Lee Mead News

Andrew Lloyd Webber recently sat down with unrealitytv.co.uk to chat about his new BBC television talent program 'Over the Rainbow' and talk about what qualities his ideal Dorothy should have.

Following his hugely popular and critically acclaimed revivals of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, A Woman of No Importance, The Importance of Being Earnest, and the legendary Peter Hall production of An Ideal Husband, Bill Kenwright presents Trevor Baxter's acclaimed adaptation of one of Wilde's most celebrated stories, Lord Arthur Savile's Crime.

The upcoming reality television show, 'Over the Rainbow,' which will feature a competition to earn the role as of Dorothy in the upcoming West End production of The Wizard of Oz, will feature a judging panel consisting of Andrew Lloyd Webber, John Partridge, Charlotte Church, and Sheila Hancock. The show will be hosted by British star Graham Norton.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents a week of musical theater cabaret on the Millennium Stage from February 8-13, 2010 at 6 p.m. The last show will play on February 13.

The sights and sounds of Italy alight in Arlington's Crystal City as Arena Stage presents the lush and soaring The Light in the Piazza, directed by Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents a week of musical theater cabaret on the Millennium Stage from February 8-13, 2010 at 6 p.m. 'Broadway Today and Tomorrow,' curated by Michael Kerker and ASCAP, highlights up-and-coming composers at the piano with rising stars singing their works that are becoming the 'new standards' of Broadway. Featured artists include: Peter Mills with Kate Baldwin and Matt Cavanaugh (Feb. 8); Ryan Scott Oliver with Jay Armstrong Johnson, Alex Brightman, and Lindsay Mendez (Feb. 9); Steven Lutvak (Feb. 10); Alan Schmuckler and Michael Mahler with Abby Mueller (Feb. 11); Jordan Beck and Jonathan May with Mazie Wilson and Baraka May Williams (Feb. 12); and Valerie Vigoda and Brendan Milburn (Feb. 13). The Grand Foyer will be transformed into a cabaret as tables and chairs are arranged in front of the stage and drinks from the Foyer bars are available.

Auditions began this weekend for the next star of the West End, as Andrew Lloyd Webber launched his search for the next Dorothy in his upcoming production of the Wizard of Oz. The lucky leading lady will be selected over the course of a several week 'audition' process on the BBC1 reality television show Over the Rainbow. Webber's official website reveals that hundreds of potential candidates headed to the Glasgow town of Hampden to be among the first to audition.

Two Josephs to take the role as Lewis Bradley takes over at cast change before Mr Denise Van Outen assumes the role from May

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents a week of musical theater cabaret on the Millennium Stage from February 8-13, 2010 at 6 p.m. 'Broadway Today and Tomorrow,' curated by Michael Kerker and ASCAP, highlights up-and-coming composers at the piano with rising stars singing their works that are becoming the 'new standards' of Broadway. Featured artists include: Peter Mills with Kate Baldwin and Matt Cavanaugh (Feb. 8); Ryan Scott Oliver with Jay Armstrong Johnson, Alex Brightman, and Lindsay Mendez (Feb. 9); Steven Lutvak (Feb. 10); Alan Schmuckler and Michael Mahler with Abby Mueller (Feb. 11); Jordan Beck and Jonathan May with Mazie Wilson and Baraka May Williams (Feb. 12); and Valerie Vigoda and Brendan Milburn (Feb. 13). The Grand Foyer will be transformed into a cabaret as tables and chairs are arranged in front of the stage and drinks from the Foyer bars are available.

Auditions began this weekend for the next star of the West End, as Andrew Lloyd Webber launched his search for the next Dorothy in his upcoming production of the Wizard of Oz. The lucky leading lady will be selected over the course of a several week 'audition' process on the BBC1 reality television show Over the Rainbow. Webber's official website reveals that hundreds of potential candidates headed to the Glasgow town of Hampden to be among the first to audition.

As 2009 becomes 2010, BWW:UK's writers pick out their favourites - and least favourites - from the past ten years...

Arena Stage presents an innovative take on the world's longest-running musical, The Fantasticks by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt. Director Amanda Dehnert (Oregon Shakespeare Festival‘s All's Well That Ends Well and Stratford Shakespeare Festival's Cabaret) and famed set designer Eugene Lee (Tony Award for Broadway's Wicked, Candide, Sweeney Todd) take a spin on this timeless love story by staging it in Rocky Point, an abandoned amusement park in Rhode Island. This whimsical twist on the classic musical is full of buoyant humor, charming music and incredible magic that will thrill audiences of all ages. The Fantasticks runs November 20, 2009 - January 10, 2010 at Arena Stage at the Lincoln Theatre, with an official opening on Friday, November 27, 2009.

What's on Stage has reported details of the BBC's 'Over the Rainbow' audition process to find the perfect Dorothy (and Toto) for Andrew Lloyd Webber's upcoming revival of The Wizard of Oz in the West End.

Published reports are saying actor Lee Mead and Denise Van Outen are expecting a child. After meeting on the hit reality show 'Any Dream Will Do,' a contest Mead won, Mead and Van Outen began a relationship and married in April of 2009. Reportedly, the pair is thrilled about the news, with Van Outen quoted as saying 'I look at him and know he'd make a great father. Our kids will have so much curly hair!'

Arena Stage presents an innovative take on the world's longest-running musical, The Fantasticks by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt. Director Amanda Dehnert (Oregon Shakespeare Festival‘s All's Well That Ends Well and Stratford Shakespeare Festival's Cabaret) and famed set designer Eugene Lee (Tony Award for Broadway's Wicked, Candide, Sweeney Todd) take a spin on this timeless love story by staging it in Rocky Point, an abandoned amusement park in Rhode Island. This whimsical twist on the classic musical is full of buoyant humor, charming music and incredible magic that will thrill audiences of all ages. The Fantasticks runs November 20, 2009 - January 10, 2010 at Arena Stage at the Lincoln Theatre, with an official opening on Friday, November 27, 2009.

It is something no artiste would like to admit, but according to a report in the London Evening Standard today, West End box offices may have reality television to thank for its swelled intake.

Whatsonstage.com has confirmed that Lee Mead will headline the upcoming revival of Oscar Wilde's Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, which begins a U.K. tour in January 2010. The play is adapted by Trevor Baxter and directed by Christopher Luscombe.

Whatsonstage.com is suggesting that British actor Lee Mead, best known for winning the BBC reality television show 'Any Dream Will Do' and his subsequent run as Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, may be gearing up to star in a West End revival of the little known Rodgers and Hart musical, BABES IN ARMS. The revival is rumored to have set an opening for sometime in 2010.

The next BBC talent search will seek a Dorothy and a Toto for a new production of The Wizard Of Oz.

Carrie Dunn talks to the Any Dream Will Do? alumnus about his long run in the tour and his plans for the future...