dialogue was shortened, and space limitations created some
awkward entrances and exits, however, hearing the show with a full orchestra earned universal praise
Original London production: Finborough, August 2009; 1st Revival: Trafalgar Studios, August 2010
CATS (1st Revival - 2nd Return)
London run: New Wimbledon Theatre, November 7th-12th
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber Lyrics: T.S. Eliot Extra lyrics: Richard Stilgoe & Trevor Nunn
Director- Choreographer: Gillian Lynne Musical Director: Anthony Gabrielle
Cast: Marianne Benedict (Grizabella), Marcquelle Ward (Rum Tum Tugger), Greg Castiglioni (Asparagus),
Shiv Rabheru (Mister Mistoffoles), Kevin Jones (Deuteronomy), Lee Greenaway (Skimbleshanks),
Javier Cid (McCavity), Emily Langham (Rumpleteazer), Joe Henry (Mungo Jerrie), Matt Krzan (Munkustrap),
Lucinda Shaw (Jennyandots) , Phoebe Lewis (Jemima), Sophia McAvoy (White Cat), Josh Andrews, Aaron Hunt,
Enric Marimon, Danielle Cato, James Titchener, Helen Turner, Megan Armstrong, Leonie Thomas,
Gabrielle Cocca, Grace McKee, Lucy Brushett, Alice Cornwell, Connor McAllister, Dane Quixall,
Oliver Ramsdale, Guy Salim,
Notes: This was yet another return to London of the production which had played the Palladium for three months at
the end of 2014, then played Blackpool prior to some international dates, returning to the Palladium in October 2015
for a limited season before going back on the road. Following its week in Wimbledon it was scheduled for Budapest,
Dubai and Antwerp, and booked till April 2017.
Original London run: New London, May 1981, and ran for 21 years and 8949 performances.
1st Revival: London Palladium, December 2014 & return October 2015. Return visit: October 2016
2016
48
HALF A SIXPENCE (1st revival)
London run: Noel Coward Theatre, October 29th –
Original Music & Lyrics: David Heneker
Original Book: Beverley Cross
New music: George Stiles
New lyrics: Anthony Drewe
New Book: Julian Fellowes
Director: Rachel Kavanaugh
Choreographer: Andrew Wright
Musical Director: Graham Hurman
Cast: Charlie Stemp (Arthur Kipps), Emma Williams (Helen Walsingham),
Devon-Elise Johnson (Ann Pornick), Vivien Parry (Mrs Walsingham),
Jane How (Lady Punnet), Gerard Carey (James Walsingham), Ian Bartholomew (Chitterlow), James Paterson,
Annie Wensack, John Conroy, Harry Morrison, Alex Hope, Callum Train, Sam O’Rourke, Bethany Huckle,
Kimberley Blake, Harry Morrison, Tim Hodges, Jaye Juliette Elster, Jennifer Louise Jones, Matthew Dale,
Philip Marriott, Nick Butcher, Lauren Varnham, Rebecca Jayne-Davies, Gerard Carey
Songs: (Original) Half a Sixpence, Money to Burn, If the Rain’s Got to Fall, Flash Bang Wallop, I’ll Build a
Palace, She’s Too Far Above Me, The One Who’s Run Away, Long Ago, A Proper Gentleman, I Know Who I
Am, I Only Want a Little House.
(New) Look Alive, Believe in Yourself, Back the Right Horse, Just a Few Little Things, A Little Touch of
Happiness, Pick Out a Simple Tune, You Never Get Anything Right, In the Middle There’s Me.
Story: Arthur Kipps, a humble draper’s assistant in Edwardian Folkestone, has big ideas when a life-changing
inheritance propels him into high society. He leaves behind his first love, Ann, with whom he once cut a sixpence
in half so each of them could keep their love in mind, and falls into the arms of Helen, a posh girl whose family
is in need of money. As a result he loses his fortune, but learns that money doesn’t buy happiness and that his
childhood sweetheart, Ann, is truly the one for him.
