Bush Theatre News

Michael Grandage Company and Emily Dobbs Productions today announce the full company for their co-production of the UK premiere of Richard Greenberg's THE DAZZLE at FOUND111, at the site of the old Central St Martins School of Art on Charing Cross Road.

Award-winning playwright David Ireland (Can't Forget About You, Everything Between Us) has turned his hand to writing our panto script this year, and with our trusted director/designer Kenny Miller at the helm, SLEEPING BETTY promises to be a hoot, filled with all the usual Glesga patter, hilarious slapstick and general nonsense.

Curve today announces casting for the theatre's productions of Roald Dahl's THE WITCHES and Lionel Bart's classic musical, OLIVER!

The producers of Mike Bartlett's multi award-winning contemporary play, King Charles III are delighted to announce today that the current UK tour has been extended into spring 2016.

?Portrait tour concludes at London's Bush Theatre with RADAR Festival dates The UK tour of Racheal Ofori's remarkable Portrait comes to a close this month with 3 dates at The Bush Theatre's RADAR Festival. The show has been thrilling audiences around the country with its blend of wit and insight into black female racial stereotypes '. I love satirical comedy, and this piece satirises modern existence, along with a few cheeky little dance numbers for the audiences entertainment.' said Racheal. At times the show blends poetry seamlessly into the mix  'Portrait toys with issues that are quite provocative, and so I feel that using poetry helps bring these issues to light. Using poetry as a language for some of the characters is a surprise; as stereotypically one wouldn't imagine them to use such language to communicate their ideas.'

Sheffield Theatres and Orange Tree Theatre present Deborah Bruce's The Distance. Charlotte Gwinner directs Michelle Duncan (Bea), Charlotte Emmerson (Alex), Daniel Hawksford (Dewi), Charlotte Lucas(Kate), Timothy Knightley (Simon), Steven Meo (Vinnie) and Joshua Sinclair-Evans (Liam). The production opens tonight 3 November, with previews from 29 October, and runs until 14 November at Sheffield Theatres, ahead of a run at Orange Tree Theatre from 26 November to 19 December.

In celebration of the big news, BroadwayWorld brings you a look back at some of Smith's best-known performances below!

Wondering how the classic has been updated now that it's back in London? Harvey Fierstein, who reworked the book for FUNNY GIRL's UK return, said he immediately cut 40 pages from the script. 'There was a diamond in there and it needed to be cut out,' he told the Mail. 'It's not that I've cut it to make it shorter -- I've edited it to make it stronger.' Fierstein added that he 'reshaped the show so it's all seen through Brice's eyes.'

The Lyric Hammersmith today announces full casting for its Christmas panto, Cinderella. Grab your glittery Converse and put the pumpkin into top gear as Cinderella heads to the biggest party of the season to meet a very charming Prince. Following the success of Jack and the Beanstalk and Dick Whittington and his Cat, Award-winning playwright Tom Wells pens another traditional panto with plenty of festive fun in true Lyric style.

Tony Maudsley (ITV1's Benidorm) will play Edna Turnblad when Hairspray returns to Edinburgh next year. He will be joined by TV and stage actress and presenter Claire Sweeney (Educating Rita, Guys and Dolls) as Velma Von Tussle, Olivier Award nominated actor and much-loved Blue Peter presenter Peter Duncan (BBC1 Tumble) as Wilbur Turnblad and British singer and West End performer Brenda Edwards (Chicago, We Will Rock You, The X Factor) as Motormouth Maybelle. Freya Sutton will reprise the role of Tracy Turnblad alongside established musical theatre performer Jon Tsouras (A Chorus Line) who will play the role of Corny Collins. Dex Lee (The Scottsboro Boys) will play Seaweed, Ashley Gilmour (Miss Saigon) will play Link Larkin, Lauren Stroud (Wicked) will play Amber, Monique Young (Top Hat) will play Penny, Karis Jack (Urinetown) will play Little Inez, Adam Price (Hairspray) will play Male Authority Figure, Tracey Penn (Made in Dagenham) will play Female Authority Figure and Layton Williams (Bad Education, Billy Elliot) will play Duane. Further casting will be announced in due course.

