There’s still a small amount of time left to book  Christmas or New Year theatre breaks but the choice of shows left will keep getting tighter the longer you leave it. Theatre Breaks in the Holidays January is a peak time for West End theatres in general but specific dates around the school holidays always have a high demand and booking tickets only will very soon become impossible for most of the popular musicals and plays.  Not everybody realizes though, that theatre breaks packages will still be available for top shows with good seats and plush central London hotels, long after the scramble for individual seats has subsided. That’s because the holiday and theatre breaks companies block book seats in advance and have prority arrangements with the hotel groups, In this way they can still offer top  seats for London theatres and best affordable rooms in the most convenient hotels for a price that is nearly always better value than that you could put together yourself, even if the dates you wanted were still available. Top Musicals for Theatre Breaks So which are the top five musicals for theatre breaks in London this season? Top new musical for 2011 is GHOST with fabulous rock music by Dave Stewart Ghost

musical: Ghost

starring: Richard Fleeshman, CAISSIE LEVY, SHARON D CLARKE

Book Now: Ghost theatre breaks

opening night:24 June 2011 booking until 13 October 2012.

Top Family Musical, also new for 2011 is MATILDA Based on Roald Dahl’s dramatic novel.

musical: Matilda The Musical

starring: Paul Kaye

Book Now: Matilda The Musical theatre breaks

opening night:25/11/2011 booking until 12th February 2012

LAST CHANCE! Priscilla Theatre Breaks  

musical: Priscilla Queen of the Desert

starring: Ray Meagher

Book Now: Priscilla Queen of the Desert theatre breaks

opening night:March 10 2009 booking until 31/12/2011

Perennial Favourite Wicked Theatre Breaks  

musical: Wicked!

starring: Rachel Tucker

Book Now: Wicked! theatre breaks

opening night:2006 booking until Open Ended

More Wizards and Witches in the West End Wizard of Oz Theatre Breaks  

musical: The Wizard of Oz

starring: Danielle Hope

Book Now: The Wizard of Oz theatre breaks

opening night:March 1st 2011 booking until Sunday October 28th 2012

Backbeat is the new Beatles musical which covers the early period of teh Beatles success story, mostly in Hamburg where John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Pete Best and Stuart Sutcliffe entertained the nightclub goers in the Reeperbahn district. The main focus of the show is Stuart Sutcliffe, the “lost” Beatle, who played incompetent bass guitar but was an art school friend of John’s and an ambitious young painter. The show follows Sutcliffe’s relationship with the German photographer Astrid Kirchherr – who was responsible for the Beatles’ mop-top haircuts and some superb early images of the group. It also depicts Lennon’s angry feelings of rejection, and McCartney’s relief that he has got John back.

This article titled “Backbeat – review” was written by Lyn Gardner, for The Guardian on Tuesday 11th October 2011 18.08 UTC Does London need another jukebox bio musical? No, and it doesn’t get one either in this intelligent, multilayered and often touching account of the Beatles’ early days in Hamburg and Liverpool and the “lost” Beatle, Stuart Sutcliffe. The epitome of cool, Sutcliffe was John Lennon‘s art-school buddy and a gifted young painter who abandoned the group for art and the love of Astrid Kirchherr, the photographer who took some famous moody shots of the band and originally styled their mop-headed, collarless look. Sutcliffe died aged 21 of a brain haemorrhage, just as the Beatles were on the brink of success. Based on Iain Softley’s 1994 movie, Backbeat is – despite all its raucous energy and high levels of amplification – often quite downbeat. It’s all the better for it. More a play with songs than a fully fledged musical, this is not a show threaded through with familiar Beatles’ hits: a brief glimpse of John improving on Paul’s faltering attempts to write Love Me Do is about the closest we get. Instead we see the boys in their Hamburg days when they were essentially a covers band playing in a seedy nightclub, perfecting their sound and skills on hits such as Twist and Shout and Please Mr Postman. The music is delivered with some panache that does eventually lead to the inevitable dancing in the aisles, but it’s a mistake to think that Backbeat is about the music or is indeed the verifiably true story of the early days of the Fab Four. In David Leveaux‘s moody, often painterly production it is much more about art and ways of seeing. There is a small, quiet scene where Sutcliffe contemplates the changes wrought by a lighthouse beam. Oh and it’s about love, in particular the love between Andrew Knott’s arsey antagonistic Lennon, who claims that all art is “dick”, and Nick Blood’s charismatic Stuart, who sees the band as a diversion and is forced to make the hard choices about who he should be with and what he should do with his life. “You’ve got to let me go,” he tells John, and it’s as if he is trying to disengage tenderly from a lover. It’s a small show wrapped up big for a West End theatre, and there are moments of clunkiness in the handling of the ensemble in the Hamburg scenes. But it’s always visually arresting and, finally, a little bit heartbreaking too.