Photo by Manuel Harlan
Notes: Based on the novel “Kipps” by H.G. Wells, this was written specially as a vehicle for Tommy Steele and
ran for 677 performances in 1963. It transferred to Broadway where it was much altered to suit the American
audiences. Although beloved and regularly staged by amateur companies it had never been revived professionally
in the West End. This new version was staged from the end of July to the beginning of September in Chichester
in a joint production with Cameron Mackintosh. The book was completely re-written by Julian Fellowes,
naturally emphasising the Upstairs-Downstairs class distinctions of his “Downton Abbey” success; the songs
were re-arranged, re-ordered and supplemented with eight new numbers by Stiles and Drewe. This was the team
that had worked on the “Mary Poppins” musical.
It was a big hit in Chichester, though one or two critics failed to be completely won over: “. . .hugely efficient. .
but oddly charmless” (Guardian), and “striking and slick but soulless” (Sunday Express). However, there was
unanimous delight in the performance of Charlie Stemp as Kipps, the exciting choreography, and several showstopping sequences – the old, “Flash, Bang, Wallop” and the new, the banjo-bonanza “Pick Out a Simple Tune”.
As a result, it became yet
another of the Chichester
summer musicals to transfer
to the West End.. Having
already reviewed the show
in Chichester, the London
transfer was covered by just
a handful of critics, but this
time they all came out in
full praise: “you simply
don’t want it to end “!
(Telegraph), “solid gold
entertainment” (Dail y
Express).
Original London run:
Cambridge Theatre,
March 1963
Charlie Stemp
2016
49
THE BEGGAR’S OPERA (Revival)
London run: Brockley Jack, November 8th - December 3rd
New Lyrics & Music: Bobby Locke
Book: John Gay
New adaptation: Ricky Dukes
Director: Ricky Dukes
Musical Director: Dominic Gee-Burch
Cast: Sherwood Alexander (Macheath),
Michaela Bennison (Polly Peachum),
Elizabeth Hollingshead (Lucy Lockit),
David Jay Douglas (Mr Peachum),
Natalie Barker (Mrs Peachum), Josie Mills, Louis Rayneau,
Alasdair Melrose, Rachel Kelly, Shalana Serafina
Notes: “The Beggar’s Opera” has been revived many times since it was “re-discovered” in 1920 in the
musical arrangement by Frederick Austin. Since then the original songs have been altered, re-set and
sometimes re-composed by several arrangers. The dialogue has been updated and re-written and several
“new” shows have been based on the original (notably “The Threepenny Opera”). This is possibly the 14th
“revival” since 1920, though several may have been adapted and altered to such an extent that they qualify as
“new” works. This particular version used completely new music and lyrics, updating and modernising the
message. However, it retained much of the original 18th century dialogue. This mixture of genre received a
similar mix of reviews.
The fourteen earlier productions were:
1920, 1925, 1930, 1935 at the Lyric Hammersmith (Frederick Austin version)
1940: Haymarket (Austin version)
1948 : Sadler’s Wells (Benjamin Britten/ Guthrie version)
1963: Aldwych Theatre (Leppard version)
1968: Apollo (David Turner)
1980: Lyric Hammersmith (Austin 50th anniversary)
1982: Cottesloe (Muldowney)
1983: Barbican (Sekacz)
1999: Bridewell (Gregson/Jackson)
1999: Wilton’s (Jonathan Lloyd)
2011: Open Air, Regent’s Park (Skeaping)
SAUCY JACK & THE SPACE VIXENS (5th Revival)
London run: Ye Olde Rose & Crown , November 9th-12th
Music & Lyrics: Robin Forrest & Jonathan Croose
Book & Additional lyrics: Charlotte Mann & Michael Fidler
Director: David Brady
Choreographer: Harriet Lambert
Musical Director: Erin Read
Cast: Paris Bailey (Saucy Jack), Sara Lynam (Jubilee), Molly Whitehouse (Anna),
Vienna Love (Bunny), Jonny Richards (Booby), Flannan Hassett (Dr Whackoff),
Ross Kernahan (Sammy), Huw Cook (Mitch), Emma Dodwell-Groves (Chesty/Shirley)
Notes: This was the second London fringe production within
six months.
