Jenny Ell - Page 9

Adapted from the 1991 film, Dogfight premiered Off-Broadway in 2012 and riding off the back of its short run, won two awards including 'Outstanding Musical' the following year. The European debut featured at the Southwark Playhouse last year and has enjoyed several regional productions since. The musical is currently playing at the beautiful Old Joint Stock in Birmingham which is a perfect setting for a stunning show.

The 3 Little Pigs is currently enjoying a short pre-West End run at the beautiful Town Hall venue in Birmingham. With music by George Stiles and the book/lyrics by Anthony Drewe, this classic tale is given a fresh re-telling that will appeal to young children and parents alike.

Fresh from a 2014 run at London's Southwark Playhouse, this 'most enjoyable, moving and stimulating new musical' (The Independent) with a beautiful folky score is brought to Birmingham for the first time by the Old Joint Stock Theatre.

As part of the recently established Birmingham Fest (a performing arts festival celebrating the city's arts scene), Taking Chances presents the debut performance of The Morning After at the Blue Orange Theatre this week. The play is a situational comedy starring three young actors. Sam wakes up the morning after a messy night on the town, following an argument with his girlfriend. He has no recollection of what happened the night before but has two women he doesn't know in his flat! Hilarity ensues when trying to piece together the events of the night before.

Birmingham Repertory Theatre are looking for local volunteers to join a community acting company to appear as supernumaries in the world premiere of Meera Syal's Anita And Me this autumn.

Artistic Director Tim Ford has been invaluable for many arts venues across the UK over the last twenty years, having held roles at Leicester Curve. Birmingham Repertory Theatre and most recently at Reading Repertory Theatre as Associate Director. He is now absolutely thrilled to be taking the artistic helm at Lichfield Garrick in his home town. He hadn't been at Reading for a vast amount of time when the position in Lichfield arose but it was an opportunity 'too good to miss'.

I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change is a musical comedy with a history over two decades. Since premiering Off-Broadway in 1996, it has been seen internationally and is currently playing Above The Arts in London, starring Julie Atherton, Gina Beck, Samuel Holmes and Simon Lipkin.

Belgrade Theatre and Big Broad Productions present Crush, the brand new musical comedy, which will premiere at the Belgrade Theatre Coventry from Friday 4 to Saturday 19 September 2015. Crush is a coming-of-age romp that celebrates schoolgirl friendships and fighting for what you believe in. BWW caught up with Rosemary Ashe, Sara Crowe and Kirsty Malpass prior to rehearsals to chat about the forthcoming production.

There are many London productions that come and go in the blink of an eye. What is to say why one show will succeed and another will not? Lost West End, produced by Stage Door Records, celebrates those that maybe didn't last on stage very long but the hidden gems within their scores live on. There are over twenty paid tribute to on this album spanning three decades, from Liza of Lambeth in 1976 to Too Close To The Sun in 2009. West End vocalists such as Graham Bickley. Meredith Braun and Alexander Hanson assist in recreating those forgotten moments.

Tokio Confidential is a chamber musical that played at Atlantic Stage 2 in New York back in February 2012. The story follows Isabella who travels to Japan in 1879 as a tribute to her late husband. On arrival, she meets a charismatic stranger who introduces her to the secreted pleasures found within the city. This involves Isabella being introduced to Horiyoshi, one of the most skilled and anticipated tattoo artists in Japan whom she strikes a fascinating relationship with.

This Summer sees a brand new production of the much-loved classic musical Oliver! at West Berkshire's beautiful Watermill Theatre, directed by Luke Sheppard. Musical theatre star Alice Fearn has a decade of performing professionally under her belt, having featured in shows including Les Miserables, Into The Woods, Shrek and most recently Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. This time around, Alice takes on the iconic role of Nancy and talks to BWW having recently started rehearsals for the show...

Nevermore: The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allen Poe was originally produced in Edmonton where it received high acclaim and won seven Sterling Awards which honour excellence in theatre. It then went on to perform across Canada as well as performing in London in 2010 and Off-Broadway for eight weeks earlier this year. The musical play is dubbed as a theatrical experience and based on the vibrancy of the design, it certainly looks every inch the spectacle. Following demand, Broadway Records recently released the Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording.

Danielle Hope's debut album Bring The Future Faster was recorded at 54 Below in New York and has recently been released by Broadway Records. Shooting to stardom following her triumph in BBC's Over The Rainbow and successively becoming the West End's Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, ever since her feet haven't touched the ground once. Hope went on to star as Eponine in Les Miserables, the Narrator in Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat and is currently touring the UK as Maria in The Sound of Music - all massive roles to have portrayed by the age of 23! She enjoyed a superb debut concert in London's Delfont Room in June last year which led onto her American solo debut heard on this recording. 

Peter James is synonymous when referring to crime fiction. Following the acclaim received by the stage adaptation of A Perfect Murder last year, Dead Simple is the next novel to receive the same treatment (adapted by Shaun McKenna). The book was an overnight sensation and is now a number one best-seller so it was clearly an obvious choice for the producers. Based on James' research, it seems that the vast majority of people fear fear itself. Breaking this down further, the fear of being alone and in this story's case, being buried alive. This is a seemingly universal fear that James experienced head on when writing this book!

Following a massive 235 people donating over £12,000 via Kickstarter, Cool Rider (the stage concert production of Grease 2) has been able to release a studio cast recording of the show that received four and five star reviews when being debuted in the West End last year. It may have only been on for seven performances but it had great impact which is reflected in the support it has received from the public. This was also echoed in the 2014 BroadwayWorld Awards whereby Cool Rider received a huge nine nominations. Furthermore, although only being released yesterday, the recording is currently in the top ten of the UK soundtrack iTunes chart.

The Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham is the proud host of the 'world's biggest panto', Cinderella, this Christmas. It may only be on for five days in the run-up to Christmas but they will be playing to up to 4,500 people per performance twice a day; a prospect that celebrity cast members Paul O'Grady, Bradley Walsh and Dick & Dom are chomping at the bit for.

It's Off-Broadway's second longest-running production and I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change is being welcomed back to London for a limited run next month featuring a supremely talented cast. Gina Beck (most recently seen as Glinda in Wicked) and Samuel Holmes (Spamalot, Water Babies) are joined by Julie Atherton and Simon Lipkin who are being reunited again in a production for the first time since being part of the Original London cast of Avenue Q nearly a decade ago.

Acclaimed musical director and performer Ben Stock has recently released his debut album, featuring musical numbers that have shaped his career thus far. Jerry Herman, Cole Porter, Noel Coward and Meredith Wilson are just a few of the composers whose work is celebrated on this CD. The order of songs tell a wonderful story and are delivered by one very talented man and his piano.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears is the second musical in the 'trilogy of trios' from the incredibly talented George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, alongside the previously released The Three Little Pigs and The Three Billy Goats Gruff which will make an appearance next year. This popular and well-known fairytale; Goldilocks is presented as a short 50-minute musical and provides fun for all ages, alongside being educational and moralistic for children.

The Barclaycard Arena, formerly NIA, in Birmingham is one of the busiest, large scale indoor sporting and entertainment venues in the World. This Christmas however, the arena is playing host to 'the world's biggest panto', Cinderella - produced by Arenas Panto Ltd.