UK Theatre Network

Following on from last year’s hugely popular Aladdin, the King’s Theatre and First Family Entertainment are delighted to announce spectacular casting for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a totally brand new show for Glasgow and Scotland’s traditional family pantomime experience!

Darius, a critically acclaimed West End actor and platinum-selling singer-songwriter, will be playing the role of Prince Charming in this his King’s Theatre debut.  On returning to Glasgow and performing at the King’s, Darius said: "2010 continues to be an exciting and busy year that has taken me from London to Paris and Capetown- it's great to end the year in the motherland in my home town of Glasgow."

Since being crowned the winner of ITV1’s Popstar to Operastar Darius has headlined in his debut Opera, as the youngest performer ever to play the bullfighting Escamillo in Carmen at the O2, in the biggest production of an Opera in the UK. He also became the first performer ever to appear on the Opera world stage who is not classically trained.

A King’s spokesperson said: “We are very excited about Darius joining us this Christmas for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It is a huge coup for us as a venue and we are delighted to be able to offer the people of Glasgow the opportunity of seeing one of their best loved performers back home in a much loved theatre”.

Even with over 100 years of Christmas experiences under its belt Snow White has never been performed at the King’s Theatre so this year’s pantomime will be like no other King’s pantomime you have ever have seen before – in fact, you will never have seen it before!  With a brand new script by Eric Potts, stunning new costumes, brand new sets and a stellar cast, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has all the elements to make this the most wonderful and magical pantomime in Scotland.  This year, the production is once again sponsored by Robinsons. The nation’s favourite family soft drink is supporting a national celebration of pantomime up and down the country and is delighted to be part of maintaining the traditional family experience at the King’s Theatre.

Listings Info:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Fri 3 Dec 2010 – Sun 9 January 2011
Tickets: £6 - £24.50  Box Office 0844 871 7648 (Bkg fee)
Groups and Schools Sales 0141 240 1122
www.ambassadortickets.com/glasgow (bkg fee)

The Russian Ice Stars bring a stunning ice spectacular to the Theatre Royal stage.

From the dark and dramatic opening, with the transformation of the evil witch Drina (Svetlana Kuprina and John Hamer play the two sides of this character) into a beautiful version of herself, to the bright and cheery couriers dance at the palace this was a show full of contrasts. Drina’s attempts to lure the young King into taking her for a wife are thwarted by his attraction to the beautiful Aurora, an exquisite performance from Svetlana Perkina, and they are soon married with Snow White born soon after. The fact that all the storytelling is without words is a remarkable feat for such an interesting story as that of Snow White and Ms Perkina’s performance was one which told so much, especially during the scene of Aurora’s untimely death.

 

The light relief was supplied by the Court Jesters (Ekaterina Belokopytova and Yuri Kuprin) and the Strongman. The aerial act between Ekaterina Belokopytova and her husband Alexander Belokopytov was nothing short of breathtaking. The skill and strength on display was indicative of the cast as a whole. Snow White herself, played by Irina Tkachuk, was not only beautiful to look at, but a delight to watch as she glided so gracefully across the frozen stage. Her duets with Valdis Mintals (as both Young King Mirabile and Prince Charming) again provided some breathtaking moments, with dramatic lifts and throws in a space less than quarter the size of an Olympic skating rink!

 

The story plays out as most would remember, with the huntsman taking Snow White into the forest and leaving her there. Instead of the dwarfs of the Disney version, we meet 7 woodcutters who provide much humour with their energetic routines. Drina’s many attempts to kill Snow White are averted by her new found friends the Woodcutters and two geese (a great comedy duo in Ekaterina Murugova and Sergei Smirnov) Gras and Fua. However when Drina turns herself into an enchanting Gypsy and gives Snow White the poisoned apple, Snow White collapses into a deep sleep and is placed in the forest until found by Prince Charming, played by the handsome Valdis Mintals. The lighting effects surrounding Snow White’s recovery were very clever and combined with the other stage effects the amazement in the audience’s eyes were not only at the spectacular skating on display. With this happy resolution we return to the palace, and more celebrations occur with another aerial act from Ekaterina Belokopytova and her husband Alexander Belokopytov - this time on the silks, and finally the wedding of the happy couple.