Original London Production: Queen’s Theatre, March 1998
First revival: The Venue, December 2005
Second revival: Leicester Square Theatre, August 2013
Third revival: Upstairs at the Gatehouse, August 2015
Fourth revival: King’s Head, April 2016
2016
50
DREAMGIRLS
London run: Savoy Theatre, November 14th
Music: Henry Krieger
Book & Lyrics: Tom Eyen
Director-Choreographer: Casey Nicholaw
Musical Director: Nick Finlow
Cast: Amber Riley (Effie White), Liisi LaFontaine (Deena Jones),
Ibinabo Jack (Lorrell Robinson), Joe Aaron Reid (Curtis Taylor Jr),
Tyrone Huntley (C.C. White), Adam J. Bernard (Jimmy Early),
Lily Frazer (Michelle Morris), Nicholas Bailey (Marty)
and an ensemble of 21 players.
At certain performances Effie White is played by Ruth Brown or Karen Mav
Amber Riley’s illness with pneumonia in December led to Marisha Wallace (who had
played the part in the USA) being imported to alternate with Karen Mav.
Songs: Fake Your Way to the Top, Cadillac Car, Steppin’ to the Bad Side, And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going, I
Am Changing, When I First Saw You, Hard to Say Goodbye My Love. (Interpolated from the film version: Listen)
Story: Effie White, Deena Jones and Lorell Robinson are the three girls who make up “The Dreamettes” a rhythm
and blues singing group. Their slick manager, Curtis Taylor Jr, feels the girls must offer a more glamorous image,
and insists that Effie is dropped from the act. The story follows the re-named “Dreamgirls” from their Harlem debut
as a backing group to the hyperactive sex symbol Jimmy Early through the cutthroat world of Motown music: a
world where Effie’s brother betrays his sister, lover betrays lover, and friend betrays friend in the pursuit of wealth
and fame before Effie finally becomes a star on her own terms.
Notes: The show opened on Broadway in December 1981, based on the real-life story of the Supremes, where
Florence Ballard was dropped in favour of Diana Ross – though the real-life Florence came to a sad end, unlike the
heroine of this musical. Directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett, it ran for 1,522 performances, winning
six Tony Awards. A touring production returned to Broadway in 1987 and in 2006 the show was adapted into a
film starring Jamie Foxx and Beyoncé Knowles.
This UK premiere, 35 years after the original Broadway show, was a very hyped affair, staged with blazing energy
and glitter, and was greeted with a very mixed critical reception. “Shedloads of sequins, crystals and rhinestones,
acres of brocade and flocks of ostriches have gone into the making of Dreamgirls” (Mail on Sunday) ; “like an
Aladdin’s cave with beaded curtains, backdrops as sparkly as quartz “ (D. Telegraph). However, another view
described it as “a dazzlingly tacky production: endless glittery backdrops and crystal curtains, and bright polyester
costumes that unleash a little rain-shower of sweat when the dancers spin” (Time Out).
Photo by Brinkhoff & Mogenburg
Indeed, the reviewers were very divided: “. . . predictable, banal and overly sentimental. . .mostly forgettable
songs” (Daily Express); “. . .tremendous gusto of soul and gaiety of spirit” (D. Telegraph); “ Every once in a while
we learn, usually as an aside, that someone has had a baby or is corrupt. It’s impossible to feel attached to these
cardboard cut-outs” (Times); “. . . tremendous energy and pace, crammed with snappy numbers and tight, slick 60s
routine” (Guardian).
