Friday, April 26

Tag: Nikolai Foster

Grease the Musical – Manchester Opera House
13Oct By Hannah WildeNo Comments
North West

Grease the Musical – Manchester Opera House

If, like me, you’re a lifelong fan of the 1978 titular film Grease, then the touring production of Grease the Musical is not to be missed. Like its namesake, this production is as slick as you like. It has got everything a good show should have: a toe-tapping soundtrack, mesmerising choreography, and - quite literally - an all-singing, all-dancing cast. The performance I had the pleasure of attending starred Dan Partridge as the leading man Danny Zuko, and understudy Ellie Kingdon as his leading lady, Sandy. I was a bit apprehensive to see an understudy in such a prominent role - especially one who is making their professional debut in this show - but I needn’t have worried: Kingdon was incredible. Far from being “oh so scared and unsure” like her wallflower character Sandy, King...
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Grease – Regent Theatre
1Sep By Angela KellyNo Comments
West Midlands

Grease – Regent Theatre

It maybe rapidly approaching Autumn but there are still a few Summer Nights to be had at The Regent Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent this week. Directed by Nikolai Foster, Artistic Director for Curve, the musical classic ‘Grease’ and its infamous score are totally prepared to entertain audiences on stage with an all-new cast. For those very few individuals who may not have experienced Grease previously, it is essentially a 50’s High School love story, starring the leather clad, cool dude 'Danny Zuko' (Dan Partridge) and the innocent, girl next door, 'Sandy Dumbrowski' (Georgia Louise). They reunite in their final year at Rydell High. It may be a love story on the surface, but it is also very much a story about teenage friendships, peer pressure, sexual relationships and personal challenges. P...
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Full Casting Announced for The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber
10Jun By Paul DownhamNo Comments
NEWS

Full Casting Announced for The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber

Leicester’s Curve theatre has today announced the full cast and production team for its Made at Curve production of The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, a celebratory reopening concert featuring the songs that made the musicals and memories from the extraordinary life and career of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Running 7th to 19th June in Curve’s transformed auditorium as part of the theatre’s upcoming socially distanced season, the production will be directed by Curve’s Artistic Director Nikolai Foster. Bringing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s songs to life will be Madalena Alberto (Evita, Dominion Theatre), Jessica Daley (An Officer and a Gentleman, Curve and UK tour, Over The Rainbow, BBC), Tim Howar (The Phantom of the Opera, Her Majesty’s Theatre), Shem Omari James (Songs For A New World, London Pallad...
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Full cast and production team announced for The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber
15May By Paul DownhamNo Comments
NEWS

Full cast and production team announced for The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber

Leicester’s Curve theatre has announced the full cast and production team for its Made at Curve production of The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, a celebratory reopening concert featuring the songs that made the musicals and memories from the extraordinary life and career of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Running 7th to 19th June in Curve’s transformed auditorium as part of the theatre’s upcoming socially distanced season, the production will be directed by Curve’s Artistic Director Nikolai Foster. Bringing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s songs to life will be Madalena Alberto (Evita, Dominion Theatre), Jessica Daley (An Officer and a Gentleman, Curve and UK tour, Over The Rainbow, BBC), Tim Howar (The Phantom of the Opera, Her Majesty’s Theatre), Shem Omari James (Songs For A New World, London Palladium), ...
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Curve announces summer production of Rent the Concert
24Apr By Paul DownhamNo Comments
NEWS

Curve announces summer production of Rent the Concert

Curve is bringing live performance back to Leicester full force this year with the announcement that Rent: The Concert, the era-defining, Pulitzer and Tony award-winning rock musical will be performed at the theatre this summer Tuesday 10th to Saturday 21st August. Staged in-the-round in Curve’s specially adapted auditorium, this Made at Curve production of Jonathan Larson’s award-winning rock musical will be directed by Curve’s Artistic Director Nikolai Foster (Sunset Boulevard – at Home, West Side Story, White Christmas). Inspired by Puccini’s classic opera La Bohème, Rent follows a year in the life of eight struggling young artists in New York’s Lower East Side as they attempt to navigate a world overshadowed by the HIV/AIDs pandemic, addiction, poverty and homophobia. The musica...
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Leicester’s Curve theatre is gearing up to reopen with a special socially distanced season from the 20th May
15Apr By Paul DownhamNo Comments
NEWS