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2012 Theatre Breaks 2012 is a special year for the United Kingdom and theatre breaks, not just because of the London 2012 Olympic Games, but also because it’s the The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year as well. That means a lot of extra activity and tourism in central London which will have an effect on the West End venues and on Theatre Breaks bookings.  Over twenty shows  have responded by extending booking dates early so that you can book early, right now, for all the popular musicals and plays right through into the 2012 celebration year, which may help a lot of people to combine tourism trips and spectating with theatre breaks in London. First the two main events of the year: The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

To mark 60 years of the Queen’s reign the Diamond Jubilee will take place in 2012. The celebrations will centre around an extended weekend in 2012 on 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th June 2012.

  The Department for Culture, Media and Sports is responsible for coordinating the Government’s role for Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Buckingham Palace will be coordinating the Queen’s programme for the Diamond Jubilee, including the arrangements for the central Jubilee weekend in the first week of June 2012. For further information about the Diamond Jubilee and the events taking place during 2012, please visit direct.gov.uk/diamondjubilee The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games Olympic Games 27 July-12 Aug 2012 The London 2012 Olympic Games will feature 26 sports, which break down into 39 disciplines. Paralympic Games 29 Aug-9 Sept 2012 There are 20 sports in the Paralympic programme for the London 2012 Games. Paralympic Cycling breaks down into two disciplines: Road and Track. Cultural Olympiad The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad is the largest cultural celebration in the history of the modern Olympic and Paralympic Movements. London 2012 Festival The London 2012 Festival is the finale of the four-year Cultural Olympiad, taking place from 21 June to 9 September 2012. Complementing the sport events at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Festival will be the biggest party the UK has ever seen, with a huge range of events from leading artists from all over the world. Theatre Breaks

To be honest, nobody really knows exactly what effect all of this is going to have on London theatre breaks during the 2012 celebration year. Obviously there is going to be a high demand for hotel accommodation and London is going to be prominent in the world’s attention.  People who are in London anyway may well wish to visit the West End theatres as part of the whole London experience, and there are certainly plenty of great shows on offer this year. Meanwhile the traditional theatre going public may decide to avoid certain dates in order not to get caught up in the crowds and busier traffic. In order to make the most of the 2012 opportunity presented though, the London theatres as a whole have announced extensions to the booking dates for more than 20 popular shows well in advance, so that those with Olympics tickets or other intentions can book theatre breaks as part of their overall London trip  of a lifetime. The shows which have extended so far are as follows: Some of the shows announcing 2012 booking dates extensions are the following West End musicals and plays: We Will Rock You Wicked The Wizard of Oz Billy Elliot the Musical Blood Brothers Dreamboats and Petticoats Jersey Boys The Phantom of the Opera Mamma Mia! Legally Blonde the Musical Ghost The Musical  Les Misérables Shrek The Musical Disney’s The Lion King Million Dollar Quartet  The Mousetrap The 39 Steps Stomp Thriller Live War Horse The Woman in Black Rock of Ages  Matilda The Musical

Today July 27th being the start of the one year countdown to the London 2012 Olympic Games in Stratford, East London as part of the countdown launch, a large number of West End theatres have announced new extensions to the period for which the most popular shows can be booked. This is to allow London Theatre breaks to be booked well in advance for the period of the Olympics, and indeed the Olympic year 2012 as a whole, during which there are all sorts of special events laid on. Some of the shows announcing 2012 booking dates extensions are the following West End musicals and plays: We Will Rock You Wicked The Wizard of Oz Billy Elliot the Musical Blood Brothers Dreamboats and Petticoats Jersey Boys The Phantom of the Opera Mamma Mia! Legally Blonde the Musical Ghost The Musical  Les Misérables Shrek The Musical Disney’s The Lion King Million Dollar Quartet  The Mousetrap The 39 Steps Stomp Thriller Live War Horse The Woman in Black Rock of Ages  Matilda The Musical