There was
almost universal complaint about
the sound levels – “amplified as if
for Wembley Arena” (Sunday
Express), “…the decibel level just
got louder. . . it began to feel like a
nightmare that wouldn’t
end” (Times).
At the same time there was total
universal praise for Amber Riley,
“a real star in her first West End
role”, “a blazing powerhouse
performance”, “a performance
that’s at all times exhilarating”,
“Glee’s Amber Riley is an absolute
dazzler”.
Amber Riley as Effie White
2016
51
RUMPY PUMPY
London run: Union, November 14th –19th
Music, Book & Lyrics: Barbara Jane Mackie
Director: Simon Greiff
Musical Director: Paul Smith
Cast: Louise Jameson (Jean Johnson), Tricia Deighton (Shirley Landels),
Linda Nolan (Holly Spencer), Sally Firth (Gosia), Claudia Cadet (Mags),
Scarlet Wilderink, Liberty Buckland, Alex Roots, Basienka Blake,
Craig Armstrong, James Charlton.
Story: The true story of Jean Johnson and Shirley Landels, two genteel ladies from the Hampshire Women’s
Institute, who take it upon themselves to campaign for the legalisation of prostitution and to achieve better
conditions for working girls. They are contacted by Holly Spencer, an outgoing brothel-keeper, offering them
the perfect venue they could be looking for.
Photo by Scott Rylander
Notes:
Rumpy Pumpy was advertised as a very English comedy of manners with a social conscience: its
underlying message being how
hypocrisy and indifference
condemn thousands of girls to
appalling working conditions.
However, despite “ s o me
excellent songs and solid
performances” it was felt the
show was one-dimensional,
with a bit of a preachy tone,
and over-reliant on crude jokes
and double-entendre.
“The
writing is of a crudity that
makes the average Carry-On
movie look like William
Congreve” (Guardian). The
show had premiered at the
King’s Head in 2015, and this
production had originated at
the Theatre Royal, Windsor.
James Charlton, Tricia Deighton, Louise Jameson, & Sally Firth
BADDIES, the Musical (1st Revival)
London run: Unicorn Theatre, November 15th – December 31st
Music & Lyrics: Marc Teitler
Book & Lyrics: Nancy Harris
Director: Purni Morell
Choreographer: Wilkie Branson
Musical Director: Sam Sommerfield
Cast: Nigel Barrett (Big Bad Wolf), Christian Roe (Peter Pan),
David McKay (Rumpelstiltskin), Ngo Ngofa (Ugly Sister May),
Karis Jack (Ugly Sister Fay), Cornell S. John (Captain Hook),
Kathy Rose O’Brien (Cinderella/Red Riding Hood).
Notes: Following its success in the pre-Christmas run 2015, the show was revived, with a few changes of
cast.
Original London run: Unicorn Theatre, Nov 2015
2016
52
BREXIT THE MUSICAL
London run: Canal Café, November 17th - 25th
January 11th- 18th , 2017(various venues)
Waterloo East, January 20th – 29th, 2017
Old Sorting Office Arts Centre, February 7th – 11th , 2017
Music: Russell Sarre & Frederick Appleby
Book & Lyrics: David Shirreff
Director: Lucy Appleby
Musical Director: Frederick Appleby
Cast: James Sanderson (Boris Johnson),
Steve Emery (David Cameron),
Reggie Seeley (Theresa May),
Chris Vincent (Michael Gove),
Jack Bradley (Nigel Farage),
Neil Jennings, Airlie Scott, Elliott Bagden
Story: When Theresa May, Nicola Sturgeon and Andrea Leadsom appear as Macbeth’s three witches, Boris
Johnson cries out ‘Let them hail Boris the king!’, only for the squeaky voice of Michael Gove to ask ‘What
will I get?’. David Cameron is a weak toff who trembles every time Angela Merkel opens her mouth. The
Three Brexiteers, Johnson, Liam Fox and David Davies, bitch furiously at each other, whilst Boris also
performs a rap number with Putin. Leavers and Remainers are treated with equal ridicule.