Leicester’s Curve theatre is gearing up to reopen with a special socially distanced season from the 20th May

After over a year without audiences in its building, Leicester’s Curve theatre is gearing up to reopen with a special socially distanced season from the 20th May. Including two nights of work curated by Curve Resident Creatives and local artists, a new comedy musical, acclaimed dance and a Made at Curve concert inspired by the life and career of Andrew Lloyd Webber, these reopening plans have been made possible by a second grant from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s Culture Recovery Fund. As recently seen in streamed productions of Sunset Boulevard and The Color Purple, by raising the walls between its theatre spaces, Curve will reopen as a 533-seat socially distanced auditorium, with audiences enjoying live performances from all four sides of the stage. To ...
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Rescheduled dates for the UK Tour of GREASE starring Peter Andre
10Apr By Paul DownhamNo Comments
NEWS

Rescheduled dates for the UK Tour of GREASE starring Peter Andre

The producers of the first new production in 25 years of Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey’s iconic musical GREASE, have been working hard to reschedule the 2021 dates of the UK tour. The musical was due to tour in 2020 but had to be postponed due to COVID-19.  Directed by Nikolai Foster and choreographed by Arlene Phillips, the 2021 tour will now begin at Curve, Leicester from 30th – 31st July. The tour will continue on to Theatre Royal Plymouth from 3 – 7 August, The Marlowe, Canterbury from 9 – 14 August, Theatre Royal Nottingham from 17 – 21 August, Milton Keynes Theatre from 23 – 28 August, Stoke Regent Theatre from 30 August – 4 September, New Victoria Theatre, Woking from 7 – 11 September, The Orchard Theatre, Dartford from 13 – 18 September, Bristol Hippodrome from 21 – 25 Sep...
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Curve set to bring one singular sensation to Leicester this Christmas
24Mar By Paul DownhamNo Comments
NEWS

Curve set to bring one singular sensation to Leicester this Christmas

Curve is set to bring one singular sensation to Leicester this Christmas with a new Made at Curve production of the legendary Broadway musical A Chorus Line, running Friday 3rd to Friday 31st December. The iconic show will be directed by Curve’s Artistic Director Nikolai Foster, whose recent productions include Sunset Boulevard – at Home (“A game changer”, The Telegraph), West Side Story (“A superb production”, The Sunday Times) and White Christmas (“Dazzling, joyous”, The Stage). Full casting and production team will be revealed in due course. The news comes as Curve also announces its production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Wizard of Oz has now been postponed until Christmas 2022, due to plans for a national tour of the musical in 2023 following its run at Curve. All ticket-holder...
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Sunset Boulevard – Leicester Curve Online
13Jan By Paul DownhamNo Comments
East Midlands

Sunset Boulevard – Leicester Curve Online

As it toured the country, Leicester Curve’s 2017 production was praised by audiences and critics alike. Now, the team has come back together and filmed the musical for home viewings, whilst the theatres it visited sadly remain closed. Nikolai Foster’s artistic take on the iconic show has elevated the plot, and in doing so, has created an even more captivating piece. The first number embodies the chaos and desperation of late-40's Hollywood, set to the familiar melodies of Webber. “Did I hear that chord sequence in Joseph, or was it Jesus? Or have I just heard it earlier on in this song?” Webber’s signature style is stamped onto the show from the get-go. Another thing that is noticeable straight away is the appeal of the leading man. Narrating directly to camera, Danny Mac (White Christ...
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My Beautiful Laundrette – Curve Theatre Leicester
8Sep By Paul DownhamNo Comments
East Midlands

My Beautiful Laundrette – Curve Theatre Leicester

Britain in the 1980’s – a time of division and change and this is the setting for an adaptation and stage revival of Hanif Kureishi’s screenplay from that era. First off, I must say that it hasn’t worn that well and suffers from some shameless stereotypical characterisations that modern audiences would find hard to accept. Having said that, the company under the direction of Nikolai Foster provide a lively and thoughtful rendition of Kureishi’s script and most of the acting is fine throughout. This is a recording of a dress rehearsal for the actual stage show from 2019 and it does show somewhat – the sound quality is poor and the staging does seem a little slapdash, which is a shame because I’m sure the actual performance would’ve been so much better (there is a fuller review in our...
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