Sadler’s Wells Archives - North West End UK

15Jun

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

42nd Street – Sadler’s Wells

Sadler’s Wells was in full swing for the opening night of 42nd Street. Red carpet, paparazzi and velvet ropes graced Roseberry Avenue, adding a giddy razzmatazz to this high-kicking comeback. The show was created in 1980, based on the 1933 movie of the same name. The Broadway production won Tony Awards for Best Musical and Choreography, becoming a long-running hit. It wowed London in 1984 (winning the Olivier Award for Best Musical), launching the career of a teenage Catharine Zeta-Jones. In a mirror to the plot of 42nd Street, Zeta-Jones was elevated from chorus girl to West End legend when both the lead actress AND her understudy fell ill. Jones stepped up and a star was born. In a cynical era of irony, apathy and algorithms, are people really in the mood for a cheery homage to old s...

5Aug

By Robert BartleyNo Comments

London

South Pacific – Sadler’s Wells

For those who missed out on the Chichester Festival Theatre run in 2021, or those who loved it so much they need to see it again, its production of ‘South Pacific’ is back in London until the end of August, prior to a 3-month tour. Assembling the same highly acclaimed cast as last year, the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic sees US Ensign Nellie Forbush falling for French plantation owner Emile de Becque on an island in the South Pacific island during World War 2. Their happiness seems set despite the ongoing threat of war going on around them, while at the same time, young lieutenant Joseph Cable arrives on the island having been sent on a spy mission but is quickly distracted by his attraction to a local girl. Love may be in the Pacific Ocean air for both couples, b...

Sera Maehara talks touring, the challenge of balancing new and restaged work, and tackling the difficulties in South Pacific

3Aug

By Jo TillotsonNo Comments

Interviews

Sera Maehara talks touring, the challenge of balancing new and restaged work, and tackling the difficulties in South Pacific

Originally programmed for 2020, the Chichester Festival Theatre production of Rogers and Hammerstein’s 1949 musical South Pacific eventually opened in person in July 2021, and was also briefly available to stream online last year. Now, once again directed by Daniel Evans and choreographed by Ann Yee and reworked to make it possible to tour, South Pacific is back on stage! Currently in residence at Sadler’s Wells until the end of August, the production will then tour around the UK and Ireland until November. This production opens with Liat enjoying the tranquillity of her island in the South Pacific, before her peace is disturbed by the raucous arrival of the US troops. At the same time, US Navy nurse Nellie Forbush and French plantation owner Emile de Becque are meeting for the first t...

Scottish Ballet: The Crucible – Sadler’s Wells

16Jun

By Stewart Who?No Comments

London

Scottish Ballet: The Crucible – Sadler’s Wells

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible has a rare quality of being ubiquitous, but consistently relevant, provocative and timely. There’s always a witch hunt somewhere. Medieval villagers with pitchforks have evolved into middle aged idiots on Facebook. Or mob-giddy kids on TikTok. Theocracies continue to thrive, and the oppression in those places can make The Crucible seem tame. I’m looking at you; Yemen, Afghanistan, The Vatican, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Arthur Miller was famously a victim of McCarthy era ‘Reds under the Bed’ paranoia. The playwright was questioned by the House of Representatives' Committee on Un-American Activities in 1956 and convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to identify others present at meetings he had attended. His play is more than just an allegorical spin on ...

9May

By Aditi DalalNo Comments

London

JV2 2022 – Sadler’s Wells

JV2 2022 is a triple bill of poetry in motion, performed by 16 international dancers from Jasmin Vardimon Company’s Professional Development Diploma. The show presents the fantastic talent of the young performers who use physical language to show the complexities of human lives and societies. ‘Can you hear me now?’ by Mafalda Deville, co-created with the performers, starts off the show with a strong political dance theatre presentation. With terms such as ‘freedom’ and ‘power’ written across their bodies in different languages, the dancers move to the moans and sighs of their own voices. The live vocal sounds merge into recorded echoes, creating an eerie soundscape that draws the audience in. The struggle for freedom, especially freedom of speech, is embodied in the strong and energeti...

6Aug

By Zoё MeeresNo Comments

London

Singin’ In The Rain – Sadler’s Wells

I saw the film Singin’ in the Rain when I was about 14 and some of the songs lodged themselves in my head to the extent that whenever anyone says “good morning” to me, I sing “good morning, we’ve talked the whole night through” silently to myself. If the musical numbers from the film stayed with me, the plot and performances definitely didn’t - but fortunately the same can’t be said of last night’s production. Don Lockwood (Adam Cooper) and Lina Lamont (Faye Tozer) are lighting up the Hollywood silent movie scene on and off screen, but all is not as it seems. Dom has fallen for unknown performer Kathy Seldon (Charlotte Gooch) and the dawn of the ‘talkies’ spells trouble for Lina, whose talents aren’t quite as wide-reaching as the audience has been led to believe. Together, Dom, Kathy a...