Patricia Hodge Archives - North West End UK

Pippin: 50th Anniversary Concert – Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

30Apr

By Carole GordonNo Comments

London

Pippin: 50th Anniversary Concert – Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

Packed full of Stephen Schwartz's memorable songs, such as "Corner of the Sky" and "Magic To Do", Pippin is a show that has been re-produced and re-imagined over the last 50 years around the world, including in the West End and on Broadway. At its heart there's the simple tale of a young man, a prince, at a loss of what to do with his life, the curse of princes throughout history. Pippin is the son of King Charlemagne the Great and heir to the Frankish throne. He seeks fulfilment, believing that, as he's extraordinary, he should find something extraordinary to achieve. In his attempts to break through this existential despair, he tries leading an army, but only succeeds in losing most of his men. Then he has a period of debauchery, but that leaves him empty. Art and religion also fai...

Private Lives – Lyceum Theatre

Private Lives is one of Noël Coward’s best-known and most-produced plays, and it is easy to see why. This two-hour production is absolutely full of snappy one-liners and delightfully stormy relationships. As the play opens, we meet Amanda and Elyot, who have been divorced for five years. Now recently remarried, we find them on the first night of their honeymoons as they discover that they have coincidentally booked adjacent rooms at the same hotel in the south of France... If you want to know what happens next, well, you’ll have to book tickets for the play! Originally starring Coward himself and Gertrude Lawrence, the leading parts are performed here by Nigel Havers, whose theatre company is also co-producing the tour, and Patricia Hodge, supported by Dugald Bruce-Lockhart as Victor...

Private Lives – The Lowry

When you put Patricia Hodge and Nigel Havers on a stage together, you already know it’s going to be a great show. Noel Coward’s Private Lives by the newly formed Nigel Havers Theatre Company does just that, and it’s everything you hoped it would be and more! Set in the 1930s, the play tells the story of Elyot (played by Havers) and Amanda (played by Hodge) who were once married and find themselves in adjoining rooms at a French hotel with their new partners, with the unexpected happening and the couple reconnecting. Havers takes on the role taken by Noël Coward himself in the original production in 1930 with a Suaveness we’ve come to expect, the character being delightfully charming but also quite stubborn and obstinate. Olivier Award winning actress Hodge is effortlessly glamorou...