Menier Chocolate Factory News

Following a highly praised run at the Menier Chocolate Factory, Maria Friedman's directorial debut of Merrily We Roll Along transferred beautifully to a larger space, enjoying a strictly limited run at the Harold Pinter Theatre until June 1.

The Menier Chocolate Factory's production of Travels with My Aunt runs tonight, 2nd May to 29th June, for a strictly limited 8 week season. Adapted for the stage by Giles Havergal and directed by Christopher Luscombe the cast features Jonathan Hyde and David Bamber.

Principal casting has been announced for the European premiere of The Color Purple, beginning performances at London's Menier Chocolate Factory July 5 prior to an official opening July 15 for a run through Sept. 14.

Tickets go on sale today to Menier Chocolate Factory priority bookers for the European premiere of the landmark musical The Color Purple, which runs from 5 July to 14 September. Tickets go on sale to the general public at 9am on Tuesday 7th May

59E59 Theaters will welcome the Finborough Theatre production of J.B. Priestley's CORNELIUS, directed by Sam Yates, to Brits Off Broadway. Produced by Jagged Fence, Handsome Dog and 31 Productions, CORNELIUS begins performances on Saturday, June 1 for a limited engagement through Sunday, June 30. Press opening is Tuesday, June 11 at 7 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7 PM; Friday at 8 PM; Saturday at 2 PM & 8 PM; Sunday at 3 PM & 7 PM. Single tickets are $70 ($49 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org. For more information, visit www.britsoffbroadway.com.

Noma Dumezweni plays Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela and Matthew Marsh plays Eugene de Kock in Nicholas Wright's new play.

Casting has today been announced for Graham Linehan's award-winning comic adaptation of The Ladykillers, which returns to the West End from 29 June. The new cast will include Ralf Little (The Royle Family), Simon Day (The Fast Show), Angela Thorne (To the Manor Born) and Olivier Award winning actors John Gordon Sinclair (She Loves Me and classic film Gregory's Girl) and Con O'Neill (Blood Brothers and Telstar). Chris McCalphy will reprise his role as One Round following the show's recent UK tour.

Sheffield Theatres will stage Alan Bennett's award-winning modern comedy, The History Boys, for the first time on the Crucible stage from Thursday 16 May - Saturday 8 June, in a new production which sees the play staged in the city where it is set.

There are only a few more performances to catch for Gerard Alessandrini's FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: ALIVE AND KICKING! at the 47th Street Theatre (304 West 47th Street). The smash musical, which received unanimous raves from critics and audiences alike, broke all box-office records at the 47th Street Theatre and won spots on the Top Ten Lists of Time Magazine and the Associated Press, will begin its hiatus on Sunday, April 28, in order to make room for The Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre's own season, as required by the show's lease agreement with the theatre.

Glenn Carter* (Jersey Boys, Jesus Christ Superstar, Whistle down the Wind), Stephen Rahman Hughes* (Emmerdale, Dream Team, Bombay Dreams, West Side Story), David Thaxton (Passion, Les Miserables) and Matt Willis (Wicked, Flashdance, Footloose and BRIT award winning member of Busted), join the previously announced Lee Mead (Wicked, Legally Blonde, BBC Series Winner of Any Dream Will Do) to complete The West End Men. All four will be joined by special guest star Kerry Ellis* (Wicked, Oliver, We Will Rock You, Born Free Tour with Brian May) for the limited run at the Vaudeville Theatre from 25 May to 22 June.

According to Deadline.com, The Weinstein Company has hired Matthew Ponsoldt to pen a film adaptation of the musical Pippin. No film version of Pippin has ever been produced.

Lee Mead (Wicked, Legally Blonde, BBC Series Winner of Any Dream Will Do) will be joined by special guest star Kerry Ellis for selected performances (Wicked, Oliver, We Will Rock You, Born Free Tour with Brian May) in The West End Men, running at the Vaudeville Theatre from 25 May until 22 June, with press night on 3 June 2013. The West End Men is directed by the award winning Mitch Sebastian (The Rat Pack Live from Las Vegas) and produced by Milton Morrissey Ltd, Jason Haigh Ellery and in association with Paul Tyrer & Jamie Clark for The Booking Office. Further casting will be announced shortly.

From 13 May 2013 Anna-Jane Casey will join the West End cast of Billy Elliot the Musical at the Victoria Palace Theatre to play Billy's dance teacher Mrs Wilkinson. Also joining the cast are Kevin Wathen as Billy's brother, Tony, Howard Crossley as George and Alexander Loxton as Older Billy.

The full cast is announced today as rehearsals begin for the West End transfer of the stunning Menier Chocolate Factory production of the Sondheim/ Furth musical Merrily We Roll Along. Directed by triple Olivier Award winner Maria Friedman, previews begin at the Harold Pinter Theatre on Tuesday 23rd April.

Award-winning theatre company, Son of Semele Ensemble (SOSE), will present the west coast premiere of Our Class, by Polish playwright Tadeusz S?obodzianek, in an English version by Ryan Craig. Directed by Matthew McCray, Our Class opens April 6th at the Atwater Village Theatre.

Tickets go on sale today for the world premiere of new stage musical From Here to Eternity. The show will preview at the Shaftesbury Theatre from 30th September with Press Night on 23rd October 2013. Tickets can be bought from FromHereToEternityTheMusical.com or by calling box office on 020 7379 5399.

On the day that rehearsals commence for its forthcoming production of Travels with My Aunt, the Menier Chocolate Factory is delighted to announce that Iain Mitchell and Gregory Gudgeon will be joining the previously confirmed cast members, David Bamber and Jonathan Hyde. Adapted for the stage by Giles Havergal and directed by Christopher Luscombe, the production has a strictly limited 8 week season, 2nd May to 29th June.

As an undergraduate theater major in the early 1970s, I heard music everywhere. It seemed to pour out of every office and workspace around the department. (And in the LP era, if you wanted more than the radio, this meant schlepping a twenty pound record player and a dozen or so albums from your home to the campus, sometimes requiring back-and-forth trips from the car. If you go to that much trouble, you want to keep the music playing.) In the hushed costume shop with its quietly industrious all female staff, Broadway ruled, with Stephen Sondheim's recent Company and Follies in heavy rotation. It was 'men only' in the scene shop where I listened to male balladeers like James Taylor and Gordon Lightfoot while unhappily working off assigned crew hours. Jazz classes (my favorites) in the dance department were conducted to the pre-disco sounds of Isaac Hayes and the Temptations. And late night cast parties were never complete without spins of Bette Midler's first two albums.