Category: Theatre

An American In Paris

An American in Paris (First Recording)Jean-Luc Choplin, the director of the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, has brought many American musicals to his Paris stage in recent years, with a focus on the work of Stephen Sondheim, in English with French subtitles. Recently it was announced that he is co-producing a new musical version of the Oscar-winning 1951 MGM movie An American in Paris, with music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin.

Châtelet has many links with Broadway: it presented Show Boat in 1929, two years after its Broadway premiere, and under Choplin, its presentations of American musicals have included West Side Story, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, Carousel and Sondheim’s A Little Night Music and Sweeney Todd. This season it is offering the return of My Fair Lady in December as well as new productions of Sondheim’s Into the Woods in April, and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I in June.

An American in Paris will begin in winter 2014, with a planned move to Broadway in spring 2015. The director and choreographer is Christopher Wheeldon, making his Broadway directing debut. A former dancer with the New York City Ballet, Wheeldon has worked on full-length ballets and excelled at storytelling and developing characters in dance. He is to create a ballet sequence for the musical that is different from the movie’s famed version.

The film, which won six Academy Awards, including best picture, is set in post-World War II Paris. It starred Gene Kelly as a former GI seeking success as a painter, and Leslie Caron as the French girl with whom he falls in love. Dancers Robert Fairchild and Leanne Cope have the workshop’s lead roles, but the parts for the Paris and New York runs have not been cast.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

BalletBoyz at the Opera House

BalletBoyzThe BalletBoyz are set to make their debut appearance at the Royal Opera House from 16-27 September, dancing in the Linbury studio theatre. The company will present theTalent 2014 in a brand new triple bill at the Linbury as part of Deloitte Ignite 2014, the contemporary arts festival curated by the Royal Ballet and Minna Moore Ede of the National Gallery.

Former Royal Ballet dancers Michael Nunn and William Trevitt, co-founders and artistic directors of BalletBoyz will present works by Christopher Wheeldon (Artistic Associate of The Royal Ballet), Kristen McNally (Royal Ballet Soloist) and Alexander Whitley (New Wave Associate artist at Sadler’s Wells). The triple bill is the company’s first chance to perform new work since their final performances of the award-winning double bill – Liam Scarlett’s ‘Serpent’ and Russell Maliphant’s ‘Fallen’ – at the Camden Roundhouse in July.

Mesmerics, by Christopher Wheeldon, is a piece created in 2004 for three men and two women. Wheeldon’s reworking has recreated the piece for eight of theTalent’s dancers. The old format, set to a score by Philip Glass, contained a lot of pointe work and traditional partnering. Wheeldon set about re-inventing it, working closely with Nunn and Trevitt.

Kristen McNally, Soloist with the Royal Ballet, has created Untitled. She is a fast rising choreographer and recently made the fresh, indie-ballet ‘Mad Women’ for New English Ballet Theatre at the Peacock Theatre. Nunn and Trevitt, along with Kevin O’Hare, are keen to encourage the development of new artists, including McNally. She has found new ways to work with boys and the result is highly anticipated.

The Murmuring by Alexander Whitley, in its well crafted and constantly moving structure, is relatively abstract in its nature. It is set to a low, distinctive and continuous sound, as murmurings is also the flight pattern of flocks of birds, particularly starlings.

Musical Hits Cats And Evita To Return To The West End

Cats The MusicalWest End superstars Cats and Evita are set to be returning to the West End for limited runs at the London Palladium and Dominion Theatre respectively.

The original creative team for Cats will reunite for the December opening, with direction from Trevor Nunn, design by John Napier and superb choreography by Gillian Lynne. According to sources Andrew Lloyd Webber is re-writing a couple of songs. Further information has now been confirmed. The team are taking the Cats show that is currently touring, and will be working on it afresh.

Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita will also be retuning to West End for limited run at the Dominion starring Marti Pellow & Madalena Alberto to open in September. The production will run for 55 performances only until 1 November however Marti Pellow and Madalena Alberto will reprise their performances from the UK Tour as Che Guevara and Eva Peron, with direction by Bill Kenwright and Bob Tomson.