Notes: This was political satire at its most farcical, but was also a musical romp of much wit and skill. The
antics of our political leaders following the shock result of the June 23rd Referendum were summed up in the
lyric: “We have everything under control. Well, sort of – nearly – on the whole”. Its audience loved it, and
had nothing but praise for the versatility of the performers in their multi-role send-ups.
SOHO CINDERS (1st Revival)
London Run: Union Theatre, November 23rd – December 22nd
Music: George Stiles
Lyrics: Anthony Drewe
Book: Anthony Drewe, Elliot Davis
Director: Will Keith
Choreographer: Joanne McShane
Musical Director: Sarah Morrison
Photo by Darren Bell
Cast: Joshua Lewindon (Robbie), Emily Deamer (Velcro),Lewis Asquith (James Prince),
Lowri Walton (Marylin), Samuel Haughton (William George), Chris Coleman (Lord Billingham),
Natalie Harman (Dana), Michaela Stern (Clodagh), Meg Matthews, Oliver Bingham, Lance Collins,
Harry Wright, Luke Byrne, Matt Morris, Charis Murray, Chloe Polson Davis, Jade Bailey
Notes: Following a one-night try-out at the Queen’s
Theatre in 2011, the show ran for a limited one month
season at the Soho Theatre in 2012. It received
mixed notices, with most agreeing the songs were
witty and tuneful. It has rapidly acquired a cult
following, and this revival received much the same
reaction as before: “memorable tunes stuffed full of
witty rhymes. . .a number of top drawer musical
theatre hits” but suffering from “clunky
narration” (londontheatre.co.uk)
Original production: Soho Theatre, August 2012
Natalie Harman & Michaela Stern
2016
53
SHE LOVES ME (4th Revival)
London run: Menier Chocolate Factory, November 25th – March 4th, 2017
Music: Jerry Bock
Lyrics: Sheldon Harnick
Book: Joe Masteroff
Director: Matthew White
Choreographer: Rebecca Howell
Musical Director: Catherine Jayes
Cast: Scarlett Strallen (Amalia Balash), Mark Umbers (Georg Nowack),
Katherine Kingsley (Ilona Ritter), Dominic Tighe (Steven Kodaly),
Les Dennis (Zoltan Maraczek), Callum Howells (Arpad),
Alastair Brookshaw (Ladislaw Sipos), Rachel Bingham,
Peter Dukes, Luke Fetherston, Olivia Fines, Aimee Hodnett, Sarah-Marie Maxwell, Vincent Pirillo
Photo by Tristram Kenton
Notes: The opening night
was attended by the 92 year
old
lyricist
Sheldon
Harnick, who declared to
the audience this was the
best production of “She
Loves Me” he’d ever seen.
All the critics agreed with
him, and the show was
universally praised – for the
show itself, and for a
superb cast.
See Original London run:
Lyric Theatre, April 1964
1st revival: Savoy,
July 1994;
2nd revival: Gatehouse,
July 2006
3rd revival: Landor,
Feb 2015
JEST END ( 2nd Revival)
London run: Waterloo East, Nov 26th – Dec 18th
Music & Lyrics: Parodies
Writer & Director: Garry Lake
Choreographer: Rebecca Howell
Musical Director: James Taylor
Notes: London’s answer to the “Forbidden
Broadway” series was welcomed back, with a
lot of new material, and a four-handed cast of
astonishing versatility.
