Bill Kenwright News

TV and stage star Eric McCormack saw THE WIZARD OF OZ Tour at Saturday's matinee at the Pantages in Hollywood, CA where the show plays through October 6th. He is an old friend of Lee MacDougall who plays the Lion, and took time after the show to pose for photos with the cast.

The Theatrical Management Association (TMA) has announced the nominations for the 2013 UK Theatre Awards published below and available online at www.tmauk.org.

THE WIZARD OF OZ national tour, with old standards and new music written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber and a book adapted by Lloyd Webber and Jeremy Sams, opened at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre last week on September 18. BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening night festivities below!

The Wizard of Oz, featuring some of movie music's most unforgettable standards, along with new music written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber; a book adapted by Lloyd Webber and Jeremy Sams... and everything else that is good made its way successfully to Hollywood's Pantages Theatre last week (September 18) for a high flying opening night celebration which drew a full house of young and old alike. Among those involved with the festivities were BWW TV's own Los Angeles correspondents Michael Sterling and Jerry Evans on the red carpet walk of fame. Among the celebrities in attendance were Rico Rodriquez (ABC's Modern Family) and his sister Raini Rodriguez (Disney's Austin and Ally), Fox TV's Lauren Potter (Glee), Academy Award winner George Chakiris (West Side Story), Kate Linder (The Young and The Restless), Jane Kean (The Honeymooners), Ann Jeffrey's (General Hospital, Topper), Corbin Bleu (One Life to Live), RJ Mitte (AMC's Breaking Bad), Michelle Dockery of the BBC's Downton Abbey and others of note. Check out the video below!

Producers Bill Kenwright, The Really Useful Group, David Mirvish, Troika Entertainment, Warner Bros. & The Nederlander Organization have announced that the first North American tour of the new stage adaptation of THE WIZARD OF OZ will make its L.A. debut at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre for a limited 3 week engagement; today, September 17 - October 6, 2013. Full casting for the tour is now complete.

Fresh from the hit television series STEPS: On The Road Again, and a subsequent arena tour, Ian 'H' Watkins will be reprising the character he first played in London's West End in 2005.

Producers Bill Kenwright, The Really Useful Group, David Mirvish, Troika Entertainment & Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures present the first North American tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's new stage adaptation of THE WIZARD OF OZ, beginning tonight, September 10, 2013 at The Smith Center in Las Vegas, NV.

Bill Kenwright presents Martin Shaw, Jeff Fahey, Nick Moran and Robert Vaughn in a new West End production of TWELVE ANGRY MEN, opening at the Garrick Theatre on Thursday November 7th with press night on November 11th (7pm).

Fresh from the hit television series STEPS: On The Road Again, and a subsequent arena tour, Ian 'H' Watkins will be reprising the character he first played in London's West End in 2005.

Now in its fifth consecutive year, the multi-award-winning Finborough Theatre - the coalface of British Theatre - presents Vibrant 2013 - A Festival of Finborough Playwrights, its annual explosion of new writing, running between 6-25 October 2013

Direct from its West End run at the London Palladium last Christmas, TOMMY STEELE will reprise his role as Ebenezer Scrooge in Bill Kenwright's spectacular production of festive musical SCROOGE. Tommy Steele's return to the London Palladium in Scrooge the Musical last year sent him into the record books once again as the star to have headlined more performances than any other at London's most famous theatre. A prestigious plaque was mounted at the Palladium to honour this extraordinary achievement.

Having already achieved a relatively successful career in the performing arts, Ian Watkins a lad from South Wales, could not have imagined on answering an ad for a pop band that STEPS would go on to be one of the biggest selling acts of the nineties, releasing eight albums and selling 20 million records worldwide. With 22 singles to their name, the band holds some impressive credentials. The only British band to have had more top ten hits are The Beatles, and to this day, STEPS command the record for the UK's biggest arena tour and still hold pop's highest Wembley Box Office figures.

Producers Bill Kenwright, The Really Useful Group, David Mirvish, Troika Entertainment, Warner Bros. & The Nederlander Organization have announced that the first North American tour of the new stage adaptation of THE WIZARD OF OZ will make its L.A. debut at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre for a limited 3 week engagement; September 17 - October 6, 2013. Full casting for the tour is now complete.

Producers Bill Kenwright, The Really Useful Group, David Mirvish, Troika Entertainment & Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures just announced that casting is complete for the first North American tour of the new stage adaptation of THE WIZARD OF OZ, which will commence on September 10, 2013 at The Smith Center in Las Vegas, NV.

This whirl round the jukebox of one of the most dynamic musical decades stars musical legend Mark Wynter - fresh from his celebrated run in the show at London's Wyndham's Theatre last winter - who is set to perform classic hits Venus In Blue Jeans, Go Away Little Girl and It's Almost Tomorrow for the first time on tour in 50 years.

Direct from his award nominated performance as Emcee, internationally celebrated singer/songwriter WILL YOUNG reprises his role in Rufus Norris' acclaimed production of CABARET. Following a successful West End run, the UK tour of CABARET will open at the NEW WIMBLEDON THEATRE on WEDNESDAY 28 AUGUST.

Just over a decade ago Bill Kenwright presented the year's most sparkling and celebrated West End comedy hit at the Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue - Noel Coward's Fallen Angels. Extraordinarily, the Champagne-cork-popping hit has not been revived since, until now.

Direct from his award nominated performance as Emcee, internationally celebrated singer/songwriter WILL YOUNG reprises his role in Rufus Norris' acclaimed production of CABARET. Following a successful West End run, the UK tour of CABARET will open at the NEW WIMBLEDON THEATRE on WEDNESDAY 28 AUGUST.

The 34th Annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards for the 2012/2013 season were handed out in a star-studded ceremony in Toronto on the evening of Monday, June 24 at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts' Bluma Appel Theatre, hosted by the hilarious Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus, Second City alumni and founding members of the National Theatre of the World.

Nominated for Best New Musical at the 2013 Olivier Awards, Bill Kenwright and John Miller launch today new dates for 2013 for the smash-hit UK tour of SOUL SISTER - the new musical inspired by the music, life and times of Ike and Tina Turner, that caused a sensation at the West End's Savoy Theatre with rave reviews and standing ovations. The show will visit Nottingham, Bristol, Stoke, Malvern, Brighton, Blackpool, Liverpool, Windsor, Bromley, Sunderland, and Perth.