Simon Callow News

Theatre Royal Bath Productions today announces full casting for its 2019 Spring Season in-house productions in the Main House, opening next month with Noel Coward's A Song at Twilight followed by Marie Jones' award-winning comedy Stones in His Pockets, in a co-production with Rose Theatre Productions. Simon Callow, Jane Asher, Jessica Turner and Ash Rizi will star in A Song at Twilight directed by Stephen Unwin running in Bath from 13 to 23 February with opening night for press on 20 February and then touring the UK through to mid-April. Stones in His Pockets will preview in Kingston from 28 February and open in Bath in March, ahead of a national tour running through the summer, starring Owen Sharpe and Kevin Trainor and directed by Lindsay Posner.

London is already blessed with two outstanding productions of the Christmas ballet The Nutcracker. Birmingham Royal Ballet now also presents Peter Wright's beautiful version in the challenging space of the Royal Albert Hall for the second year. And what a treat it is.

Was there ever an actor more suited to perform a one-man show than Simon Callow? Add in the evocative and mellifluous writings of Dickens at Christmas time and you have the recipe for a show overflowing with festive goodwill. If you leave the Arts Theatre without a tear in your eye and spring in your step, I would recommend that you check your pulse.

There are plenty of seasonal treats served up in the capital this year, from pantos and plays to opera and dance. Here are some of the tastiest morsels for the 2018-19 festive period.

Ovation has acquired the U.S. broadcast and digital rights for seven titles, totaling 75 hours, from Sky Vision. The series will air on Ovation's linear arts network Ovation TV, its digital platform Ovation NOW, and/or on the company's cultural-travel streaming service JOURNY. The announcement was made today by Scott Woodward, EVP Programming, Ovation and Gillian Rose, SVP Sales and Acquisitions US, Sky Vision.

Sir John Eliot Gardiner (photo: Chris Christodolou for the BBC Proms) When the Berlioz Series 2018 - their transatlantic tour in anticipation of the composer's 150th anniversary - took Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique to London's BBC Proms last month, the critical response was euphoric. Their performance scored five-star reviews in The Times of London, the Arts Desk, and the Financial Times, which concluded: 'Berlioz has no idea what he missed.' Now the series sees the orchestra and Gardiner - the winner of more Gramophone Awards than any other living artist - return to the States for concerts in Chapel Hill, NC (Oct 10), Ann Arbor, MI (Oct 12), and at New York's Carnegie Hall (Oct 14 & 15).

The Importance of Being Earnest, the fourth and final show in Classic Spring's year-long celebration of Oscar Wilde at the Vaudeville Theatre, closes next Saturday, 20 October.

Following three critically-acclaimed, sold-out seasons on stage in London's West End, Simon Callow (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Shakespeare in Love) brings Charles Dickens' beloved classic A Christmas Carol to the big screen in December 2018. On Tuesday 11 December the stage-to-film adaptation, reimagined especially for cinema, will be released in 444 cinemas across the UK and Ireland by leading event cinema distributors CinemaLive.

This October, Artistic Director and Conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique (ORR) return to Carnegie Hall with two all-Berlioz concerts in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. On Sunday, October 14 at 3:00 p.m., the program features the overture to Le Corsaire; La mort de Cleopatre and selections from Les Troyens, Part II, Op. 5, with mezzo-soprano Lucile Richardot as soloist; and Harold in Italy, Op. 16, with violist Antoine Tamestit as soloist.

This October, Artistic Director and Conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique (ORR) return to Carnegie Hall with two all-Berlioz concerts in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. On Sunday, October 14 at 3:00 p.m., the program features the overture to Le Corsaire; La mort de Cléopâtre and selections from Les Troyens, Part II, Op. 5, with mezzo-soprano Lucile Richardotas soloist; and Harold in Italy, Op. 16, with violist Antoine Tamestit as soloist.

The traditional Christmas staple of Charles Dickens' much loved A Christmas Carol, returns this festive season to the West End stage starring Simon Callow, running at the Arts Theatre for a strictly limited season from 8 December to 12 January.

Oscar Wilde's comedy classic, The Importance of Being Earnest opened this week at the Vaudeville Theatre. Let's see what the critics had to say!

Olivier Award winner Sophie Thompson stars as Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde's beloved social comedy The Importance of Being Earnest, playing at the Vaudeville Theatre in London's West End until 20 October. Book tickets here! 

Since they published their first title, Mrs Klein by Nicholas Wright, alongside its National Theatre production in 1988, Nick Hern Books (NHB) has gone from strength to strength. The company now boasts over 1500 titles on their list, and a staff of thirteen based at their London office in Shepherd's Bush. In honor of their 30th birthday the company threw a party to celebrate. Check out the photos below!

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.

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.

Charlie Brooks and Patrick Ryecart play Sally and Mike respectively in the UK tour and London run of Torben Betts's new play MONOGAMY. Janie Dee plays Caroline Mortimer.  They are joined by Jack Archer as Leo, Genevieve Gaunt as Amanda and Jack Sandle as Graeme. 

Classic Spring is delighted to announce that Fiona Button, Pippa Nixon and Stella Gonet will join the cast of Michael Fentiman's The Importance of Being Earnest.