 

With 2 performances on Saturday and a further 2 on Sunday, this is the ideal family show for the Bank Holiday weekend, so get your skates on and get your tickets now so you don’t miss out!!

 

Listings Info

Wed 26^th – Sun 30^th May

Wed – Sun Eves 7.30pm

Thurs, Sat & Sun Mats 2.30pm

 

Tickets £11-£26

Box Office: 0844 871 7647                  www.ambassadortickets.com/glasgow

 

Strictly Tap Dance Fever

Darlington Civic Theatre

Billed as ‘a whistle stop tour of the greatest tap dance moments in show business history’, Strictly Tap Dance Fever certainly has the audience tapping their feet and clicking their fingers. Accompanying the nifty footwork were the obligatory yells of ‘Hup!’, ‘Hey!’ and ‘Wehay!’ from the male members of the energetic and talented young company.

Routines set to numbers including It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got That Swing, Putting on the Ritz and 42^nd Street, added a sassiness, sophistication and style to the proceedings, and the choreography by Emma Rogers was, at times, quite breathtaking.

The performance was led by Steven Serlin, whose rendition of Mr Bojangles was spine-tingling, and Lara Denning. Unfortunately, Miss Denning lacks the voice, charisma and stage presence of a leading lady and this is emphasised when she attempts to tackle the big, belting numbers made famous by Ethel Merman and Peggy Lee.

I could not help but see the irony when, during her performance of Bye, Bye Blackbird, she sounded like a squawking, starving fledgling waiting to be fed a worm.

That aside, the show is a real crowd-pleaser and the first-night audience at Darlington Civic received it with rapturous enthusiasm.

Steve Burbridge.

Runs until Saturday 29^th May 2010.

 

Tin Can podcast has launched. Short audio cinema free for you to download and listen to on the move. 
4 pieces are available now and two more every two weeks will be uploaded for your listening pleasure.
tincanpodcast.com 

Photograph by Nobby Clark

Camp Horror is a cleverly funny, multi layered parody of the teen horror movie. By multi layered I refer to the use of the ‘play within a play’ concept.  This isn’t just a play within a play, it’s a play within a play within a play, all nicely tied up with easy to recognise characters, who not only provide the music on a variety of instruments, but eagerly perform a collection of stay in your head songs that weave the story along its twisted, creepy road.  

So, to the story; take the teen horror recipe, a group of teenagers including the geek, the cheerleader, the jock, the disturbed teen and the joker, put them in a scary place i.e. a deserted island, invent a killer with a deformity, in this case a stutter, and throw them all together in a situation they can’t get out of, in this case a raging storm that brings the bridges down and cuts off the telephone lines.  Led by their teacher, Mr Reynolds, played by Julian Littman (also responsible for the musical direction), the group rehearse their school musical, a teen horror, but real life begins to mirror the play. Francesca Loren and Oliver Seymour-Marsh are Chrissie and Josh, the young couple in love, usually destined to be the survivors in the horror movie, or at least the last to go. Seymour-Marsh is reminiscent of Danny Zucco complete with the cheeky side glances and the cigarette emerging precariously from the lips and Loren plays a sweet, naive rich girl. Performing her solo with guitar, she rendered the audience totally silent.  Kate Robson-Stuart was brilliant with the violin, captivating in her energy as she moved around the stage with confidence as the bimbo, Mel. Pam Jolley’s take on the disturbed Leanne was hilarious as she morphed into a possessed eccentric. I could watch Matthew Quinn all night playing the freak, he was so convincingly disturbing, his hunched frame stooping over the girls, leering at the thought of touching one of them.

