Dreamboats and Miniskirts announce full cast for UK tour

Dreamboats and Miniskirts, the 60s-set sequel to 50s jukebox musical Dreamboats and Petticoats, will premiere in August at the Theatre Royal Windsor ahead of a UK tour.

The show is written by the original team of Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, and promises to pick up the story of Bobby and Laura, Norman and Sue and Ray and Donna.

The advent of the Beatles and the Merseyside sound is changing the musical world. But will it inspire Bobby and Laura to have one more shot at stardom - Norman to "get off the drains" and find that hit parade voice he has longed for, and Ray to realise his ambition and manage a really top pop act?

REVIEW: Shrek the musical at Leeds Grand Theatre

Having ‘greenified’  both Broadway and the West End, Shrek the Musical kicks off its UK & Ireland Tour in Leeds and it certainly lands on its fat green feet. This touring production is full of infectious energy and Broadway magic, and looks certain to delight audiences universally. There’s a never a dull moment in this smart and intelligent stage adaptation.

The story matches that of the film fairly closely. We follow Shrek and Donkey, forced onto a quest to save Princess Fiona by the vertically challenged Lord Farquaad. We see the gradual unravelling of Shrek’s character, as he and Princess Fiona embark on a more personal journey together. There’s a heap of fairytale characters thrown in, and a rather impressive dragon. Together, they make a show with real heart and intimacy, combined with big ensemble show-stopping energy, and that’s what makes Shrek really shine.

FIRST LOOK: Shrek the Musical, on tour around the UK

Coming direct from London, where it was seen live on stage by nearly a million people, the UK and Ireland tour of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane production of SHREK THE MUSICAL® will star Dean Chisnall as beloved swamp-dwelling ogre ‘Shrek’, the role he previously played in the West End, Faye Brookes as damsel in distress ‘Princess Fiona’, Idriss Kargbo as Shrek’s wisecracking sidekick ‘Donkey’ and Gerard Carey as pint-sized villain ‘Lord Farquaad’.

They will be joined by a full company of fairy-tale characters played by Bronté Barbé, Nikki Bentley, Jennifer Caldwell, Candace Furbert, Steffan Harri, Will Haswell, James Lacey, Mia Lincoln, Rory Maguire, Neil Moors, Jenny O’Leary, Georgina Parkinson, Ryan Reid, Leo Roberts, Jacqui Sanchez, Oliver Tester, James Winter, Kerry Winter and Kevin Yates.

The UK and Ireland tour of SHREK THE MUSICAL® will be directed by Nigel Harman who starred as Lord Farquaad in the west end production, winning him the 2012 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical. It will open at the Grand Theatre in Leeds on Wednesday 23rd July, and will then visit Bristol, Nottingham, Belfast, Dublin, Oxford, Manchester, Aberdeen, Canterbury, Newcastle, Birmingham, Glasgow, Sheffield, Norwich, Southampton, Plymouth and Milton Keynes with further venues still to be announced.

THE BODYGUARD UK tour dates confirmed, to open at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton

Michael Harrison and David Ian are delighted to announce the UK and Ireland tour dates for Thea Sharrock’s hit production of the West End musical THE BODYGUARD. The tour will open at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton on Thursday 12 February 2015 before embarking on a two year UK and Ireland tour.  Schedule below with further dates to be announced.

Based on Lawrence Kasdan’s 1992 Oscar nominated Warner Bros. film, THE BODYGUARD has a book by Alex Dinelaris and opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London’s West End in December 2012, where it continues to play to packed houses and standing ovations. It was nominated for four Laurence Olivier Awards including Best New Musical and Best Set Design. 

THE MOUSETRAP tour will continue through to December 2014

Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap has been the world’s longest running stage production at its London home for more than 55 years. The 60th Anniversary - and first ever - UK tour of this beloved murder mystery has now been seen by over 600,000 people across more than 600 performances and has broken box office records in Southampton, Barnstaple, Dublin and Aberdeen.

The tour started in September 2012 at the Canterbury Marlowe Theatre and now will continue through to December 2014. For a full list of tour dates up to December 2014, please see the Notes to Editors below.

