12 Brits who are flying the flag on Broadway!

Brits have been flying the flag on Broadway for years now, some huge names who have starred on Broadway include Julie Andrews, Carey Mulligan, Michael Xavier, Helen Mirren, Ruth Wilson and Catherine Zeta Jones, to name but a few! We wanted to take a look at some of the West End stars who are living the dream on the Great White Way! We focus on 12 performers who are all doing the West End proud! 

Olivia Phillip

Olivia made her West End debut in Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Palace Theatre before appearing in Ghost the Musical at the Piccadilly Theatre and The Book of Mormon at the Prince of Wales Theatre. She went on to play Velma on board the Royal Caribbean before making the move over to America. She made her Broadway debut in Diaster! at the Nederlander Theatre in 2016 before featuring in the Broadway production of Waitress. She is currently part of the Original Broadway cast of Frozen, which opens in February 2018 having done an out of town try out in Denver. @OliviaPhillip ‏

Gavin Lee 

Gavin is a proven West End leading man; playing leads in Top Hat, Singin' in the Rain, Crazy For You, Peggy Sue Got Married, A Saint She Ain’t, Me And My Girl, Oklahoma! and Contact. Gavin made his Broadway debut playing Bert in Mary Poppins, a role he originated in London at the Prince Edward Theatre and later played the role on tour across America. He last played Thenadier in Les Miserables on Broadway and is currently playing Squidward Q. Tentacles in Spongebob Square Pants in the original Broadway cast. 

WhatsOnStage Awards: Full List of Winners and Nominees

Best Actress in a Play

Winner: Helen Mirren The Audience (the Gielgud)

Nominees:

Anne-Marie Duff Strange Interlude (NT Lyttelton)
Hayley Atwell The Pride (Trafalgar Studios)
Helen Mirren The Audience (the Gielgud)
Suranne Jones Beautiful Thing (the Arts)
Tanya Moodie Fences (the Duchess)

Best Actor in a Play

Winner: Daniel Radcliffe The Cripple of Inishmaan (the Noël Coward)

Nominees: 

Ben Whishaw Peter and Alice (the Noël Coward) and Mojo (the Harold Pinter)
Daniel Radcliffe The Cripple of Inishmaan (the Noël Coward)

James McAvoy Macbeth (Trafalgar Studios)
Lenny Henry Fences (the Duchess)
Rory Kinnear Othello (the NT Olivier)

A Chorus Line the Musical: Theatre Review

Set on Broadway in 1975, A Chorus Line is a musical about dancers who are auditioning for a Broadway show. The original production opened off-Broadway in 1975 and transferred onto Broadway in the same year due to the production having a sell out run and the show also won 10 out of 12 Tony Award nominations. The show ran for 6,137 performances and closed in 1990. A West End production of the show opened in 1976, in the same year U.S and International tours started. Many international productions opened and a film adaptation was released in 1985. A Broadway revival opened in 2006 and closed after running for just under two years, this production recently transferred to the West End marking the shows first ever West End revival. The production is being dedicated to composer Marvin Hamlisch who died last year. 

The is set in an empty Broadway Theatre where an audition is to take place, it follows 17 veteran dancers who are looking for one last job before it’s too late for them to dance anymore. Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban’s score has to be Broadway at its best; each and every song is catchy. When you walk out the theatre each person is humming a different tune! One thing they manage to do, along with the help of James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante’s book, is create 17 characters that all get an individual story making the audience create a wonderful connection with every single cast member. This is truly an ensemble piece and I’m pretty sure there isn’t anything else out there like this. 

Singin' in the Rain the Musical: Theatre Review

Singin' in the Rain is one of Hollywood's most loved and treasured musicals, although it caused controversy because Debbie Reynolds voice was ironically dubbed in parts, it still remains among people's favourite musicals of all time. Bringing an adaption of the iconic film to the West End would always be a risky thing because you'd have to get it right; otherwise you'd be seen to be making a joke of one of the most loved films from the past 100 years. The show was first put on in London in 1983 where it ran about 2 and a half years at the London Palladium, this adaption then went on tour in the UK in 1994. A Broadway production also played New York in 1985 through to 1986 with London revivals in 2000 and 2004.

In 2011 another revival was put on as part of the Chichester Festival in 2011, the show then announced it would be transferring to the West End where it would replace Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Palace Theatre. Don Lockwood is a Hollywood legend in 1927, alongside Lina Lamont; they make the perfect 'Hollywood couple'. They are huge hits until movies introduce sound into their pictures because Lina has the worst voice! Luckily Don bumps into a young actress called Kathy Sleden, they come up with the idea to dub Lina's voice with Kathy's. Don and Kathy soon fall in love, much to Lina's disapproval because this could ruin her career. By the end of the show Lina is soon shown as the fake she is to the public and Kathy finally gets the attention she deserves.