Mark Ludmon

Mark Ludmon has been a journalist for over 20 years, specialising in writing about theatre and the arts as well as bars, pubs and drink. He has been on the theatre judging panel for London’s Olivier Awards and has a masters degree in English literature, specialising in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. He has an MA in theatre research, criticism and dramaturgy from the University of London’s Royal Central School of Speech & Drama. You can find him tweeting about theatre as @MarkLudmon and writing about theatre at markludmon.com.

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie Coming To London

LGBT, News, West End
Everyone's Talking About Jamie West End Tickets

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, the new musical that was a hit at Sheffield Crucible, is to transfer to London’s West End in November. The show, about a 16-year-old’s journey to being himself in drag, will run at the Apollo Theatre from November 22, with previews from November 6. It premiered in Sheffield in February this year. John McCrea will reprise the lead role of Jamie alongside most of the Sheffield Crucible cast including Josie Walker, Mina Anwar, Tamsin Carroll, Daniel Anthony, Luke Baker, Courtney Bowman, James Gillian, Harriet Payne, Shiv Rabheru, Lucie Shorthouse and Kirstie Skivington. Inspired by a documentary telling the true story of 16-year-old Jamie Campbell, the musical was developed by composer Dan Gillespie Sells and writer and lyricist Tom MacRae with director Jonathan Butterell. The London transfer is presented by producer and theatre owner Nica Burns of Nimax Theatres. She said: “Everybody seemed to be talking about … Read more

The Mentor with F Murray Abraham heads to West End

News, West End
The Mentor starring F Murray Abraham

The acclaimed Theatre Royal Bath production of Daniel Kehlmann’s The Mentor starring Oscar winner F Murray Abraham is about to begin its West End run. The Mentor runs from June 24 to September 2 at the Vaudeville Theatre with a cast that also includes Daniel Weyman, Naomi Frederick and Jonathan Cullen. This production, translated by Academy Award-winning Christopher Hampton, marks the first time that the bestselling German author’s play has been performed outside of Germany. It is directed by Olivier Award-winning Laurence Boswell who is artistic director of Theatre Royal Bath’s Ustinov Studio where the play enjoyed a record-breaking run earlier this year – the most successful in the studio’s history. The Mentor follows cantankerous old writer Benjamin Rubin and rising star Martin Wegner – two massive egos who are set on a collision course when they come together in a dilapidated art nouveau villa somewhere in the German countryside. … Read more

Traverse reveals premieres for Edinburgh Festival

Edinburgh Fringe, Features, News
Jess and Joe Forever at Edinburgh Festival 2017

The Traverse Theatre has revealed a programme of eight world premieres, three European premieres and five Scottish premieres for this year’s Edinburgh festival. The world premieres include Meet Me at Dawn by Zinnie Harris, directed by the Traverse’s artistic director Orla O’Loughlin, exploring everyday love and unexpected loss, inspired by the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Another world premiere will be The Whip Hand by Douglas Maxwell with Birmingham Repertory Theatre and National Theatre of Scotland. Directed by Birmingham Rep associate director Tessa Walker, it is a family drama set in Glasgow, exploring themes of power, privilege, blood ties and our inescapable past. In association with Glasgow’s Tron Theatre, another world premiere will be Letters to Morrissey by Gary McNair, part of the Made in Scotland showcase. Performed by McNair, the solo show is the third in a trilogy about growing up in working-class Scotland after his sell-out festival hit … Read more

Brighton Fringe announces 2017 award winners

Features, News, Regional
Brighton Fringe Winners 2017

The stand-out shows and performers from this year’s Brighton Fringe have been announced in the festival’s annual awards. Among the 24 awards presented, winners included The Brighton Little Theatre Company’s production of musical Urinetown (pictured), Ditto Theatre Company’s Ingo’s War, Broken Silence Theatre’s Bug Camp by Paul Macauley and Windmill Young Actors’ production of Steven Berkoff’s Agamemnon. Children’s show The Tale of the Cockatrice by Mumblecrust Theatre scooped two awards – Voice’s Best Newcomer to Brighton Fringe and the International Youth Arts Festival (IYAF): Best of Brighton Fringe Children and Family Show. Other winners include Cinebra: A History of Horror, which won £2,500 to tour to an international Fringe festival as part of the Pebble Trust International Touring Award. Teatro Pomodoro also won the opportunity to tour abroad. The company, which was part of the Brighton Fringe Window programme for exceptional new work, has been selected to tour to two Fringes in the “Nordic network” of Bergen, Gothenburg, Reykjavik and … Read more

Audra McDonald’s journey to Lady Day in London

Features, Gallery, West End
Audra McDonald in concert at Leicester Square Theatre

Mark Ludmon hears from Audra McDonald about her “long journey” to playing Billie Holiday on stage I fell in love with the voice of Audra McDonald when I first saw her perform as part of the Divas at the Donmar season in 1999. Combining a pure soprano with emotional intensity, she was already a three-time Tony winner for Carousel, Ragtime and Master Class and went on to appear in more musicals and serious dramas, including Raisin in the Sun which earned her another Tony award. Despite a stellar career on the American stage and screen and a number of best-selling solo albums, she has remarkably never performed in a musical in London’s West End. This is about to change when she takes to the stage of the Wyndham’s Theatre to play Billie Holliday in the transfer of her 2014 hit Broadway show, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. It … Read more