Josefina Gabrielle News

The nominations for The Olivier Awards 2014 with MasterCard - the most prestigious event in the UK's theatrical calendar - were announced today (Monday, March 10) by Nigel Harman and Leigh Zimmerman with the full list of nominations available below and online at www.olivierawards.com.

Christmas (almost) endeth the year. Time to reflect? Well, of course! It's what one does. And what better venue to do it in than in a pub on Richmond Green with my nearest and dearest, where we shared our varying theatrical highlights and lowlights of the year.

The UK editor-in-chief reflects on the ups and downs of West End theatre in 2013. So, another busy year in the West End - and a busy year for BWW:UK. I've been the editor-in-chief of BWW:UK for nearly five years now, working closely with our US newdesk (and dealing with that inconvenient time difference), and overseeing our ever-expanding reviewing squad (as well as our London writers, we also have a team at the Edinburgh Festival every year, and regional reviewers in cities around the UK including Glasgow, Birmingham, Sheffield and Bristol).

Susie McKenna bites the bullet and gives a Puss in Boots that stays loyal to its complicated French story but still incorporates all the traditions of its madcap English format. It's a packed show, coming in at just over two and a half hours - fortunately the pace doesn't let up and the audience goes home well entertained having had their money's worth.

'We're having such fun!' enthuses Sharon D Clarke. She sounds remarkably perky for someone who's just started the traditional gruelling British panto schedule. But then the Hackney Empire panto isn't your usual panto.

Here are the first images from Hackney Empire's 2013 pantomime Puss in Boots. The iconic London pantomime is written and directed by Susie McKenna who celebrates her 15th Hackney pantomime this year.

Hackney Empire has just released production images of their 2013 pantomime, PUSS IN BOOTS. Kat B, Sharon D Clarke, Josefina Gabrielle and Stephen Matthews star in this year's iconic Hackney pantomime. London's No.1 pantomime will run to the 05 January 2014 with press night set for Wednesday 04 December, 7pm. Scroll down for a first look at the cast in action!

Great news for Hollywood and Broadway fans: Hugh Jackman-who recently starred in the worldwide hit film version of 'Les Miserables'- can be seen again in his breakout musical role as cowpoke Curly in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, tonight, November 15 at 9 p.m. on THIRTEEN's Great Performances

Great news for Hollywood and Broadway fans: Hugh Jackman-who recently starred in the worldwide hit film version of "Les Miserables"- can be seen again in his breakout musical role as cowpoke Curly in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, Friday, November 15 at 9 p.m. on THIRTEEN's Great Performances

This week the world famous Battersea Dogs & Cats Home received a slightly larger feline visitor than usual. Kat B, who will play Puss in Boots in the renowned Hackney Empire pantomime this year, got into character with the Home's feline residents on Wednesday after visiting the London rescue centre, which is celebrating its 130th anniversary of rehoming cats this year.

This week the world famous Battersea Dogs & Cats Home received a slightly larger feline visitor than usual. Kat B, who will play Puss in Boots in the renowned Hackney Empire pantomime this year, got into character with the Home's feline residents on Wednesday after visiting the London rescue centre, which is celebrating its 130th anniversary of rehoming cats this year.

It's probably fair to say I didn't approach this screening from the most objective of standpoints: having seen the West End production of 'Merrily We Roll Along' four times, and having wanted to fit a few more trips in before it closed, I was already very much on board with the general critical consensus, overwhelmingly positive as it was.

Select scenes from the critically acclaimed production of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, in cinemas for one night only on October 23, have just been released. Get a first look at Mark Umbers as Franklin Shepard and Josefina Gabrielle as Gussie Carnegie in the clips below!

Today we are talking to a three-time Laurence Olivier Award-winning actress who has made a major mark on the West End with her peerless string of richly varied performances - ranging from premiere UK productions of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE and PASSION to LADY IN THE DARK, RAGTIME and THE WOMAN IN WHITE, as well as her various solo engagements, who now also excels as a director of theatre and opera, as well - the gifted Maria Friedman. Discussing all aspects of the recent West End production of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's anomalous musical experiment MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG - cited by the master himself as the best production of the show to date - and now the fantastic Fathom film presentation of it arriving in movie theaters nationwide (and around the world) on October 23. Detailing the finer points of the reverse-chronological tale of show business ambition and its effects on friendships and relationships, Friedman paints a vivid portrait of her process in bringing the emotionally bracing and musically thrilling stage show to the big screen byway of this passionately played, dramatically captivating and incredibly detailed film preservation. Additionally, Friedman also sheds some light on participating in the Haymarket Theatre production of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG herself as an actress nearly twenty years ago and the effect, if any, that experience has had on her perception of the dense and fiercely idiosyncratic musical now, as a director of the piece. Plus, Friedman also touches upon some of her most celebrated roles to date in other Sondheim shows as well as abundantly imparts her deeply held appreciation and affection for his work and personal friendship in her own life, citing his elemental influence on MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG as well as her career in general. All of that and much, much more awaits!

Today Hackney Empire announces the principal cast of its brand new pantomime, Puss in Boots. Written and directed by Susie McKenna with music by Steven Edis, the cast will include Kat B as Puss in Boots, Sharon D Clarke as Queen Talulah, Josefina Gabrielle as the witch Evilena and Stephen Matthews as Dame Nettie Knowall. In true Hackney style this rarely performed classic Perrault pantomime will be reimagined for today's audience, packed with show-stopping songs, dazzling dance routines and side-splitting comedy.

London-based KiwiFruits Productions continues their sell-out season of exclusive concerts, returning to the St James Theatre with 'SONDHEIM: Women' celebrating over five decades of the great anthems of Broadway composer and lyricist, the incomparable Stephen Sondheim.

The 2013 PBS Arts Fall Festival returns in October with seven weekly programs that highlight Broadway classics, music from around the country, and legendary superstar Barbra Streisand.

As the summer months heat up, so does the West End theatre. Here are my picks for must-see theatre this summer: