Month: September 2015

CRITICS CHOICE: Top 10 West End Musicals – September 1, 2015

News, Reviews, West End
Gypsy Savoy Theatre London

What Musical should you see first in London? We have compiled this list to save you the trouble of working it out! It’s just our view – and everyone has one – based on our Reviewers’ thoughts. We will update the list regularly so new productions get on your radar and when original casts change that is factored in. Musicals which have been running for more than three years are not included – this is a list for new or relatively new productions running in London. So go see them! 1. Gypsy Everyone in this company is superb in their part, everyone can really sing, really dance and really deliver the goods in terms of dramatic and comic acting. This is that rare beast: an exquisitely cast musical where the requirements of the parts have more importance in the casting process than potential box office draw or Twitter popularity. It … Read more

ATG Acquires Five USA Venues

News
Majestic Theatre, San Antonio

It was announced today that Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) have signed a deal to acquire ACE Theatrical Group, adding five theatres to their US portfolio. This brings the number of ATG venues to 45 in the UK, Australia and North America. The acquisition of ACE brings the Kings Theatre (Brooklyn, New York), the Saenger Theatre (New Orleans, Louisiana), the Mahalia Jackson Theatre For The Performing Arts (New Orleans, Louisiana), the Majestic Theatre (San Antonio, Texas) and the Charline McCombs Empire Theatre (San Antonio, Texas) into the ATG portfolio. The highly regarded existing ACE management team will remain with the business. This announcement comes after ATG’s first U.S. acquisition, The Lyric Theatre – Broadway’s largest theatrical venue – which re-opened its doors in dramatic style in 2014 following extensive refurbishment, to welcome audiences to the acclaimed Broadway revival of On the Town. The Lyric Theatre has recently been announced as the … Read more

Jim Broadbent Stars in A Christmas Carol

News, West End
A Christmas Carol Starring Jim Broadbent at the Noel Coward Theatre

Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol returns to the London stage later this year in a new version adapted by Patrick Barlow and starring Academy Award-winning actor Jim Broadbent. Jim Broadbent will be joined by an exciting group of performers who will bring characters from Tiny Tim to Bob Cratchit to life as part of Dicken’s tale of grief, ghoulish ghosts, greed and eleventh-hour redemption. A Christmas Carol is to be directed by Olivier award-winning Phelim McDermott, Artistic Director of Improbable, one of Britain’s most inventive theatre companies, responsible for the iconic production Shockheaded Peter. Design will be by Tom Pye and Toby Sedgwick will act as Dirctor of Movement with lighting design by Peter Mumford and sound design by Gareth Fry. In the spirit of the season A Christmas Carol and The Mackintosh Foundation are proud to be supporting St Martin-In-The-Fields Christmas Appeal by donating 50 pence for each ticket … Read more

REVIEW: McQueen, Theatre Royal Haymarket ✭✭✭✭

Reviews, West End
McQueen at the Theatre Royal Haymarket

The play triumphantly uncovers and re-asserts McQueen’s credo that design is at its best an act of love of the person – a summing up of who that man or woman was, is and may become – and therefore lies, paradoxically, in the mind as much as purely in the visual sense. It was for this reason that Alexander McQueen chose the Shakespeare line that heads this review to wear as a tattoo – a blazon for his time, and – surely – for all our times.