Since the start of tis year, 2011 there have been a handful of new musicals for theatre breaks opening in London. The Wizard of Oz began previews back in February with Danielle Hope starring as Dorothy, and has gone from strength to strength ever since. Expect high demand for theatre breaks and tickets around Christmas and early in the new year as families book themselves a winter treat. With somewhat less of a fanfare, the musical Betty Blue Eyes also opened in March for a limited run and is currently extended unti at least October 2011. Betty Blue Eyes is the story of a household surviving in post World War 2 Yorkshire by raising a pig to avoid the bacon  rationing. Betty Blue Blues is in fact the name of the pig! Ghost The Musical is the big one, just opened in June in London after try out in Manchester and a showcase at West End Live 2011. The dazzling new musical GHOST, is based on the phenomenal Oscar winning Paramount Pictures film of the same name, and features great rock music by Eurythmics writer Dave Stewart with the help of Glenn Ballard. If you only see one new musical this year, go and see Ghost Lend Me A Tenor is an old fashioned Vaudeville style musical, which transferred from Plymouth and stars Matthew Kelly London Tube escalators are full of adverts for The Million Dollar Quartet, a story of fame, friendship, discovery, divided loyalties, professional jealousy and incredible music as four of the music industry’s most extraordinary talents, all in their creative prime, made music together for the first and only time in their careers. A true story of the electrifying night in 1956 when Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis came together to make music and ended up making history. Rock of Ages doesn’t actually start until next month, August 2011, but we had a preview of the soft rock, 1980s style juke box musical at West End Live. And last but by no means least, we had the opening of Shrek The Musical with Amanda Holden, a major blockbuster of a film and musical which looks set to be a favourite family choice for theatre breaks in London for many years to come.

Over on the Theatre Breaks Wiki, the list of current musicals for theatre breaks in London has been brought bang up to date. So here they are for you:   Current Musicals for Theatre Breaks in London

B

Betty Blue Eyes Billy Elliot Blood Brothers

C

Chicago

D

Dreamboats And Petticoats

G

Ghost The Musical

L

Legally Blonde Lend Me A Tenor Les Miserables

L cont.

Love Never Dies

M

Mamma Mia

P

Phantom of the Opera Priscilla Queen of the Desert

R

Rock Of Ages

S

Shrek The Musical South Pacific Stomp

T cont.

The Jersey Boys The Lion King The Million Dollar Quartet The Wizard of Oz Thriller Live

W

We Will Rock You Wicked

Ghost The Musical started previews in London this week at the Piccadilly Theatre with Caissie Levy as the leading lady. Caissie Levy stars in Ghost the Musical Ghost has been a great hit with the Manchester audience during its pre-West end run and one of the firm favourites of everyone who has seen it is Caissie Levy. Caissie plays Molly Gordon, the female lead of the show. Caissie is a Canadian with a gorgeous voice and good acting skills. She needs them both during Ghost. This is a very demanding role as Molly’s character goes through an amazing range of emotions as the show progresses. We saw Caissie on the West End stage last year in the visiting Broadway production of Hair. Although Hair is a very much an ensemble piece I felt when I watched it that Cassie’s performance really stood out. She played the idealistic Shelia with real conviction and her voice rang out in songs like Good Morning Starshine. I think this bodes very well for her performance as Molly. Caissie’s other most famous role is probably as Elphaba in Wicked in the Broadway production.  In recent interviews she has drawn parallels between Ghost and Wicked. She felt that the range both of vocal skills and acting required of Molly and Elphaba were rather similar. When asked she agreed it was possible that, like Wicked, critics would not like Ghost and it might be a show that would appeal more to audiences. This wasn’t true of the Manchester critics who gave the show  great reviews but London can be harder to convince. Caissie has a gorgeous voice and I thought you might enjoy a sample:

Nick Clegg is the unlikely hero of Nicked, a new musical that’s unfashionably sympathetic to the Lib Dem leader

