Wednesday, December 11

Tag: Kerry Ellis

Riddles and Romance – Underbelly Boulevard
NEWS

Riddles and Romance – Underbelly Boulevard

For one night only, a cast of musical theatre and singing stars presented a concert of works by composer, Clive Richard Davis.  Davis debuted his work, At Last, It's Summer, at the London Palladium in 2023 and this new concert included songs from that show, a musical comedy set in July 1920 on an English country estate, telling the tale of young love, as Alice falls for a handsome stranger. He, it turns out, is a nobleman fleeing the upheaval of the Russian Civil War. Alice has to persuade her father to allow the unlikely match.  Her father then too succumbs to love at first sight.  Woven in between these songs of romance, the performance showcases compositions from Davis's new musical theatre project, currently in development, The Three Riddles, in which a young man must solve thr...
Anything Goes – Barbican Theatre
London

Anything Goes – Barbican Theatre

Put together three pairs of (almost) lovers and their muddled relationships, against the backdrop of a grand ship with scintillating choreography and music, and you get a spirited production of Anything Goes. There isn’t very much else to the plot, just a classic case of entangled couples, falling in love and attempting to see it through. But the story is not what the audience comes for. It is the escape into this magical world of a magnificent ship where everyone talks in song and dance, makes silly jokes and enthrals the audience with contagious energy! Cole Porter’s classic masterpiece is back with an award-winning cast including Kerry Ellis as Reno Sweeney, Denis Lawson as Moonface Martin, Simon Callow as Elisha Whitney, Bonnie Langford as Evangeline Harcourt, Samuel Edwards as Bill...
Anything Goes – Palace Theatre, Manchester
North West

Anything Goes – Palace Theatre, Manchester

Manchester is basking in theatrical bliss right now. We’ve just bid farewell to Beauty and the Beast and are getting ready to welcome the Lion King back to the city later in the year, but before that the SS American has docked in the city with a stellar cast proving that literally Anything Goes. Originally opening on Broadway in 1934 the show has gone through many re inventions, the last being the 2021 revival which played in London’s Barbican Theatre and mirrors this UK tour before it returns to the Barbican this summer. Cole Porter sure knows how to pen a tune with some of his most famous songs featuring in this 2 and a half spectacle. For those not familiar with the plot, the story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London. Billy Crocker is a stowa...
Anything Goes – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh
Scotland

Anything Goes – Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

When theatre reopened in London 2021, it opened with a bang. The Barbican’s Anything Goes starring Sutton Foster and Robert Lindsay was not just a highlight of 2021, but rather a theatre highlight of the decade. With a new star cast, starring Bonnie Langford, the absolutely de-lovely production hits the spot. Tonight’s cruise liner was crammed with as much action as a Shakespearean romantic comedy, if not more. Mistaken identity, farce and wall to wall tap dancing abound in every scene. Starlet Reno Sweeney (Kerry Ellis) is heading to New York aboard SS American, where her love Billy Crocker (Samuel Edwards) has also stowed away but is in hot pursuit of the debutante, Hope Harcourt (Nicole-Lily Baisden), who is due to be married to her PG Wodehouse-esque fiancé, Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. As...
Anything Goes – Liverpool Empire
North West

Anything Goes – Liverpool Empire

In olden days, a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking, but now God knows, anything goes. Last years’ Olivier Award nominations were proof that Cole Porter’s 1934 musical hit is a timeless classic and can still please audiences today. This new touring production also shows, that with the right casting, it can raise the roof on large theatre venues. Set on the SS American, as it sets sail from New York to England, the press and passengers on board are complaining that there are no celebrities to make this trip worthwhile and worth the price of the ticket. Unbeknownst to them, there are stowaways and gangsters hiding in plain sight aboard and chaos, of course, ensues. With storylines that follow four main characters, it’s easy to think you’d get confused with the multipl...
The London Climate Festival ‘Songs for Nature’ – Sky Arts
REVIEWS

The London Climate Festival ‘Songs for Nature’ – Sky Arts

The London Climate Festivals ‘Songs for Nature’ was filmed at the stunning London Coliseum, the largest theatre in the West End and surrounding areas over three days with the crucial intention of raising awareness of climate change. It was free to watch on Sky Arts on 22nd April or ‘Earth Day’. Directed by Dominic Dromgoole and Bill Buckhurst, it featured an eclectic array of acts, from comedian Rob Brydon to Nathan Evans (of the recent Sea Shanty fame). It also included dance and orchestra and of course an essential thread of activists throughout, with contributions from the likes of Cool Earths Dr Hannah Peck and also Born Frees Youth Ambassador, a very passionate Bella Lack. The concert opened to an introduction by David Suchet. In some ways he almost looked lost as he stood alone...