The Ambassador Theatre Group News

The Stage reports that technicians' union BECTU and the Society of London Theatre will meet at conciliation service ACAS next week to discuss an ongoing pay dispute.

The Producers of THRILLER LIVE today announced that The Voice finalist PRINNIE STEVENS will headline THRILLER LIVE on its national tour of Australia beginning in December this year in Perth then touring to Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

Alex Gaumond (Matilda, Legally Blonde, We Will Rock You) will replace Rufus Hound as the newest conman on the block, Freddy Benson from 11 November 2014 in the critically acclaimed and Best New Musical of 2014, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

The Daily Mail writes that Rufus Hound is leaving the West End's current production of DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS. Alex Gaumond will take over the role of 'Freddy Benson' on November 11 at the Savoy Theatre; in the meantime, an understudy will play the part.

THRILLER LIVE, a spectacular concert production that celebrates the music of the world's greatest entertainer, Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five has played in London's West End since 2009, and last month entered the record books as the 20th longest running musical in West End history.

This week, two promising young professionals join the Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) on its pilot Graduate Scheme, a unique new initiative launched for the first time this autumn to develop the future leaders of commercial theatre.

The New Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham, part of the Ambassador Theatre Group, certainly know how to organise a press launch! The UK touring cast of Jersey Boys gave the multitude of journalists, group bookers and specially invited guests a musical feast at the wonderful Jam House venue in the idyllic St Paul's Square in the Jewellery Quarter. The funky launch location was buzzing and impeccably organised by the theatre's Press Officer and her team. So well thought-out in fact, that they even had a portable box office set up in order to catch excited punters on their way out!

The critically acclaimed and Best New Musical of 2014, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, welcomes West End musical theatre legends Bonnie Langford (Spamalot, Chicago, Cats, Dr Who, Just William, Bugsy Malone) and Gary Wilmot (The Pajama Game, Chicago, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Me and My Girl) will be waltzing their way into the show at The Savoy Theatre from tonight 16 September 2014.

Hadyn Gwynne, Jerome Pradon and Anna Skellern join Tamsin Greig in the UK premiere of David Yazbek and Jeffrey Lane's new musical adaptation of Pedro Almodovar's Oscar-nominated film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Directed by Tony Award-winner Bartlett Sher, and following two full-scale development workshops with actors, musicians and the creative team, the production will open in a limited run for 20 weeks only at The Playhouse Theatre on 12 January 2015, with previews from 20 December 2014.

The critically acclaimed and Best New Musical of 2014, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, is proud to announce that West End musical theatre legends Bonnie Langford (Spamalot, Chicago, Cats, Dr Who, Just William, Bugsy Malone) and Gary Wilmot (The Pajama Game, Chicago, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Me and My Girl) will be waltzing their way into the show at The Savoy Theatre from 16 September 2014.

Olivier Award-winner Tamsin Greig makes her musical theatre debut in the UK premiere of David Yazbek and Jeffrey Lane's new musical adaptation of Pedro Almodovar's Oscar-nominated film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Directed by Tony Award-winner Bartlett Sher, and following two full-scale development workshops with actors, musicians and the creative team, the production will open in a limited run for 20 weeks only at The Playhouse Theatre on 12 January 2015, with previews from 20 December 2014.

The head of UK's largest theatre group believes the majority of West End theatre venues are not 'fit for purpose' and should be rebuilt.

The critically acclaimed UK premiere of Jerry Mitchell's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels will extend its run at The Savoy Theatre and is now booking until 7 March 2015. Robert Lindsay, Rufus Hound and Katherine Kingsley will continue with their celebrated performances as Lawrence Jameson, Freddy Benson and Christine Colgate throughout this new booking period. Following its hugely successful opening in April, the cast and the Producers are thrilled to be extending the production into Spring 2015.

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW)'s 2014 Spring Gala honored Tony Award-winning director Des McAnuff and President of The Dodgers Michael David on Monday night, May 12, at The Grand Ballroom of The Plaza Hotel. Both are founding partners of Dodger Properties, which is responsible for over 150 productions of some of the most successful theatre on Broadway (56 Tony Awards), Off-Broadway and internationally. Scroll down for photos from the evening's performances and more!

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW)'s 2014 Spring Gala honored Tony Award-winning director Des McAnuff and President of The Dodgers Michael David on Monday night, May 12, at The Grand Ballroom of The Plaza Hotel. Both are founding partners of Dodger Properties, which is responsible for over 150 productions of some of the most successful theatre on Broadway (56 Tony Awards), Off-Broadway and internationally. Scroll down for photos of the arrivals!

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) has announced that its 2014 Spring Gala will honor Tony Award-winning director Des McAnuff and President of The Dodgers Michael David. Both are founding partners of Dodger Properties, which is responsible for over 150 productions of some of the most successful theatre on Broadway (56 Tony Awards), Off-Broadway and internationally. The gala will take place on Monday, May 12 at The Grand Ballroom of The Plaza Hotel, beginning at 6:30pm.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which is currently playing at the Savoy Theatre, stars Olivier, Tony and BAFTA award winning Robert Lindsay (Me And My Girl, Becket, Oliver!, My Family) and Rufus Hound (One Man Two Guv'nors, Celebrity Juice,and the winner of the recent Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special) as the conmen Lawrence Jameson and Freddy Benson competing for the riches and the heart of the young impressionable heiress, Christine Colgate played by Katherine Kingsley (Singin' in the Rain), who was just nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Michael Grandage's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Samantha Bond (Passion Play, Amy's View, Downton Abbey, James Bond Outnumbered) plays Muriel Eubanks, a glamorous divorcee looking for love in Beaumont-sur-Mer on the French Riviera and John Marquez (Privates On Parade, The Taming of the Shrew, Doc Martin) plays Andre Thibault, Beaumont-sur-Mer's Chief of Police. Check out photos of the cast in action below!

The producers of the recent Barbican production of South Pacific and the Sadlers Wells production of West Side Story present a major new production of this Tony Award-winning version of Irving Berlin's classic musical, Annie Get Your Gun, starring Emma Williams as Annie Oakley, Jason Donovan as Frank Butler and Norman Pace as Buffalo Bill.

The Manchester Opera House's pantomime for the Christmas 2013/14 season, Dick Whittington, has scooped the award for Best Special Entertainment at this year's Manchester Theatre Awards.

According to published reports, stage and screen star Christopher Malcolm passed away on February 15 from cancer. He was 67 years old.