All the elements were there, the clichés, “Wait here, I’ll be right back”, the characters, the situations, “Oh no, the lights have gone out, the bridge is down and we’ll have to go down to the dark cellar to find the only phone”, some pretty funny lyrics and a set that almost incorporates the audience; I wasn’t in the Queen’s, I was in a dingy, disused horror theatre. The only element that didn’t particularly work was the attempt at audience participation; maybe they were preoccupied with Oliver Seymour-Marsh’s sudden sway in character, probably one of the funniest moments, but hard to judge as there were quite a few. The Heather Brothers have thought of everything, Bob Carlton has brought the package together with some really talented actor- musicians, the audience are kept in suspense until the last scecne and the twist at the end isn’t just a twist, it’s a twist within a twist. Camp Horror is as camp as a horror can be.

 

See my interview with the Heather Brothers on: http://www.uktheatre.net/magazine/category/4260

21 May – 12 June

Camp Horror

by The Heather Brothers

 

Previews: 21 and 22 May at 8pm          First Night: Mon 24 May at 7.30pm

Performances: Tue–Sat at 8pm            Matinees: Sat 29 May and Thurs 3 & 10 June at 2.30pm

Audio Described & Signed Performance: Sat 29 May at 2.30pm

The Queen’s Theatre, Billet Lane, Hornchurch RM11 1QT

Tube: Hornchurch                                Tickets: £13.50 - £22

Box Office: 01708 443333                    Website: www.queens-theatre.co.uk 

CAST

Chrissie- Francesca Loren

PJ- Matthew Quinn

Leanne- Pam Jolley

Mr Reynolds- Julian Littman

Jasmine-Sarah Scowen

Matt-Elliot Harper

Stu-Joe West

Mel-Kate Robson-Stuart

Josh-Oliver Seymour-Marsh

Eddie-Alex Marshall

 

 

Director- Bob Carlton

Set and Costume Designer-Mark Walters

Musical Director-Julian Littman

Lighting Designer- Matthew Eagland

Sound Designer-Rick Clarke

Choreographer-Emily Parker

 

 

 

 

Whistle Down the Wind blows into Glasgow’s King’s Theatre this week.

Whistle Down the Wind is based on the 1961 children’s novel by Mary Haley Bell; famous wife of John Mills and mother of Haley and Juliet.  The musical came into being in 1996 from an unexpected collaboration between Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman.  Despite spawning the most successful single in musical theatre history (“No Matter What” performed by Boyzone hit the number 1 spot in 18 countries), the show proved to be a hard sell with a short West End run and a cancelled appearance on Broadway.

This second UK national tour brings together a talented cast to create a success where those before have failed.  Their efforts do not fall flat and the audience left happy, if a little bewildered as to what had not quite worked.  One audience member summed up the feelings of many in the foyer by saying “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be”.  Not, altogether, an unqualified success, then.

So, it’s up to me to tell you what was good and what was not so good.  The good is easy.  Jonathan Ansell (The Man – that’s his character name and not a recommendation of just how important he is) was very good indeed.  Playing an escaped convict who is mistaken for Jesus by 3 Louisiana youngsters, Jonathan dirtied up his clean cut “G4” appearance and, more importantly, dirtied up his clear as crystal voice to play this character role.  He was menacing and mysterious throughout.  Jonathan was matched by Carly Bawden as 15 year old Swallow, who is mesmerised by the stranger hiding out in her barn.  The clarity of Carly’s voice cut beautifully through Jonathan’s new bad-boy vocals in perfect contrast.

The supporting cast largely fell into the ‘good’ camp with particularly solid performances from Lincoln Stone, Scarlette Douglas and Scott Bourne.  A few disappointing accents were a let-down, together with some odd Meatloaf style vocals.

And that leads me into the not so good elements of the show … the jarring changes of musical style were quite upsetting.  If you listen to the original concept album for this show, you will hear artists as diverse as (the aforementioned) Meatloaf, Boy George, Boyzone, Elaine Page, Donnie Osmond and Bonnie Tyler.  An eclectic mix of performers, I’m sure you will agree.  Now, imagine that all of these vocal and musical styles are reproduced onstage in one story based production … it’s just odd!  The second failing is the story itself which could be summarised in one sentence.  The show scratches the surface of the deeper issues of faith and racism but I’m not convinced that a children’s story from 1961 is the most likely source of 2 ½ hours of entertainment for adults.

