Casting News

Whatsonstage.com are reporting that Sally Ann Triplett is returning to the West End stage to star as Donna Sherridan in the Abba blockbuster musical Mamma Mia! Sally Ann has previously starred in Anything Goes alongside John Barrowman, for which she won the 2004 Whatsonstage.com award for Best Actress in a Musical. Some of her other West End credits include Chicago, Cats and Cabaret.

From the 16th June Sally Ann will be joined by I'd Do Anything finalist Niamh Perry as her onstage daughter Sophie.

18 year old Liam Doyle from Coventry will star as Troy Bolton after winning the GMTV search for Troy competition to be the star of High School Musical 2 Live on Stage!. Liam beat out thousands of other lads from all over the country in the open auditions held in London last month, before being chosen from the final three by GMTV viewers.

There will be a rush of people out to buy tickets in the next few days after the new cast for Calendar Girls was announced today. Jill Halfpenny, Jerry Hall, Gemma Atkinson, Anita Dobson, and no less than June Brown herself (Eastenders Dot Cotton) will be taking over the roles from Patricia Hodge and co on 28th July 2009, where they will play a limited run until October 17th 2009 at the West Ends Noel Coward Theatre.

David Tennants Hamlet to be filmed!

The BBC has today confirmed that the David Tennant helmed production of the RSC's Hamlet will be filmed for BBC2 later this year.

Tennant and all the key members of the company including Patrick Stewart have signed up and filming will begin next month at an undisclosed location.

The production was directed by Gregory Doran

BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow said that the film was “a wonderful opportunity to bring one of the great stage successes of last year to a wider audience.” Doran added: “The Hamlet cast and the RSC are all really delighted that we now have the chance to share this show with audiences around the world.”

The news must come as a nice suprise for Tennant who was unable to perform for much of the London leg of the run due to a back injury.

Liverpools Neptune Theatre to be refurbished?!

The Liverpool Daily Post is reporting that the owners of the Neptune Theatre on Hanover Street in the city have said that they will refurbish the venue inside and out and return it to its "all-singing and dancing former glory."

Says the Daily Post...

"The news comes after Hanover and Liverpool city council ended a four-year deadlock over how much rent the council should pay to lease the building.

It will be music to the ears of the city’s amateur theatre groups who lost their much-loved home when it closed.

The venue was mothballed in 2005, needing massive refurbishment. Then the landlord and tenant fell out over the rent.

Hanover reportedly wanted to up the tenancy from £6,000 a year to nearer £60,000.
But, after a prolonged arbitration, the two sides agreed a “mutually acceptable” figure.
Last week, senior Liverpool councillors voted to sign a new five-year tenancy.

They also said there was a “six figure-sum” available to fix up the inside of the building, which first opened in 1913."

Click here to read the full article

Editors opinion: This could be excellent news for the culture in Liverpool. Since the venue closed a few years ago many people who could have gone into Amateur Dramatics would have either gone somewhere else or wouldn't have got started full stop. One feels however that the council missed another trick - it could, and should have been sorted for the Capital of Culture year in 2008 to show off how diverse our theatre heritege is in the city. Better late than never though eh?!

Round up of News!

Sunset Boulevard is to be the third show in the West End to close on Saturday 30th May after putting up closing notices this week. It was hoped that the show would extend its booking period until September, but a lack of sales has meant that it will follow Joseph starring Gareth Gates, and Spring Awakening in closing at the end of the month.

Another new West End show, Shout! which stars Sue Pollard and is running at the Arts Theatre will also close on May 31st after only a months run! The duke-box musical had a successful UK tour prior to its opening on the West End.

John Barrowman is to add to CV in September when he stars as Albin in the current West End revival of La Cage Aux Folles at the Playhouse in London. He will start his performances in mid-September and will continue for a strictly limited 9-week run.

Alan Cummings is rumoured to be in talks with the producers of the Spiderman musical, due to open on Broadway next year. It is thought he will play The Green Goblin.

Chace Crawford has been confirmed to star in the new movie version of Footloose. The role which was made famous by Kevin Bacon in the original was initially offered to Zac Efron, who declined due to fears of being type cast. The Gossip Girl star will start filming within the next few months.

And finally... An Inspector Calls is due to open at the Novello theatre in September after the demise of Spring Awakening. The show, which has played over 4000 performances around the world is directed by Stephen Daldry.

