The World Goes Round at the Landor

Tuesday, January 16 will see the opening of the revue "And The World Goes Round" at one of London's most atmospheric and intimate pub theatres, the Landor. The show draws its material from the songbook of John Kander and Fred Ebb, one of the greatest of all musical theatre song-writing duos, whose resume boasts the scores for such musicals as "Cabaret", "Chicago", "Kiss Of The Spider Woman", "Woman Of The Year", "The Rink", and "Flora, The Red Menace".

Kander and Ebb wrote their first hit song, "My Colouring Book", in 1963 and by the time of Ebb's death in 2004, they had written the scores for 13 stage musicals and two original musical movies, as well as penning special material for Liza Minnelli's Emmy Award winning TV spectacle, "Liza With a Z". Currently revivals of two of their shows can be seen in the West End - "Cabaret" and "Chicago", while "Chicago" also continues to wow audiences on the Great White Way, where "Curtains", a show they were working on when Ebb passed away, is set to open in March 2007.

"And The World Goes Round" takes its title from a song Kander and Ebb wrote for Liza Minnelli to sing in the Martin Scorsese film, "New York, New York". The show was conceived by director Scott Ellis, choreographer Susan Stroman and David Thomson, librettist of such Kander and Ebb shows as "Steel Pier" and "70, Girls, 70" - and was first staged at New York's Westside Theatre on West 43rd Street in 1991. An eclectic collection of beautiful love songs, torch songs and bitingly witty comic numbers, this Off-Broadway piece seems perfect for the particular ambience which the Landor Theatre provides.

The Landor production, which will run from January 16 to 10 February, will be directed by Robert McWhirr, with musical direction by Heather Weir, and will feature a cast comprised of: Karl Clarkson, Georgie Fellows, Richard Mulholland, Caroline Newman and Susan Rasaay. McWhirr's staging of Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's "Follies" at the Landor in September-October 2006 was one of the absolute highlights of London theatre last year. If this first musical offering of 2007 comes anywhere close to that, it will be a show not to be missed.

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