Gareth Valentine News

After accepting the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival for the second year in a row for Into the Woods, Artistic Director Timothy Sheader gets rehearsals underway for the first play of the 2011 season, Lord of the Flies

Digital Theatre today (14 March 2011) announces the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Into The Woods, which yesterday won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival, is now available for pre-order at www.digitaltheatre.com, for release on Thursday 31 March at 10am.

Digital Theatre today (14 February 2011) announces William Shakespeare's As You Like It - their second collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company; the critically acclaimed Regent's Park Open Air Theatre production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Into The Woods, and the sell out West End production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons as their next three downloadable productions which will also be available to stream from £6.99 at www.digitaltheatre.com. As You Like It will be available from today followed shortly by Into The Woods and All My Sons.

Following a sell-out season in 2008, Strictly Gershwin returns to the Royal Albert Hall for 13 performances only from Thursday 9 June - Sunday 19 June 2011. English National Ballet and an array of special guests will celebrate one of the finest composers of all time, the big band era and the razzmatazz of the forties for this in-the-round dance spectacular.

Following a sell-out season in 2008, Strictly Gershwin returns to the Royal Albert Hall for 13 performances only from Thursday 9 June - Sunday 19 June 2011.

Peter Quilter's End of the Rainbow starring Tracie Bennett as Judy Garland today extends its West End run again as Bennett is nominated for the 2011 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress.

Following 5 star reviews for Tracie Bennett's performance as Judy Garland, Peter Quilter's End of the Rainbow will extend its West End run taking bookings at the Trafalgar Studios until 16 April 2011.

Directed by Terry Johnson, End of the Rainbow combines humour and heartbreak to capture both the drama of Garland's final performances in London and her controversial life off stage. End of the Rainbow, which opened in Northampton in February last year, transferred to the West End in November where it has been receiving standing ovations at every performance since opening night.

The 2010 season at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre became the most successful in the theatre's history with more than 142,000 visitors across its sixteen-week run. Capitalising on the inimitable relationship between production and setting, Into the Woods became the highest-grossing single production at the theatre taking £1.2m in five weeks, whilst The Comedy of Errors became the most successful Shakespeare play. Arthur Miller's The Crucible, attracted a whole new audience to the theatre: 72% of those who attended the play had never been to the venue before. Steve Marmion's production of Macbeth, re-imagined for ages six and over, achieved the highest footfall for a family show.

Tracie Bennett will play Judy Garland in the West End premiere of Peter Quilter's End of the Rainbow. Directed by Terry Johnson, End of the Rainbow combines humour and heartbreak to capture both the drama of Garland's final performances in London and her controversial life off stage.

In celebration of Sondheim's eightieth birthday, the Open Air Theatre season closes with INTO THE WOODS, co-directed by Timothy Sheader and Liam Steel. Perfectly placed within the Open Air Theatre amphitheatre, the musical gives the stories of The Brothers Grimm a dark and humorous twist. The production officially opened and the reviews are in! BroadwayWorld brings you a sampling below.

West End star Hannah Waddingham will host a prestigious awards ceremony, now in its fourth year, on Sunday 6th June at The Queens Theatre, London. The Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer Of The Year Competition & The Stiles and Drewe Best New Song of 2010 Awards are presented by The Stephen Sondheim Society and Mercury Musical Developments (MMD).

End of the Rainbow launches Addicted to You season - three CONTEMPORARY plays that explore the DARKER SIDE OF HUMAN NATURE, made in northampton 2010 at Royal & Derngate

A Sunday evening concert at Theatre Royal Drury Lane on 4th October 2009 will celebrate the career of award-winning arranger and orchestrator, William David Brohn.

A Sunday evening concert at Theatre Royal Drury Lane on 4th October 2009 will celebrate the career of award-winning arranger and orchestrator, William David Brohn.

A benefit bringing together musical theatre's biggest stars, Calendar Girls and Chicago cast extend and new productions open across the country. Laura Holmes reports.

How does the new lavish production fare on press night?

Raymond Gubbay and the Royal Albert Hall have announced a spectacular new fully staged in the round production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic musical The King and I. For a strictly limited season of only 20 performances the show will star one of the UK's best loved performers Maria Friedman, who appears alongside Daniel Dae Kim, star of the massive hit TV series Lost.

Maria Friedman and Lost's Daniel Dae Kim star in the Rodgers and Hammerstein favourite

LOST star Daniel Dae Kim will departs the island of Hawaii for the spotlight of the London stage this coming summer to star in a new production of musical The King and I. The Korean-born Kim was a guest on 'The View' this morning and spoke about his taking on the iconic role of the 'King of Siam' for the UK mounting. He explained that it would be produced in the UK, 'It's actually going to be in London at the Royal Albert Hall. We start rehearsals start in May'.