After the resounding success of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s State Fair (Cadogan Hall November 2016) and the sell out concert of Alan Menken & Lynn Ahrens' A Christmas Carol (Lyceum Theatre, December 2016), with numerous five star reviews for both performances, The London Musical Theatre Orchestra is delighted to announce the first concerts of its 2017 season.
At the London Palladium in March, LMTO presents the UK premiere of Jason Robert Brown and Andrew Bergman’s hit Broadway musical, Honeymoon in Vegas. This will be followed in July by Leonard Bernstein’s classic Candide which will see LMTO return to the splendour of Chelsea’s famous Cadogan Hall.
These are the first two shows to be programmed in 2017, with a further three to be announced in the spring.
The 30-strong London Musical Theatre Orchestra will take to the London Palladium stage on 12th March 2017under the baton of its first guest conductor, the show’s composer Jason Robert Brown, to honour the stylish and swinging score of Honeymoon in Vegas which marks another much anticipated UK Premiere for the orchestra.
Based on the hit 1992 film starring Sarah Jessica Parker, and Nicholas Cage, Honeymoon in Vegas tells the story of mild-mannered Brooklynite, Jack, who haunted by the fear of a promise to his dying mother never to get married, avoids proposing to his new girlfriend Betsy. He finally summons the nerve and takes Betsy to Las Vegas only to have his plans compromised by a dashing gambler with an eye for luxury and Jack’s new fiancée.
The New York Times called the Broadway production “[a] bright and bouncy…real-live, old-fashioned, deeply satisfying Broadway musical in a way few new shows are anymore.”
Honeymoon in Vegas— book by Andrew Bergman and score by Tony-Award winning Jason Robert Brown (Parade, Songs For A New World, The Last Five Years and The Bridges of Madison County) — ran on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre –this concert will see it performed in London for the very first time.
Jason Robert Brown said:
“Honeymoon in Vegas is the show I always aspired to write. All of these sounds – the swing, the samba, the disco, the boogie, the rock’n’roll – make up what I hear in my head when I think of what a ‘Broadway musical’ should be. I’m so gratified to have actually written it, and thrilled to get a chance – finally! – to present it in London. And to know that the music will be brought to life by the sterling musicians of the LMTO and a glorious cast is such a delight and a privilege. I’ve had so many sensational experiences in the British theater that it feels like coming home. I cannot wait to get started!”
After a rousing production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s State Fair in November, LMTO are delighted to be returning to the splendour of the Cadogan Hall on 21st July 2017 to present one of the most iconic musical theatre scores of all time,Candide.
With a score by Leonard Bernstein, book by Hugh Wheeler and lyrical contributions from Stephen Sondheim, Candide will be performed by the 32- strong London Musical Theatre Orchestra under the baton of founder and principal conductor Freddie Tapner.
Candide tells the story of Candide, the bastard cousin of Baron Thunder-Ten-Tonck, who is expelled from home, dragged into the Bulgarian army, brought before the Spanish Inquisition, swindled out of a fortune, shipwrecked on a desert isle, and separated time and again from his true love Cunegonde.
Candide premiered on Broadway in 1956 and has seen revivals in London in 1999 (National Theatre) 2008 (English National Opera) and most recently in a critically acclaimed production in 2013 at The Menier Chocolate Factory under director Matthew White.
The casting for both productions will be announced in the coming weeks and promises to attract a very high caliber of performers from stage and screen, repeating the casting success of previous LMTO productions which starred the likes of Robert Lindsay, Carrie Hope Fletcher, Richard Fleeshman, Wendi Peters, John Addison, Madalena Albeto, Norman Bowman, Clive Carter, Peter Polycarpou, Oliver Savile and Celinde Schoenmaker.
In keeping with the long term aim of the LMTO, the fully orchestrated concerts aims to not only make orchestral performances accessible to brand new audiences, but also to bring the exciting repertoire of musical theatre to a more classical audience.
