Jenny Ell - Page 6

Five years after the release of her well-received album 'Someone Else's Story', Meredith Braun brings us a new solo album, 'When Love Is Gone'. This release combines both specially selected songs and a couple of original numbers written by Braun herself. Inspired by a domestic abuse storyline on popular radio show The Archers, each song has a relationship with the next and the greatest success on this album is the choice and arrangement of song and the lyrics within them.

Natasha Barnes is a remarkable talent. After breaking onto the London theatre scene in the original London production of the award-winning Spring Awakening in 2009, she has performed in a large number of musicals. However, it wasn't until April 2016 when she was truly brought to a wider audience's attention.

Notes of Love is Oliver Boito's debut CD and first venture into releasing his own music. An artist and photographer, in addition to writer and composer, Boito has an impressive set of skills to his name and Notes of Love is something that he should be incredibly proud of.

Andrew Lloyd Webber is quite possibly the most recognised and mainstream composer in the musical theatre industry. Love him or hate him, he has penned the music for some of the world's most famous musicals and continues to write today. In celebration of his 70th birthday this year, he is releasing an ultimate hits collection named Andrew Lloyd Webber Unmasked: The Platinum Collection and is being released in March as a two or four CD recording.

Currently enjoying a West End revival at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, 42nd Street has also released a brand new cast recording.

The enigma that is West End Producer - or WEP to his friends - has released a second book, Everything You Always Wanted To Know About The Theatre (But Were Too Sloshed To Ask, Dear).

Cinderella must be the most performed of all the pantomimes in the UK, and is probably the most well-loved. Experienced writer for Imagine Theatre, Iain Lauchlan returns once again to write, direct and star in the show; this year as Ugly Sister Dyspepsia. Also in similar fashion to previous years, Mark Walters brings his glitzy set and costume design to the Belgrade Main House.

Sci-fi epic The War of the Worlds has received a number of adaptations over the years, and now, in time for its 120th anniversary, Midlands-based company Tin Robot Theatre have given the masterpiece a modern twist. It's an immersive and sensory experience, bringing the classic into today's world.

Drake's Dream enjoyed a limited run at London's Shaftesbury Theatre in the late 1970's following its earlier opening at the Connaught Theatre in Worthing. It is a biographical musical based on Sir Francis Drake's iconic sail around the world during the 16th century and in 1977, was commemorating his 400th anniversary. The show was recorded prior to its West End run before another playwright was brought in to revise the production - it then went on to play the Westminster Theatre early the following year.

What better stocking filler could there be than the newest release from SimG Records? In September this year, Robert J Sherman's new musical comedy Bumblescratch received a charity concert at the Adelphi Theatre in London, starring West End performers Darren Day, Jessica Martin, Michael Xavier and Ilan Galkoff. The debut was greatly received by audience members and critics alike with an array of four and five star reviews. The original band and cast have since featured in the London Concert Cast Recording which is due to be released on Monday 19 December.

The Belgrade Theatre in Coventry has teamed up again with Imagine Theatre and panto veteran Iain Lauchlan this year to create a brand new production of Dick Whittington - a very popular title choice in the Midlands this year it seems! Remarkably busy for a school night, there was a very good mixture of adults and children alike making up last night's audience - all of whom were able to find plenty of elements to entertain them across the three-hour production.

Stephanie Martin is a Canadian born singer-songwriter who has enjoyed a varied career, but most notably in musical theatre. She starred in three productions of Les Miserables as Eponine and provided the Quebec French singing voice of Pocahontas for the 1995 Disney film. Martin's last studio album - Shape, Line and Harmony - was released in 2007 to critical acclaim and after a nine year wait, her eagerly anticipated second CD, April Snow, was released earlier this year when it reached number two in the iTunes Top 100 Adult Contemporary music chart.

Lennon: Through A Glass Onion is a part-biographical, part-concert whistle stop journey into the mind of international musical icon, John Lennon. Featuring 31 hits including his solo work, the show has enjoyed great success all over the world but most recently in Lennon's birthplace in Liverpool.

Further empowering their ethos of preserving 'lost' British theatre, Stage Door Records are releasing their latest cast album, Maddie, with a 20th Anniversary Deluxe edition bumper pack of a CD. Originally developed at Oxford University in 1990 during a Stephen Sondheim masterclass, emerging and ambitious producer Kenny Wax opened the show at Salisbury Playhouse in 1996 following a series of workshops. The production then went on to open in the West End the next year following superb reactions from the critics. The two-disc album includes the original recording, alongside a collection of studio demos which include cut songs and alternate versions, and three bonus tracks recorded this year.

SimG Records is soon to release a Studio Cast Recording of original British love story, Before After, written by Stuart Matthew Price and Timothy Knapman. The show enjoyed its original workshop at the St James Theatre back in 2014 - funded by the Arts Council and directed by Simon Greiff - and has since been produced in Japan. Musical theatre stars Hadley Fraser and Caroline Sheen featured in this workshop and have gone on to record the album, in the hope that a full UK production will follow in the near future.

TMS The Musical Season UG present the Frankfurt premiere of the smash ­hit Off­-Broadway musical, The Last 5 Years, opening at Kulturhaus Frankfurt on 1 October 2016.

Writer Bob Eaton had previous success with 2-Tone Musical Three Minute Heroes at the Belgrade Theatre in 2014. This time, he has put pen to paper to create a musical loosely based on William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Roll Over Beethoven boasts an original rock 'n' roll score against a backdrop of post-war England. Protaganist Johnny returns from National Service to attend his father's funeral where he notices his Mother and Uncle acting questionably. This, teamed with his Father revisiting him in various forms, further arouses suspicion surrounding his death.

Based on the 1992 film starring Whoopi Goldberg, Sister Act premiered onstage in the West End in 2009 starring Patina Miller as Deloris Van Cartier and Sheila Hancock as the Mother Superior. The lavish production opened at the London Palladium to critical acclaim and has enjoyed many revivals across the globe ever since. The last major UK production was in 2010, starring the now Tony award-winning Cynthia Erivo which took the same format as the original production. Craig Revel Horwood's new take on the musical, produced by Jamie Wilson, opened officially at the Curve in Leicester last night before it begins its UK tour.

Following the success of the previously released Lost West End comes the aptly named Lost West End 2 - of course! The albums, produced by Stage Door Records, are revisiting forgotten musical numbers from shows that sadly didn't enjoy a long run in London. Lost West End 2 features songs that date back to 1970, then ventures through successive years up until 2008.

The latest cast recording release from Auburn Jam Records, Prodigy, was only released yesterday and has already placed in the top 100 albums on iTunes. This new musical, by the immensely talented Jake Brunger and Pippa Cleary, has been commissioned by the National Youth Music Theatre and received its premiere in August last year at the St James Theatre. As well as being performed by a 27-strong cast made up of 11-23 year olds, over half of them also play a musical instrument during the show. Centred around a competition to be Britain's Best New Classical Music star, five young competitors fight it out to claim the prize. Budding romances, teenage angst and pushy parents added to the mix make for a less straight forward journey to the title.