Bill Kenwright

Rehearsal For Murder UK Tour

News, Touring
Rehearsal For Murder UK Tour

The Classic Thriller Theatre Company has announced that it is extending the UK tour for Rehearsal For Murder. Rehearsal For Murder is one of stage and screen’s all time classic thrillers. Written by Richard Levinson and David Link, whose work included the television series Murder She Wrote, Rehearsal For Murder was a popular television movies which starred Robert Preston, Lynn Redgrave and Patrick Macnee. Playwright Alex Dennison is left heartbroken when his fiancee and leading lady Monica Welles is found dead from an apparent suicide after the opening night of her stage debut. On the anniversary of that ill-fated night, Alex assembles the same cast and crew in the same theatre, for a reading of his new play. But as the reading begins, it becomes clear that Alex believes that Monica was murdered and his new play is a devious cat-and-mouse chase to uncover her killer. The new tour will … Read more

BIG INTERVIEW: Willy Russell and Bill Kenwright on Blood Brothers

Features, Interviews, Touring
Blood Brothers on Tour

Willy Russell and Bill Kenwright speak to Elaine Peake about Blood Brothers EP: How did you come up with the idea of writing a full-scale musical? WR: The kind of theatre I was involved in right from the word go didn’t make a distinction between musical and non-musical. When I started work at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool, it was commonplace to have music as part of your show. Blood Brothers was written very much in the Everyman ‘house style’ of the day, and that was the period when the resident company included people like Bernard Hill, Jonathan Pryce, Alison Steadman, Julie Walters, Pete Postlethwaite, Bill Nighy, Matthew Kelly, Antony Sher – you were working with that kind of actor. All of them could sing (some better than others!), and some of them played a musical instrument, so it was the way we did it. We’d all been influenced by … Read more

Celebrate spring with Ayckbourn’s comedy of matrimonial mishaps

News, West End
How The Other Half Loves at Theatre Royal Haymarket by Alan Ayckbourn. Tickets Now On Sale

Alan Ayckbourn’s farcical tale of marital manners, How The Other Half Loves will appear in the West End this spring. The 1969 classic – the first of Ayckbourn’s plays to be staged on Broadway – returns to London to play the Theatre Royal Haymarket from 23 March – 25 June and is produced by Bill Kenwright. Ayckbourn’s tale of social graces and personal misunderstanding remains one of the celebrated writer’s most famous comedies. An extraordinary success on opening in the West End in 1970 at the Lyric Theatre, How The Other Half Loves ran for a staggering 869 performances, delighting critics and audiences alike. How The Other Half Loves is directed by theatre director and biographer Alan Strachan. Alan has directed plays in New York, Copenhagen and Amsterdam, but the majority of his work has been in London. He was Artistic Director of the Greenwich Theatre in London for over … Read more

Jeff Wayne’s The War Of The Worlds Comes To The Dominion Theatre

News, West End
The War Of The Worlds at the Dominion Theatre London

Following 8 years of international arena tours, Jeff Wayne’s The War Of The Worlds will make its theatrical stage debut at the Dominion Theatre in February 2016. Since its inception in 1978, Jeff Wayne’s original double album has become one of the most ground-breaking and bestselling musical works of all time – with over 15 million copies sold and 330 weeks in the UK Album Charts to date, a number one album in 11 countries, two international hit singles, a number-one music DVD, and huge critical acclaim across the globe (and probably the universe!). In a new production re-imagined for the stage, the iconic score will be played live and conducted on stage by Jeff Wayne. The show will include new music, star cast, and a full supporting company of performers – as well as video walls, the iconic Martian Fighting Machine, special effects and in 3D holography Liam Neeson … Read more

Lucy O’Byrne Joins Sound Of Music UK Tour

News, Touring
Lucy O'Byrne as Maria in The Sound Of Music Tour

It was announced today that Lucy O’Byrne will join the cast of the UK tour of The Sound Of Music in the iconic role of Maria Von Trapp. Lucy, who hails from Dublin, became a household name earlier this year when she shot to success as a finalist in the live shows of the TV talent show. With chart-topper Will.i.am as her mentor, and biggest fan, Lucy made history as the first classical singer to reach the final, impressing the nation with her stunning vocal range. Now, having recently performed at the BBC Proms, she makes her debut as the young postulant at The Broadway, Peterborough this December. The highly successful tour which has been on the road from January 2015 featured Danielle Hope as Maria. Lucy stakes over the role when the tour comes to the Broadway Theatre in Peterborough in December 2015. For information on the tour and … Read more

Dreamboats and Miniskirts 2015 UK Tour Tickets

Touring
Dreamboats and Miniskirts Uk Tour 2015

Following the enormous success of Dreamboats and Petticoats comes the sequel Dreamboats and Miniskirts. What happened to ‘Norman and Sue’ and ‘Bobby and Laura’? Here’s your chance to find out. It’s 1963 and the world is changing. Bobby and Laura’s first single Dreamboats and Petticoats went to the top of the charts – but they haven’t been able to repeat that success with any further records. Norman and Sue have settled down to non-marital bliss – and a baby! But Ray and Donna seem blissfully happy… The advent of the Beatles and the Merseyside sound is inspirational. But will it inspire Bobby and Laura to have one more shot at stardom – Norman to “get off the drains” and find that singing voice he has longed for, and Ray to realise his ambition and manage a really top pop act!? Dreamboats and Petticoats is inspired by the 7 smash hit multi-million … Read more

Shawshank Redemption Casting Announced

News, Touring
The Shawshank Redemption 2015 UK Tour

It was announced today that Ian Kelsey and Patrick Robinson will lead the cast in Bill Kenwright’s new production of The Shawshank Redemption which is to tour the UK starting in Windsor in August 2015. Ian Kelsey leaves the BBC series Doctors to play the wrongly convicted Andy Dufresne, a wrongly convicted banker who is handed a double life sentence for the brutal murder of his wife and her lover, which leads to him being incarcerated in Shawshank penitentiary. Joining Ian is Patrick Robinson who is best known for his role in BBC’s Casualty as Martin ‘Ash’ Ashford. Patrick will play the role of Ellis ‘Red” Redding, the prison ‘fixer’ who befriends Andy. Presented by Bill Kenwright, this new production will be directed by award-winning Broadway director David Esbjornson, adapted by Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns, with design by Gary McCann and lighting by Chris Davey. BOOK TICKETS FOR THE … Read more

The Shawshank Redemption UK Tour

News, Touring
The Shawshank Redemption Tour

The Shawshank Redemption will tour the UK in a new production by producer Bill Kenwright. Based on the classic film, Shawshank tells the story of Andy Dufresne who is handed a double life sentence for the brutal murder of his wife and her lover, despite protesting his innocence. Incarcerated at the notorious Shawshank facility, he quickly learns that no one can survive alone. Andy strikes up an unlikely friendship with the prison fixer Red, and things take a slight turn for the better. However, when Warden Stammas decides to bully Andy into subservience and exploit his talents for accountancy, a desperate plan is quietly hatched… The Shawshank Redemption is widely considered to be the number one all-time movie, Stephen King’s classic story examines desperation, injustice, friendship and hope behind the claustrophobic bars of a maximum security penitentiary. This stage adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption is by Owen O’Neill and Dave … Read more