This article titled “Anyone for Nicked: the Clegg musical?” was written by Euan Ferguson, for The Observer on Saturday 23rd April 2011 23.05 UTC Least likely contender for Spring Hit in Theatre-World, I think it’s safe to say, is going to be Nicked. It’s basically a musical about Nick Clegg, written by a performance poet: that’s when it’s not being a play about the alternative vote. Not, on paper, I think you’ll agree, the most urgently prepossessing of dramatic ideas. And although political theatre does have a proud tradition, and the TV/film adaptations of aspects of the Blair years were enthralling, there’s also a particular recent history of turkeys, especially when “satire” is advertised within. Also… well, Cleggy. Isn’t he a bit obvious? Isn’t this what we call a laughably soft target? Fears totally unfounded. Preconceptions proved damnably and delightfully wrong. Watching early rehearsals for Nicked, one of the productions showcased in this year’s HighTide festival in Suffolk, it’s clear this could be a thing of brilliance. And, actually, something Mr Clegg might want to travel to Halesworth to see – festival director Steven Atkinson estimates about 70% of visitors come from London – because it manages the seemingly impossible at the moment: it humanises the Lib-Dem leader, and makes you think again. Among the scenes I saw, in a small, busy rehearsal room, piano in one corner, cast leaning casually against the walls as they waited to become Samantha Cameron, or Miriam Clegg, or Vince Cable, or David Laws (remember him?) or the Queen, was the crucial one that had Jason Langley and Sam Hodges, as Clegg and Cameron, meeting in an underground car park to warily woo. It’s done as a tango, perhaps the perfect form, the tango having originated in Buenos Aires as a dark celebration of the ever-changing dance of power/need/compromise, both physical and figurative, between sailors and whores. So Dave and Nick tango, head leaning against head as the music builds, and I won’t spoil it but they’re given some pretty good lines, and sing them grandly, and twirl and stamp. It’s great dramatic fun and makes you think, and I realise fairly quickly that this is not a Clegg-knocking exercise. “Absolutely not,” says the writer, Richard Marsh, as far from my idea of “performance poet” as you could imagine – self-effacing and engaging, if a little unslept. He’s been teasing and tweaking the script nightly, to give it greatest relevance when the show opens, because so much has happened to Clegg since “Cleggmania” after those election debates; and continues to happen. Marsh, and director Pia Furtado, will be changing it right up until the week of the AV vote. The script focuses, yes, on those early negotiations, our extraordinary coalition and aspects of the fallout, but it is not yet finished. “Whatever happens, this is just a human story,” continues Marsh, who has in a previous short play, among other things successfully fused Guantánamo Bay with Harry Potter. As you do. “What I wanted was to tell a story about someone whose job is politics. And humanise them, try to get people to relate to him from the view of his own set of circumstances. Everyone is the hero of his own story. But the more I’ve looked into Nick Clegg” – Marsh even read David Laws’s book. All of it – “and those extraordinary days while the coalition was being founded, a handful of very, very tired white men deciding the future of our country, the more I realised the drama of those days.” Steven Atkinson, the festival director, pulled a string or two to arrange a visit to Downing Street, to allow Marsh a glimpse into the physicality of how it all worked – men in rooms, bartering and phoning and sweating and swearing and worrying and wooing, as was happening half a mile away that sunny May in other dark corridors in and around Smith Square – but the outcome wasn’t just a power-play or a point won. It was, as we know, the car ride to Buckingham Palace, here done as another song, this time of joyous comradeship at a deal successfully done. “Just give me PR and then/ we’ll share the keys to Number 10!” Queen Liz looks on, even sings, in wonderfully sardonic fashion; Sam Cam dances with sly exuberant delight. “It’s been quite hard to hold on to my original thoughts of Nick as a person while he’s been getting stuck whack in the middle of decisions I don’t personally agree with,” says Marsh, who, when he first conceived this production, could not have foreseen the storm of opprobrium to land on Clegg of late. The team’s job, and I think rightly so, is essentially to question the knee-jerk reaction of much of this, remind us there is a person at the centre of it, fraught with his own dilemmas, and to do so in verse, with dance; it’s a little miracle it seems to be working so well thus far. As Atkinson says: “Does anyone who’s jumping on him now ever ask themselves: what would you do in the same position? What was the alternative?” The fast-changing nature of the coalition and the way it’s perceived has led to problems or, as politicians would doubtless have it, challenges and opportunities. Marsh is keen to apologise to his director. “Pia’s very patient. We’ve had to cut whole songs. Cut things that didn’t happen, insert things that did or had more impact than we’d first imagined.” Furtado smiles, patiently, itching to get back to rehearsals. She’s spent a while with them earlier just working on character, real character: “The last thing any of us wanted was some Rory Bremner-style caricature.” In one strangely touching scene, Jason Langley’s Clegg pleads with David Laws, a strong friend and fine financial mind caught in that early expenses/gay row, not to resign. Laws, a pitch-perfect Peter Caulfield, but with, I suspect, a better singing voice, breaks from song to solemn dialogue, after Clegg insists: “Most normal people won’t care.” “No, Nick,” he replies. “Most normal people will get political this year.” And they did. Which is better, surely, than apathy. But along the way, some may have forgotten the humans involved at the middle. Quite bizarrely, a sharp little musical – 70% splendid fun, 30% insights wiser than our own leader columns – could just start redressing the balance. Steven Atkinson is even talking about a West End transfer.

Nicked premieres on 30 April, as part of the HighTide Festival, at the Main House, The Cut, Halesworth. hightide.org.uk

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BudCat14 aka Ross C has added a photo to the pool:

Original Theater Program

Musical biography of American actress Jean Seberg Opened at Sir Peter Hall's National Theater in England December 1, 1983.

Music by Marvin Hamlisch, Lyrics by Christopher Adler, Book by Julian Barry

I saw this on a trip to the UK because I've always been interested in Seberg and her ultimately tragic career. Also because I figured this is one London musical that would never be imported to Broadway.

It never has been.

It was curious to see Otto Preminger and Godard as characters in a musical.

