INTERVIEW: Glorious Old Masters – The Cast Of Art

Art UK Tour

Glorious Old Masters – we talk to Nigel Havers, Stephen Tompkinson and Denis Lawson on the first day of rehearsals for the ART UK Tour. ART UK TOUR SCHEDULE Waiting to chat to Nigel Havers, Stephen Tompkinson and Denis Lawson on the first day of rehearsals for ART I overhear a waitress detailing the ingredients of the soup of the day. It occurs to me that the producers of Yasmina Reza’s award-winning play might have had a similar approach:  Take one of the most successful comedies of all time; cast three of our best-loved and most experienced stars and mix well with a talented director. Garnish with marketing and serve at some of the UK’s finest theatres. Voilà! One smash-hit. With a clutch of heavyweight credits between them, all three actors agree that ART is the theatrical equivalent of European white truffles. “First of all, it’s very short. I’m very … Read more

INTERVIEW: Ed MacArthur and Jeremy Legat talk Murder For Two

Jeremy Legat Ed MacArthur Murder For Two

Actors Ed MacArthur and Jeremy Legat talk Murder For Two, the two-hander murder mystery musical A hilarious high-energy musical whodunit, Murder For Two is a madcap murder mystery with a twist – two actors play thirteen characters, and the piano. A loving homage to the canon of murder mystery plays, Murder For Two is a hysterical blend of music, mayhem and murder. Following its sell-out European Premiere at The Watermill Theatre and The Other Palace in 2017, Murder For Two is back at the Other Palace for a limited 5-week run this December. We talk to actors Ed MacArthur and Jeremy Legat – who reprise their performances as ‘Officer Marcus Moscowicz’ and ‘The Suspects’ – about the challenges of performing a two-hander murder mystery musical. Murder For Two isn’t a typical musical. Can you tell us a little about the premise? ED: “It’s a Murder Mystery parody in which I play the detective and … Read more

INTERVIEW: Keith Jack talks Fame the musical

Keith Jack Fame Musical

Keith Jack is currently touring the UK playing Nick Piazza in Fame the musical. Here he talks to Sammy Jones about appearing in the iconic musical. After a long association with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, this is a chance for Keith Jack to stretch his wings a little, and he is relishing the thought of playing Nick Piazza in this modern classic. He says: “It’s a completely different role for me, for one I don’t wear a loincloth, and I’m not topless, which is quite nice. I get to wear clothes! People will come along and expect something of me and see something slightly different.” “Nick is an actor who started off doing a TV commercial, and became famous from doing younger stuff, but he wants to go away and train to become a ‘real actor’ to do Shakespeare, and not just be seen as ‘that TV boy,” … Read more

INTERVIEW: Mathew Horne talks Rain Man

Rain Man UK Tour

Stage and screen star Mathew Horne talks to us about playing a role close to his heart in the stage version of hit movie, Rain Man. For anyone who doesn’t know the film, what’s Rain Man about? It’s a heart-warming story of love and tenderness between two brothers. It’s about a 29-year-old car dealer who believes the route to happiness is money and success. He’s a narcissist with a troubled past and he’s trying to keep his head above water. When his father dies, he discovers he has an autistic brother. He effectively kidnaps Raymond and they go on a road trip, where Charlie learns the route to happiness and peace is not money, success, cars and women, it’s love, family, connection and compassion. Why did you want to be part of this production? I wanted to get back to the theatre. I’d taken a year off theatre after doing … Read more

INTERVIEW: Tom Wells on his new musical Drip at the Edinburgh Fringe

Drip by Tom Wells Edinburgh Fringe

Paul T. Davies has been a fan of playwright Tom Wells since seeing his breakthrough play Jumpers For Goalposts, (which is also being performed at the Fringe by Kite in the Storm at The Space on the Mile), and here Tom chats about his and Matthew Robins’ new musical, Drip, performing as part of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Hi Tom, I’m a massive fan of your work! In particular you celebrate working class lives and LGBTQ people and those who feel isolated. What was the inspiration behind Drip? When I was writing the words for Drip the show’s director Jane Fallowfield and I ran a few workshops with young people around Hull, especially the Shout Group for young LGBTQ+ people at The Warren Project. Jane’s company Script Club has a really clear mission: Jane and the playwright do workshops in the writer’s home town (in my case, Hull) to … Read more