Douglas Mayo

Douglas Mayo has had a life long love affair with musical theatre. He has authored several books on publicity and marketing for amateur theatre groups. He is in the process of developing a musical based on his original story concept.

Cast Announced For Motown The Musical

News, West End
Motown The Muiscal

BOOK NOW FOR MOTOWN Full casting has been announced for the West End production of Motown The Musical which opens at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre on 11 February 2016. Motown the Musical tells the story of how Berry Gordy turned a loan of $800 into the musical powerhouse that was Motown Records. Motown the Musical will star Cedric Neal as Berry Gordy, Lucy St Louis as Diana Ross, Charl Brown as Smokey Robinson and Sifiso Mazibuko as Marvin Gaye. They are joined by Keisha Amponsa Banson as Mary Wells, Cindy Belliot as Anna Gordy, Samuel Edwards as Jackie Wilson, Tanya Nicole Edwards as Florence Ballard, Portia Harry as Teena Marie, Aisha Jawando as Martha Reeves, Joshua Liburd as Eddie Kendricks, Simeon Montague as Jermaine Jackson, Cleopatra Rey as Gladys Knight, Brandon Lee Sears as Tito Jackson, Jordan Shaw as Stevie Wonder, Cherelle Williams as Mary Wilson. other members of the cast … Read more

FIRST LOOK: Grey Gardens at Southwark Playhouse

Gallery, News, Off West End
Grey Gardens at Southwark Playhouse

BritishTheatre.com is pleased to bring you this first look at Sheila Hancock and Jenna Russell in Grey Gardens at Southwark Playhouse. With music by Scott Frankel, book by Doug Wright and lyrics by Michael Korie, Grey Gardens was the first Broadway musical to be based on a documentary. The show tells the story of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and Edith Bouvier Beale who were Jacqueline Kennedy’s aunt and cousin. Directed by Tom Sutherland, Grey Gardens stars Sheila Hancock and Jenna Russell with Billy Boyle, Aaron Sidwell, Jeremy Legat, Ako Mitchell and Rachel Anne Rayham. Grey Gardens runs at Southwark Playhouse until 6 February 2016. Photos by Scott Rylander

Phil Willmott Company To Present Double Bill At Union Theatre

News, Off West End
Phil Wilmott presents a double bill with the Union Theatre

The Union Theatre and The Phil Willmott Company have announced a double bill to be staged at the Union Theatre in early 2016. The season will include the UK professional premiere of Brecht’s Fear And Misery Of The Third Reich, Stephen Sondheim’s Road Show and an Autumn transfer of Queen Lear by Shakespeare from the Union Theatre to the Tristan Bates Theatre. Fear and Misery In The Third Reich is a powerful, tragic and surprisingly funny play by Germany’s most influential playwright which shows people just like us, facing a tide of seemingly unstoppable evil. Brecht asks us to consider how we’d react if (or when) fanaticism were to unexpectedly grip our cosy world. In an interlinked series of snap shots from Hitler’s Germany children inform on parents, justice becomes a joke, old loyalties mean nothing and mere survival demands ruthless cunning. The double bill also sees the first UK … Read more

Casting Announced For Gate Theatre’s In The Night Time Before The Sun Rises

News, Off West End
Adelie Leonce and Alex Waldmann star in In the Night Time Before The Sun Rises by Nina Segal at the Gate Theatre

Casting has been announced for the Gate Theatre‘s world premiere production of In The Night Time (Before the Sun Rises) by Nina Segal. The production will feature Alex Waldmann as Man and Adelie Leonce as Woman. The production is directed by Ben Kidd. A baby cries. A bottle breaks. A window smashes. Over the course of one night, mum and dad try to still their screaming infant – but as the hours grow longer, the world becomes elastic around them, and the horrors that scar our planet crash into the baby’s room. Should they ever have brought this child into such a wounded world? This is Nina Segal’s first professionally produced play. The world première of In the Night Time (Before the Sun Rises) takes a hallucinatory look at one couple’s experience of having their first baby. In The Night Time (Before The Sun Roses) runs at the Gate Theatre … Read more

CRITIC’S CHOICE: Douglas Mayo’s Pick Of 2015

News, Off West End, Reviews
Duncton Wood review Union Theatre

It’s been a great year for producers Off West End and three productions in particular highlighted the great wealth of talent that will ensure the future of British musical theatre. My pick(s) of 2015 are as follows:- The Clockmaker’s Daughter – Landor Theatre Michael Webborn and Daniel Finn’s muiscal fairytale was an engaging as any audience member could possibly hope for and showed enormous possibilities. Duncton Wood – Union Theatre Michael Strassen’s wonderful production of Duncton Wood (music and lyrics from Mark Carroll, book by James Peries, adapted from Horwood’s book) cemented the Union’s status as an Off West End venue committed to developing new writing talent. Fanny And Stella – Above The Stag Glenn Chandler and Charles Miller hit upon a winner with Fanny And Stella. Based on the true story of Ernest Boulton (Stella) and William Park (Fanny), the musical told the story of two notorious Victorian cross-dressers … Read more

Impossible UK Tour

News, Touring
Impossible UK Tour

THIS TOUR HAS NOW CONCLUDED Impossible, the most dangerous show ever seen, featuring the world’s greatest illusionists live on stage in a magic spectacular that will thrill and amaze audiences of all ages. Fusing death-defying stunts, technological trickery, grand stage illusions and close-up magic in a fast-paced breath-taking performance, Impossible reinvents the biggest illusions in history in the greatest magic show on earth. Fresh from its ground-breaking run in London’s West End, prepare to be mesmerized and baffled as Impossible brings together world-class performers showing off a stunning range of magical artistry; from astonishing acts of epic proportions to dumbfounding sleight of hand. IMPOSSIBLE UK TOUR PAST DATES Tuesday 9 – Saturday 13 February 2016 Liverpool Empire Tuesday 16 – Saturday 20 February 2016 New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham Tuesday 23 – Saturday 27 February 2016 Sunderland Empire Tuesday 8 – Saturday 12 March 2016 Regent Theatre, Stoke On Trent Tuesday 15 – Saturday 19 … Read more

REVIEW: A Christmas Carol, Middle Temple Hall ✭✭✭✭

Off West End, Reviews
Antic Disposition presents A Christmas Carol at Middle Temple Hall

Once again this year, Antic Disposition have bought their formidable skills to staging this festive classic at Middle Temple Hall, a venue associated with Dickens himself. Atmospherically, you realise upon entering this hallowed hall that you are in for a very special staging indeed and the audience were not short-changed.