Evita will be the first show to run at the Dominion following its renovation work and the closure of We Will Rock You. Evita charts the story of Eva Peron, wife of former Argentine dictator Juan Peron, from her humble beginnings through to the extraordinary wealth, power and iconic status which ultimately led her to be heralded as the ‘spiritual leader of the nation’.

For over 30 years Marti Pellow has enjoyed global success as the lead singer of Wet Wet Wet and as a solo artist. He has appeared in The Witches of Eastwick, Chess, Jekyll & Hyde, Chicago and Blood Brothers. Madalena Alberto’s theatre credits include Les Misérables (25th Anniversary production), Jekyll and Hyde and Fame. Her first album Don’t Cry For Me will be released to coincide with Evita’s opening.

ROH Production Of The Wind In The Willows To Return!

The Wind In The WillowsDirected and choreographed by Will Tuckett, the Vaudeville Theatre will see the Royal Opera House production of The Wind in the Willows return to London’s West End this Christmas, running from 26 November 2014.

The Olivier Award-winning production will play an eight week season at the Vaudeville Theatre with full casting to be announced soon. The production’s transfer to the Duchess Theatre in December 2013 marked the Royal Opera House’s first commercial transfer and the production was named Best Entertainment and Family at the 2014 Oliviers.

Based on Kenneth Grahame’s timeless classic, the adventures of four woodland friends are retold through dance, song, music and puppetry along a peaceful riverbank, with a speeding car, a racing train and criminal deeds from the Wild Wood. The escapades of Toad, Ratty, Mole and Badger are brought to life in a production that has charmed audiences of all ages, suitable for all from the age of 5. Drawing inspiration from the music of Edwardian composer George Butterworth, the action is set to a score by Martin Ward. Tuckett’s choreography is accompanied by narration written by former Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion.

Tuckett is an award-winning choreographer, dancer and director. He was a member of The Royal Ballet 1990–2005, with whom he is now a Guest Principal Character Artist. His work as a choreographer and director includes The Wind in the Willows, The Soldier’s Tale, Timecode, Pinocchio, The Thief of Baghdad, Faeries, Into the Woods and Pleasure’s Progress (ROH2), The Seven Deadly Sins, ‘Diana and Actaeon’ in Metamorphosis: Titian 2012, (Royal Ballet), West Side Story (Sage, Gateshead), The Canterville Ghost (ENB), Hansel and Gretel (Ilford Arts Festival) movement and puppet direction on The Orphan of Zhao (RSC), as well as projects in Europe, the USA, Japan and China. He has choreographed widely for film and television, was Creative Associate for ROH2 and was the Clore Dance Fellow 2008-10. Tuckett’s production of The Wind in the Willows is in its eleventh year.

Billy Elliot Screenings!

Billy ElliotIt has been rumoured that the hit musical Billy Elliot is to be screened in over 300 cinemas in September. A special matinee performance on 28 September will be broadcast live, with a repeat showing to be broadcast in the evening and Ruthie Henshall, who recently joined the cast as Mrs Wilkinson, will star in performance alongside some special guests making the screenings a milestone in the musical’s history.

In addition, the musical has recently announced that it will be continuing its hugely successful run at the Victoria Palace Theatre long into 2015, continuing to delight audiences. The record-breaking show centres around the 1980s miners’ strikes in North East England and Billy’s struggle to break free from his family’s expectations and fulfil his dream of becoming a ballet dancer. The Thatcher-era presented many obstacles but audiences will observe Billy defy the odds and go on to achieve great things.

In May 2015, the show will celebrate its 10th birthday, making it one of the longest running shows in London, as well as being a blockbuster film. The feel-good show has recently welcomed its 37th Billy to the cast, and other new cast members, led by Olivier Award nominee and musical theatre icon Ruthie Henshall in the role of Billy’s dance teacher Mrs Wilkinson. Henshall has had a fantastic career in the West End to date, starring in musicals including Les Misérables, Chicago and Crazy for You having trained at the prestigious musical theatre institution, Laine Theatre Arts.

As a result, the booking period for the show has been extended until May 2015, with more tickets on sale next month. This will extend the booking period until October 2015, great news for fans all over.

