All stories by Chris Wiegand on BroadwayStars

Thursday, December 8, 2022

Newsies review – ‘tis the season for Disney musical about industrial relations by Chris Wiegand

Troubadour Wembley Park theatre, LondonThis show about young New York paper-sellers has stirring anthems and screwball energy, even if it lacks emotional and political depth Newspaper hawker…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:03PM

Almeida theatre cancels performances of A Streetcar Named Desire as actor withdraws by Chris Wiegand

Patsy Ferran will take over from Lydia Wilson when the London production opens a week late, alongside co-stars Paul Mescal and Anjana Vasan London’s Almeida theatre has cancelled the first…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:48PM
Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Cheryl to make West End theatre debut in 2:22 – A Ghost Story by Chris Wiegand

The star formerly known as Cheryl Tweedy will play Jenny, who believes her new home is haunted, in the hit play by Danny Robins The former Girls Aloud singer Cheryl is to follow in the foots…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:12AM
Wednesday, November 30, 2022

The best theatre to stream this month: Age of Rage, A Scary Little Tempest and more by Chris Wiegand

Our roundup of drama to watch at home includes Ivo van Hove’s epic, boisterous family fun and a dance fable for Christmas “I never think about the audience until the last days before we …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:03PM
Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Crackers review – have yourself a merry ratty Christmas by Chris Wiegand

Polka theatre, LondonCharles Way’s farce has squabbling siblings, festive karaoke and a cranky rodent as a family tries to keep their pet shop afloat In children’s theatre, little ideas …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:12AM
Monday, November 28, 2022

Christmas in the Sunshine review – a jolly holiday of a show by Chris Wiegand

Unicorn theatre, LondonPlaywright Yasmin Joseph and director Ola Ince team up for a drama that captures the warmth of a family reconnecting in Jamaica Here’s a new play with so many fun id…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:03AM
Thursday, November 24, 2022

Elf the Musical review – Buddy’s back with some syrupy showtunes by Chris Wiegand

Dominion theatre, LondonChoreographed candy cane twirling and funny moments from the Will Ferrell film don’t save this show from being a bland corporate Christmas experience Son of a nutcr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42PM
Wednesday, November 23, 2022

James Norton to star in West End version of bestselling novel A Little Life by Chris Wiegand

Author Hanya Yanagihara and director Ivo van Hove adapt ‘mesmerising’ story about effects of child abuse for London stage An adaptation of Hanya Yanagihara’s bestselling novel A Little…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:42AM
Tuesday, November 22, 2022

‘We put Disney in the bin’: Victoria Hamilton-Barritt on being theatre’s top Christmas villain by Chris Wiegand

She starred in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights while eight months pregnant and played Cinderella’s stepmother in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s abruptly closed musical. Now Hamilton-Barritt…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:03AM

Johnny Flynn and Mark Gatiss to play Richard Burton and John Gielgud in new play by Chris Wiegand

Written by Jack Thorne and directed by Sam Mendes, The Motive and the Cue is about the famous 1964 production of Hamlet and will open at the National Theatre Johnny Flynn is to play Richard …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:03AM
Monday, November 21, 2022

Ryan Reynolds to appear at Just for Laughs comedy festival at O2 London by Chris Wiegand

The festival will celebrate 40th anniversary in 2023 with London shows featuring the actor talking to Rob Delaney, plus host of standup acts Just for Laughs, the comedy festival that began i…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18AM
Friday, November 18, 2022

Cinderella review – a rapturous Rodgers and Hammerstein fairytale by Chris Wiegand

Hope Mill theatre, ManchesterEuphoric songs are delivered with splendour as the duo’s musical finally gets its European premiere, with a fantastic lead performance by Grace Mouat A foot in…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:24AM
Wednesday, November 16, 2022

‘An acutely difficult time’: companies respond to Arts Council funding decisions by Harriet Sherwood, Chris Wiegand and Lucy Knight

In our third set of case studies exploring the impact of Arts Council England’s new funding round, we hear from Eclipse in Leeds, Oldham Coliseum and Hexham’s Bloodaxe Books Organisation…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:48AM
Monday, November 14, 2022

Thrilled, relieved, perplexed: three Arts Council funding verdicts by Chris Wiegand, Imogen Tilden and Harriet Sherwood

In our second set of case studies exploring the impact of Arts Council England’s new funding decisions, we hear from Balbir Singh Dance Company, Britten Sinfonia and Little Bulb Organisati…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:54AM

Jellicle clown: Frankie Thompson on her unmissable feline fever dream Catts by Chris Wiegand

Her cat-tastic stage show is a riff on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical that swerves into emotionally raw territory. The Edinburgh fringe sensation talks about trauma, taboos and the importan…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:36AM
Thursday, November 10, 2022

