NEWS Archives - North West End UK

<strong>Cinderella – Theatre Royal, Stratford East</strong>

27Nov

By Anisha PucadyilNo Comments

NEWS

Cinderella – Theatre Royal, Stratford East

The festive family shows at Stratford East have been happening for 130 years! It opened in 1884. Nine times performed, Cinderella returns to the stage but with many a twist and twirl. This year's production was a fitting tribute to Jo Melville, known popularly for her role in Eastenders but a mentor for so many in the community with her infectious enthusiasm for the Arts. For the third year in a row, the Stratford East is recording and taking theatre into hospitals to the community who could use a laugh. The play sets Cinderella near the pyramids! With exceptional puppetry skills, Kathryn Bond has you hooked with her all-knowing Sphinx cat. All the talented performers brought new avatars of familiar old characters to life. Gigi Zahir served Cleopatra with Zesty and feisty razzmatazz. P...

Christmas cheer comes to Runcorn next week

11Nov

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Christmas cheer comes to Runcorn next week

Centenary Theatre Company are about to move into the Brindley Theatre in Runcorn to present their latest production Elf the Musical which opens next week. North West End UK sat down with their musical director, Simon Pickup to find out how the company choses, rehearses and ultimately stages such a big production. Centenary Theatre Company was formed in 1901 and has showcased theatrical talent in Warrington and the surrounding areas ever since. When did you first become involved with the company? I was invited to musically direct CTC’s production of “Annie Get Your Gun” in 2013, and following that show I joined as a member and have now MD’d 7 shows for them, and appeared in 3. Your show this year is Elf the Musical being staged at the glorious Brindley Theatre in Runcorn, tell us ...

Aphra Behn – spy, writer and female libertine – a one-woman show

31Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

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Aphra Behn – spy, writer and female libertine – a one-woman show

It's 1677 and an audience getting ready to watch Aphra Behn’s The Rover are in for a surprise. For the show has been cancelled and, in its place, Aphra herself recounts the extraordinary tale of her time as a spy for King Charles II in the Dutch Wars, and how she became the first professional female writer. Complete with excerpts from Behn’s letters, poetry and plays, this vivid and thought-provoking one-woman show brings one of theatre's most brilliant raconteurs back to life. The A is for Aphra campaign is currently fundraising for a statue of Aphra Behn, attracting attention from the BBC and national press. To aid these efforts we’re bringing back our successful show about Aphra, which premiered at the Women and War Festival prior to going on a national tour, taking in regional t...

29Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

MJ The Musical heading to the West End

Producers Lia Vollack Productions and The Michael Jackson Estate announce today that the multiple Tony Award® winning Broadway musical MJ will open in the U.K. at the Prince Edward Theatre, London from March 2024. For more information and to be first in line for tickets, go to www.mjthemusical.com Tickets will go on sale in Spring 2023. Full booking details will be announced in due course. He is one of the greatest entertainers of all time. Now, Michael Jackson's unique and unparalleled artistry is heading to the West End in the Tony Award®-winning new musical. Centred around the making of his 1992 Dangerous World Tour, MJ goes beyond the singular moves and signature sound of the star, offering a rare look at the creative mind and collaborative spirit that catapulted Jackson into...

Heathers the Musical is back on the road

29Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Heathers the Musical is back on the road

Following two record-breaking seasons at London's The Other Palace and West End transfer to the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 2018 and having won the WhatsOnStage 2019 award for 'BEST NEW MUSICAL', Heathers the Musical will embark on a highly anticipated UK tour from 2023. Produced by Bill Kenwright and Paul Taylor-Mills, this high octane, black comedy, rock musical based on one of the greatest cult teen films of all-time starred Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, is back with a bang! The 2023 Class of Westerberg High and the full tour timetable will be announced shortly. Greetings and salutations! Welcome to Westerberg High, where popularity is so very a matter of life and death, and Veronica Sawyer is just another of the nobodies dreaming of a better day. Photo: Pamela Raith ...