Theatre reviews for The Wizard of Oz, Million Dollar Quartet, Great Expectations, And the Rain Falls Down. See also previous Wizard of Oz Review

This article titled “The Wizard of Oz; Million Dollar Quartet; Great Expectations; And the Rain Falls Down – review” was written by Kate Kellaway, for The Observer on Sunday 6th March 2011 00.04 UTC We’re off to see the Wizard, and whether he is wonderful or not is going to depend partly on Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s reworking of Frank Baum’s book and of the classic 1939 movie. Danielle Hope, auditioned on the BBC’s talent show Over the Rainbow, is also making her debut as Dorothy. And, at the Palladium on the first night, the buzz is unmistakable. But we start by dropping in on a humble Kansas chicken farm where there is nothing more eventful to report than a broken incubator. No wonder Dorothy wants to leave home. This is also where we first clap eyes on the charming Toto, a white Cairn terrier, who deserves a review to himself (I hope there were treats offstage). Toto survives the yellow brick road, a circular treadmill, and is only occasionally understudied – when the going gets tough – by a stuffed toy Danielle Hope’s Dorothy deserves offstage treats, too – for her marvellous performance. If there is a problem, it is with the script. So many of her lines are plaintive, and the unvarying tone of high-pitched petitioning becomes an irritant. But, as a singer, she is perfect. Her voice has warmth, delicacy and power. She starts with the decent, if also-ran, new number “Nobody Understands Me” but we do not have to wait long for ‘”Over the Rainbow” which she offers in a centred, direct, affecting way. It is wonderful to watch her tilt her face upwards, allowing her voice to take off – as if letting out the string of a kite. Michael Crawford has cast himself as her protector. In his benign incarnation as Professor Marvel (the Wizard’s earthly alter-ego), he is encountered outside his caravan about to eat a sausage (which is nicked by Toto). He shows Dorothy magic lantern slides and sings “The Wonders of the World” (by far the best of the new numbers) about pyramids, the Eiffel tower, humpback whales… And he reminds us that he is a bit of a wonder himself, engagingly good at conversing his way through a song. Pots of gold, at the end of the rainbow, must have paid for Robert Jones’s spectacular sets, offset by Jon Driscoll’s virtuoso special effects. A fantastic cyclone transports Dorothy out of Kansas. An airborne cow, random masonry and Dorothy’s house – like a disintegrating matchbox – are hurled into the void. This effect is such a tour de force that Oz seems Toy Townish on arrival, a comedown – in every sense. But the emerald city brings a return to form: a green light district with art deco details, tipsy angles and the Wizard’s alarming residence. The good witch (Emily Tierney) is good – a magical air hostess. The bad witch (Hannah Waddingham) is bad (in a good way). Her “Red Shoes Blues” (another new song) is witty, full-blooded and magnificently performed. As the scarecrow, Paul Keating is poignant, merry and a natural at collapsing. Edward Baker-Duly’s tin man is excellent too, with rusty voice and echoing chest. David Ganly’s cowardly lion, in caramel catsuit and 60s mane, is sweetly camp, coming out with the line: “I’m proud to be a friend of Dorothy’s.” And Jeremy Sams’s direction is undaunted throughout. This show knows where it is going, as surely as if Dorothy had satnav to guide her home. Million Dollar Quartet focuses on 4 December 1956, when Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins were together at Sun Records, Memphis, Tennessee. This creates an opportunistic excuse for an almost non-stop performance of their hits. This jukebox musical plays so safe it ought to be dangerous, but a fresh cast, directed with pizzazz, by Eric Schaeffer, saves it. Ben Goddard, as Jerry Lee Lewis, is a sensation: manically musical. Michael Malarkey has an admirable stab at Elvis (an impossible undertaking). Robert Britton Lyons (the only cast member imported from the US) convinces as Carl Perkins. And Derek Hagen exactly catches Johnny Cash’s brooding quality. The “story” is held together by record producer/narrator Sam Phillips (a capable Bill Ward). I took one of my teenage sons along. He has had no experience of blue suede shoes, great balls of fire or of hound dogs – at least, not musically speaking. “The music was great,” he said. Tanika Gupta’s intrepid idea is to transpose Dickens’s Great Expectations into 1861 India. Sensibly, she keeps Memsahib Havisham (Lynn Farleigh) recognisable: an ancient bride-in-waiting but also daughter of an East India company trader. Pip (Tariq Jordan) is a likable lad who leaps out of the guava trees of his childhood into a challenging Calcutta adulthood as a nouveau riche English gentleman. Colin Richmond’s design attractively suggests an India of sunlight, silk and calico. But keep your expectations modest too: for all its promise, the surgery on the novel has been violent. Its staccato dialogue rings false. And, oddly enough, the abbreviations do not rescue the show from its longueurs. And the Rain Falls Down is conceived by talented theatre company Fevered Sleep (directed by David Harradine) and aimed at three- to four-year-olds. There is a cloud, like a bathmat, on the floor. Other clouds are pinned on a washing line. The show is, in case you couldn’t guess, about rain. It is beautifully simple and intermittently torrential. Two actors get drenched. The woman (Karina Garnett) adores it. The man (Carl Patrick) is a more cautious anorak-wearer. There is much umbrella innovation: little ones are equipped with see-through brollies and invited to splash about. Eventually there will be an umbrella rainbow. The audience, at the show I attended, split into land-lubbers and water babies. Several landlubbers were crying heartily not wanting to go over – let alone under – the rainbow.

