Hackney Empire today announced the full cast of its brand new pantomime for 2016, Sleeping Beauty. The West End's leading lady Alexia Khadime (Wicked, The Book of Mormon, The Lion King) will be returning to the site of her stage debut to star as Princess Tahlia (Sleeping Beauty). She will be joined by Olivier Award-winner Sharon D Clarke who returns to Hackney Empire after her appearance in Mother Goose in 2014. They are joined by Gavin Spokes who makes his dameing debut, he joins the Hackney Empire family straight from his Olivier Award-nominated performance as Nicely Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls in the West End.
Frontier Theatre Productions today announce their second production, a world premiere double bill of Susan Hill's Spring and Mitch Hooper's The Last Dance opening at The Theatre Room on 18 October. Harry Burton directs Sally Faulkner, who will be starring in both productions, as The Older Woman in Spring, where she is joined by Portia Van De Bramm who is playing The Girl, and as Suzanne in The Last Dance where she will be joined by David Mallinson who will be playing Peter.
Following a sold out run at the Barbican, Ballet Black opens at Theatre Royal Stratford East in a new partnership. A professional ballet company for international dancers, they aim to bring ballet to a more mixed audience with this critically acclaimed Triple Bill.
As the leader of the free world ends his eight years in office, a black middle class family risk losing their beloved hotel and cherry orchard, where Martin Luther King once rested and Miles Davis played.
Artistic Director of Theatre Royal Stratford East, Kerry Michael today announces the cast for the company's annual pantomime - Sinbad the Sailor by Paul Sirett.
"I loathe us, I loathe our stupid puerile view of the World … That WE have only to do it, that WE have only to go puff, and the monster buildings will go splat…"
The first professional London production in over 40 years of Magnificence, the seminal 1973 play by revered British dramatist Howard Brenton, runs at the Finborough Theatre for a strictly limited four week season from Tuesday, 25 October 2016 (Press Nights: Thursday, 27 October and Friday, 28 October 2016 at 7.30pm).
The Lyric Hammersmith today announces full casting for its Christmas show, Aladdin. The Lyric's annual panto returns when Aladdin flies into Hammersmith on his magic carpet for some festive fun in true Lyric style. Fresh for 2016, the show will be full of colourful characters, live music, lots of laughs and of course the magical Genie.
ice&fire today announces the full company for the world premiere of The Island Nation, written by its Artistic Director Christine Bacon. Ria Parry directs Claire Dargo, Ayesha Dharker, Bally Gill, Clive Hayward, Nikki Patel and Neran Persaud in the production which opens at the Arcola Theatre on 28 October, with previews from the 26 October, and runs until 19 November 2016.
SAFE is a powerful new verbatim theatre piece featuring Riley Carter Millington, who was, as Kyle Slater in EastEnders, the first transgender actor to play a long-running trans role in a British soap. SAFE will be London Theatre Workshop's first show in its new home in Leadenhall Market.
Artistic Director of Theatre Royal Stratford East, Kerry Michael today announces the cast for the world premiere of Bonnie Greer's new play The Hotel Cerise, directed by Femi Elufowoju, jr. Inspired by Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard the production is a key part of the theatre's focus on commissioning new work and adaptations. Ellen Thomas leads the company, with El Anthony, Madeline Appiah, Michael Bertenshaw, Nicholas Beveney, Andrew Dennis, Abhin Galeya, Lacharne Jolly, Corey Montague-Sholay, Claire Prempeh, Alexis Rodney and Angela Wynter. The production opens on 25 October with previews from 20 October and runs until 12 November.
Directed by world renowned director/choreographer Arlene Phillips,"27" is an intoxicating modern fable of our time, a dark interpretation of one of humanity's oldest stories. It has music, book and lyrics and is co-directed by Sam Cassidy.
It just might be the most anticipated concert event of the year; the tickets for Tony Winner Cynthia Erivo and two-time Tony Nominee Joshua Henry's one-night-only performance of The Last Five Years sold out in less than an hour on the first day of the evening's pre-sale. With the concert, which will be performed at Town Hall, only two days away, the entire team is hard at work perfecting the piece before sharing it with the lucky few who nabbed tickets. This afternoon, Jason Robert Brown, the composer of The Last Five Years, took to Facebook to share a sneak peak of one of the orchestra's final rehearsals before the big night. Check it out below!
Terry Johnson's "Painfully funny and funnily painful" (The Times) comedy, DEAD FUNNY, returns for a strictly limited season at the Vaudeville Theatre this autumn with Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd, In The Club, Humans), Steve Pemberton (The League of Gentleman, Benidorm, Whitechapel), Ralf Little (The Royle Family, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, The Cafe), Emily Berrington (The Inbetweeners 2, Humans, 24) and Rufus Jones (W1A, Hunderby, The Casual Vacancy).
Natasha J Barnes who will play the title role of Cinderella, Suzie Chard and Wendy Sommerville who will play The Wicked Stepsisters complete the casting for the London Palladium Pantomime this Christmas. They join the previously announced Paul O'Grady (The Wicked Stepmother), Julian Clary (Dandini), Amanda Holden (The Fairy Godmother), Lee Mead (Prince Charming), Paul Zerdin (Buttons), Nigel Havers (Lord Chamberlain) and Count Arthur Strong (Baron Hardup).
Kim Rubinstein, director of last season's award-winning revival of Anna Christie, returns to the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble at the helm of one of the great defining and taboo-breaking plays of the 1950s. A Taste of Honey is set to open on Sept. 24 starring Eric Hunicutt, Gerard Joseph, Kestrel Leah, Leland Montgomery and Sarah Underwood Saviano.
