Menier Chocolate Factory News

The complete cast for the world premiere Chicago production of the new comedy musical, TOOTSIE has just been announced. Joining previously announced Tony Award nominee SANTINO FONTANA as Michael Dorsey will be LILLI COOPER as Julie Nichols, SARAH STILES as Sandy Lester, JOHN BEHLMANN as Max Von Horn, ANDY GROTELUESCHEN as Jeff Slater, JULIE HALSTON as Rita Mallory, MICHAEL McGRATH as Stan Fields, and REG ROGERS as Ron Carlisle.

El proximo 14 septiembre llega al Teatre Tivoli de Barcelona la nueva produccion de LA JAULA DE LAS LOCAS, dirigida y protagonizada por Àngel Llacer, que comparte cartel con Ivan Labanda, y que mejor motivo para hacer un repaso por la historia de este clasico de Broadway que tantas barreras ha roto.

While its original production, as most Broadway shows go, offered the expected big sets, first-rate costumes, and impressive production values, the 2015 Tony Award-winning revival production of THE COLOR PUPLE---currently slaying audiences for a week-long stop at Orange County's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa through June 24---is decidedly more subdued and scaled-down by comparison, allowing the songs, the story, and the cast performances to shine on their own merits instead. The resulting show is a powerful, uplifting one, bathed in a loving, spiritual embrace that shines a light on the struggles, the insecurities, the passions, and the tenacity of African-American women living in the early decades of the 20th Century. I can say without hesitation that this revival production is an excellent way to experience this beautiful, touching, and ultimately triumphant musical.

First look images from the rehearsal rooms of Hope Mill Theatre's forthcoming production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Aspects of Love have been released.

Actor and playwright, Rory Kinnear (National Theatre, RSC, James Bond franchise) will present the 2018 Society for Theatre Research Theatre Book Prize at a ceremony at the historic Theatre Royal Drury Lane today 21st June. Currently playing the role of Macbeth at the National Theatre, Kinnear has won and been nominated for multiple awards including an Olivier, two Evening Standard Awards and a British Independent Film Award.

After 'sealing the deal' with critics and audiences alike during its smash hit West End run, Sam Yates' unmissable production of one of David Mamet's greatest and most lauded plays, Glengarry Glen Ross will embark on a nationwide tour from 14 February 2019 opening at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking. The hard-nosed sales team in this darkly funny classic will then visit Birmingham, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Glasgow, Richmond, Brighton and Cardiff with further tour dates to be announced shortly.

Final casting is today announced for the eagerly anticipated West End premiere of new British musical SIX at the Arts Theatre from Thursday 30 August - Sunday 23 September.

After 'sealing the deal' with critics and audiences alike during its smash hit West End run, Sam Yates' unmissable production of one of David Mamet's greatest and most lauded plays, Glengarry Glen Ross will embark on a nationwide tour from 14 February 2019 opening at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking. The hard-nosed sales team in this darkly funny classic will then visit Birmingham, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Glasgow, Richmond, Brighton and Cardiff with further tour dates to be announced shortly.

Rebel Theatrical Management, LLC (Harvey Butler, producer), in association with The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture, have announced, today, the cast and the creative team for the New York premiere of the new play Little Rock, written and directed by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj. Performances are set to begin Wednesday, May 30, 2018 for a limited run through September 8, 2018 at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street). Opening Night is set for Today, June 14, 2018 at 7:00PM.

Producers announce the first North American tour and full casting of the Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of THE COLOR PURPLE.  The tour will visit more than 30 cities in its first year on tour, including Seattle, at The Paramount Theatre from June 27 - July 1.

With the UK premiere of The Gronholm Method running at the Menier, Travesties running on Broadway and The Color Purple on tour in the US, the Menier Chocolate Factory today announces the cast for UK premiere of Gerard Alessandrini's Spamilton: An American Parody which opens at the theatre on 24 July, with previews from 12 July and runs until 8 September. Alessandrini directs Marc Akinfolarin, Jason Denton, Eddie Elliott, Liam Tamne and Julie Yammanee, with special guests Sophie-Louise Dann and Damian Humbley. The production renews Alessandrini's collaboration with the Menier following Forbidden Broadway which ran both at the theatre and in the West End.

Following critical acclaim, and a sold-out run at the Young Vic, producers Sonia Friedman Productions, Tom Kirdahy and Hunter Arnold are delighted to announce the full cast for the West End transfer of Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson's The Jungle, a National Theatre and Young Vic co-production with Good Chance Theatre,directed by Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin. The production is set in Europe's largest unofficial refugee camp, the Calais Jungle, which in 2015, became a temporary home for more than 10,000 people.  Previewing from 16 June, with World Refugee Day on 20 June, The Jungle will have an Opening Night on 5 July at the Playhouse Theatre, with rehearsal photography released today. Check out the cast in action below!

Actor and playwright, Rory Kinnear (National Theatre, RSC, James Bond franchise) will present the 2018 Society for Theatre Research Theatre Book Prize at a ceremony at the historic Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Thursday 21st June. Currently playing the role of Macbeth at the National Theatre, Kinnear has won and been nominated for multiple awards including an Olivier, two Evening Standard Awards and a British Independent Film Award.

The West End transfer of Tennessee Williams' intoxicating and rarely staged classic, Summer and Smoke, follows a sold-out and critically lauded run at the Almeida Theatre. Directed by the Almeida's Associate Director Rebecca Frecknall with the full cast reprising their roles for the West End run, this innovative new production of Summer and Smoke has a limited run from 10 November 2018 - 19 January 2019, at the Duke Of York's Theatre, with press night on Tuesday 20 November at 7pm.

Seven strangers, each with a secret to bury, meet at Lake Tahoe's El Royale, a rundown hotel with a dark past. Over the course of one fateful night, everyone will have a last shot at redemption... before everything goes to hell.

Planet Connections Theatre Festivity (PCTF), the brainchild of arts professional Glory Kadigan, turns 10 years old. Known for its engaging and empowering series of plays every summer, the festivity is also celebrated for presenting readings of new works by some of New York's most prominent writers of independent theater. The multi-award-winning theatre festival, now under the direction of producing artistic director, Shaun Peknic, continues this tradition with a series of topical works making their first appearance in front of an audience.

Get a first look at rehearsals for Europe's first pop-up Elizabethan theatre - Shakespeare's Rose Theatre set to open later this month in York.

The time has come for the 63rd Annual Drama Desk Awards, hosted by Michael Urie, June 3 (8:00 PM) at The Town Hall in Manhattan.

The most honorable of the honorable mentions in 2018's Tony race will likely turn out to be Travesties, Tom Stoppard's 1974 tragifarce which took top Tony honors for Best Play and Best Actor (John Wood) in 1976 and is now putting up a game bid for Best Revival, Best Actor (Tom Hollander) and Best Director (Patrick Marber).

An exciting cast and creative team has been announced for the hotly-anticipated, intimate revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's romantic classic Aspects of Love, which opens at Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester in July.