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The Wizard of Oz stars Danielle Hope and Michael Crawford.

The Guardian’s Wizard of Oz Review after the opening night on March 1st 2011 at the London Palladium. For more Wizard of Oz reviews see the Wizard of Oz London blog or the Wizard of Oz Facebook page.

This article titled “The Wizard of Oz – review” was written by Michael Billington, for The Guardian on Wednesday 2nd March 2011 00.53 UTC The Victorian theatre of spectacle is alive and well, and residing at the London Palladium. But although this adaptation of the Frank Baum book and the 1939 movie, with additional songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, is quite an eyeful, it’s somewhat lacking in humanity. I came out feeling blitzkrieged rather than charmed. The star of the show is undoubtedly the set and costume designer, Robert Jones. The Kansas cyclone that whisks Dorothy into a dreamworld is evoked through vorticist projections (the work of Jon Driscoll) that betoken chaos in the cosmos. The Yellow Brick Road is on a tilted revolve from inside which poppyfields and labyrinthine forest emerge. The Emerald City is full of steeply inclined walls suggesting a drunkard’s vision of the Chrysler Building lobby. And the Wicked Witch of the West inhabits a rotating dungeon that might be a Piranesi nightmare. Not since 19th century Drury Lane melodramas can London have seen anything quite like it; one has to admire the director and co-adaptor, Jeremy Sams, for marshalling the effects. But the story and the people get swamped. Danielle Hope shows a natural, easy presence as Dorothy, but can’t hope to compete with the scenery. Even Michael Crawford, playing both Professor Marvel and The Wizard, seems slightly subdued, and misses a trick by not highlighting the latter’s resemblance to PT Barnum whom he once played. Only two of the cast transcend the spectacle. Hannah Waddingham makes the Wicked Witch a pointy-chinned ogre who at one point flies over the audience’s heads with an elan that Spider Man might envy. David Ganly notches up a first by making the Cowardly Lion explicitly gay and announcing “I’m proud to be a friend of Dorothy.” Of course, there are the songs; it’s good to be reminded of such classics as Over The Rainbow, We’re Off To See The Wizard, and Follow The Yellow Brick Road. The additions by Lloyd Webber and Rice are also perfectly acceptable. Dorothy is given a good plaintive opening number, and Red Shoes Blues, sung by the Wicked Witch, has a pounding intensity. But, as a film scholar remarked to me, the movie was a story with songs rather than a full-blown musical. That delicate balance has been changed, and an essentially simple fable about the importance of individual worth seems overblown. I suspect in the end the show will be critic-proof and people will go to see both the winner of the TV talent contest and to luxuriate in the sumptuous visuals. But the paradox of the evening is that it suffers the same dilemma as the Tin Man: it might have been so much more if it only had a heart.

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After a great opening in London, an acclaimed first year and a partial redesign and rewrite, Love Never Dies takes its first step away from the Adelphi Theatre soon as the Australian production opens in Melbourne in June 2011. Love Never Dies Australian Cast Love Never Dies Australia Cast The Australian Christine is to be played by a previous Christine from The Phantom Of The Opera. Anna O’Byrne has already played the part to great acclaim in an Australian tour of The Phantom of the Opera. Anna is an award-winning classically trained singer, and has performed as Polly Peachum in The Threepenny Opera and appeared in works by Mozart, Puccini and Ibert for The Victorian Opera, Victorian College of the Arts and Victorian Youth Opera. The Phantom  in the new Australian production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies is being played by Ben Lewis. Ben’s previous stage credits include the original Australian cast of Priscilla Queen of the Desert – The Musical, Sir Galahad in the original Australian cast of Monty Python’s Spamalot, two-seasons as Count Carl-Magnus in Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, Urinetown with Sydney Theatre Company and Polites in The Odyssey for Black Swan and the Malthouse. Performances begin in Melbourne on May 29th 2011 at the Regent Theatre. Tags: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Anna O'Byrne, Australia, Ben Lewis, Christine, Love Never Dies, Melbourne, musical, Phantom of the Opera, the phantom of the opera This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011 at 5:30 am and is filed under Love Never Dies, Phantom of the Opera. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. via loveneverdiesphantom.co.uk Posted via email from Love Never Dies