To finish on a positive note (because I did enjoy this show) I can say that Paul Farnsworth’s set was among the most impressive and ambitious touring production sets I have witnessed.  In scale, perspective, practicality and speed of changes it was second to none.

Listings Info:
Whistle Down the Wind
Mon 24 – Sat 29 May
Mon – Sat eves 7.30pm
Wed and Sat Mats 2.30pm

Tickets: £14.75 - £34
Box Office 08448 717 648 (Bkg fee)
www.ambassadortickets.com/glasgow (bkg fee)

"An Island Between Heaven & Earth" ***

Storytelling Centre, Netherbow 22 May

 

Written by Alistair Rutherford and directed by Jim McSharry, this is the story of the fulfilment of one man, Scots minister George MacLeod’s dream of re building Iona Abbey.  With a large ensemble of 11 actors, of diverse types and varying experience, this is an excellent example of a community theatre production, and it is to McSharry’s credit that everyone is cast and directed to show themselves at their best.  It is also a true piece of storytelling, which although full of lots of facts and figures, and sometimes quite wordy, is well written and always ably delivered and easy to absorb.  There are also cleverly incorporated, fascinating excerpts from original newspapers, letters and newsreel broadcasts, which add to the overall genuine flavour and period feel of the piece. There were a few teething problems with slight technical hitches throughout both acts, but the cast coped with these easily and I am sure they will be ironed out before the next shows. 

 

At the heart of the story is the idealistic, visionary George MacLeod (Adam Tomkins), a pacifist man of the church and a ‘gambler’ for God, determined to ‘untaint’ arms manufacturers’ tainted money to realise his dream, and Tomkins drives the piece forward with an outstanding, authentic performance, ably holding our attention at all times.    MacLeod uses a mixture of unemployed shipyard workers and trainee ministers for his task, and there are some very interesting clashes between ideological beliefs and social classes, with both sides learning unexpected things from each other.  The double act of Bobby MacKay (Philip Kingscott) and Archie Scott (Edward Ellis) provides some really endearing and humorous moments and Michael Mills’ portrayal of the humble but well-informed (if not educated) labourer Alistair Dunlop is at times both touching and informative.

 

The women’s parts are very much supporting roles and largely confined to housekeepers and/or storytellers (indicative perhaps of the times themselves) but all three (Lorraine McCann, Lisa Moffat and Janey Grant) do so with charm, warmth and, particularly in McCann’s case, well timed comedic moments. Scott Kenneway and Ian Fallon are convincing as Milorad Petrovitch and James MacQueen, respectively, and David A Roberts gives a solid performance as Bill Amos, while John Stewart ably portrays the gruffly hostile Andrew Munro.

 

This is a well directed and performed, easy to watch little piece which, when MacLeod realises both this dream and other personal and professional achievements, leaves you with a real feel good factor. I am sure all this will come across well when the show transfers to South Leith Church Halls between 11 and 13 June as part of this year’s Leith Festival.

Guess How Much I Love You is the latest work of David Wood, the UK’s leading dramatist and director of children’s theatre, famous for his plays The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Gingerbread Man, The Witches, and Babe the Sheep Pig.  It is no simple feat to keep the interest of young children for almost an hour but Guess How Much I Love You manages just that. Filled with songs and games Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram’s classic tales are brought to life in this charming production.

Popular characters Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare are introduced by a narrator – Lucy, the new human friend of the pair. The audience is invited to hop along as Lucy and the two hares sing about growing up, picnics near the river, warming up in the cold, and the beautiful colours of the rainbow. We are taken on a magical journey through the four seasons where Lucy and her friends encounter all kinds of animals, a box monster and play hide and seek in the woods. The children remain involved throughout the performance as they help the hares and Lucy chase away the clouds, find all the red, blue and green things on stage, play hide and seek, and pretend to be scary monsters. The set is perfect with a gnarly tree, bushes and a beautiful blue sky (set and costume design by Susie Caulcutt).

