Charles Edwards News

Last night was the online premiere of the Royal Opera House's Faust, broadcast for free as part of the #OurHouseToYourHouse series. This is David McVicar's production, recorded in 2019.

Legend has it that the distance between the front bench of the Government and that of Her Majesty's Opposition is the length of two swords tip to tip. Given that weapons have been banned from the House for centuries, writer James Graham has had to rely on good old-fashioned political fisticuffs for This House.

The National Theatre has announced additional online programming, including A Streetcar Named Desire, Barber Shop Chronicles, Coriolanus (starring Tom Hiddleston), and more!

Today we rewind with original footage from The 39 Steps, which ran on Broadway for almost two years from 2008-2010. The 39 Steps is a parody adapted from the 1915 novel by John Buchan and the 1935 film by Alfred Hitchcock. The play's concept calls for the entirety of the 1935 adventure film The 39 Steps to be performed with a cast of only four. One actor plays the hero, Richard Hannay, an actress (or sometimes actor) plays the three women with whom he has romantic entanglements, and two other actors play every other character in the show: heroes, villains, men, women, children and even the occasional inanimate object. The original Broadway cast featured Charles Edwards, Jennifer Ferrin, Arnie Burton and Cliff Saunders

Fashions in love (and lovers) swing as wildly as hemlines between the centuries. Massenet's Werther a?' brooding, poetic, Romantic to a fault a?' is pure 19th century, his heart beating to the fluttering pulse of lyric couplets. He translates poorly into today's more pragmatic world, but thanks to Charles Edwards' handsome designs his ill-fated passion for married Charlotte returns to the Royal Opera with plenty of nostalgic appeal.

On Wednesday, July 24, 2019, Santa Fe Opera presented Leoš Janáček's powerful dramatic opera Jenůfa. Laura Wilde, a former Santa Fe Apprentice who performed the title role at English National Opera in 2016, again sang the lead while Patricia Racette, who has often sung Jenůfa, portrayed her stepmother, Kostelnička. Both artists gave glorious dramatic interpretations of their roles in this shattering but moving opera.

On Saturday, July 20, the Santa Fe Opera will introduce Leoš Janáček's Jenůfa to audiences for the first time in the company's 63 year history. A co-production between Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera and the English National Opera, David Alden's production of Jenůfa, now adapted to the Santa Fe Opera's stage, updates the mis-en-scène from an isolated, tight-knit community in 19th-century Moravia to an impoverished industrial section of Soviet-era Czechoslovakia. Alden's staging won the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production when it was produced at the English National Opera, and its 2016 revival there received additional critical acclaim. The Independent gave it a five-star review, headlining it as “brilliantly effective.” The Sunday Times proclaimed, “David Alden's staging…takes this coruscating music-drama a notch higher, turning the screw of the drama inexorably, shatteringly, ultimately movingly. Janáček's uplifting conclusions…is one of the most beautiful 'happy ends' in opera.”

Bruno Ravella sparks new magic into David McVicar's production, refreshing the feel of the piece whilst ensuring its original spark is retained. Although the fifth revival of McVicar's take on the classic, Ravella ensures that the original text is delivered to ensure the story is allowed to speak for itself.

Soprano Anna Netrebko takes on for the first time at the Met the title role of the 18th century actress Adriana Lecouvreur. A co-production of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, Gran Teatre del Liceu - Barcelona, Wiener Staatsoper, San Francisco Opera and L'Opera National de Paris conducted by Gianandrea Noseda and directed by Sir David McVicar, who ingeniously sets the action in a working replica of a Baroque theatre.

On New Year's Eve, the Metropolitan Opera unveiled a new production of Cilea's ADRIANA LECOUVREUR, with a high-powered, audience-pleasing cast--headed by Anna Netrebko--in a production by Met favorite David McVicar, appealingly designed and costumed, and played elegantly by the Met orchestra under Gianandrea Noseda's sweeping baton.

Soprano Anna Netrebko takes on for the first time at the Met the title role of the 18th century actress Adriana Lecouvreur. A co-production of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, Gran Teatre del Liceu - Barcelona, Wiener Staatsoper, San Francisco Opera and L'Opera National de Paris conducted by Gianandrea Noseda and directed by Sir David McVicar, who ingeniously sets the action in a working replica of a Baroque theatre.

Gianandrea Noseda-Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), Principal Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and newly-appointed General Music Director of the Zurich Opera starting in 2021-returns to the Metropolitan Opera for the first time since 2017 to conduct a new production of Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur starring Anna Netrebko in her house role debut, December 31, 2018 through January 26, 2019. The 2018-2019 season marks Noseda's second as Music Director of the NSO, including a full schedule of subscription concerts that recently included critically-acclaimed performances of Britten's War Requiem in November and Mahler's Symphony No. 1 earlier this month. On May 19, 2019, Noseda will bring the NSO to Carnegie Hall in a program that includes Rossini's rarely-performed Stabat Mater.

Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of Verdi's Il trovatoreopens Saturday, Nov. 17, at 7:30pm. There are seven performances November 17 - December 9  at the Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago. Tickets start at $39 and are available now at lyricopera.org/Trovatore or at 312-827-5600.

The original version of Rodney Ackland's provocative work, The Pink Room, had a bruising reception back in 1952, losing thousands for investor Terence Rattigan amidst furious reviews. Since salvaged by the Orange Tree in the Eighties, its rebirth was cemented by a Judi Dench-starring production at the National, where it now returns for an intriguing if not entirely convincing encore.

Bomb-blasted London. A Soho den in the hangover from World War II, where members drink into the darkness, night after night. Lying, fighting and seducing, these lost souls and bruised lovers struggle from the rubble of war towards an unknown future.

The National Theatre has announced its May-September 2018 season.

Two decades after it was previously performed at the National Theatre, Rodney Ackland's Absolute Hell returns to the very stage it played back then: the Lyttelton. With a career spanning over two decades too across stage and screen, Charles Edwards is no stranger to the National Theatre. Catching up during rehearsals, Charles spoke to us about his 'innate connection' to the play, and reveals the greatest challenge he's faced in his career (which came only last year).

Bomb-blasted London. A Soho den in the hangover from World War II, where members drink into the darkness, night after night. Lying, fighting and seducing, these lost souls and bruised lovers struggle from the rubble of war towards an unknown future.

London is never short of temptations, whether splashy West End shows, epic dramas or bold fringe offerings. From a buzzy new musical to returning favourites, here are some of this month's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld reviews, interviews and features!

Further lead casting is announced today for Festival 2018 at Chichester Festival Theatre. Matt Lucas makes his Chichester debut as Bill Snibson, the Cockney barrow boy who discovers he's an Earl, in Daniel Evans's new production of ME AND MY GIRL. Tracy-Ann Oberman returns to the Festival Theatre as Monica in Noel Coward's PRESENT LAUGHTER; while Patricia Hodge also makes a welcome return as Margrethe Bohr in Michael Frayn's Copenhagen. Public booking for all Festival productions opens this Saturday, 3 March.