Top Hat Tour!

Top Hat - The MusicalAlan Burkitt and Charlotte Gooch, stars of the recent West End run of the much-loved musical Top Hat, will return to play the lead roles when the show tours the UK later this year.

Gooch will star as Dale Tremont in the UK tour; Gooch took over the lead role of Tremont from leading lady Summer Strallen when the production ran in the West End. Her credits include Dirty Dancing at the Piccadilly Theatre and in the national tour, the UK tour of Grease and the German tour of Cats. Burkitt, whose credits include Singin’ in the Rain and 42nd Street at Chichester Festival Theatre, and We Will Rock You at the Dominion Theatre, understudied the lead role of Jerry Travers as part of the original West End cast of Top Hat at the Aldwych Theatre.

The touring cast of the the Irving Berlin’s musical will be joined by Clive Hayward as Horace Hardwick, Rebecca Thornhill as Madge Hardwick, Sebastien Torkia as Alberto Beddini and John Conroy as Bates. The cast also includes Lucy Ashenden, Thomas Audibert, Caroline Bateson, Sophie Camble, Matthew Caputo, Kristy Cullen, Paul Farrell, Ian Goss, Carys Gray, Alyn Hawke, Rebecca Hodge, Samuel Humphreys, Thomas Inge, Thomas-Lee Kidd, Sarah-Marie Maxwell, David McKechnie, John McManus, George Olney, Ben Palmer, Holly Rostron, Maria Ward, Amy West and Monique Young.

The production will begin a 47 week tour on 12 August at the New Wimbledon Theatre before visiting venues across the UK, finishing in Eastbourne in July 2015. Directed by Matthew White, Top Hat is choreographed by Bill Deamer, with design by Hildegard Bechtler, costume by Jon Morrell, lighting by Peter Mumford, sound by Gareth Owen, musical supervision by Richard Balcombe and new orchestrations by Chris Walker. Top Hat is produced by Kenny Wax, with Stewart Lane and Bonnie Comlet.

Miss Saigon To Hit Broadway?

Miss SaigonProducer Cameron Mackintosh may be considering taking his new London production of Miss Saigon to Broadway in 2015, depending on the success of the production currently running in the West End, and if a suitable theatre becomes available in New York.

Miss Saigon is an iconic musical production about a doomed romance between a young Vietnamese woman and a marine before the fall of the city Saigon. The show opened on Broadway in 1991 and became a huge hit, grossing $285 million before closing in 2001; it remains the 12th longest running show in Broadway history. The London revival began performances in May, with extremely strong sales. There have been new designs for the scenery and the helicopter, and a new song “Maybe” has been added, performed by the character of Ellen, and not included in the Broadway run.

It has been claimed that Mackintosh, who led the British musical invasion of Broadway in the 1980s with Cats, Les Misérables, and The Phantom of the Opera, would like to open the new Miss Saigon in Toronto first and then go to Broadway. The London-Toronto-Broadway path would be similar to the one taken by his latest revival of Les Misérables, which opened in New York in March.

When asked for his comments on the Broadway run, Mackintosh confirmed the gossip as speculative but highlighted that he would like to take the show to both Toronto and New York, especially due to the fact the Princess of Wales theatre in Toronto was built to house the original production of Miss Saigon. However, with incredibly busy international openings of several different titles over the next two years, and the very limited number of theatres that could house a production as big as Miss Saigon on Broadway, it looks unlikely that the production will hit New York soon.

Northern Ballet announces new ballet for children

Northern BalletNorthern Ballet has announced that its much-anticipated enchanting new ballet for children, Elves & the Shoemaker, will première in Leeds this October, revealed on the evening of the television broadcast of its production Three Little Pigs. The company is extremely excited to launch this brand new production.

Elves & the Shoemaker is the latest in Northern Ballet’s award-winning series of Short Ballets for Small People which already includes the hugely popular Ugly Duckling and Three Little Pigs. The ballet has been created to introduce families and young children to live dance, music and theatre and encourage this participation. It will be performed in venues across Leeds before touring widely across north England and joining theatres on Northern Ballet’s national tour across the UK. It will then tour throughout the UK in spring 2015.

