Willy Russell News

Enda Markey will present his acclaimed production of Willy Russell's Blood Brothers at Melbourne's brand new theatre complex - Alex Theatre St Kilda - for a strictly limited three-week season beginning 14 July, following an extended Sydney season early this year, which sold-out at every performance, with plaudits from critics and audiences making it the talk-of-the-town. Check out photos from the show below!

Following a successful spring season of sell-out shows, MARTI PELLOW is back by popular demand to continue his role as Narrator for the autumn leg of BLOOD BROTHERS, opening in at the New Wimbledon Theatre on Tuesday 8 September.

A brand new season of West End musicals, pantomime, hilarious comedy and one night concerts with TOMMY STEELE, DAVID HASSELHOFF, BARBARA DICKSON, JUDY CORNWELL, CERI DUPREE, THE CHUCKLE BROTHERS and JOHN ALTMAN.

The John Drew Theater at Guild Hall in East Hampton presents Arthur Miller's award-winning American classic All My Sons starring Alec Baldwin and Laurie Metcalf and directed by Stephen Hamilton. The play will run Tuesdays through Sundays, June 9-28 and is produced by Guild Hall in association with Roy Furman and Ellen Myers.

The Laguna Playhouse Executive and Artistic Directors, Karen Wood and Ann E. Wareham are thrilled to present one of the most beloved comedies of all time, Neil Simon's THE ODD COUPLE, starring Maxwell Caulfield and Kip Gilman and directed by Andrew Barnicle.

Mike Bartlett's drama, COCK, in a production directed by Paul Griffiths and starring Francis Chouler, Matt Newman, Melissa Haiden and James Skilton, comes to Alexander Bar and Cafe's Upstairs Theatre this March. Winner of the 2010 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, Bartlett's sharp, witty script takes a candid look at one mans sexuality and the difficulties that arise when faced with a whole new world of possibility.

The Laguna Playhouse Executive and Artistic Directors, Karen Wood and Ann E. Wareham are thrilled to present one of the most beloved comedies of all time, Neil Simon's THE ODD COUPLE, starring Maxwell Caulfield and Kip Gilman and directed by Andrew Barnicle.

BLOOD BROTHERS is primarily about secrets, and the lives of good people beholden to their very worst choices.You want to get that across in a musical theatre production without falling into melodrama or caricature? Then you need a bloody good cast - and thankfully this new Australian production from Enda Markey and Hayes Theatre Co has just that.

Blood Brothers, at Hayes Theatre Co; commences performances this week tonight 6 February.

Blood Brothers, at Hayes Theatre Co; commences performances this week on Friday 6 February.

One of the great comic stories of the last four decades, Educating Rita comes to the Mercury Theatre Colchester this February.

Multi-platinum selling artist and Wet Wet Wet front-man, Marti Pellow, returns to the Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield in Blood Brothers alongside Maureen Nolan (The Nolans) from Tuesday 13 - Saturday 24 January.

The penultimate column in our 2014 South African Theatre Retrospectives deals with musical theatre and opera. Today we celebrate 'six of the best' opera and musical theatre productions from around the country - with two honourable mentions for an outstanding cabaret and revue - having already looked at some of the best plays and dance productions of the year.

El Teatro Principal de Barcelona acogió en la noche del lunes la gala de los Premios Butaca de Teatro de Cataluña, que este año celebraban su 20ª edición. En el apartado de teatro musical, 'Germans de Sang', adaptación catalana del musical 'Blood Brothers' de Willy Russell, fue reconocido como el mejor montaje de este género.

A major revival of Willy Russell's Educating Rita will open the Playhouse's 2015 Spring Season. The production, directed by Artistic Director Gemma Bodinetz, will mark the play's 35th anniversary and will star Leanne Best as Rita and Con O'Neill as Frank. Following a remarkable first year, the Everyman season will begin with Associate Director Nick Bagnall's fresh take on A Midsummer Night's Dream. The second half of the season is marked by two world premieres, both screen to stage adaptations; a never-before seen Arthur Miller screenplay The Hook at the Everyman and the first ever stage adaptation of a Coen Brothers' film will see The Hudsucker Proxy come to life on the Playhouse stage.

Blood Brothers, which starts performances on 6 February, has quickly become the fastest-selling show at the Hayes Theatre Co since the venue opened its doors. Due to this phenomenal demand for tickets an extra week of performances has been added, as well as some mid-week matinees throughout the season. Blood Brothers will now play until Sunday 15 March 2015. It is the first time a production has extended its run at Hayes Theatre Co and no further extension is possible.

RSG and Lefra Productions will stage their second Oppiwater Arts Festival on the MSC Opera in March 2015. The first Oppiwater Arts Festival was sold out within six days and is a special and unique festival in that all of the productions are staged in venues aboard the the luxury MSC Opera: truly an arts festival on the water!

The season begins with a real treat for dance fans as Moscow City Ballet bring their breathtaking production of Swan Lake to the stage from Tuesday 6 - Saturday 10 January and Northern Ballet return to the Lyceum with their adaptation of Emily Bronte's romantic masterpiece Wuthering Heights (Wed 18 - Sat 21 March) with music by Claude-Michel Schonberg (Les Miserables).

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is pleased to announce details for its 2014-15 Studio Series of opera, musical theatre, drama and dance productions.

Little Fish Theatre today announced the opening of EDUCATING RITA, the highly acclaimed and popular play about personal growth and the life-long nature of learning, written by British dramatist Willy Russell.