Laurence Olivier News

Elton John, Stephen Daldry and Lee Hall last night (30 May 2012) joined a special Gala audience at the Victoria Palace Theatre to celebrate 3000 performances and seven years since the world premiere of the award-wining British hit, Billy Elliot the Musical. Scroll down for photos of the event and to find out what happens to that cake.

Alex Ko, who shared the title role of "Billy" in the Billy Elliot the Musical on Broadway will be attending the gala performance of Billy Elliot The Musical to mark seven years and 3,000 performances in the West End. The evening will be a star-studded event with attendance by Elton John, Stephen Daldry, and Laurence Olivier Award winner, Liam Mower, one of the three boys who shared the lead role in the original London cast of Billy Elliot the Musical.

Almost 17,000 stadium seats go on sale today (30 May 2012) for the West End transfer of Chariots of Fire. Following its sell-out run at Hampstead Theatre, Edward Hall's production will open at the Gielgud Theatre on 23 June 2012 where it is currently booking to 10 November 2012. Inspired by Colin Welland's original screenplay, award-winning playwright Mike Bartlett's new adaptation is based on the true story of Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams' inspirational tale of hope, honour and belief.

Everyman Theatre has announced the directors attached to each of its six productions in the 2012/13 season. Founding Artistic Director Vincent Lancisi will helm two productions during the landmark season, including August: Osage County, which will be the first production at Everyman's new location on Fayette Street in January, 2013. The season will include two productions at the theatre's current location on Charles Street, followed by four productions at the new location on Fayette Street.

On Sunday, May 27, Miami Heat basketball player Dwyane Wade and actress Gabrielle Union attended a performance of Disney's The Lion King at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami. See a photo of the pair with Sydnee Winters (Nala) and Jelani Remi (Simba) below!

In its 15th year, THE LION KING remains ascendant, recently becoming the highest-grossing Broadway show in history. Since its Broadway premiere on November 13, 1997, 19 productions around the globe have been seen by more than 64 million people, grossed over $4.8 billion and, cumulatively, run a staggering 91 years. Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions (under the direction of Thomas Schumacher), THE LION KING is the sixth longest running musical in Broadway history and only the second show to produce five productions running 10 or more years.

Mississippi Mud Productions will present four performances of Marcy Lafferty's VIVIEN LEIGH: THE LAST PRESS CONFERENCE, in New York, NY, July 6 - 9, 2012 at the Alexander Technique Center For Performance And Development, 330 West 38th Street, Suite 805.

Full casting has been announced for the UK and Ireland tour of hit comedy stage adaptation The Ladykillers. The principal cast will include Paul Bown (Professor Marcus), Clive Mantle (Major Courtney), Chris McCalphy (One-Round), William Troughton (Harry), Shaun Williamson (Louis) and Michele Dotrice as Mrs Wilberforce.

Steven Berkoff directs the World Premiere of his latest play, 6 Actors in Search of a Director, a comedy set on a movie location set, for a West End season at Charing Cross Theatre now through Saturday 23rd June. See below for photos of Sarah Chamberlain, Philip Voss, Ruth Everett, Paul Trussell and Neil Stuke in the production, which opens tonight!

Dee Dee Bridgewater has received the Tony Award; London theater's West End equivalent, the Laurence Olivier Award; France's top honor, the Victoire de la Musique; and garnered three Grammy Awards, the most recent for Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie with Love from Dee Dee (2010). Ms. Bridgewater celebrates her birthday May 27th by bringing her band back to the Blue Note the following week for the first time since 2010, featuring Edsel Gomez (piano), Craig Handy (saxophone), Kenny Phelps (drums), and Kenny Davis (bass).

Happy Birthday, Laurence Olivier! Born in 1907, Olivier remains one of the most revered actors of the 20th century. He was the first artistic director of the National Theatre of Great Britain and its main stage is named in his honour. Olivier's career as a stage and film actor spanned more than six decades and included a wide variety of roles, from the title role in Shakespeare's Othello and Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night to the sadistic Nazi dentist Christian Szell in Marathon Man and the kindly but determined Nazi-hunter in The Boys from Brazil. Olivier played more than 120 stage roles: Richard III, Macbeth, Romeo, Hamlet, Othello, Uncle Vanya, and Archie Rice in The Entertainer. He appeared in nearly sixty films, including William Wyler's Wuthering Heights, Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca, Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus, Otto Preminger's Bunny Lake Is Missing, Richard Attenborough's Oh! What a Lovely War, and A Bridge Too Far, Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Sleuth, John Schlesinger's Marathon Man, Daniel Petrie's The Betsy, Desmond Davis' Clash of the Titans, and his own Henry V, Hamlet, and Richard III.

The New Victory Theater will launch its 2012-13 season with the U.S. premiere of URBAN by Circolombia, an edgy, thrilling and inspiring circus featuring young Colombian performers who share their real-life stories through acrobatics, aerial work and tremendous feats of strength. URBAN, which was originally commissioned by Roundhouse London as part of CircusFest 2010, will run from October 12 through October 21.

Sir Patrick Stewart, Peabody Award-winning star of stage and screen, Shakespeare plays and science-fiction blockbusters, will be the host of the 71st Annual George Foster Peabody Awards ceremony tonight, May 21, at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.

Life is imitating art for leading man Raza Jaffrey, as CHICAGO producer, Barry Weissler spotted him in the new Steven Spielberg TV series Smash, and immediately offered him the role of Billy Flynn in the West End production of the musical. He just began his run in CHICAGO at the Garrick Theatre and will continue through July 14, playing the role between David Bedella, and Olympian Robin Cousins, who joins on 17 July.

Enchanting audiences of all generations worldwide, Disney's Beauty and the Beast casts its spell in Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater on Navy Pier June 28 to August 26, 2012. Tickets are $18-$25 with special discounts available for groups of 10 or more. All patrons receive a 40 percent parking discount at Navy Pier garages. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Box Office at 312.595.5600 or visit the Theater's website at www.chicagoshakes.com.

Ruth Gemmell (Fever Pitch, Deborah Dean EastEnders) joins the cast of Harold Pinter's masterpiece Betrayal on the Crucible stage from tonight 17 May until Saturday 9 June.

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, adapted for the stage from the MGM Motion Picture by Jeremy Sams and Ray Broderick with music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman will open at Sydney's Capitol Theatre from the 16th of November. The show will be directed in Australia by Roger Hodgman and features sets and costumes by renowned English designer Anthony Ward.

Steven Berkoff is to direct the World Premiere of his latest play, 6 Actors in Search of a Director, a comedy set on a movie location set, for a West End season at Charing Cross Theatre from tonight 16th May - Saturday 23rd June. Six actors are on a movie set waiting for their call. Until then they are in limbo needing the director to bring them to life. He does this merely by using the one magic word - "Action!"