Broadway Grosses - Week Ending 17/5/09

It seems like the tourist season has properly began with a 6% increase in the total amount of people going to see a Broadway show. As a result, most shows stayed steady or saw a small increase in attendance. Most shows didn't see a drastic increase - in fact, only 4 shows saw an increase of 10% of more. Avenue Q (+18.5%) was the biggest gainer, followed by The Norman Conquests (+13.1%), The 39 Steps (+12.3%) and The Philanthropist (+11%). Only 5 shows saw a decrease in the visitor numbers, but none of the drops was significant. August: Osage County saw its first increase in a while (+7.3%), but it still has nearly 60% of its seats empty throughout the whole week. Musicals are still pulling the crowds in and Wicked once again was the show which brought in the most money - with just over $1.4 million.

To see all the figures click here.

2009 Drama Desk Awards!

Billy Elliot the Musical led the winners with 10 Drama Desk awards, including Outstanding Musical. Ruined took home the award for Best Play and Hair and The Norman Conquests were named Best Revival of a Musical and a Play, respectively.

The ceremony was hosted by Harvey Fierstein. Presenters included Stockard Channing, John Cullum, Jim Dale, Jason Danieley, Andre De Shields, Jane Fonda, Victor Garber, Cheyenne Jackson, Carson Kressley, John Lithgow, Marin Mazzie, Audra McDonald, Rex Reed, Michael Rupert, and Tom Wopat.

Acting winners included Angela Lansbury (Blithe Spirit), Geoffrey Rush (Exit the King), Allison Janney (9 to 5), Brian d'Arcy James (Shrek the Musical), Janet McTeer (Mary Stuart), Gregory Jbara (Billy Elliot), Haydn Gwynne (Billy Elliot), and Pablo Schreiber (reasons to be pretty).

The casts of The Norman Conquests and The Cripple of Inishmaan received awards for their ensemble performances, with additional special awards presented to Liza Minnelli, Forbidden Broadway, the Atlantic Theater Company, and TADA! Youth Theater.

A full-list of winners can be found here.

Susan Boyle "to be given West End Musical role"

The Daily Telegraph is reporting that Britain't Got Talent sensation Susan Boyle is to be given a role in a West End Musical, courtesy of Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Lord Lloyd Webber, who is famous for being the creative force behind Joseph, Cats and Phantom of the Opera, recently met miss Boyle at a recording studio in London.

“She is a terrific sport and she’s a great fan of my shows,” he said.
“If she wanted to be in one, well it could happen. It would have to be the right role. Maybe I know what it could be, but I’m not telling. She’s got a great future”

Susan has been turned into a global phenomenon ever since she first stunned judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan with her rendition of I Dreamed A Dream from the musical Les Misèrables. Over 50 million people have watched her performance on Youtube.

Anna Friel makes West End Debut

A new stage adaptation of Breakfast at Tiffanys is due to open later this year with Pushing Daisies star Anna Friel staring as Holly Golightly in her West End debut. The part was made famous in the 1961 film staring Audrey Hepburn.

The show will open on 29th September 2009, where it is booking until 9th January 2010 at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket.

Directed by Sean Mathias, who acts as artistic director of the entire season, Breakfast at Tiffany’s is adapted by Samuel Adamson. Though Adamson draws more on the original source of Truman Capote’s 1958 novella, “Moon River”, Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer’s Oscar-winning song from Blake Edwards’ film, will be included in the stage version.

In 1940s New York, a struggling young writer moves into a Manhattan apartment building and soon becomes captivated by his charming and beautiful neighbour, Holly Golightly, whose public persona differs from her vulnerable private self. With her string of rich suitors, will the penniless writer “Fred” succeed in capturing the heart of this good-time girl?

Breakfast at Tiffany’s returns Anna Friel to the London stage for the first time since Lulu at the Almeida at King’s Cross in 2001. Her other stage credits include Closer on Broadway. She’s best known for her screen credits in the likes of Pushing Daisies, Rogue Trader, Land Girls and Brookside. Her Breakfast at Tiffany’s co-star will be, making his London stage debut, American Joseph Cross, whose credits include Milk and Running with Scissors on film and Landscape of the Body and Mourning Becomes Electra on stage.

Speaking about her new role, Anna Friel said: “Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's has always been one of my favourite novels, and I am delighted to have been given both the opportunity to play one of my all-time favourite heroines, Holly Golightly, and to be returning home to the London stage.”

Trailer for "Nine" online!