This show is great entertainment for a young audience but it also charms the grown ups. Let your youngsters occupy the pit area so they have plenty of room to join in all the games.

For children aged 3 and above.

Saturday 22 May     11 am, 1.30 pm & 3.30 pm

Sunday 23 May        11 am, 1.30 pm & 3.30 pm

See Tickets - 0871 230 1552

The Rose Theatre

24-26 High Street, Kingston

www.rosetheatrekingston.org

 

The Heather Brothers

This week sees the premiere of teen horror musical parody, Camp Horror at the Queen's theatre, Hornchurch and I am looking forward to being among the audience.  As a taster of what's to come, here is an interview with the writers, Neil, John and Lea Heather. This interview was held during rehearsals.

What factors do you consider when deciding whether a play will be a musical? Could you explain the creative process involved in composing a musical?

We generally try and come up with a good story first. We sit around bouncing ideas off each other. We chat about books, films or politics and drink a lot of tea!
If we feel the idea would work better with songs, then we try and create a musical. Dialogue also comes second to plot. Because we started out in life as songwriters, we also spend a lot of time on lyrics. We write the first line of a song, then sit down with our thesaurus and rhyming dictionary to find something to rhyme with it. 

Camp Horror is a comical parody of the teen horror movie.  Do you think that musical theatre lends itself more to humorous productions? Does singing and dancing take some of the seriousness away from a play or does it enhance it?

Camp Horror is kind of different - the problem we set ourselves was how we maintain the believability once the killing started... we feel we cracked it.
The show is packed with 14 original rocking songs which are all really catchy. The music is all deliberately upbeat, which we found to be a great comic way to offset the horror elements. How fun is it to have happy tunes set to someone being slaughtered!
Camp Horror is a light-hearted comedy, so the songs, music, singing and dancing very much enhance the humour and the story.  

Does the humour come naturally once you begin writing?

Yes... we love writing funny lyrics. Our philosophy is if it makes us laugh, then hopefully it can make others chuckle too.  

How was your idea for Camp Horror first formed? 

We have always loved horror films and couldn’t get enough of flicks like Psycho and Homicidal Maniac. We were in Massachusetts about five years ago working on a couple of horror movies we’d written and thought it’d be a great idea to put a horror film on stage... then we thought it would be better to make it a musical... and better still a comedy musical.
There is an overkill of horror movies at the moment. We thought it would be refreshing to take this further and create something with lots of laughs, songs, twists and turns, featuring a group of young people.
It has been a long, long process – there were many rewrites and we spent a lot of time on lyrics - so we are thrilled it is now finally ready for audiences to enjoy.
 
Do you have an audience in mind when you begin writing?

We always write shows we would like to see and we enjoy witty, character-based situation comedy.
Camp Horror has something for all ages. Our fresh-faced cast of teen pin-ups play a host of familiar characters who young people will know and love from TV and film – the cocky guy, the cute cheerleader, the geek, the kooky girl, the joker, the hippy chick… and of course, the poor old tired school teacher!
Mums, Dads, Nans and Granddads will also recognise these characters because they went to horror movies as teenagers too; it’s just the clothes that are different! It doesn’t matter what year it is, the formula of the horror movie hasn’t really changed for generations. If it still entertains, it still works! So even if your teenage years are a distant memory, you can relive the fun and frights of your youth whilst enjoying a great rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack!

To what extent do you like to be involved in a production? Do you prefer to have more input or let the director and cast put their own stamp on your plays?

We like to be around during the first production. Things sometimes need to be changed, lines cut, etc.  So we like to be on hand for all that.

Do you attend rehearsals? How do you feel about the development of Camp Horror at the Queen’s in Hornchurch? Will you be in the audience during the run?