The cast for the 2014 Autumn leg of the tour is Helen Clapp as Mollie Ralston, Michael Fenner (Doctors, Footballer’s Wives) as MrParavicini, Anne Kavanagh (Chichester Festival Theatre’s Goodnight Mr Tom, August: Osage County at the National Theatre) as Mrs Boyle, Charlotte Latham as Miss Casewell and Stephen Yeo as Christopher Wren - all reprising their roles from the production in London’s West End alongside: Christopher Gilling (ITV’s Law and Order, BBC1’s Silk) as Major Metcalf, Henry Luxemburg (Hollyoaks, Hotel Babylon) as Giles Ralston and Luke Jenkins (Scenes from an Execution, Unicorn Theatre) as Sgt Trotter.

JERSEY BOYS UK tour cast announced

The producers of the UK and Irish tour of the Tony, Olivier and Grammy Award-winning Best Musical JERSEY BOYS, are delighted to announce the full cast joining previously announced West End star Tim Driesen as Frankie Valli.

Stephen Webb, Sam Ferriday and Lewis Griffiths will star as Tommy DeVito, Bob Gaudio and Nick Massi respectively.  Matt Corner will play the role of Frankie Valli at certain performances. Also in the cast will be Sean Kingsley as Gyp DeCarlo, Matt Gillett as Bob Crewe, Nathaniel Morrison as Barry Belson, Dominic Smith as Norm Waxman, Damian Buhagiar as Joey Pesci, Henry Davis as Hank Majewski, Leanne Garretty as Lorraine, Amelia Adams-Pearce as Mary Delgado and Sinead Long as Francine, with Dan Krikler, Dayle Hodge, Luke Morton and Charlie Allen.

Sneak Peak into the rehearsals for the new SHREK UK tour

Coming direct from London, where it was seen live on stage by nearly a million people, the UK and Ireland tour of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane production of SHREK THE MUSICAL® will star Dean Chisnall as beloved swamp-dwelling ogre ‘Shrek’, the role he previously played in the West End, Faye Brookes as damsel in distress ‘Princess Fiona’, Idriss Kargbo as Shrek’s wisecracking sidekick ‘Donkey’ and Gerard Carey as pint-sized villain ‘Lord Farquaad’.

They will be joined by a full company of fairy-tale characters played by Bronté Barbé, Nikki Bentley, Jennifer Caldwell, Candace Furbert, Steffan Harri, Will Haswell, James Lacey, Mia Lincoln, Rory Maguire, Neil Moors, Jenny O’Leary, Georgina Parkinson, Ryan Reid, Leo Roberts, Jacqui Sanchez, Oliver Tester, James Winter, Kerry Winter and Kevin Yates.

PRIDE & PREJUDICE with two actors to play the Salisbury Playhouse prior to UK tour

Celebrating 200 years since the nation’s favourite novel was published, a highly praised, sparkling and fresh stage adaptation of Pride and Prejudice will open at Salisbury Playhouse on Thursday 18 September prior to a 2 month UK Tour. On sale now.

The show premiered at Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds in 2013 and offers a brand new interpretation of one of the nation’s favourite love stories. This inventive adaptation sees two actors juggle the full gamut of Austen’s well-loved characters; they journey from the Meryton Assembly to the grounds of Pemberley; and take Darcy and Lizzy from instant dislike to something altogether more different, all in just two hours. Every word that is spoken is Austen’s.

In this imaginative and loving adaptation by Joannah Tincey, two actors bring to life Austen’s words with great skill and agility. Joannah Tincey says: “I wanted to create an adaptation where the characters talk to the audience in the same way that Austen talks to her reader. By addressing the audience directly and allowing the characters to speak for themselves, we are bringing Jane Austen’s unique and witty writing style to life in a truly theatrical context.”

25th Anniversary Tour of RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET to start in early 2015

25 years after Captain Tempest and his crew first journeyed into hyperspace, and 14 years after the last UK tour, Olivier Award-winning rock spectacular Return to the Forbidden Planet is back and exploding onto stage in a major 25^th Anniversary production, blasting off on tour from Brighton Theatre Royal on 20 January 2015 following a run at Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch in November 2014. Tickets go on sale around the country from next Monday 7 July with further dates to be announced.  

Inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest and packed with rock n’ roll classics including Great Balls of Fire, Good Vibrations, Heard It Through the Grapevine and Born To Be Wild, Return to the Forbidden Planet is a musical of meteoric proportions that will be remembered for light years to come. With stunning special effects, a brilliant cast of actor-musicians, a mad scientist, a huge green-tentacled monster and a rock ’n’ roller-skating robot, your in-flight entertainment is guaranteed! So fasten your seatbelts, set your ray guns to stun and prepare for blast off!