The Weinstein Company has released the first trailer for Rob Marshall's Nine, a musical based on Federico Fellini's autobiographical film, 8½. This first debuted on Broadway in 1982, and has been adapted for film, much like Chicago, which Marshall also directed. Starring Dame Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Kate Hudson, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cottilard and Sophia Loren, Nine follows the life of the famous film director Guido Contini as he reaches a personal and creative crisis beyond epic proportions whilst balancing a number of women in his life. The musical originally won 5 Tony awards, including Best Musical, and has enjoyed success with a number of revivals.

Planning Permission @ Unity Theatre

David Hutchinson, writer and director of Planning Permission at the Unity Theatre this week, came up with the idea for this new farce whilst on a series of train trips back and forth between Scotland and Liverpool, where he studied at LIPA. The co-founder of Sell a Door Theatre Company, who have produced this piece, says that it had been simmering in his mind for a while and once he started the actual writing he just couldn’t stop. Thank God he didn’t because this is an exquisite play which keeps you gripped from the beginning to the end.

Set during a Parish Council meeting at a local church in Cumbria, Planning Permission tells the story of a group of residents who are to decide the fate of a piece of land owned by one of the older members of the community.

Each must put their opinions across about why they want to keep it as it is, a hang-out for teenagers, or why they want to let it be concreted over so that a new video store can be built on it. During the course of the one Act play, the audience learns a lot about each of the characters – their flaws, their emotions and their prejudices; some of which turn out to be true, whilst others remain unfounded.

The play is very much an ensemble piece with each young actor bringing something new to the fore. Because each character has such a different background and is at a different stage in their lives, everyone has their own view points, and the cast generally get this across well. One minor point is that some of their accents maybe weren’t consistent throughout the play. Having said that, they all do a wonderful job, and some of the comic timing displayed is excellent, as are the character progressions.

Jessica Buxton, as the elderly Mrs Battersby, is the strongest member of the cast. The physical performance is so excellent that you do not doubt that she is the local battleaxe she portrays. The range of emotions she brings to her performance is great – showing tenderness which juxtaposes her harsh demeanour.

The highlight of the play is undoubtedly the writing. The story comes alive through the individual monologues which reveal each characters most inner thoughts and feelings. A stained glass window, which adorns the back wall of the set, is also used to project videos of individual characters inner thoughts. These are the emotional tools that drive the story forward, and what turns the play from being good to being great.

This play deserves be seen on a larger scale and the future is potentially very good for the writer/director and the young cast.

8/10

Planning Permission is at the Unity Theatre until Friday 15th May 2009.

Spring Awakening Posts Closing Notices

So the rumours are true. Spring Awakening the alt-rock musical which opened to rave reviews only two months ago has this week announced that the show will come to an end on 30th May 2009. A smash on Broadway, where it ran for over two years, Spring Awakening came to London in early January where it has a pre-West End run at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith. The show was a sell out at that theatre and it was announced that on the back of amazing critical sucess that the show would transfer to the Novello theatre, where it would open its initial booking period up until October 31st 2009.

I was lucky enough to see the show whilst it was at the Lyric and really enjoyed it. The music was catchy, despite the lyrics not being up to scratch. The cast was fantastic, the set was nicely designed and the lighting was some of the best I've seen in any show. The atmosphere in the auditorium was electric, and whilst I hate people talking during the show, one can't deny that everyone was enjoying themselves and the show which was being put on in front of them.

Spring Awakening was something that the West End needed; it was new, edgy, refreshing, shocking - many of the qualities which are associated with youth, and I feel that here lies one of the problems. The young people of London haven't taken to the show like they did in New York, and when your target audience doesn't flock to the theatre in droves, then you are always fighting an uphill battle. It was always going to be risky opening up this show in another country, and it is a real shame that this show wasn't a commercial success because it is relevant to the youth of today and it has substance.

I'm not sure the marketing campaign has been as direct as it could have been, but saying that I don't live in London and am slightly older than the target audience. I will say that I was one of the few people who was aware of this show before it came to the UK, but since it's arrival I have only seen reviews in high brow national newspapers. I'm not sure of the marketing strategies or budgets the producers for this musical had, but I certainly didn't see the cast on Jonathon Ross or Paul O'Grady - something which I have seen the cast of Wicked, Hairspray and more recently, Sister Act appear on. Now I know that Spring Awakening may not appeal to Jonathon Ross' or Paul O'Grady's key demographics, however I also didn't see the cast of Spring Awakening appear on T4 or in some teen mags which I'm sure would have got people talking. The only radio I've heard about this show was on Elaine Paige last weekend where Aneurin sang a song and answered a few questions about the show. It wasn't even a good song and the interview was quite frankly boring - there wasn't an energy there, and I still can't quite work out whos fault it was.