The production will retell the Brothers Grimm story about a shoemaker who receives some much-needed help from two elves: this colourful and heart-warming production is choreographed by Northern Ballet’s Ballet Master Daniel de Andrade. It will be set to an original score by composer Philip Feeney with set designs by Ali Allen. The production will give more young children and families the opportunity to visit the theatre and see ballet for the first time, igniting their interest in the art form with the hope of continuing this throughout the rest of their lives.

The company’s production of Ugly Duckling was a sell-out success on tour and became a BAFTA award-winning TV adaptation for CBeebies. The production of Three Little Pigs continues to delight audiences and critics on tour throughout the UK and a CBeebies television adaptation was screened on Easter Monday this year. Since its inception, Northern Ballet’s ballets for children have been seen live by more than 53,000 people and have been seen on TV by hundreds of thousands of people.

Punchdrunk And The National Theatre

Punchdrunk - The Drowned Man: A Hollywood FablePunchdrunk’s The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable, presented with the National Theatre, is set to close on 6 July after a full year of performances. It is the longest running show in London in Punchdrunk’s history and has already played to over 170,000 people in over 340 performances. This number is thought to increase to well in excess of 200,000 by the end of the run.

Punchdrunk has transformed a vast building next door to Paddington Station into the forgotten world of Temple Studios, a legendary film powerhouse. Audiences are asked to step into a world where the Hollywood studio system meets a forgotten land filled with dreamers who exist at the fringes of the movie industry. Celluloid fantasy clings to desperate realism and certainty dissolves into a hallucinatory world. This theatrical journey follows its protagonists between illusion and reality in a jaw-dropping phenomenon.

The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable is inspired by Büchner’s fractured masterpiece Woyzeck and set in a seedy Hollywood underworld. Led by Felix Barrett, Punchdrunk – formed in 2000 – is the internationally acclaimed theatre company whose previous award-winning productions include Faust, The Masque of the Red Death, Tunnel 228, It Felt Like A Kiss, The Duchess of Malfi, Sleep No More and The Crash of the Elysium. Their current New York show Sleep No More won a 2011 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience and a Special Citation For Design And Choreography at the 2010-11 Obie Awards.

In 2008, the company formed its education and outreach department, Punchdrunk Enrichment, which works with schools and community groups across London to deliver innovative participatory projects. As well as producing theatrical productions, Punchdrunk occasionally works with corporate partners in the execution of unusual experiential projects and events. The company is currently presenting its New York debut, a new version of the critically acclaimed Sleep No More at the legendary McKittrick Hotel in the Chelsea district.

O Snap at the Unicorn Theatre

O Snap at the Unicorn TheatreO Snap, a co-production of Het Lab Utrecht, tanzhaus NRW and supported by Take-Off: Junger Tanz Dusseldorf and Grand Theatre/Jonge Harten Theaterfestival Groningen is set to run from 22-23 May at the Unicorn Theatre in London. Aimed at participants aged 13 and above, O Snap is a dance performance about finding your own identity in an overloaded world.

The performance brings together three young dancers to explore friendship, loyalty and what matters most when you’re young, something which is incredibly identifiable during the teen years. Presented for just two days during May, O Snap is definitely not something to pass up.

The work has been created by Erik Kaiel, a choreographer who has been making dances for over 20 years, having started his career in New York where he stayed for a decade before moving to the Netherlands where he is currently based. Kaiel brings a multitude of experience to the Unicorn Theatre: he now dances, choreographs and teaches across Europe. He also tours extensively with arch8 productions with whom he has been making performances with young dancers in public spaces, in locations such as Benin, Senegal, Egypt, Frankfurt, Utrecht and the Hague. In 2010 Kaiel won the No Ballet Competition in Germany and the Dutch national prize for choreographic potential.

As well as the performances of O Snap, there will be free pre-show practical workshops to get involved in that will explore the themes of cooperation and self-expression – the workshops will take place an hour before each show and are suitable for all experience levels in order to enhance the O Snap performances.

There will also be a Unicorn Late event after the show on 23 May, where the Unicorn’s bar will extend its hours and there will be live music to enjoy in the foyer.