Menier Chocolate Factory News

As the world première production of Kaite O'Reilly's Missing Julie opens at Theatr Clwyd, Artistic Director Tamara Harvey and Executive Director Liam Evans-Ford today announce the cast for the world première production of Tim Price's Isla.

In a reimagined iteration of the annual awards, in partnership with ETT (English Touring Theatre), the audio productions will play from free listening stations or via a QR code in theatres across the UK, with copies of the scripts including braille translations available.

Just last night, West End actress turned television's favorite new star, Hannah Waddingham, accepted her first Emmy Award for her outstanding performance as Rebecca Welton on Ted Lasso. In her speech, she gave a shoutout to her fellow stage performers. 'West End musical theatre performers need to be onscreen more,' she cried. 'Please then a chance, because we won't let you down!' 

The antics of the Wicksteed home are a darkly satirical merry-go-round in Alan Bennett's Habeas Corpus.  Family, friends and the quest for sexual pleasures of the body (“corpus”) are the ruling passions in this farcical comedy of ill-manners. Through an escapade of mistaken identities and carnal encounters, one motto holds fast: “He whose lust lasts, lasts longest.”

Director Rebecca Taichman and playwright Paula Vogel were both drawn to Sholem Asch’s 1907 phenomenon, God of Vengeance. Their Tony-nominated, highly-acclaimed production has landed in London. A show that plays tribute a stage scandal, this is a heartfelt song to something that nearly never was.

The Menier Chocolate Factory has returned to live performances with the European première of Paula Vogel’s Tony Award-winning Indecent – the production was in previews at the time of national lockdown in March 2020.

Classic Stage Company has announced that John Doyle’s staging of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Assassins will run November 2, 2021, through January 8, 2022, and will officially open on November 14. A year and a half after its planned debut, CSC is proud to present its much-anticipated production of Assassins. 

On 14 March, 2020, Rebecca Taichman's original production of Paula Vogel's Indecent played its second preview performance at the Menier Chocolate Factory.

Star of stage and screen Susie Blake (Mrs Brown's Boys, Bev Unwin in Coronation Street, Nativity 3, Miss Marple in The Mirror Crack'd, Mrs Fisher in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em) joins the company as pub landlady Maggie, alongside Parisa Shahmir (The Last Ship) as Alwyn, Deborah Tracey (Standing At The Sky's Edge) as record label manager Leah and Georgia Bruce (Malory Towers) as Sally.

Theatre Royal Bath Productions and Moss Empires will present The Nigel Havers Theatre Company in Noel Coward's gloriously entertaining PRIVATE LIVES.  This will be the inaugural show for The Nigel Havers Theatre Company, which will be touring the country with a wonderful line-up of theatrical gems. 

Full casting is announced today, Monday 6 September, for the musical CABARET at the KIT KAT CLUB in London’s West End. Joining the previously announced Eddie Redmayne as ‘The Emcee’ and Jessie Buckley as ‘Sally Bowles’ will be Omari Douglas as ‘Cliff Bradshaw’, Liza Sadovy as ‘Fraulein Schneider’, Elliot Levey as ‘Herr Schultz’, Stewart Clarke as ‘Ernst Ludwig’ and Anna-Jane Casey as ‘Fraulein Kost’.

As theatre comes roaring back, this autumn and winter see plenty of exciting new productions, including big West End musicals and intriguing plays. Here are the shows that we’re most looking forward to seeing.

According to Variety, Erivo will play protagonist Madeline Crowe, a self-made woman who seizes control of her own destiny in a high-octane and dangerous profession dominated by her male colleagues.

Breaking Into Song asks what audiences can do to stay open minded and what creatives can do to make new musicals better. Examining both sides of the divide, Adam Lenson asks how those who both love and hate musicals can further expand the possibilities of this widely misunderstood medium.

National Alliance for Musical Theatre has announced this year’s directors and music directors for the 33rd Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS, which will be held on Thursday, October 21 and Friday, October 22, 2021.

Most recently the incomparable vocalist and actor was nominated for an Emmy for best actress for her stellar portrayal of Aretha Franklin in Genius: Aretha and is set to make her debut at the iconic Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA  on July 30. 

The season includes Well Made @ The Playground – a mini-season of new theatre, opera, and contemporary dance from developing artists – and Ida Rubinstein: The Final Act, a play with music and dance that chronicles the untold story of dance’s Forgotten Diva. 

Hannah Waddingham may now be best known for her role in Game of Thrones, and most recently, her Emmy-nominated role as Rebecca in Ted Lasso, but she has been known to theatre fans since long before her television stardom.

Learn more about the cast, production, tour dates, and how to purchase tickets here!

Lessons for Diving by Silas Parry, directed by Matt Steinberg will be workshopped 19-24 July, with showcase on 24 July and performed by Sebastián Capitán Viveros, Patrick McNamee and Dan Wolff. This will be followed by Kristian Phillips' Drift, directed by Matt Steinberg and performed by Tom Rhys Harries, workshopped 26 – 28 July with the showcase on 28 July; and finally, Boomerang by Jack Stanley will be developed 29 – 31 July, with the showcase on 31 July, directed by Jude Christian. Showcases will be at the Jerwood Space.