Someone has said that Spring Awakening is, at the moment "the right show, at the wrong time", and I completely agree with this comment. Kids need to see shows like this - they need to see that their problems are universal . They need to see a show that they can relate to. Spring Awakening is one such show, and it is just a shame that at the minute we are weathering an economic storm. As far as I am aware, most shows are struggling at the minute. There are empty seats for the majority of shows across the West End, and discount ticketing is now common place. It is a way of trying to coax people back to the theatre. At the minute I'm not sure if it is working completely.

If people are now seeing one or two shows a year as opposed to three or four, and if there are less tourists around then people are going to see shows they are familiar with. They will go and see the Phantoms and the Lion Kings, the Wickeds and the Hairsprays - in other words, they will go and see the already established shows. The vast majority will not go and see the smaller shows, however critically acclaimed they were. They want to know that they are getting something for their money. They want to go and see shows where they already know the story and the score. They want escapism while we steer our way out of this crisis, and until things get better then the West End will continue to only show conglomerate shows. The basic fact is that people at the minute would rather pay £60 per ticket to a show they know than go and see a show they know nothing about. And if they can't afford that price for a ticket then they simply wont go.

I would have hoped that the producers would have given this show more time to find its feet. By the time it will close on the West End, it will have only been running for 10 weeks. The simple fact is though that everything boils down to money, and it is clear that the producers don't want to take another risk, which isn't a bad thing because one risk has already failed, but it's definately not a good thing, because I now feel that other producers will look at this and think "if Spring Awakening can't succeed, then how the hell can our show?!" This is indeed a step backwards for West End theatre. A step which will take many years to recover from.

Broadway Grosses - Week Ending 10/05/09

It seems that this is the first week in quite a long time that there has been no huge decrease in the amount of people a show has pulled into a theatre. There is not one show which has seen a drop of more than 10%. Chicago seen the steepest drop (-9.5%). August: Osage County also seen a drop. It was less than Chicagos drop, but considering that last week it was showing at less than 45% capacity a drop is still not healthy. This week the show has dropped to 33.3% capacity (-8.8%) The show cannot be making money and I still feel that it will close soon. Most family musicals remained steady (The Little Mermaid -0.1%), as did most musicals is general (Jersey Boys +0.7%, Billy Elliott +2.1%). Alot of plays seemed to see a big resurgence in visitors with Norman Conquests (+15.7%) and Waiting for Godot (+14.9%) the biggest gainers. Overall there were more people watching Broadway shows this week - 72.05% of seats were sold compared to 70.45% last week.


For full Broadway Grosses click here

Sister Act Nuns abseil down Palladium!

The Producers of the new Sister Act Musical which started previews in the London Palladium last night caused the traffic to stop and thousands of tourists to gather around yesterday when they abseiled six nuns down the front of the theatre!

The stunt was pulled by producers Stage Entertainment and Whoopi Goldberg. The nuns were dressed in their full habits, complete with black painted stilettos.

Bill Taylor, producer of Sister Act, commented, "We're hoping Sister Act fever will be taking the capital by storm, and we're celebrating our first preview by stamping our mark on the wonderful London Palladium with our fearless sisters. The nun fun is just beginning!"

Sister Act has taken around $6 million in advanced ticket sales and should run a while.

Wolverine rakes in the cash!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the first comic book prequel about the adventures of the X-Men has clawed its way to the top of the American and UK box office. In the US, the film took $85 million (£57 million) in the first three days, which was above expectations, especially because the film had been leaked online weeks in advance. The figure is slightly lower than the last 2 X-Men films, but considering that this film is a spin-off it has performed exceptionally well. In the UK the film has opened to £6.6 million, but that figure includes two days of previews. This figure is 3 times as much as the closest film rival - the big screen adaptation of the Disney Hannah Montana series. The sucess of Wolverine may be short lived however with next Fridays release of the new Star Trek film starring Simon Pegg.

I went to the cinema to see Wolverine over the weekend. Whilst I didn't love the film, I couldn't see why some critics have mauled it. The characters except for Wolverine aren't that well developed and it is hard to actually care for them, but the action sequences were pretty impresive. The storyline was a bit flimsy, but it was always going to be because everyone knew going into the film that nothing drastic could happen to the character because he was in the following 3 X-Men films. It's not one of the greatest comic book films, not even close, but it is an enjoyable Sunday afternoon popcorn fest when all you feel like doing is watching something thaat doesn't require any brain power.

