Simon Russell Beale News

Manchester International Festival (MIF), returns with a vibrant programme of original new work from across the spectrum of visual and performing arts and music by artists from over 20 countries.

Nina Raine's new play Bach & Sons has opened at the Bridge Theatre to socially distanced audiences. The lavish production is directed by Nicholas Hytner with an experienced cast of actors led by Simon Russell Beale, a frequent collaborator of Hytner, as Johann Sebastian Bach, who fathered 20 children over the years.

Directed by Nicholas Hytner, performances of Bach & Sons continue until 11 September 2021 with opening night on 28 June 2021. The associate director is James Cousins, with set designs by Vicki Mortimer, costumes designed by Khadija Raza, lighting by Jon Clark, sound by Gareth Fry and music supervised by George Fenton. 

Olivier and Tony Award-winning Ian McDiarmid and Michael Grandage have collaborated to bring The Lemon Table to the stage for the first time. In McDiarmid's one man performance we encounter a spectrum of bitter-sweet pleasures, wild eccentricity and dark secrets.

The National Theatre has today announced its programming until the start of next year with productions on all three South Bank stages as well as three major UK tours, two productions on Broadway, a return to cinemas, and a new feature film to be broadcast on television this autumn. In the week the theatre reopened for audiences again, six new productions were announced, and five productions halted by the pandemic were confirmed to return to the South Bank.  

The National Theatre's five-time Olivier Award nominated epic play, The Lehman Trilogy, is set to resume performances on Broadway on Saturday, September 25, with an opening night set for Thursday, October 14 at the Nederlander Theatre. General On-Sale tickets for The Lehman Trilogy will be available beginning Wednesday, June 9 at 10am ET.

Johann Sebastian Bach, irascible and turbulent, writes music of sensuous delight for his aristocratic patrons, and gives voice to his deep religious faith in music for the church.  He’s touchy, he’s fabulously rude, he has high standards (he stabs a bassoonist for playing badly) and he’s constantly in trouble with his employers. 

Joining Simon Russell Beale who will play Johann Sebastian Bach in the world premiere of Nina Raine's Bach & Sons are Samuel Blenkin as Carl, Pandora Colin as Maria Barbara, Ruth Lass as Katharina, Douggie McMeekin as Wilhelm, Racheal Ofori as Anna Magdalena and Pravessh Rana as Frederick the Great.

The sun will come out tomorrow. That's because after over a year of waiting, New York officials have at last spread word that Broadway is indeed back. Which shows will return when? BroadwayWorld has gathered all of the latest news on the return of live theatre. Check back regularly for updates!

Simon Russell Beale will play JS Bach in the world premiere of Nina Raine's Bach & Sons, directed by Nicholas Hytner.  Performances at The Bridge are from 23 June – 9 September 2021 with opening night on 29 June 2021. 

This week's Theater Stories features the Nederlander Theatre! Learn about the theatre's longest-running show - Rent; recent shows to have been performed at the theatre, including War Paint, and Pretty Woman, plus much more!

Performances of A Christmas Carol at the Bridge Theatre reopened from 3 December. Get a first look at the cast in action in the photos here!

While the Belgrade's annual panto is going online this year, if a trip to the theatre is part of your family's annual festive traditions, you needn't miss out this year thanks to a series of socially distanced shows and screenings taking place throughout the month. 

Érase una vez… en un teatro de Broadway llamado Martin Beck Theatre, se estrenaba el musical INTO THE WOODS en 1987 un día como hoy con un reparto de lujo, un libreto excelente de mano de James Lapine y una partitura que permanecería en el imaginario colectivo desde entonces como una de las grandes obras maestras de Stephen Sondheim.

2020 has proven to be an exceptional year for the Tony Awards and the nominees in the category of Best Original Score are equally exceptional. In a category usually dominated by musical scores, all five nominees in the category come from plays.

Hurrah for the green shoots in our beleaguered industry. Lots of venues are mounting new shows and bringing back our favourites over the next few weeks and months - albeit with social distancing and safety measures in place. Here are some of the live theatrical goodies on offer.

Two-time OnComm award-winning, The Show Must Go Online, the global digital theatre movement producing live performances of the chronology of Shakespeare's plays weekly, today announce the full cast for their upcoming livestreamed performed reading of William Shakespeare's Timon of Athens with Ben Crystal in the titular role and introduced by Sir Simon Russell Beale.

National Theatre Live has revealed that it will bring 14 of its shows to cinemas in the UK this summer and we've got the full list.

With the Royal Shakespeare Company's theatres currently closed to the public, RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran has invited Associate and Honorary Associate Artists from throughout the Company's history to join him for an exclusive series of online conversations discussing their experience of performing Shakespeare at the RSC and beyond.

If you're looking to digest more theatre, why not check out some of these stagey podcasts!