Broadway's dreams of a Lea-Michele-led Funny Girl might be fading, but support for Menier Chocolate Factory's production, starring Sheridan Smith, is skyrocketing. The Daily Mail reports that the sold-out production will transfer to the West End's Savoy Theatre beginning April 9, 2016.

Elaine Cassidy will be taking on the role of Madame de Tourvel in the Donmar's production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, replacing Michelle Dockery who regrettably has had to withdraw from the production prior to the start of rehearsals.

Michael Grandage Company and Emily Dobbs Productions today announce their co-production of the UK premiere of Richard Greenberg's The Dazzle at FOUND111, at the site of the old Central St Martins School of Art on Charing Cross Road.

'[Thank you] to an incredible cast of British and American actors who make the Atlantic look like a little creek you can just kind of pop across,' said Dame Helen Mirren upon receiving her 2015 Tony Award. The stage and screen star reprised her critically-acclaimed performance in THE AUDIENCE after a West End run in 2013, and she was just one of many to 'pop across' an ocean for a stab at Broadway.  An unprecedented amount of British talent took over Broadway last year, bringing us such productions as THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, WOLF HALL: PARTS 1 & 2, and SKYLIGHT.   It doesn't seem like the trend is ending anytime soon. This fall, Broadway will welcome a slew of British actors- some of whom will be making their US stage debuts in incoming productions. And it's not just performers. We're getting some complete British imports in shows like A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE and KING CHARLES III. Below, we're taking a moment to shine a spotlight on this season's British imports.

Dan Fredenburgh (Tom), Erik Odom (Tim), Charlotte Parry (Tina) and Stephen Tompkinson (Teddy) comprise the full cast for Pig Farm, running at the St. James Theatre from tonight 21 October until 21 November, with press night on 28 October.

Artistic Directors of the Future (ADF) present Black Lives, Black Words, a presentation of eight fifteen-minute play readings from eight black British playwrights in the city of London. This play series is tied in with a shared project initiated by the award -winning American playwright Reginald Edmund, who produced the USA premiere in Chicago in July 2015. Black Lives, Black Words aims to explore the black diaspora experiences in some of the largest multicultural cities in the world, Chicago, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Baltimore and London to investigate the question 'Do black lives matter today?'

As usual, WAM Theatre is offering a variety of audience enrichment events in conjunction with their fall MainStage production. This year's events include a lobby display featuring this year's beneficiaries, talkbacks with the cast and design team and a writing workshop on comedy with the playwright.

The Menier Chocolate Factory today announces full casting for their production of Funny Girl. Joining Sheridan Smith as Fanny Brice are Valda Aviks (Mrs O'Malley), Natasha J Barnes (Emma/Mrs Meeker), Darius Campbell (Nick), Marilyn Cutts (Mrs Brice), Maurice Lane (Mr Keeney), Bruce Montague (Ziegfeld), Joel Montague (Eddie), Gay Soper (Mrs Strakosh); withEmma Caffrey, Matthew Croke, Joelle Dyson, Rebecca Fennelly, Luke Fetherston, Leah Harris, Kelly Homewood, Sammy Kelly and Stuart Ramsay completing the ensemble.

Meera Syal's much-loved novel bursts onto the stage for the very first time this Autumn. Adapted for the stage by the award-winning playwright, Tanika Gupta, and with specially composed music by Ben and Max Ringham, Anita and Me paints a colourful portrait of village life in 1970's West Midlands during the era of flares, power cuts and glam rock. Directed by Roxana Silbert, the production transfers to Theatre Royal Stratford East from 29 October, after the world premiere at Birmingham REP.

The cast recording of Tori Amos and Samuel Adamson's musical THE LIGHT PRINCESS, which originally premiered in 2013 at the National Theatre in London, was released last week. But Amos has even bigger plans for the show.