Stephen Daldry's critically acclaimed production of Billy Elliot took home the Best Musical gong at the 51st Evening Standard Awards on Monday. The musical, a constant sell out at the Victoria Palace, seems almost a dead cert to win the Olivier next year. Simon Russell Beale, about to open in Broadway's Spamalot, gained his third Evening Standard Award for his recent performance in The Philanthropist, whilst Harriet Walter picked up Best Actress for Mary Stuart, both at the Donmar Warehouse. Completing a hat trick of awards for the Donmar was director Michael Grandage, for his productions of Grand Hotel and Don Carlos. Bob Crowley, who directs/designs Tarzan on Broadway in March, picked up an award for Best Designer, Brian Friel for The Home Place as Best Play and the Menier Chocolate Factory was named Best Newcomer.
The recent Broadway production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is to open in London with the full revival cast intact. Kathleen Turner - last seen in the West End five years ago in The Graduate - is joined by Bill Irwin, who earned himself a Tony Award for his performance as husband George, David Harbour and Mireille Enos. All four leads were nominated for Best Actor/Actress awards and the production for Best Revival. The transfer of the production, produced by a team including Nica Burns and Max Weitzenhoffer (Nimax), means director Anthony Page will have two productions running next door to each other; his other revival of The Night of the Iguana with Woody Harrelson is at the Lyric Theatre with Woolf at the Apollo. It opens on 31st January and is booking until May 13th.
The fantastic comic actress Dawn French joins former pop star Alison Moyet onstage for a 'musical play' with TV-star-turned-director Kathy Burke at the helm. Smaller, written by TV writer Carmel Morgan (whose credits include the award-winning Channel 4 programme Shameless and over thirty episodes of Coronation Street) embarks on a short UK tour before a West End run from March 28th. French's West End credits include My Brilliant Divorce and A Midsummer Night's Dream; Moyet's as Mama Morton in Chicago. Burke is perhaps best known for her TV roles in Harry Enfield and Chums but recently moved into theatre directing full time; her notable credits include The Quare Fellow and the second UK staging of Blue/Orange. It opens at the Lyric following The Night of the Iguana.
He is his own wife no more as I Am My Own Wife posts premature closing notices. Doug Wright's Tony Award winning one-man play was supposed to visit London until February but actor Jefferson Mays will now play the last performance on December 10th. It is currently touring as part of an extensive world tour, calling at Melbourne in summer 2006. Also closing is Saturday Night Fever after two years in the West End. The musical, which played the London Palladium 1998-2000, will shut at the Apollo Victoria on February 18th after a run of 18 months. This will hopefully make way for the Broadway transfer of Movin' Out as well as the eagerly anticipated West End staging of Wicked.
Jukebox musicals seem to be taking a sharp nosedive recently. Despite Mamma Mia and We Will Rock You being almost the only profitable ones in the genre, several contenders still line themselves up in the hope of following suit. Daddy Cool - based on the hits of Boney M - places songs such as 'Rivers of Babylon', 'Mary's Boychild' and 'Daddy Cool' in the East End of London with a story mirroring Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. In the lead male role is Harvey from garage act So Solid Crew; a band which gained notoriety for its offstage criminal activities – Harvey himself was charged for assaulting a police officer earlier this year. Daddy Cool is directed by Andy Goldberg, the director behind the successful West End staging The Bomb-itty of Errors. It opens at the Shaftesbury Theatre on May 16th.
And finally, the big story of the week seems to be about one which has the fewest solid details. Andrew Lloyd Webber's planned revival of The Sound of Music, which has been in planning for years, is said to be using an American Idol style audition process to find its leading lady. Lloyd Webber's in talks with the BBC about filming How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? at the London Palladium next year – more details when they come. In other news, I heard that Julie Atherton's been cast in Avenue Q as Kate Monster, yet there has still been no official venue announcement. Fingers crossed for a theatre soon.
