The production of The Cat in the Hat is a wonderful and engaging first theatre experience for 3 to 6 year olds and will be showing at the Young Vic until March 13th. Based on the much-loved Dr. Seuss book, this legendary story was adapted for the stage by Katie Mitchell. With his red and white [.[...]
Archive for February, 2010
February 26th, 2010 - 7:01 am § in theatrenews
Sweet Nothings
Brilliantly directed by Luc Bondy, and in a new version by Divid Harrower Co, commissioned by Warwick Arts Centre, Sweet Nothings starts March 1st. Based on Arthur Schnitzler’s play Liebelei, Sweet Nothings is about the power of sexual longing and the vulnerability of those in love. A young man [...]
February 25th, 2010 - 6:45 am § in Uncategorized
Kim Cattrall and Matthew Macfadyen in Private Lives
Kim Cattrall, well-known for her role in Sex and the City as Samantha Jones has returned to London to star with Matthew Macfadyen in Noel Coward’s comedy, Private Lives. They play Amanda and Elyot, respectively, a divorced couple who meet again five years after divorcing and when both are on th[...]
February 24th, 2010 - 11:05 pm § in Uncategorized
The Little Dog Laughed
Resolutely American The Little Dog Laughed deftly satirises Hollywood’s eternal hypocrisy about sex, even today, as the play reminds us there are still no openly gay leading men in Tinseltown. Diane is a top Hollywood agent who wants to make a movie of a hit New York play about male lovers. She [...]
February 24th, 2010 - 10:48 pm § in Uncategorized
The future of arts funding
The theatre sector is concerned, and rightly so, about what might happen to central government support for the arts after the forthcoming general election. If the Tories will, can they be trusted? Will the scale of the public deficit mean the Labours will have to start taking back the grants offer[...]
February 24th, 2010 - 7:14 am § in Reviews
Measure for Measure
With its emphasis on political corruption Shakespeare’s complex comedy is very much a play for today. Michael Attenborough’s modern-dress production is clear, coherent and very good on individual psychology, although it doesn’t pursue the contemporary resonances as rigorously as [...]
February 24th, 2010 - 4:57 am § in Uncategorized
A Lamentable Tragedy
This is one of those theatre experiences that requires the audience to make an effort. Turning up for this site-specific show which is played out over two floor of an old motorcycle showroom could disappoint you if you don’t make the effort. There are some traditional elements to this ¬promena[...]
February 23rd, 2010 - 7:00 am § in Reviews
Heaven
I had assumed Simon Stephens would have reworked his short two-hander since the summer when the Traverse gave it a breakfast reading on the Edinburgh fringe. But here it is in a fuller but still bare-bones production for A Play, a Pie and a Pint, the lunchtime theatre season, with the same oddba[...]
February 17th, 2010 - 1:08 am § in Obituaries
Movie actress Kathryn Grayson died
Kathryn Grayson died on February 17, 2010 at age 88 at her home in Los Angeles. According to Sally Sherman, her longtime companion and secretary stated she “just went to sleep and didn’t wake up.” Born as Zelma Kathryn Elisabeth Hedrick, she appeared in 20 films, all but three for MGM – [...]
February 17th, 2010 - 12:00 am § in theatrenews
Love Never Dies – the sequel
Andrew Lloyd Webber has created quite a mystique regarding his new musical. It was first reported that the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies, would premiere in London, New York and Shanghai at the same time. That didn’t pan out and last October it was announced that it would pr[...]
February 16th, 2010 - 2:57 am § in Uncategorized
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Judi Dench is back as Shakespeare’s Titania in Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Rose Theatre. She is no stranger to the role, having played it in school at York in the 1940s and also on stage and film for Peter Hall in the 1960s. Dench’s performance is brilliant. She gives weight to every wor[...]
February 15th, 2010 - 2:41 am § in theatrenews
Playwright is first woman at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre
After 400 years a female playwright will have a work performed at the Shakespeare’s Globe theatre. Bedlam, Nell Leyshon’s fictional portrait of the London hospital, Bethlem, for the insane, set during the mid-18th century gin epidemic. Leyshon said it is a “great privilege” t[...]
February 15th, 2010 - 1:48 am § in Obituaries
Garfield Morgan remembered
Garfield Morgan, a well-known figure in regional theatre, has died at age 78. He achieved national recognition as Frank Haskins in the action series The Sweeney (Thames 1975-78), after spending years playing police officers on screen. Haskins, was continually beset by ulcers and colds and had a so[...]
February 11th, 2010 - 8:57 pm § in Features
11 and 12
The influential British director Peter Brook returns to London with 11 And 12, a work five years in the making, that brings together a multinational cast in a meditation on faith, race and tolerance. Based on a book by West African writer Amadou Hampaté Bâ, 11 And 12 recounts the author’s rela[...]
February 4th, 2010 - 10:48 pm § in Uncategorized
Stomp extended six months
Stomp is extended 6 months. Tickets are now on sale to 19 December 2010 at the Ambassadors Theatre. The show opened at the Vaudeville Theatre in the West End in September 2002 and ran for 5 years, ending its run at the Vaudeville Theatre 23 September 2007. Stomp was then transferred to the Ambassa[...]
February 4th, 2010 - 10:48 pm § in Uncategorized
Marcus Brigstocke to come to the West End
The next comedian to hit the West End is Marcus Brigstocke, when he brings his new stand-up show God Collar to the Vaudeville Theatre for one week, from 4 to 11 February 2010. This follows a national tour last year. “There’s probably no God. But I wish there was. I’ve got some things I need [...]
February 4th, 2010 - 10:48 pm § in Uncategorized
Smith to host WOS Awards
Legally Blonde star Sheridan Smith, who opened to rave reviews, will host the Whatsonstage.com Award Concert for the third year in a row. The winners in this year’s tenth annual “theatregoers’ choice” accolades will be announced at the ceremony. The concert is held in aid of this year’s [...]
February 4th, 2010 - 10:48 pm § in Uncategorized
Stars brave the weather for Legally Blonde
Despite the treacherous weather conditions in London, TV presenter Graham Norton, actor David Tennant and X Factor runner up Stacey Solomon attended the gala opening of Legally Blonde The Musical. Duncan James, who plays the lead in the stage show at the Savoy Theatre in London had his Blue bandma[...]
February 4th, 2010 - 10:48 pm § in Uncategorized
Dirty Dancing – At the West End
Dirty Dancing – West End Musical The movie Dirty Dancing, which starred Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze, was released in 1987 and was a big hit. All the hit songs from the film’s soundtrack, including Do You Love Me, She’s Like The Wind and Time of My Life, are featured in the stage show, w[...]
February 4th, 2010 - 10:48 pm § in Uncategorized
Doris Day Provides Inspiration for a Sentimental Journey
Doris Day, Hollywood legend, provides the inspiration for A Sentimental Journey, a bio-musical. The title is from the singer’s first No. 1 chart hit. It will transfer for a four-week run, from 11 March to 4 April 2010. Doris Day was a very prolific and bankable screen actress in the 1950s and 19[...]