Yes, we will certainly be watching the production and we have been attending rehearsals at the Queen’s every day. We are thrilled to report that Camp Horror, under the direction of Bob Carlton, is turning out brilliantly! It is a hugely entertaining and fun night out, which will take people out of their lives for a few hours.

This cut to the chase… production brings you a large young cast of super-talented         actor-musicians with enormous amounts of energy. They are not only fantastic actors, singers and dancers, but amazingly, also provide a live soundtrack to the show by playing their own musical instruments on stage.
We also have a truly incredible set – the Queen’s stage has been completely transformed into the darkest, creepiest theatre you’ve ever seen and it also brings audiences much, much closer to the action than ever before – everyone will just have to come and see it!

Camp Horror is very different to what people are used to - as far as we know, there isn’t a musical comedy in theatre quite like this one.

 

Pygmalion, George Bernard Shaw’s most popular comedy, has achieved such ubiquity over the last century that it’s now one of those plays where the audience are practically saying the lines with the actors, like a classical equivalent of The Rocky Horror Show.  And if they’ve seen the musical version, Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady, then they’ll probably be singing along too.

So the challenge for any director is to try and shine a new light on the story of a Cockney flower girl who is transformed into the convincing likeness of a duchess by an arrogant phonetics expert.

This version features Exchange regular Simon Robson as Henry Higgins, who with his imposing height and noble Roman looks initially comes across as a formidable combination of Sherlock Holmes and Jonathan Miller; a self-absorbed scholar with no interests beyond his learned pursuits.  However when Colonel Pickering (whiskery Terence Wilton), uneasy about Eliza’s welfare in a masculine ménage, bluntly asks, “Are you a man of good character where women are concerned?”, Higgins’s sexuality suddenly comes centre-stage.  The rest of the exchange, for all the professor’s professed cynicism, only serves to illustrate that despite his intellectual mien this Higgins is no bloodless ascetic - even the extraordinary way Simon Robson deploys his long legs is intensely physically expressive.  And the distinct frisson of attraction that later passes between him and Clara Eynsford Hill (Harriet Barrow) on his mother’s chaise longue is something I have never seen before.

Contrasted with the Professor’s transition from emasculated academic to red-blooded male, Cush Jumbo’s Eliza makes the opposite journey, one that takes us back to the story’s mythic roots where a man creates a sculpture and then brings it to life.  Her bedraggled street vendor persona is a fiery force of nature, but from the moment she begins her transformation into a “lady” Eliza is less a human being and more an animated statue - cold, aloof, self-contained, the long, slim Edwardian fashions and constricted vowels merely adding to the impression. 

Among the other iconic roles, Ian Bartholomew stands out as irrepressible dustman Albert Doolittle, and although it was his Act II monologue that drew the spontaneous round of applause, I was particularly taken by his crestfallen bridegroom in the final scene - the combination of chirpy east end rhetoric with silk hat and morning suit is irresistible.

Designer Ashley Martin-Davis strips the stage of all but the bare necessities in the way of furniture and props, which makes for a Covent Garden somewhat lacking in atmosphere but allows space during the drawing-rooms scenes.  And the sound design is simply magnificent.  Where Shaw, unlike Alan Jay Lerner, has carelessly failed to demonstrate the methods and progress of Eliza’s tutoring, Peter Rice uses scene changes between acts to mash up combinations of increasingly sophisticated piano music and elocution exercises to illustrate her phonetical progression.  

Director Greg Hersov and his lead actor Simon Robson have amply succeeded in redefining aspects of a play that is very familiar but which still has surprises bubbling under the surface. 

 

Pygmalion is on until Saturday 19 June 2010

Prices: £8.50-£29.50

Evenings: Mon-Fri @ 7.30, Sat @ 8pm [no performance Tues 25]

Matinees: Wed @ 2.30pm, Sat @ 4pm and Tues 25 May @ 2.30pm

Box Office: 0161 833 9833

www.royalexchange.co.uk