Marianka Swain - Page 52

Last week, Matilda the Musical - that soaring celebration of storytelling - marked its fifth year in the West End. Appropriately enough, the show begins with a birthday party in the marvellously caustic "Miracle" (over 41,000 balloons have been used since the show opened at the Cambridge Theatre), and the audience was invited to join the party, treated to birthday cupcakes in the interval. No word on whether Bruce Bogtrotter made a play for them first…

Last night, a starry crowd turned out for JURASSIC PARK LIVE at London's Royal Albert Hall. The iconic venue hosts the world premiere of Steven Spielberg's masterpiece in a film and live orchestra extravaganza: the 1993 blockbuster is screened in high-definition on a giant screen, while John Williams' classic score is played live on stage by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, conducted by Ludwig Wicki. Guests at the premiere included Myleene Klass, The Wanted's Tom Parker, Miranda Hart, Stephen Merchant, Samuel West, Laura Wade, and tennis pro Heather Watson.

Last night, Meat Loaf launched Jim Steinman's Bat Out of Hell - The Musical in a special live preview event outside London Coliseum in the West End. Meat Loaf and producer Michael Cohl introduced star Andrew Polec and the cast, who performed three numbers from the show: 'Bat Out of Hell', 'Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad' and 'Dead Ringer for Love'.

Sonia Friedman, Colin Callender and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions, producers of HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD, announce today that a further 60,000 tickets will be released for sale on Tuesday, 22 November 2016, at 11am GMT, for performances from 13 December 2017 - 4 February 2018. Tickets are priced from £15 per part and for every performance there will be over 300 tickets at £20 or less per part.  This will be followed by regular ticket releases throughout the next year, details of which will be announced via the official Harry Potter and the Cursed Child website, social media channels and the official newsletter.  

London is never short of theatre temptations, whether splashy West End shows, epic dramas or bold fringe offerings. From Bowie's Lazarus and Glenda Jackson's King Lear to Mark Rylance's return, here are some of this month's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld's reviews…

Leading theatre publisher Nick Hern Books (NHB) has acquired the rights to publish Nice Fish, the new play by multi-award-winning actor Mark Rylance and acclaimed prose poet Louis Jenkins, alongside its UK premiere in November.

Following on from the success of his 2016 Maastricht Concert in cinemas earlier this year, which took more than £1.4 million at the UK box office in one weekend and became the highest grossing music concert of all time, 'The King of Waltz' Andre Rieu has announced a very special Christmas with Andre cinema event.

From today, there's a 48-hour priority sale for the new Old Vic season, including the 50th anniversary production of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, starring Daniel Radcliffe and Joshua McGuire (25 February-29 April 2017).

It's not just the title that's daunting in Tony Kushner's exhaustive three-and-a-half-hour epic, which tackles everything from socialist history, belief systems and family dysfunction to maternity strap-ons and meta jokes about cell phones at the theatre. It's such a barrage of polyphonic arguments and relentlessly destructive behaviour that one begins to develop a sneaking sympathy with the patriarch's desire for 'self-delivery' AKA suicide. But, under Michael Boyd's sure hand, a strong cast delivers the meat of this hefty piece - for those who can stick with it.

Clive Francis's varied stage and screen career includes A Clockwork Orange, Entertaining Mr Sloane, the original Poldark and upcoming Netflix drama The Crown. He's currently starring in Stephen Daldry's lauded revival of An Inspector Calls at Playhouse Theatre, which begins previews on 4 November.

This week, the cast of West End hit THE COMEDY ABOUT A BANK ROBBERY - which recently announced a booking extension until October 2017 - tackled new interactive game The Million Pound Heist. The Enigma Quests 'escape room' game challenges teams of players to break into the safehouse of London's most notorious criminal gang, analyse highly confidential information, navigate security and try to enter the vault. See cast members Gareth tempest, Dave Hearn, Greg Tannahill, Henry Shields and Ellie Morris in action below, photographed by Ana Maria Wiggins and Adam Bennett.

Since winning hearts during his stint on Strictly Come Dancing, partnered by Flavia Cacace, actor and astrologer Russell Grant has starred in Hairspray, Grease and The Wizard of Oz. He's now hosting The Golden Age of Dance, a celebration of great dance numbers from classic films like Top Hat, Follow the Fleet, Swing Time and Shall We Dance, featuring a company of West End dancers and The Novello Orchestra. The show is at Theatre Royal Drury Lane on 13 November and Wales Millennium Centre on 15 November.

Jealousy stalks this seminal work by the late Peter Schaffer, making a triumphant return to the theatre where it debuted in 1979. Court composer Salieri is cursed with just enough musical appreciation to realise how mediocre his efforts are in comparison with Mozart - whose instinctive genius is yoked to an obscene child persona - a realisation that shakes his fundamental faith. If music is God's art, why isn't his virtue rewarded with a divine voice? Why does the Almighty choose instead, as his conduit, someone who Salieri deems so unworthy?

The Globe has announced that Emma Rice will be stepping down as Artistic Director in April 2018, two years after her tenure began. In a statement, CEO Neil Constable said: 'Emma's mould-breaking work has brought our theatre new and diverse audiences, won huge creative and critical acclaim, and achieved exceptionally strong box office returns. In breaking the mould, this latest season has generated productive debate concerning the purpose and theatrical practice of the Globe, in relation to the use of sound and lighting technology within our theatre spaces. Following much deliberation and discussion, the Globe Board has concluded that from April 2018, the theatre programming should be structured around 'shared light' productions without designed sound and light rigging, which characterised a large body of The Globe's work prior to Emma's appointment. 

Jim Steinman's epic rock and roll theatrical fantasy BAT OUT OF HELL THE MUSICAL, the inspiration for one of the most iconic and successful albums in history, is set to explode onto the London Coliseum stage in June 2017, and you can book tickets now via a special pre-sale.

Gillian Bevan has done everything from Holby City and Teachers on TV to RSC productions and extensive musical theatre, including Into the Woods, Billy Elliot and Grand Hotel. She's currently starring in the RSC's Cymbeline - the first woman to play the title role for the company. The production comes to the Barbican next week.

David Fynn's credits range from She Stoops to Conquer and Romeo and Juliet at the National Theatre to Sherlock and Game of Thrones. Now he's starring as rocker-turned-substitute teacher Dewey Finn in the UK premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Glenn Slater and Julian Fellowes' School of Rock, which begins previews at New London Theatre on 24 October.

Following her success on The Voice, singer and actress Lucy O'Byrne took on the iconic role of Maria Von Trapp in the UK tour of Rodgers and Hammerstein's indelible The Sound of Music; she's since performed the show more than 250 times. Next week, it makes a London stop at New Wimbledon Theatre.

Renowned playwright Howard Brenton's work ranges from The Romans in Britain and Pravda to 55 Days and Drawing the Line. Now, his eerily resonant 1973 play Magnificence - featuring idealistic squatters, police brutality, slippery politicians and radicalisation - is being revived at Finborough Theatre, previewing from 25 October.

How do you make a musical about cancer? This latest work from Bryony Kimmings isn't just theatre, but metatheatre. Her voiceovers and the emails published in the programme detail the at times highly personal development process, and a gut punch of a last 15 minutes strip away the comfort of fictional distance. It could be self-indulgent; instead, it becomes an effective method for making us confront that other, bigger question: how do we talk about, prepare for and deal with illness?