Love Story Posted by Linda on 06/11/10 • Categorized as Love Story Love Story, the new musical based on the iconic 1970 film and book, opens at the Duchess Theatre in the West End after a sell-out season at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Originally booked for only 10 weeks the show has already extended and is now booking previews from 27 November 2010 through to April 30th 2011. Love story is a romantic, heart warming and heart rending story of love and loss. It certainly captured Michael Ball’s heart as he is co-producing this ‘chamber musical’. He says: I saw Love Story in Chichester and immediately fell in love with this enchanting new British musical. The production is inspired by Erich Segal’s best-selling iconic novel, also one of the most romantic films of all time and is scored by the Emmy and BAFTA award winning composer Howard Goodall. This combined with the moving and witty lyrics by Stephen Clark and a fabulous cast add up to a wonderful evening at the theatre that is a bittersweet celebration of love and life. I’m so thrilled to be part of the team that is bringing you this critically acclaimed production. See you at the Duchess Theatre soon. The production has music by Howard Goodall (The Hired Man, Days of Hope, Two Cities), a book by Stephen Clark and lyrics by Goodall and Clark. The 90-minute piece is a co-production with Chichester Festival, where it premiered in June to critical and audience acclaim. You can get a taste of the show from this behind the scenes video: Will it extend again and can it be even more successful than the last Chichester transfer Spring Awakening? I’m not sure but I think it has a good chance. Wouldn’t it be great, though to see new money and talent backing a really original musical? Rather than yet another film adaptation. What do you think? Tagged as: chichester festival theatre, duchess theatre, erich segal, howard goodall, love story, romantic films, west End via usefulwiki.com

The following West End musicals have just announced that they are extending their booking periods: Legally Blonde has just undergone a cast change with Denise Van Outen, Carley Stenson. Siobhan Dillon and Simon Thomas joining the company.  It is now booking to 29th October, 2011. Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace has extended to 9th April, 2011 Dirty Dancing is now booking to 9th April 2011 and has just announced a UK tour which starts next September.  Ray Quinn is  not performing the part of Billy at the moment as he has a broken collar bone and is off until further notice. Priscilla Queen of the Desert – The Musical has extended its booking period to 7th January 2012 at the Palace Theatre. The show currently features Ben Richards (Mitzi/Tick), Don Gallagher (Bernadette), Oliver Thornton (Felicia/Adam) and Ray Meagher (Alf from Home and Away) as (Bob).

Love Never Dies By the time many people read this the free tickets competition will be over, so I’ll write about why I think you might like to consider Love Never Dies theatre breaks anyway. I guess you may have already seen The Phantom of The Opera ? The most successful piece of live entertainment ever, it’s been on long enough. Or maybe your parents enjoyed it thirty years ago when Michael Crawford played the Phantom. Well Love Never Dies is a continuation of the story, but with completely new twists. The scene is set ten years after the incident at the Paris Opera House, and the Phantom is now presiding over a huge entertainment complex at Coney Island, New York. He manages to manipulate Christine and Raoul into sailing across the Atlantic and into his lair. But there’s much more than that… Some of the music in Love Never Dies comes from the operetta genre, some from light entertainment and some even from a rock background. This is the fusion which Andrew Lloyd Webber does so well. The staging, sets and costumes are magnificent, so you really do see a big musical theatre event up there on the big stage. This is certainly not one of your small cast and minimalist aesthetics plays, like many even in the West End, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess are both star quality singers in the lead roles and it’s nice to hear the full orchestra getting a proper work out. Love Never Dies Did I mention the free tickets? Love Never Dies Tickets Competition One pair of top price tickets have been donated. That’s worth around £180 normally. Now, you’d need to be able to get to the London Adelphi Theatre for tomorrow night, Saturday 9th October 2010. So if you are in London anyway, and can clear out all of your prior engagements to be free then you’d do well to nip over and quickly enter the simple competition on the Love Never Dies blog. The odds are not against you! Here’s the link again… http://www.loveneverdiesphantom.co.uk Love Never Dies Theatre Breaks If you don’t have easy access to the capital then buying London theatre breaks packages with the tickets and convenient hotel room plus optional discount rail travel is nearly always the best way to go.

Other London Theatre Breaks to see West End Musicals

The Wizard of Oz The Phantom Of The Opera Les Miserables Ghost

If you are very quick and can make it to London’s West End for Saturday 9th October 2010 you could very well win two free tickets to see Love Never Dies at the Adelphi. There’s a quick fire competition over on the Love Never Dies blog to win two top price tickets and all you have to do is leave a comment. Love Never Dies continues the story of the Phantom of The Opera with Raoul, Christine and the Phantom ten years later set in Coney Island, New York around 1910. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s big musical has been running in London since February 2010 and is due to open in Australia and Toronto soon, then eventually Broadway, New York. Easily one of the best big musicals in London, Love Never Dies is a feast for eyes and the ears from the start and keeps your interest right the way through with some very clever changes of tone and scene. To win two tickets urgently, you’ll need to go over to the Love Never Dies blog right away and leave a comment saying why you’d like to see the show on Saturday. Here’s the link again: http://loveneverdiesphantom.co.uk Good luck!