WICKED UK tour announces new cast, Ashleigh Gray will star as Elphaba

WICKED, the global musical phenomenon that tells the incredible untold story of the Witches of Oz, is pleased to announce that Ashleigh Gray (Elphaba), Samuel Edwards (Fiyero), Steven Pinder (The Wizard and Doctor Dillamond), Richard Vincent (Boq) and Jacqueline Hughes (Standby Elphaba) will join the record-breaking UK Tour from Tuesday 16 September 2014 at Liverpool Empire Theatre. 

Current cast members Nikki Davis-Jones (Elphaba), Liam Doyle (Fiyero),Dale Rapley (The Wizard and Doctor Dillamond), George Ure (Boq) andJemma Alexander (Standby Elphaba) will all play their final performances on Saturday 6 September 2014 at Birmingham Hippodrome. Nikki Davis-Jones will join the London production from Monday 27 October 2014. 

Emily Tierney (Glinda), Marilyn Cutts (Madame Morrible) and Carina Gillespie (Nessarose) all continue in their current starring roles. 

EVITA will play a limited run at the Dominion Theatre

Evita is to return to the West End this September, starring Marti Pellow as Che and Madalena Alberto in the lead role.

The musical, by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, will reopen the multimillion pound refurbished Dominion Theatre with 55 performances from September 16. Press night is on September 22.

Following the closure of We Will Rock You at the venue in May, the theatre has been dark while technical and environmental improvements have been made to the building.

The show is currently touring the UK until July 19, where its run ends at the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, before transferring to the Kursaal Oostende venue in Belgium.

CATS will play a limited run at the London Palladium

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats is to return to the West End following a 12-year absence, with a run from December at the London Palladium.

Cats is directed by Trevor Nunn, with Gillian Lynne as associate director and choreographer. It has designs by John Napier.

For this production, Chrissie Cartwright, long-term associate director of Cats, will work with Nunn and Lynne to re-direct the show for the Palladium. 

Andrew Lloyd Webber will write additional songs for Rum Tum Tugger and Growl Tiger for the production, and he has assembled many of the original creative team including Sir Trevor Nunnwho directs, with associate direction and choreography from Dame Gillian Lynne and set design by John Napier.

John Barrowman to embark on UK concert tour

John Barrowman will embark on a 16-date concert tour in 2015, his first full UK tour in four years. Beginning on May 16, 2015 in Southend, the tour will visit towns and cities across the UK, before finishing at the Sage, Gateshead on June 8, 2015.

The You Raise Me Up tour will be in support of his new album of the same name, which is released next week and was funded via music crowdfunding site PledgeMusic.

Barrowman was awarded an MBE in the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours list. He is best known for his leading roles in TV shows such as Torchwood, Doctor Who and Desperate Housewives. His theatre credits include Anything Goes, Chicago, La Cage Aux Folles, Beauty and the Beast, Phantom of the Opera and Sunset Boulevard to name a few. 

UK tour of Fame cancelled due to poor ticket sales

The 25th Anniversary UK tour of Fame has been cancelled and will come to a close this Saturday (28 June 2014) at the Kings Theatre in Glasgow  The show was set to tour until October where it was meant to come to a close on the 18th of that month at Kings Lynn Corn Exchange. 

Steve Potts from Bill Kenwright LTD said "It is with considerable regret that it has become necessary to curtail the current tour of Fame the Musical. Fans of the show have been thrilled by this new production, which has enjoyed a five month run, but in a difficult economic climate and with World Cup fever it simply hasn’t attracted a wide enough audience. Our heartfelt thanks go out to the cast, crew and creative team, the Fame audiences, and the theatres and theatre managers who have been incredibly supportive." 

Full cast announced for CALAMITY JANE tour starring Jodie Prenger

The production, which features "a cast of multi-talented actor/musicians", is directed by Nikolai Foster (Beautiful Thing, The Witches of Eastwick) and will run from 17 July to 6 September 2014 at the Watermill, Newbury prior to a national tour.

Calamity Jane, which features the songs "The Black Hills of Dakota", "The Deadwood Stage (Whip-Crack-Away)", "Just Blew in from the Windy City" and "Secret Love", is adapted for the stage by Charles K Freeman and has music by Sammy Fain with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster.

