ColumnsWhy is it that musicals frequently get treated without the proper respect they deserve? No other art form suffers from the stigma musicals often have directed towards them and frequently this is from the arts…
Mister Producer
Snap happy at James McAvoy’s Macbeth
Recently watching Macbeth, the first production in Trafalgar Studio’s transformed season, during Act One its lead James McAvoy suddenly added new lines to Shakespeare’s text. “Oi! Turn that f***king camera off!” as he broke character…
The problems with awards
The closing date for eligible productions for the 2012/13 Olivier Awards was February 16, 2013. But, I wonder whether when it comes to award nominations, do later show openings gain a potential advantage over those…
Can you over-develop a show?
I had an interesting debate recently with two colleagues after watching a rehearsal of a new play in New Zealand entitled Hui by Mitch Tawhi Thomas. It was presented as part of a week’s performances…
A poor season for Broadway musicals
If you listened carefully, you could hear a collective sigh of relief emitting from Shubert Alley this month. This was the Tony Awards committee reacting to the arrivals of Matilda and Kinky Boots to Broadway,…
Theatre repeats itself…first as farce, then as tragedy
In 1981 Ray Cooney’s farce (which he also directed), Run For Your Wife opened in London’s West End, going on to play for 9 years. In 2013 Cooney’s movie adaptation of his stage play (which…
Farewell, Dress Circle
Goodbye London’s Dress Circle, the oldest showbiz shop in the world which, on February 9 2013, closed its doors for good. It will continue as an online business, which sadly seems the inevitable fate for…
Viva Forever! vs The Bodyguard
In successive weeks last December, two new musicals opened in the West End. Both compilation musicals: one featured the 90s pop hits of the Spice Girls in Viva Forever!; the other, a more classic pop…
Saluting the understudy
Since the new year at many of the West End shows I’ve seen, the lead has been off sick. With so many colds and viruses flying around, it’s inevitable that sooner or later someone in…
That was the year that was…
Happy New Year! Although this is my first blog of 2013 before I say a final goodbye to 2012 I thought I would share with you (in no particular order) my top ten favourite productions…
Put away the tambourines and hymn books
With new musical Scandalous, which closed on Sunday after 29 regular performances, has Broadway found its own Bernadette? For confused readers, I don’t mean honorary saint of Broadway, Bernadette Peters. I am, in fact, talking…
Star power on Broadway
Broadway has star power this fall including Al Pacino and Katie Holmes: the former in a revival of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, the latter in a new play called Dead Accounts by Theresa Rebeck….
Not putting up with bard seats
There is one aspect of the theatre-going experience which can make or break even the best production – comfort. The fringe is accepted by audiences as an environment where, for the serious theatregoer, discomfort is…
Changing stages – Blood Brothers bids farewell
November 11, 2012 is a significant date for the West End. After a 24-year run, the curtain will fall on Blood Brothers by Willy Russell at the Phoenix Theatre. The show’s departure reminds us of…
The best musicals need a touch of Papp
Casting A Chorus Line via open audition has the potential to embrace greater recognition of emerging West End talent – as long as it can also avoid celebrity casting
Old Vic’s performer masterclass
“You need to know where you came from to know how to get back” is advice I was given when I started in the theatre that has served me well ever since. A wonderful gift…
Jobs & Auditions