Little Shop of Horrors @ Liverpool Empire

It’s not often that you leave a theatre after watching a musical wanting never to visit the dentist ever again! But that is how you might feel after watching Orin Scrivello inflict torture on his patients during the first act of Little Shop of Horrors.

Little Shop of Horrors is set in Skid Row, an imaginary street in the 60’s, where Seymour, an assistant in a flower shop discovers a new breed of plant. Soon Seymour discovers that this plant has a taste for blood and it isn’t long before this carnivorous creature promises the downtrodden man a life of fame and fortune in exchange for fresh human flesh.

Claire Buckfield as Seymours love interest Audrey is particularly good. The character goes on a big journey throughout the show and Claire shines as she displays the characters emotions, going from the silent domestic abuse victim, to beginning a genuinely cutesy relationship with Seymour.

Alex Ferns was also very strong as the psychopathic dentist. He played the wife beating character well, but one feels that if he wants to avoid being typecast in the future then he must try and avoid roles like this. His comic timing however, was impeccable.

The real revelation of the show however was Damien Humbley who played Seymour. His acting was every bit as good as his singing which was crystal clear.

The three ladies who provided the narration had excellent vocal talent when singing individually, but when they sang together it was very hard to decipher the words. Perhaps this was due to their strong American accents, or perhaps there were some technical issues on the night.

The star of the show was undoubtedly the plant! The fact that it’s all singing and all dancing makes you sort of forget that it’s murderous and ruins everyone’s lives around it. The man behind the voice, Clive Rowe is particularly good.

The set comprised of a back alley which had brick buildings on either sides of the stage. These buildings folded out to reveal the interiors of the shop and the dentist surgery. It was very well utilised and it was good to see that there wasn’t much dead space on the space.

Overall this is a good production, having starting its life as The Menier Chocolate Factorys revival in 2006. Whilst nothing about the show is lavish, everything is executed well. The score isn’t particularly memorable, but it is noticeable that the songs were written by future Disney composers – Howard Ashman and Alan Menkin who went on to write the scores for Aladdin and The Little Mermaid.


7/10


The Little Shop of Horrors runs at the Liverpool Empire until Saturday 9th May, before continuing its UK tour in Milton Keynes (11th-16th May) and in Woking (18th-23rd May).

Tony Award Nominations Announced!

This years Tony Award nominations have been announced and the Broadway production of Billy Elliott leads the pack with a total of 15 nominations. It's 3 young stars are jointly up for Best Actor whilst Sir Elton John is nominated for Best Original Music. The show is also in the running in the Best Musical category, where it is up against Shrek the Musical, Rock of Ages and Next to Normal.

In nominations for plays, Jane Fonda is nominated in the Best Actress category, whilst Geoffrey Rush and James Gandolfini are both nominated for Best Actor. 33 Variations, Dividing The Estate, Reasons To Be Pretty and and God of Carnage are the best play candidates. Angela Lansbury has also garnered her 6th Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a play, for Blithe Spirit.

The Tony Awards will be awarded at The Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Sunday 7th June 2009. www.tonyawards.com

For a full list of nominees click here

Broadway Grosses - Week Ending 03/05/09

Another not so good week for August: Osage County. Less than 45% of the seats were sold during this past week. It must be on the brink of closing unless the running costs are very, very low! Joe Turners Come and Gone also had a 33% drop in seats sold. This was the biggest decrease however, as generally most shows had a small increase or decrease. Guys and Dolls was the biggest musical casualty, off 16% this week. The family musicals had a biggest drop than other musicals, with Shrek the musical and Mary Poppins both seeing drops of around 10%. Wicked continues to be the musical which is taking the most amount of money, in a trend which has continued pretty much since it opened in 2003.

Click here for the full list of grosses

Sound of Music Tour casting..

It seems that Margaret Preece will be reprising her role as Mother Abbess. Margaret took over from Lesley Garrett in the role at The London Palladium in the city's West End and ended up closing the show alongside Summer Strallen who played Maria Von Trapp, who on tour will be played by another returning star. Connie Fisher is to play Maria and Kirsty Malpass will play Maria at certain performances. Michael Praed will star as Captain Von Trapp. Michael has appeared in the West End versions of Pirates of Penzance and Aspects of Love alongside Sarah Brightman.

http://www.thesoundofmusictour.com/news/newsitem_michaelpraed.php