Arts Council funding: organisations head into the unknown amid cuts by Arifa Akbar, Imogen Tilden and Chris Wiegand

In the first of a series of case studies exploring the impact of Arts Council England’s new funding decisions, we consider the view from the Watermill theatre, Welsh National Opera and Pai…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AM
Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Aidan Turner and Jenna Coleman to star in drama about a word-rationed world by Chris Wiegand

The actors will bring a revival of Sam Steiner’s 2015 play Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons to London, Manchester and Brighton, directed by Josie Rourke Jenna Coleman and Aidan Turner ar…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:06AM
Tuesday, November 1, 2022

The best theatre to stream this month: The Book of Dust, Four Quartets and the start of panto season by Chris Wiegand

Our roundup of drama to watch at home includes Alan Ayckbourn’s 87th play, live performance from Ukraine and lost showtunes The Bridge theatre’s big Christmas show from 2021, based on Ph…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:24AM
Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Sophie Okonedo to play Medea at new West End theatre by Chris Wiegand

The production, beginning next February, will be directed by Dominic Cooke for @sohoplace in London Sophie Okonedo is to star as Medea at the new West End theatre @sohoplace in a production…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:55AM

The Lavender Hill Mob review – Ealing’s golden comedy loses its lustre by Chris Wiegand

Everyman theatre, Cheltenham This adaptation of the postwar caper has its moments but lacks the adroit humour and tautness of the film Ealing Studios’ 1951 comedy of bowler-hatted banking …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:55AM
Monday, October 17, 2022

‘Sanitised’ new musical about Michael Jackson to open in London by Chris Wiegand

MJ the Musical, based around the making of the singer’s 1992-93 Dangerous world tour, won four Tony awards in New York A new musical about Michael Jackson that has been feted in New York y…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:03AM
Friday, October 14, 2022

Stranger Sings! review – goofy musical piggybacks on Netflix hit by Chris Wiegand

Vaults, LondonAn exuberant but baggy Stranger Things parody hardly turns its source material upside down It has a pulsating synth soundtrack and brought Kate Bush an overdue No 1 so why not …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:03AM
Friday, October 7, 2022

The Coral review – urgent parable of poverty and the one percent by Chris Wiegand

Finborough theatre, LondonGeorg Kaiser’s century-old call for a societal reset may not always hit the mark, but it is given an invigorated panache by Collide theatre company What a day, as…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:55PM

Good Luck, Studio review – the toddlers’ TV show that goes wrong by Chris Wiegand

Mercury theatre, ColchesterAn uneven new play from Mischief Theatre skews darker than their hit comedies, with jarring tragedy amid the clowning The Play That Goes Wrong’s Mischief Theatre…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:33AM
Monday, October 3, 2022

The best theatre to stream this month: Billie Holiday’s blues, McKellen’s Lear and Newsies by Chris Wiegand

Our roundup of stage shows to watch at home includes a Tony award-winning musical, international dance and a radical dramatisation of the crucifixion story Broadway stage sensation Audra McD…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:19AM
Tuesday, September 20, 2022

The cold never bothered them anyway: how Frozen made musical magic by Chris Wiegand

The set, costume, video and lighting designers of Disney’s London production – now in its second year in the West End – break the ice about its frocks, crystals and astonishing effects…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:25PM
Monday, September 19, 2022

Theatre world pays tribute after death of Marcello Magni by Chris Wiegand

Italian actor, who often worked with his wife Kathryn Hunter, was a co-founder of Complicité, a gifted clown and a voiceover artist for Pingu Tributes have been paid to the actor Marcello M…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:49AM
Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going to Happen review – seriously funny by Chris Wiegand

Roundabout @ Summerhall, EdinburghSamuel Barnett is remarkable in Marcelo Dos Santos’s one-man play which analyses joke-craft and a comedian’s compulsions Towards the end of this enthral…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:07AM
Monday, August 15, 2022

Cassie and the Lights review – family drama glows in the darkness by Chris Wiegand

Underbelly, EdinburghAlex Howarth’s hugely moving play has plenty of humour and a homemade aesthetic, while asking tough questions about parenting and the law When Cassie and her younger s…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:54AM
Sunday, August 14, 2022

Yippee Ki Yay review – Die Hard, starring a knackered dad in a vest by Chris Wiegand

Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh The Bruce Willis action film has had a big impact on superfan Richard Marsh. He retells the story in rhyme, with his finger for a gun Richard Marsh has clearly seen…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:12AM
Wednesday, August 10, 2022

False Start review – sprinter’s nightmare makes for pacy theatre by Chris Wiegand

Summerhall, EdinburghThe pressures faced by elite athletes are explored in a dynamic show presented as part of the fringe’s Belgian Selection A gun is fired and the agonised figure before …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:42AM

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