William Galloway News

The producers of The Audience today announced Robert Hardy's decision to withdraw from the production. Hardy, 87, recently suffered a fall and cracked some ribs, yet continued to perform at all of the preview performances last week. Over the weekend he has decided that a schedule of eight performances a week over a long run is not sustainable and he has therefore reluctantly decided to stand down. The Producers would like to thank Robert Hardy for his extraordinary contribution to the production and they wish him a speedy recovery.

According to the Daily Mail, The Audience, which just began performances in the West End starring Helen Mirren, will be filmed and broadcast live from the Gielgud Theatre for National Theatre Live on June 13, 2013. The production has already brought in nearly £4 million in ticket sales before its opening on March 5. The play is running through June 15.

Joining Helen Mirren as The Queen in the world premiere of THE AUDIENCE are Michael Elwyn as Anthony Eden, Haydn Gwynne as Margaret Thatcher, Robert Hardy as Winston Churchill, Richard McCabe as Harold Wilson, Nathaniel Parker as Gordon Brown, Paul Ritter as John Major and Rufus Wright as David Cameron. The Equerry is Geoffrey Beevers and the role of Young Elizabeth will be played by Bebe Cave, Maya Gerber and Nell Williams.

Joining Helen Mirren as The Queen in this world premiere are Michael Elwyn as Anthony Eden, Haydn Gwynne as Margaret Thatcher, Robert Hardy as Winston Churchill, Richard McCabe as Harold Wilson, Nathaniel Parker as Gordon Brown, Paul Ritter as John Major and Rufus Wright as David Cameron. The Equerry is Geoffrey Beevers and the role of Young Elizabeth will be played by Bebe Cave, Maya Gerber and Nell Williams.

The Audience will preview at the Gielgud Theatre from 15 February 2013, with press night on 5 March 2013 and is currently booking to 15 June 2013. Designs are by Bob Crowley with lighting by Rick Fisher, sound by Paul Arditti, music by Paul Englishby and video by Ian William Galloway. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at rehearsals below.

Direct from acclaimed, sold-out engagements at the National Theatre of Scotland and the Lincoln Center Festival, Tony and Olivier Award winner ('Cabaret') and two-time Emmy nominee ('The Good Wife') Alan Cumming returns to Broadway this spring in a thrilling one-man interpretation of Shakespeare's darkest and most powerful tragedy, MACBETH. Produced by Ken Davenport, the National Theatre of Scotland's MACBETH will play a strictly limited 73-performance engagement at Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theatre (243 West 47th Street).

According to the Daily Mail, Helen Mirren has begun rehearsals for Peter Morgan's The Audience, about Elizabeth II. The play has already drawn a box office advance of £2 million, but regardless of popularity, The Audience must end its engagement on June 15 due to the Chichester Festival Theatre production of Private Lives, set to begin at the Gielgud Theatre on June 22.

Two further preview matinee performances (16 and 27 February 2013 at 2.30pm) have been scheduled for Stephen Daldry's production of Peter Morgan's The Audience.

Joining Helen Mirren as The Queen in the world premiere of Peter Morgan's The Audience are Michael Elwyn as Anthony Eden, Nathaniel Parker as Gordon Brown and Rufus Wright as David Cameron, alongside the previously announced Haydn Gwynne as Margaret Thatcher, Robert Hardy as Winston Churchill and Paul Ritter as John Major. Final casting will be announced shortly.

Digital Theatre today released Abi Morgan's critically acclaimed LOVESONG to watch online or download to the desktop. The show is produced by Frantic Assembly and Drum Theatre Plymouth in association with Chichester Festival Theatre.

La MaMa presents the American premiere of London's Gate Theatre's production of THE KREUTZER SONATA through March 25.

La MaMa has announced that they will present the American premiere of London's Gate Theatre's production of THE KREUTZER SONATA March 8-25.

When it was first published in 1889, Leo Tolstoy's The Kreutzer Sonata immediately became a cause celebre and was banned by the Russian authorities for its explicit portrayal of the corrupting power of sexual obsession and jealousy. Tolstoy had been inspired by the Beethoven piece of the same name and hoped one day to see his work performed to the accompaniment of music.

Following its critically acclaimed, sell-out run at Chichester Festival Theatre, Jonathan Church's new production of Singin' in the Rain opened last night, Wednesday 15th February at the Palace Theatre. Church's production of Singin' in the Rain, with choreography by Andrew Wright, is based on the classic 1952 MGM film and is produced in the West End by Stage Entertainment UK and Chichester Festival Theatre.

Frantic Assembly will present Lovesong, a brand new play by writer Abi Morgan (The Hour, BBC; Shame, Film4), in a newly extended run at the Lyric Hammersmith following its recent national tour.

La MaMa has announced that they will present the American premiere of London's Gate Theatre's production of THE KREUTZER SONATA March 8-25.