Philip Gladwell News

A thrilling new production of Jim Cartwright's much-loved The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice opens at Birmingham Repertory Theatre and West Yorkshire Playhouse this spring. The Olivier award-winning play about the painfully shy but hugely talented Little Voice and her faultless impersonations of the greatest divas will be directed by James Brining, artistic director of West Yorkshire Playhouse and stars Vicky Entwistle, Chris Gascoyne and Nancy Sullivan.

Roald Dahl's The Twits, directed by John Tiffany, is mischievously adapted from Roald Dahl's story. Enda Walsh turns The Twits upside down and brings this revolting revolution to the Royal Court's stage from tonight, April 7, through May 31, 2015.

Casting for Regent's Park Open Air Theatre's 2015 production of J.M Barrie's Peter Pan has today been announced, with lead casting for The Seagull and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers also confirmed. The season opens for previews on 15 May.

Mr and Mrs Twit are not very nice. In fact they're extremely nasty. They're nasty to each other, and they're VILE to everyone else. They hold a family of monkeys hostage in a cage and force them to stand on their heads. ALL THE TIME. We told you they weren't very nice. Can the monkeys find a way to show those vicious Twits what for?

The Sound of Music has seen several UK tours and productions over recent years and the Curve has decided to produce yet another version of the show for its Christmas production this year. Some say it's been done to death and Bill Kenwright has just announced another tour featuring Danielle Hope as Maria but the Curve somehow always manages to find something fresh. Artistic Director Paul Kerryson leaves the Curve on a massive directorial high.

Casting is announced today for Liberian Girl a new play by first time writer Diana Nneka Atuona. Directed by Matthew Dunster, the Alfred Fagon award-winning play follows one teenage girl's story of survival.

The Daily Mail reports that Laura Pitt-Pulford and Michael French are set to star as 'Maria' and 'Captain Von Trapp' in Rodgers and Hammerstein's THE SOUND OF MUSIC, directed by Paul Kerryson at the Leicester Curve. The musical runs November 28, 2014 through January 17, 2015.

The Daily Mail reports that Laura Pitt-Pulford and Michael French are set to star as 'Maria' and 'Captain Von Trapp' in Rodgers and Hammerstein's THE SOUND OF MUSIC, directed by Paul Kerryson at the Leicester Curve. The musical runs November 28, 2014 through January 17, 2015.

Casting is announced today for God Bless the Child, a new play at the Royal Court Theatre written by Molly Davies and directed by Artistic Director Vicky Featherstone, premiering on 12 November at Jerwood Theatre Upstairs.

Happy Days - the Musical is set in a colourful 1959 on a backdrop of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Based on the popular US sitcom which ran for ten years from 1974-1984, the TV show still harbours a mass number of fans on a worldwide scale. Garry Marshall, the creator of Happy Days, decided to write a book for stage some twenty years after the sitcom ended and since has played to vast audiences across the States and Canada. Amy Anzel, who played one of the Pinkettes in an early US production, wanted to bring the production to British audiences and with the help of Channel 4's The Sound of Musicals got the exposure she needed.

The Almeida Theatre today announces its body of work for the autumn: a World Premiere of a new work by Alecky Blythe will be directed by Joe Hill-Gibbins and the London Premiere of David Cromer's acclaimed production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town.

Following from the success of A Tale Of Two Cities and The Body Of An American, Royal & Derngate's Made In Northampton 2014 season continues with the world premiere of Every Last Trick, a bold new adaptation by Tamsin Oglesby of a classic Feydeau farce. Directed by Paul Hunter, this ingenious look at the game of infidelity and marriage takes to Northampton's Royal stage from Friday 18 April to Saturday 10 May, uniting the comic talents of members of leading theatre companies Spymonkey and Told By An Idiot.

The production is visually stunning, blending live actors, puppets and keenly choreographed movement that breathe life into everyday inanimate objects. The puppetry involves a huge range of ground-breaking techniques and variety of creations - from the smallest mechanical creatures to the huge god-like masks and limbs that represent Oberon and Titania, King and Queen of the Fairies.

Helena's Act II lamentation in A Midsummer Night's Dream, 'O weary night, O long and tedious night, abate thy hours,' is not something anyone will ever say watching the Kennedy Center's current revival. This innovative production uses a synergy of human and puppet interaction to bring alive Shakespeare's timeless classic in a splendid production.

Hairspray seems to have been doing the rounds in the UK since it closed in the West End in 2010. It is a very popular show among audiences and although the last national tour is still fresh in our mind, the Curve's Artistic Director Paul Kerryson has decided his venue would do a brand new production. Some may say a good idea and others bad but regardless, the Curve is notorious for its phenomenal production values so personally I am very excited about this new offering.

Bristol Old Vic & Handspring Puppet Company's A Midsummer Night's Dream will run at the Barbican Theatre, Barbican Centre, London, EC2Y 8DS, tonight 6 - Saturday 15 February 2014. Press night: Monday 10 February, 7.45pm.

Amy Anzel for Sunday Monday Ltd in association with Todd Ruppert of RTR International, announced that Happy Days - A New Musical will open at the Churchill Theatre Bromley tonight, 14 January 2014, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the first ever broadcast of the classic and much loved sitcom (which aired on US TV on 15 January 1974).

Ben Freeman will take on the iconic role of 'The Fonz' in the UK Premiere and national tour of HAPPY DAYS - A New Musical, alongside Cheryl Baker as 'Mrs Cunningham' and Heidi Range as 'Pinky Tuscadero'.

Amy Anzel for Sunday Monday Ltd in association with Todd Ruppert of RTR International, just announced that Happy Days - A New Musical will open at the Churchill Theatre Bromley on 14 January 2014, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the first ever broadcast of the classic and much loved sitcom (which aired on US TV on 15 January 1974).

Bristol Old Vic & Handspring Puppet Company's A Midsummer Night's Dream will run at the Barbican Theatre, Barbican Centre, London, EC2Y 8DS, Thursday 6 - Saturday 15 February 2014. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in action below!