It's produced by The Watermill Theatre Newbury in association with Jamie Wilson, Paul Elliott and Duncan C Weldon. Musical arrangements and supervision will be by Catherine Jayes.

Joining the previously announced Jodie Prenger in the title role of ‘Calamity Jane’ will be Tom Lister as ‘Wild Bill Hickok, Alex Hammond as ‘Danny’ and Pheobe Street as Katie Brown.

TIM DRIESEN to star in Jersey Boys UK Tour

Tim Driesen will lead the cast of the upcoming UK tour of Jersey Boys, which opens in September at the Manchester Palace Theatre.

Jersey Boys, based on the story and songs of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, is the winner of 55 major awards worldwide. The show originally opened on Broadway in 2006, receiving the Tony Award for Best Musical.

Tim Driesen is currently starring in the Dutch production of Jersey Boys, and has previously played Frankie Valli in the West End. Previously he was in the West End cast of Rock of Ages playing Joey Primo, alternating Drew and understudying Stacee Jaxx. His other credits include: Young Ken Barlow in Coronation Street Of Dreams (MEN Arena), Galileo in We Will Rock You (Antwerp), Adrian Banks/Mark Owen in Never Forget (Savoy/UK tour), Mark in Rent in Concert (Garrick), Starlight Express (UK tour), The Rocky Horror Show (European Tour), Bat Boy- the musical (Shaftesbury Theatre), Mamma Mia (Prince Edward Theatre) and Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (UK Tour).

Prince Brings UK Tour To A Close With Exclusive Show at The Hippodrome

Prince performed a secret late-night show at The Hippodrome Casino in Leicester Square last night, bringing to a close his recent run of sold-out UK dates. The 55-year-old pop superstar, who has recently been whipping crowds across the country into a frenzy with a series of incredible concerts, performed a stunning, 2-hour hit-laden set in the venue’s intimate 180-seat cabaret theatre, with celebrities such as Kate Moss, Alesha Dixon, Paolo Nutini, Bryan Ferry & The XX in attendance.

Having earlier attended an after-party for the hotly-tipped British drama Belle, directed by Amma Asante and starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Prince took to the stage with his regular band 3rdEyeGirl at around midnight and treated the small crowd to a set packed with classic hits including Raspberry Beret, Diamonds & Pearls and 1999.

FIRST LOOK: Annie Get Your Gun, UK Tour starring Emma Williams and Jason Donovan

A new production of Broadway classic Annie Get Your Gun is currently touring the UK, starring Emma Williams, Jason Donovan and Norman Pace.

Presented by Ambassador Theatre Group, the tour kicked off at Manchester Opera House on 12 May and will subsequently visit venues including Edinburgh, Birmingham, Bromley, Liverpool, Glasgow and Wimbledon. 

Williams, whose West End credits include Love Story and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, will play the title role of sharp-shooting country girl Annie Oakley, who falls for the chauvinistic marksman Frank Butler (Donovan) at a contest run by Buffalo Bill (Pace).

LLOYD DANIELS and DANIELLE HOPE star in touring production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Lloyd Daniels, Former X Factor contestant, and Danielle Hope, Winner of BBC's Over the Rainbow will star in  Bill Kenwright's touring production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as Joseph and the Narrator. Ex-EastEnders actor Matthew Lapinskas will also star as Pharaoh. 

Joseph started life in 1968 as a 20-minute entertainment for an end-of-term school concert. By the time it received its Broadway premiere in 1982, it had been expanded into a full two-hour show. With music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, Joseph’s popular score includes the songs "Any Dream Will Do", "Close Every Door to Me", “Go, Go, Go Joseph”, “Those Canaan Days”, “Benjamin Calypso” and "One More Angel in Heaven".

Cast for UK Tour of TOP HAT announced, Alan Burkitt and Charlotte Gooch to lead

Alan Burkitt and Charlotte Gooch will lead the cast of Top Hat when it embarks on its second UK and Ireland tour later this year.

The show first toured the UK in 2011 prior to its West End premiere the following year. It went on to win three Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical.

Burkitt and Gooch both return to the show having previously performed the lead roles of Jerry Travers and Dale Tremont in the West End.

Adaped from the classic Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film, Top Hat is directed by Matthew Whiteand choreographed by Bill Deamer.