London Theatre News - UK Touring Productions News

We're now three weeks into the new year - so who's not broken their new year's resolution yet? I gave up making resolutions years ago because I never manage to keep to them, along with most of the population I'd wager. We've all done it. 1st January rolls around and, eyes bright with renewed hope, we promise ourselves all kinds of things to make sure we'll be getting the most out of this year ahead: "This year, I will give up smoking for good." "This year, I will go to the gym. Every day." "This … [Read more...]

As a writer of a new musical, there are a lot of obstacles between you and that theatre stage: finance, casting; promotion, venues; timing… not to mention the fact of writing the damn thing in the first place. It’s a long, hard road that claims many a weary traveller along the way, but perseverance (and more often that not, a bit of luck) will see some reach their destination. Of course, making it into the West End is just the first stop. If you’ve been fortunate enough to get your show into … [Read more...]

So by now you’ll have gathered that I have somewhat of a penchant for new writers. If you were to look back at my blogs, you’ll no doubt discover that I can usually find some way of name-dropping a composer or show into my posts and that I’ve become quite adept at steering almost any subject back to the support of new writing. Everyone has a ‘thing’ and this is mine. Today though, I don’t need to slip in a cheeky mention somewhere because my call for support is out in the open for everyone to … [Read more...]

Last Tuesday, BBC4 aired the first in its three-part documentary series, The Story of Musicals, which recounts the history of the British musical from the end of World War II, exploring the twists and turns in its development that made the West End what it is today. Theatre-fans have gone crazy for it, and with good reason. Musical theatre is an integral part of our cultural society, but its profile is overwhelmingly overlooked in comparison to the entertainment of television, chart music, film, … [Read more...]

So you’ve decided that you want to work in musical theatre. That’s great news.  Some people will spend years trying to decide what they want to do with their lives, so well done for figuring it out so soon – that was the easy bit though. Most performers knew from a young age that they wanted to be on the stage. Maybe they were inspired by a particular actor or production, or maybe they just grew up with a love of singing – whatever it was that first sparked that interest, once the fire was … [Read more...]

With the coming of a new year comes new plans. It’s an opportunity to see what worked and what didn’t in the year just gone and from that, decide what it is you want to do with the year ahead. If you’re Andrew Lloyd Webber, then in 2012 you want to search for Jesus. It was over forty years ago that Andrew Lloyd Webber teamed up with lyricist Tim Rice to create Rock Opera, Jesus Christ Superstar which, after a lukewarm Broadway debut, opening in London’s West End to great critical acclaim. The … [Read more...]

Before Christmas, I wrote a blog about the Jingle Balls cabaret night at the Delfont Room, making mention that it was the last cabaret of 2011. Well guess what,  it’s not 2011 anymore. No, we’ve entered the grand old age of 2012, which means the start of an all-new cabaret season and, in celebration of this, I’ve listed my Top Three picks (in date order, not preference) for upcoming cabarets in these next few months: JANUARY - An Evening With Chris Passey and Friends Midlands-based musical … [Read more...]