Love Never Dies Tickets Competition was originally posted at London Theatre Breaks blog

Theatre Breaks for December 2010 An occasional list post about current musicals and plays for London theatre breaks.  With a few shows closing at the end of October or in November the list of what’s on for December theatre breaks in the West End should look like this: Musicals for Theatre Breaks

We Will Rock You Jersey Boys Oliver! Flashdance Wicked Love Story Blood Brothers Dirty Dancing Love Never Dies Mamma Mia Billy Elliot Phantom of the Opera Lion King Les Miserables Priscilla Queen of the Desert Thriller Live Grease Chicago Stomp Legally Blonde

Plays and Other Theatre Breaks

The Mousetrap War Horse Deathtrap An Ideal Husband Ghost Stories Yes Prime Minister Birdsong Onassis The 39 Steps

I wish I could tell you about South Pacific. Where it will actually be. The huge set. The enormous orchestra. The music, lovely beyond description. The waiting. The timeless repetitive waiting…. According to an article in the Guardian Harold Panter, head of the Ambassador Theatre Group said: “We are going to be bringing over the Lincoln Centre’s wonderful production of South Pacific – extraordinary moving piece of work, basically about men at war,” he says. Only with some nice songs? “Mr Hammerstein and Mr Rodgers knew a thing or two about creating wonderful music, yes, but the core of it is that it is about something. It is wrong to lump all musicals together.” Personally I can’t wait. I love South Pacific and grew up listening to it’s gorgeous melodies. Song like Bali’hi, Nothing Like a Dame, Happy Talk and I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair were part of the soundtrack of my childhood. However it seems there is a problem. If we are to see the lavish Lincoln Centre production complete with huge orchestra rather than the smaller touring production the show will need to go into one of the largest London theatres and none of them are free for the foreseeable future. While we wait you can at least enjoy the whole of a small screen version of the Lincoln Centre production courtesy of Youtube I’m off to wash my hair
Click here to view the embedded video. South Pacific comes to London was originally posted at London Theatre Breaks blog

What’s On Now In The West End We thought it might be useful to provide a quick reference of musicals in alphabetical order to help show what’s on in the West End as we go into the winter season. Starting with just the top musicals for London theatre breaks

Avenue Q Billy Elliot Blood Brothers Chicago

Dirty Dancing Dreamboats And Petticoats Flashdance Grease

The Jersey Boys Love Never Dies Legally Blonde Les Miserables

The Lion King Mamma Mia Oliver Phantom of the Opera

Priscilla Queen of the Desert Sister Act Stomp Sweet Charity

Thriller Live We Will Rock You Wicked

Last Chance to see: Avenue Q finishes on October 30th 2010 then embarks on a UK tour. Sister Act also finishes on October 30th 2010 Sweet Charity closes on November 6th 2010 Oliver! finishes 8th January 2011 Grease with Lauren Samuels closes on 30 April 2011 What’s on Soon in the West End: There are lots of short run plays and comedy acts coming up but these are the confirmed musicals in the pipeline: Love Story A new musical version for the stage produced by Michael Ball, opens Saturday, 27 November 2010 Shrek The Musical Replaces Oliver! at the New London Theatre January 2011 The Wizard of Oz – with Danielle Hope as Dorothy and Michael Crawford as The Wizard opens March 1st 2011 Ghost the Musical a stage adaptation of the sensational film opening in July 2011 Viva Forever A brand new musical story using the songs of the Spice Girls opening in 2012

What's on in the West End

What’s On In The West End – Musicals was originally posted at London Theatre Breaks blog

This is just a quick notice to alert anybody who had been looking for Sister Act theatre breaks with Whoopi Goldberg in the cast as the Mother Superior. As you probably know, Whoopi was called away from the London Palladium last month when her mother fell gravely ill, and who has since sadly died.
Whoopi Goldberg will however be returning to London just in time to perform once more in Sister Act for a few nights only. Whoopi Goldberg returns to perform one show on Friday 22nd October, two shows on Saturday 23rd October and two shows on Monday 25th October 2010. SISTER ACT THE MUSICAL THEN CLOSES IN LONDON ON OCTOBER 30th, 2010 So if you are quick, there may still be some time left to book Sister Act Theatre Breaks with Whoopi Goldberg