Theatre Royal Stratford East announces its programme of productions taking place from February - June 2016 and the 2016/17 pantomime. The year ahead sees the theatre staying true to its commitment to develop and produce new plays and musicals, as well as reviving one of its most successful runs of the last few years. Theatre Royal Stratford East achieved 86% capacity last year, with the most culturally diverse audience in the country.
The Royal Shakespeare Company today announces the professional actors cast in the national tour of A Midsummer Night's Dream, leading the RSC's celebrations for the Shakespeare anniversary year in 2016. This national celebration of Shakespeare will visit each region and nation of the UK. In each area the 18-strong professional company will be joined by local amateur theatre companies who will play the Mechanicals and schoolchildren who will form part of Titania's fairy train. Playing opposite the 14 amateur Bottoms cast from across the country, Ayesha Dharker will take on the role of Titania, Queen of the Fairies.
Award-winning playwright David Ireland (Can't Forget About You, Everything Between Us) has turned his hand to writing our panto script this year, and with our trusted director/designer Kenny Miller at the helm, SLEEPING BETTY promises to be a hoot, filled with all the usual Glesga patter, hilarious slapstick and general nonsense.
Theatre Royal Stratford East has announced The Rt. Hon Dame Margaret Hodge DBE MP has been appointed as the theatre's Chair. Dame Margaret has been the Member of Parliament for Barking since 1994 and was the first woman and elected person to take on the role of Chair for the Public Accounts Committee.
Disney Theatrical Productions announced today that Dean John-Wilson will play the role of Aladdin alongside Jade Ewen as Jasmine in the West End premiere of the new musical based on the classic Academy Award-winning animated film. BroadwayWorld previously reported that the duo were in negotiations for the show, but the official word came today.
AMERICAN PSYCHO just announced that Tony Award-winner Alice Ripley(Next to Normal), Tony Award nominee Jennifer Damiano (Next to Normal) and Helene Yorke (Bullets over Broadway, 'Masters of Sex') will join previously announced Benjamin Walker (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) in the cast of the highly-anticipated musical. Directed by Rupert Goold (King Charles III), AMERICAN PSYCHO, based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis, has music and lyrics by Tony and Grammy Award-winner Duncan Sheik, a book by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa ('Glee') and choreography by Lynne Page (La Cage Aux Folles).
After an acclaimed run in London, the Edinburgh Fringe and two triumphant UK tours, OUR FRIENDS THE ENEMY, written by and starring Alex Gwyther with direction by Tom O'Brien, arrives in New York City to celebrate the holiday's for a strictly limited two week engagement at Theater Row's Lion Theatre (410 West 42nd Street). Performances run December 8th through December 20th, 2015.
This Christmas audiences will be transformed to the land of StratEastHam by the Olivier Award nominated and critically acclaimed team at Theatre Royal Stratford East, with their new adaption of ROBIN HOOD. Combining the timeless story with a contemporary and fresh script and original music, this version is sure to impress audiences during its run at the highly renowned East London producing house. ROBIN HOOD is running from Saturday 5 December to Saturday 23 January, with press night on Wednesday 16 December.
Award-winning playwright David Ireland (Can't Forget About You, Everything Between Us) has turned his hand to writing our panto script this year, and with our trusted director/designer Kenny Miller at the helm, SLEEPING BETTY promises to be a hoot, filled with all the usual Glesga patter, hilarious slapstick and general nonsense.
Hoxton Hall is delighted to announce its first ever panto, with its very own East End twist. Hoxton Hall presents SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, directed by Karena Johnson, running 14th - 24th December 2015.
The Lyric Hammersmith today announces full casting for its Christmas panto, Cinderella. Grab your glittery Converse and put the pumpkin into top gear as Cinderella heads to the biggest party of the season to meet a very charming Prince. Following the success of Jack and the Beanstalk and Dick Whittington and his Cat, Award-winning playwright Tom Wells pens another traditional panto with plenty of festive fun in true Lyric style.
Hampstead Theatre announces the full casting for Tom Stoppard's play Hapgood, which previews from Friday 4 December 2015. Directed by Howard Davies, the full cast features Lisa Dillon, who will take the title role, Gary Beadle, Joe Evans, Edward Hancock, Gerald Kyd, Tim McMullan and Alec Newman. Child actors Adam Cansfield and Sasha Graycomplete the cast.
Perfect Pitch and Theatre Royal Stratford East announced in June that they were working together to present the 2015/16 Perfect Pitch Award for Musical Theatre Writing and have since been overwhelmed with applications.
Elaine Cassidy will be taking on the role of Madame de Tourvel in the Donmar's production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, replacing Michelle Dockery who regrettably has had to withdraw from the production prior to the start of rehearsals.
After an acclaimed run in London, the Edinburgh Fringe and two triumphant UK tours, Our Friends The Enemy, written by and starring Alex Gwyther with direction by Tom O'Brien, arrives in New York City to celebrate the holiday's for a strictly limited two week engagement at Theater Row's Lion Theatre (410 West 42nd Street). Performances run December 8th through December 20th, 2015. Tickets are $36.25 and can be purchased by visiting www.Telecharge.com.
'[Thank you] to an incredible cast of British and American actors who make the Atlantic look like a little creek you can just kind of pop across,' said Dame Helen Mirren upon receiving her 2015 Tony Award. The stage and screen star reprised her critically-acclaimed performance in THE AUDIENCE after a West End run in 2013, and she was just one of many to 'pop across' an ocean for a stab at Broadway. An unprecedented amount of British talent took over Broadway last year, bringing us such productions as THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, WOLF HALL: PARTS 1 & 2, and SKYLIGHT.
It doesn't seem like the trend is ending anytime soon.
This fall, Broadway will welcome a slew of British actors- some of whom will be making their US stage debuts in incoming productions. And it's not just performers. We're getting some complete British imports in shows like A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE and KING CHARLES III. Below, we're taking a moment to shine a spotlight on this season's British imports.
Louise Jameson (Doctor Who, EastEnders, Doc Martin) will star as Mrs Boyle in the record-breaking 60th anniversary tour of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap from January 2016. The beloved murder mystery will begin the 2016 leg of its tour at Nottingham Theatre Royal on 19 January before visiting more than 25 further venues across the UK. Further casting will be announced in due course.
Artistic Directors of the Future (ADF) present Black Lives, Black Words, a presentation of eight fifteen-minute play readings from eight black British playwrights in the city of London. This play series is tied in with a shared project initiated by the award -winning American playwright Reginald Edmund, who produced the USA premiere in Chicago in July 2015. Black Lives, Black Words aims to explore the black diaspora experiences in some of the largest multicultural cities in the world, Chicago, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Baltimore and London to investigate the question 'Do black lives matter today?'
The cast for Will Mortimer's sharp and perceptive new comedy will be Makir Ahmed, Stella Gonet, Oliver Hembrough, Isabella Laughland and Issy van Randwyck.