Original London run:
Jermyn Street Theatre, April 2009
1st revival: Waterloo East, Nov 2015
Photo by Garry Lake
Cast: Bronté Barbé, Adam Bailey,
Daniel Buckley, Jemma Alexander
2016
54
SISTER ACT (1ST Revival)
London run: New Wimbledon Theatre, November 28th – December 3rd
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Glenn Slater
Book: Cheri & Bill Steinkellner
Director- Choreographer: Craig Revel Horwood
Musical Director: Greg Arrowsmith
Cast: Alexandra Burke/ Joanna Francis (Deloris), Jon Robyns (Eddie),
Sarah Goggin (Sister Mary Robert), Rosemary Ashe (Sister Mary Lazarus),
Isannah van den Berg (Sister Mary Patrick), Karen Mann (Mother Superior),
Tim Maxwell-Clarke (Monsignor Howard), Aaron Lee Lambert (Curtis),
Allison Harding (Sister Mary Theresa), Ricky Rojas (Pablo),
Samuel Morgan-Grahame (Joey), Sandy Grigelis (TJ). Aiesha Pease, Justin Wilman, Sally Peerless,
Jennifer Douglas, Joe Vetch, Nicola Bryan
Notes: This touring production originated at the Curve, Leicester in July and played a week at Wimbledon as part
of its ongoing UK tour. It is scheduled to finish at Blackpool in August 2017.
Original London run: London Palladium June 2009
LICENSED TO ILL (1st Revival)
London run: Southwark Playhouse, November 30th – December 24th
Music: The Beastie Boys
Book & concept: Adam El Hagar & Simon Maeder
Director: Adam El Hagar & Simon Maeder
Cast: Adam El Hagar (MCA), Daniel Foxsmith (AdRock),
Simon Maeder (Mike D), Tope Mikun
Notes: The 2015 original Camden staging of the Beastie Boys Eighties album “Licensed to
Ill” was re-worked for a short autumn UK tour immediately prior to a second London staging,
this time at the Southwark Playhouse. It was revived with the original cast.
Original London production: Camden People’s Theatre, November 2015
London run: The Bunker, December 7th – Jan 7th, 2017
Music & Lyrics: Tim Prottey-Jones & Tori Allen-Martin
Book: Sarah Henley
Director: Jamie Jackson
Choreographer: Isla Jackson-Ritchie
Musical Director: Adam Gerber
Cast: David Leopold (Michael), Mark Hawkins (Uncle),
Lauren (Tori Allen-Martin), Jake (Jos Slovick),
Edd Campbell Bird (Young Michael) , Helen Hobson (Mother),
Songs: Down Through the Doves, It Won’t Be Easy
Story: This is the story of Michael, a one-time rising rock-star
in the band Lost Boys, who has shut himself away in his
Tori Allen-Martin & David Leopold
uncle’s Bethnal Green house, and is unable to speak following
the loss of his mother in a hit-and-run accident. His former girl-friend, Lauren, and her new partner Jake, a fellow
Lost Boy member, try to coax him to speak, but he is haunted by memories of darker times, and by visions of his
dead mother and his younger self.
Notes: Originally presented under the title “After the Turn” at Hoxton's Courtyard Theatre in 2012, this reworked
version was premiered at the Bunker (the Menier Factory’s disused car-park, now turned into a theatre space.) It
was felt the plot got somewhat tangled trying to cover too much back story, and some of the numbers were a bit
abrupt with trite lyrics, but all the reviewers recognised a work of much merit with some powerful music. With
further development this could be a musical with a promising future.
