Little Shop Of Horrors UK Tour Casting Announced

Casting announced for Little Shop Of Horrors UK Tour.

Producers have today announced the full cast for the upcoming UK tour of Little Shop Of Horrors. As previously announced X Factor star Rhydian will play musical theatre’s infamous dentist Orin Scrivello DDS. Rhydian will be joined by Sam Lupton (Boq in Wicked, West End, Avenue Q, UK Tour) as Seymour, Stephanie Clift (Mamma Mia!, West End) as Audrey, Paul Kissaun (Calamity Jane, Fiddler on the Roof, UK Tours) as Mushnik, Sasha Latoya (Rent, Greenwich Theatre, Britain’s Got Talent) as Crystal, Vanessa Fisher (Hairspray, UK Tour) as Chiffon, Cassie Clare (Cats, West End) as Ronnette and Josh Wilmott (Spamalot, We Will Rock You, UK Tours) as Audrey II. The cast also includes Phil Adele, Stephanie McConville and Neil Nicholas. A charming, kooky and hilarious 1950s musical comedy, Little Shop of Horrors tells the story of Seymour, the assistant at Mushnik’s Flower Shop in downtrodden Skid Row, who becomes an overnight … Read more

CRITICS CHOICE: Tim Hochstrasser’s Pick Of 2015

Henry V at Temple Church

My best revival recommendation would go to Antic Disposition’s HENRY V played in the evocative setting of Temple Church. It is very hard to find something new to say about one of the most familiar plays in the canon, but this production developed a fully thought through and reconfigured setting in the period of the First World War that fused precisely and informatively with the original.

End Of The Rainbow UK Tour

Lisa Maxwell as Judy Garland in End Of The Rainbow UK Tour 2016

Following sell-out seasons in the West End and on Broadway, Peter Quilter’s play End Of The Rainbow will tour the UK in a brand new production opening at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester in February 2016. It’s 1968 and Judy Garland, a once-glittering star, is in London to make her explosive comeback. But off stage, holed up in her hotel room, Judy is battling with her young new fiancé, her devoted accompanist, and her destructive addictions. Will she be able to conquer her demons and reclaim her crown as one of history’s great musical icons? Featuring Garland’s most memorable songs The Man That Got Away, Come Rain Or Come Shine, The Trolley Song and of course Somewhere Over The Rainbow, End of the Rainbow is a fiercely funny and emotionally charged musical play filled with Garland’s legendary tenacity, razor-sharp wit and once-in-a-generation voice. Lisa Maxwell (The Bill, Loose Women) will play … Read more

Casting Announced for Closer To Heaven Return Season

Closer To Heaven by Jonathan Harvey and The Pet Shop Boys at the Union Theatre, London

Casting has been announced today for Closer To Heaven, a musical by the Pet Shop Boys and Jonathan Harvey which is returning to the Union Theatre from October 21 to Saturday 28 November 2015 following a sell-out run earlier this year. (Read our review) Set against the backdrop of Soho’s pulsing clubland, Closer to Heaven tells the story of Dave, just off the boat from Ireland and determined to make something of himself. He is offered a bar job at a glitzy London nightclub, where he quickly becomes part of an unconventional family including Billie Trix, a fading rock star of the sixties and mother figure to the club’s habitués – Vic, the club’s owner and a middle-aged gay father and his daughter Shell, who Dave sparks an immediate connection with. But will Dave truly discover himself in London, or will he fall into a labyrinth of excess, false agendas … Read more

Closer To Heaven Returns To Union Theatre

Closer To Heaven by Jonathan Harvey and The Pet Shop Boys at the Union Theatre, London

Following its sell-out run at the Union Theatre in April 2015, it has been announced that Closer To Heaven – The Pet Shop Boys musical will play a return season at the venue from 21 October to 28 November 2015. Set against the backdrop of Soho’s pulsing clubland, Closer to Heaven tells the story of Dave, just off the boat from Ireland and determined to make something of himself. He is offered a bar job at a glitzy London nightclub, where he quickly becomes part of an unconventional family including Billie Trix, a fading rock star of the sixties and mother figure to the club’s habitués – Vic, the club’s owner and a middle-aged gay father and his daughter Shell, who Dave sparks an immediate connection with. But will Dave truly discover himself in London, or will he fall into a labyrinth of excess, false agendas and the darker side … Read more

REVIEW: The Sum Of Us, Above The Stag Theatre ✭✭✭✭

The Sum Of Us at Above The Stag

One part of the mission of Above the Stag is to remind us of notable plays on gay themes that have not always received the attention they deserved, or whose continuing topicality and universal value needs restating. The Sum of Us by David Stevens falls very much within both these categories, and now receives a welcome fresh production at the launch of the autumn season.