A Strange Tale to be told at Shakespeare North Playhouse

27Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

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A Strange Tale to be told at Shakespeare North Playhouse

Imaginarium Theatre is thrilled to be staging Strange Tale; the second full length play in the opening season of the Cockpit Stage at Shakespeare North Playhouse this 2nd – 5th November. Drawing on factual historical research, with lashings of artistic license, and an abundance of fun, this zany and fabulously funny new play from Rob Brannen invents an exciting new mythos of Prescot and its historic connection to the Bard. Imaginarium Theatre present this new comic play that explores Shakespeare’s links to Prescot through a time-travelling adventure that blows apart the myths, the man and the missing years. Will Shakespeare is in Prescot, but who knows why or how. His Tudor days seem far away from the here and now. He needs the help of locals, as time is running out – his mem...

First look at new West End cast of Mamma Mia!

25Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

First look at new West End cast of Mamma Mia!

Producer Judy Craymer is delighted to announce the new cast of the global smash hit musical MAMMA MIA! from Monday 10th October 2022 and the extension of its booking period to Saturday 30th September 2023 at London’s Novello Theatre, with ticket prices frozen and now on sale. The London cast will continue to star Mazz Murray as Donna, Josie Benson as Tanya, Gemma Goggin as Rosie and Stephen Beckett as Bill. They will be joined on Monday 10th October by Norman Bowman (Marius in Les Misérables, Sky Masterson in Guys & Dolls and Pat Denning in 42nd Street in the West End) as Sam, Christopher Dickins (Witness for the Prosecution, Oklahoma! at Chichester Festival Theatre) as Harry, Meg Hateley (making her West End debut) as Sophie, Miles Henderson (making his West End debut) as Sky, Nat...

MUSICALS: A new Musical Theatre magazine hits the streets this month

21Oct

By Paul WilcoxNo Comments

NEWS

MUSICALS: A new Musical Theatre magazine hits the streets this month

MUSICALS: A new Musical Theatre mag hits the streets this month, but will it fly, or will it flop? Paul Wilcox from North West End gets a preview and gives us his verdict. A reassuringly heavy thud on my doormat announces the arrival of 'Musicals', a brand new bi-monthly magazine promising coverage of 'The World of Musical Theatre from the West End to Broadway and beyond.' I am fascinated to explore whether there is still a gap in the market for a specialist publication in a world of clickbait journalism and instant online content, mostly available free of charge. Ripping open the envelope and settling down on the sofa with a cuppa, I am presented with a product of undoubtedly high quality. Nearly 100 glossy pages broadly divided into news, reviews, features and interviews, with con...

Michael Ball to star in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Aspects of Love, reimagined for the 21st century

12Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

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Michael Ball to star in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Aspects of Love, reimagined for the 21st century

Michael Ball to star in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Aspects of Love, reimagined for the 21st century and directed by Jonathan Kent. Michael Ball said: "Aspects of Love holds a very special place in my heart. I am absolutely delighted to revisit Andrew Lloyd Webber's glorious score in a re-imagined chamber production in the West End from May next year. I am so happy to be collaborating again with the brilliant director Jonathan Kent who was so inspiring when we worked together on Sweeney Todd. We are just at the start of our journey so the big question is will I be singing my favourite song Love Changes Everything – what do you think? All will be revealed soon..." With lyrics by Don Black and Charles Hart, and produced by Nica Burns, Aspects of Love will play at the Lyri...

Sparkling casting announced for The Snow Queen at Storyhouse Chester this Christmas

12Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Sparkling casting announced for The Snow Queen at Storyhouse Chester this Christmas

Storyhouse is delighted to announce casting for its magical seasonal show The Snow Queen which will cast a spell over audiences this Christmas. The bewitching Hans Christian Anderson fairytale comes to the Storyhouse stage from 10th December to 15th January 2023 in an enchanting adaptation by Charles Way. When shards of an enchanted mirror fly into Cei's eye, he falls under its spell. He becomes cold-hearted and the Snow Queen steals him away to her far-off land where, with Cei as her helper, she has a chilling plan – to freeze the hearts of all living things and rule supreme over a world of ice and snow. Only little Gerda, Cei's childhood friend, believes he can still be rescued, and sets out on a thrilling immersive journey – for Gerda and the audience - through the changing se...