Photo by Savannah Photographic
MUTED
2016
55
RENT (5th Revival)
Cast: Ross Hunter (Roger), Philippa Stefani (Mimi),
Layton Williams (Angel), Billy Cullum (Mark Cohen),
Ryan O’Gorman (Tom Collins), Shanay Holmes (Joanne),
Lucie Jones (Maureen), Javar La-trial Parker (Benjamin Coffin),
Katie Bradley, Harrison Clark, Raffaello Covino, Joshua Dever,
Jordan Laviniere, Bobbie Little, Christina Modestou, Jenny O’Leary,
Kevin Yates
Notes: This opened at Theatr Clwyd in October, then toured before
coming into the St James Theatre for the Christmas period. It was much
praised for its “stunningly well-cast” company (The Stage) and the
outstanding direction and choreography which “captures the show’s
sizzling seize-the-day spirit and its undertow of grief” (Mail on
Sunday). The performance by Layton Williams was acclaimed - a
“magnificent, tragic turn as transvestite Angel” (Time Out). This
Layton Williams as Angel
was the show’s 20th anniversary, and several reviewers alluded to it
having a dated, almost period feel nowadays – “A musical that was once predicated on being daringly ‘now’ had
faded into safe nostalgia” (Time Out) ; “. . .its rock score defined the grungey American Nineties the way Hair did
the Sixties” (Mail on Sunday).
Original London production: Shaftesbury, May 1998
1st revival: Prince of Wales, Dec 2001; 2nd revival: Prince of Wales, Dec 2002;
3rd revival: Duke of York’s Oct 2007; 4th revival: Greenwich Theatre, Sept 2012
Concert version: Hackney Empire, April 2013
ANYTHING GOES (4th Revival)
Photo by Darren Bell
London run: Upstairs at the Gate, December 14th -29th January, 2017
Music & Lyrics: Cole Porter
Book: Howard Lindsay & Russell Crouse
New book: Timothy Crouse & John Weidman
Director: John Plews
Choreographer: Chris Whittaker
Musical Director: Dan Glover
Cast: Taryn Erickson (Reno Sweeney),
Jack McCann (Billy Crocker), Samantha Dorsey (Hope Harcourt),
Nova Skipp (Mrs Wadsworth Harcourt), Jack Keane (Lord Evelyn),
Chloe Adele Edwards (Bonnie),
David Pendelbury (Moonface Martin),
Timothy Booth, Lucas James, Lewis McBean, Lucie Horsfall, Chloe
Porter.
Notes: This was the more rarely performed off-Broadway 1962
version, incorporating songs from other Cole Porter shows. These
included “It’s De-Lovely”, “Let’s Misbehave”, “Take Me Back to
Manhattan”, “Let’s Step Out”, “Heaven Hop”. The production was
praised for its inventive choreography in such a fringe space, and
several critics approved the choice of the re-written version.
Original London Production, Palace Theatre June 1925.
1st revival: Saville Theatre, November 1969
2nd revival: Prince Edward, July 1989
3rd revival: Olivier, Dec 2002 (transfer Drury Lane 2003)
Jack McCann, Taryn Erickson & David Pendelbury
Photo by Tristram Kenton
London run: St James Theatre, December 13th – January 28th 2017
Music, Lyrics & Book: Jonathan Larson
Director: Bruce Guthrie
Choreographer: Lee Proud
Musical Director: Phil Cornwell
2016
56
MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET (1st Revival)
London run: Royal Festival Hall, December 17th – January 2nd 2017
Music & Lyrics: Various
Book: Colin Escott & Floyd Mutrux
Director: Ian Talbot
Choreographer: Lizzie Gee
Musical Director: Philip Murray Warson
Cast: Matt Wycliffe (Carl Perkins), Robbie Durham (Johnny Cash), Martin Kaye (Jerry Lee Lewis),
Ross William Wild (Elvis Presley), Martin Kemp (Sam Phillips), Katie Ray (Dyanne)
Notes: This was a touring production which originated at the Curve, Leicester in September, with Jason
Donovan playing Sam
Phillips. Due to his prior
concert commitments, he
was replaced for the
Festival Hall season by
Martin Kemp. The tour
was booked to continue
throughout 2017 with
Jason Donovan, Martin
Kemp and Peter Duncan
sharing the Sam Phillips
role at different times,
and
with
Ashley
Carruthers taking over as
Jerry Lee Lewis.
Original London
production:
Noel Coward Theatre,
Feb 2011