Ben Lewis News

Jackie Clune is to play the Old Lady and James Dreyfus is to play Dr Pangloss in the Menier Chocolate Factory's upcoming production of Candide.

ComedySportzBoston (CSz), the fast-paced, family-friendly improvisational comedy played as a sport, that's a hit in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York and Portland, - it is coming to Greater Boston. Shows are Fridays and Saturdays beginning October 18 and running through December 20, 2013 (November 8 (6pm) & 9 (5pm) are during the Boston Comedy Festival) at Davis Square Theatre, 255 Elm Street, Somerville. Doors open at 6:30pm and show begins at 7pm. Tickets only $18 - Group rates and special shows available. For tickets and information call (617) 426-1999 or visit http://mysterycafe.com/shows/comedysportz-boston/.

BRIEFS: THE SECOND COMING will play the London Underbelly Wonderground Southbank, today, September 19-28. Press night, September 20, 2013. Press night, September 20, 2013.

Fra Fee, Cassidy Janson, Ben Lewis, Scarlett Strallen and David Thaxton have been cast in the Menier Chocolate Factory's Christmas musical Candide with music by Leonard Bernstein, book adapted from Voltaire by Hugh Wheeler, lyrics by Richard Wilbur and additional lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, John Latouche, Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker and Leonard Bernstein.

BRIEFS: THE SECOND COMING will play the London Underbelly Wonderground Southbank, September 19-28. Press night, September 20, 2013. Press night, September 20, 2013.

UK audiences are in for a treat this Summer as Australian burlesque heroes Briefs are set to take the nation by storm with the European premiere of their brand new show. Award-winning circus stunts, drag acts, Aussie humour and frivolity collide on stage in Briefs: The Second Coming. From today, July 21 the boys embark on a three month UK tour which takes them from The Latitude festival in Suffolk to Cardiff's Blysh Festival, up to Edinburgh for the largest arts festival in the world and on to London for a stunning finale at the Underbelly Priceless Wonderground in the last week of September.

UK audiences are in for a treat this Summer as Australian burlesque heroes Briefs are set to take the nation by storm with the European premiere of their brand new show. Award-winning circus stunts, drag acts, Aussie humour and frivolity collide on stage in Briefs: The Second Coming. From July 21 the boys embark on a three month UK tour which takes them from The Latitude festival in Suffolk to Cardiff's Blysh Festival, up to Edinburgh for the largest arts festival in the world and on to London for a stunning finale at the Underbelly Priceless Wonderground in the last week of September.

At a star-studded ceremony on January 14, 2103, the winners of the 2012 Sydney Theatre Awards were announced. Over 300 members of the Sydney theatre community packed the auditorium at Paddington RSL to celebrate the best of Sydney theatre throughout 2012.

The Line-Up has been announced for the 2013 Sundance Film Festival which will be held in Utah this January. The event marks the Festival's 29th year. This year, 113 feature-length films representing 32 countries will be presented.

Sundance Institute announced today the films selected for the U.S. and World Cinema Dramatic and Documentary Competitions and the out-of-competition NEXT <=> section of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, January 17-27 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

Continuing Soho Theatre's commitment to nurturing new talent and providing a platform for new writers to develop and present their work, the group has announced the Soho Six for 2012: Christopher William Hill, Shappi Khorsandi, Ben Lewis, Duncan Macmillan, Olga Nikora, and Paula B. Stanic.

LOVE NEVER DIES will be released on Blu-ray and DVD today in Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uraguay.

Last month a gala performance of SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM was staged at The Theatre Royal, Sydney, headlined by Ruthie Henshall in her Australian debut.

PBS today announced that LOVE NEVER DIES is part of special programming premiering on PBS stations beginning June 2, 2012 (check local listings). LOVE NEVER DIES, Andrew Lloyd Webber's follow-up musical to THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, is based on the book by Ben Elton and features the new Australian production filmed in Melbourne.

Cineplex Entertainment, Front Row Center Events, and Omniverse Vision present Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Love Never Dies', the long awaited continuation to 'The Phantom of the Opera', in a fully-staged production pre-recorded at The Regent Theatre in Melbourne, Australia. 'Love Never Dies' made its Canadian cinematic debut on April 11. An encore presentation will be screened on Saturday April 21 at select movie theaters and tickets are now available! For a complete list of theater location and times, click here.

More of the performers that will make up the company of the very special concert version of SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM that takes place on Friday 20 April 2012 at Theatre Royal, Sydney have been announced.

Looking for a quick roundup of this week's events? Look no further - here are some of the best articles the week had to offer!

In honor of the encore screening of Andrew Lloyd Webber's LOVE NEVER DIES at Fathom-equipped movie theaters across the US today, following the rapturously received first showing late last month, this week we are highlighting the show's central stars, Anna O'Byrne and Ben Lewis, and speaking to them all about the spectacular Coney Island-set PHANTOM OF THE OPERA musical sequel. Following the previous interviews in this series with composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Glenn Slater, this LOVE NEVER DIES series shines a special spotlight on the risky and ambitious new theatrical venture, which originally began in London's West End and has now been thrillingly filmed in its completely reconceived and rewritten Australian iteration directed by visionary innovator Simon Phillips. In an unprecedented move, Fathom will be presenting the elegantly designed film of the stage show in over 500 movie theaters nationwide, making LOVE NEVER DIES an absolute must-see for Broadway babies curious to see where the story of the Phantom, Christine and the rest ends up ten years later - and, also, a real treat for just plain entertainment enthusiasts in general out there. To paraphrase from the musical drama itself, the special screenings of LOVE NEVER DIES prove that love does, indeed, live on. Today, in this LOVE NEVER DIES focused portion of the upcoming complete InDepth InterView, LOVE NEVER DIES star Ben Lewis and I discuss his insights into playing the Phantom, working with the phenomenally talented cast featuring Anna O'Byrne as Christine, as well as what his impressions are of the final finished film version of the show now that he has seen it on the big screen - all of that and much, much more!

In honor of the encore screening of Andrew Lloyd Webber's LOVE NEVER DIES at Fathom-equipped movie theaters across the US on March 7, following the rapturously received first showing late last month, this week we are highlighting the show's central stars, Anna O'Byrne and Ben Lewis, and speaking to them all about the spectacular Coney Island-set PHANTOM OF THE OPERA musical sequel. Following the previous interviews in this series with composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Glenn Slater, this LOVE NEVER DIES series shines a special spotlight on the risky and ambitious new theatrical venture, which originally began in London's West End and has now been thrillingly filmed in its completely reconceived and rewritten Australian iteration directed by visionary innovator Simon Phillips. In an unprecedented move, Fathom will be presenting the elegantly designed film of the stage show in over 500 movie theaters nationwide, making LOVE NEVER DIES an absolute must-see for Broadway babies curious to see where the story of the Phantom, Christine and the rest ends up ten years later - and, also, a real treat for just plain entertainment enthusiasts in general. To paraphrase from the musical drama itself, the special screenings of LOVE NEVER DIES prove that love does, indeed, live on. Today, in this LOVE NEVER DIES focused portion of the upcoming complete InDepth InterView, LOVE NEVER DIES star Anna O'Byrne and I discuss her affiliation with Andrew Lloyd Webber, the nature of playing Christine in the original PHANTOM and, now, its sequel, as well as performing musical theatre as an opera-trained actress and much, much more!

Across the United States, many movie theaters showed the latest recorded production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's LOVE NEVER DIES. Set up as a sequel to Webber's PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, this show picks up ten years later in Coney Island, New York and features the Phantom and Christine, as well as her now husband Raoul and ten-year-old son Gustave.