Phyllida Lloyd News

New York's premier play festival, the Summer Play Festival (SPF), is partnering with London's Donmar Warehouse for the fifth year in a row to create an international playwriting program for emerging writers. The Donmar Warehouse / SPF Residency Program brings together professional theatre makers from the highly acclaimed Donmar to work with selected SPF playwrights in a focused collaboration of classroom experiments, workshops, and rehearsals, culminating in a full reading of their play. The writers will spend up to three weeks in London becoming immersed in the local theatre scene, and exchanging ideas and techniques with professional artists. The Donmar staff will guide and support the writers throughout their time in London, offering them a unique insight into the dynamics and complexities of the British theatre industry.

Actor Dominic Cooper has been cast in the role of Hippolytus in the National Theatre's upcoming revival of Ph?dre. Co-starring Helen Mirren in the title role and directed by Nicholas Hytner, Artistic Director of the National Theatre, Jean Racine's 1677 classic tragedy is based on a Greek myth about a queen who falls passionately in love with her stepson in her husband's absence.

Additional casting has been announced for the Donmar Warehouse production of MARY STUART, Friedrich Schiller's classic play in a new version by Peter Oswald, which opens April 19, 2009 at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 West 44th Street). The production, starring its acclaimed original London leads Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter and directed by Phyllida Lloyd, begins previews on March 30, 2009 for a limited run of 20 weeks only.

Universal is reporting that consumers said 'Gimme Gimme Gimme' to Mamma Mia! The Movie, the most successful film musical of all time worldwide, as first day domestic DVD and Blu-rayTM consumer spend totaled over $30 million.

Variety reports that Universal confirmed Tuesday that 'Mamma Mia!' has become the highest grossing release of all time at the U.K. box office.

Two-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada) and Pierce Brosnan (Die Another Day) lead an all-star cast in the most infectiously fun movie of the year, Mamma Mia! The Movie.

Two-time Oscar? winner Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada) and Pierce Brosnan (Die Another Day) lead an all-star cast in the most infectiously fun movie of the year, Mamma Mia! The Movie, coming to DVD and Blu-ray Hi-Def on December 16, 2008 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. For a limited time only, the worldwide movie phenomenon is available in 2-disc Special Edition widescreen DVD and 2-Disc Blu-ray Hi-Def with digital copy.

UK paper the Telegraph is reporting that Michael Caine's classic film The Italian Job is to be remade as a Bollywood release with Indian cars replacing the famous Mini Coopers. But what was most interesting in the article was Sandeep Bhargava, the Chief Executive of Indian Film Company, comments that Bollywood versions of Mamma Mia! and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels might follow. To read the entire feature click here.

MAMMA MIA has broken records and become the top selling DVD in the UK. The DVD sold 1.7 million units on Monday alone, and this was only the first day of release. This record shatters the old one, previously held by Titanic which sold 1.1 million copies on it's first day of sales.

Two-time Oscar? winner Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada) and Pierce Brosnan (Die Another Day) lead an all-star cast in the most infectiously fun movie of the year, Mamma Mia! The Movie, coming to DVD and Blu-ray Hi-Def on December 16, 2008 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. For a limited time only, the worldwide movie phenomenon is available in 2-disc Special Edition widescreen DVD and 2-Disc Blu-ray Hi-Def with digital copy.

Variety is reporting that 'Mamma Mia! The Movie' has become the largest grossing picture of all time in the United Kingdom.

This weekend saw another huge success for Mamma Mia! The Movie.

Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus' global smash hit musical MAMMA MIA! welcomes Sean Alan Krill as 'Sam Carmichael,' Allison Case as 'Sophie Sheridan' and Chris Peluso as 'Sky' to the Broadway company when they begin performances at the Winter Garden Theatre (1634 Broadway), tonight, Wednesday, September 24th, 2008.

Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus' global smash hit musical MAMMA MIA!, based on the songs of ABBA, will play its final performance at Mandalay Bay Theatre in Las Vegas on Sunday, January 4, 2009. Tickets for the final performance go on sale this Friday, September 26, 2008 at 10:00 a.m.

Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus' global smash hit musical MAMMA MIA! welcomes Sean Alan Krill as 'Sam Carmichael,' Allison Case as 'Sophie Sheridan' and Chris Peluso as 'Sky' to the Broadway company when they begin performances at the Winter Garden Theatre (1634 Broadway) on Wednesday, September 24th, 2008.

Mamma Mia! The Movie is still going strong in the foreign box office. During the weekend of September 12th- 15th the film grossed $20.3 million bringing the total gross up to $306.9 million. So far it has internationally grossed almost three times that of Chicago. When the film debuted in France last weekend it brought in $3.3 million.

I have news for all you fans of Donna Sheridan: 'Mamma Mia!' isn't about her, it's about her daughter!

Mamma Mia! The Movie is still hitting it big in the international box office. The movie came in at number one for the weekend, bringing in a total of $15 million dollars. The total international gross for the film is now $280 million dollars-- more than double the domestic gross for the film.

Following a sold out run at the Donmar Warehouse and in London's West End, Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter will recreate their acclaimed performances on Broadway in Friedrich Schiller's classic play, MARY STUART.

On September 4th, 2008 MAMMA MIA! became the sixteenth longest running show in Broadway history, surpassing Hello Dolly! Nearly seven years after opening at the Winter Garden Theatre, MAMMA MIA! has remained in the Million Dollar Club, and among Broadway top five selling musicals for the past seven consecutive weeks, a landmark not achieved since 2002.