All stories by Mark Shenton on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Frank Wildhorn’s Wonderland Announces Casting for New U.K. Touring Production by Mark Shenton

Kerry Ellis will play Alice at some venues.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:33PM

New Musical From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads Celebrates David Bowie by Mark Shenton

The show will debut at the same time as the London Lazarus.

SOURCE: Playbill at 09:28AM

The Last Tango Set for West End Run by Mark Shenton

Dance duo Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace bring their final show to London.

SOURCE: Playbill at 09:20AM

Mark Shenton: They may be an endangered species, but critics still matter by Mark Shenton

The ongoing role, vitality and necessity of critical discourse is a theme I’ve regularly addressed in this column. While critics have been

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Tim Minchin: ‘I’m not steeped in musical theatre – but that’s just what I bring to it’ by Mark Shenton

Tim Minchin is more than a little anxious. His latest stage musical Groundhog Day is about to open at the Old Vic

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 05:00PM

Mark Shenton: Nothing piques my curiosity like mixed reviews by Mark Shenton

There’s no such thing as true objectivity when it comes to art – a critic can only ever report her or his

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Monday, August 15, 2016

Mark Shenton’s week: My travels in the pursuit of theatre by Mark Shenton

I’ve been known to make some eccentric journeys to catch up with shows that I could have seen on my doorstep. Earlier

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Saturday, August 13, 2016

What’s Hot in London: August 6-12 by Mark Shenton

Harry Potter does boffo business at the bookshops as well as theatre, Lloyd Webber wears a triple crown on Broadway and 42nd Street returns to Drury Lane.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Friday, August 12, 2016

Danielle Tarento: ‘I love Wicked and Mamma Mia!, but it’s not the theatre I want to make’ by Mark Shenton

We may not yet have had a female artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company or the National Theatre, but there’s no

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 01:07PM

Mark Shenton’s top venues: Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh by Mark Shenton

There are, at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 294 venues calling themselves theatre or performance spaces. But there’s only one Traverse: a

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Thursday, August 11, 2016

Mark Shenton’s theatre picks: August 11 by Mark Shenton

Outside Edinburgh, it’s a big week big for musical theatre, with the world premiere of Groundhog Day marking the return of composer and

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Mark Shenton: Edinburgh presents an intimidating thrill by Mark Shenton

“Little ripples. That’s how it starts. Little ripples getting bigger. And then suddenly you’re eye to eye with a dinosaur. The Edinburgh

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Tuesday, August 9, 2016

U.K.’s Revolution Mix Teams with National Theatre to Tell Black British Stories by Mark Shenton

Nationwide project will challenge inequality in theatre.

SOURCE: Playbill at 10:09AM

Mark Shenton: Will Harry Potter have ‘the Hamilton effect’ on the West End? by Mark Shenton

Let’s call it the Hamilton effect: one show that comes to dominate the theatrical landscape as if there is no other show

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Monday, August 8, 2016

Fiasco's Into the Woods to Welcome New Cast Members by Mark Shenton

Three British actors join original U.S. ensemble.

SOURCE: Playbill at 09:12AM

New Musical About Rosa Parks in Development in London by Mark Shenton

Workshop expected to lead to full production.

SOURCE: Playbill at 06:10AM

Mark Shenton’s week: Harry Potter and the age of theatrical marathons by Mark Shenton

Theatre is a shared, communal experience; but never is that more true than in the theatrical marathon day. One of the particular

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Saturday, August 6, 2016

Extra 250,000 Tickets for West End's Harry Potter Sell Out on Day of Release by Mark Shenton

Fans snap up all tickets for performances through December 10, 2017.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:14AM

What’s Hot in London: July 30-August 5 by Mark Shenton

London’s theatrical wizardry continues to dominate headlines, Ben Brantley spends a month in London, and the Edinburgh Festival begins.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM
Friday, August 5, 2016

Kate O’Flynn: ‘I didn’t want to be typecast as tough, damaged and northern’ by Mark Shenton

With a mischievous laugh, Kate O’Flynn admits: “I’ve never done Edinburgh before, or even been to the festival. Isn’t that naughty?” But

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 09:00AM

42nd Street To Be Revived at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane by Mark Shenton

Mark Bramble will direct the backstage musical at its original London home.

SOURCE: Playbill at 06:48AM

Mark Shenton’s top venues: Theatre Royal Haymarket by Mark Shenton

There are few playhouses in the world that have such a rich theatrical pedigree as the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. The current structure

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Thursday, August 4, 2016

Mark Shenton’s theatre picks: August 4 by Mark Shenton

The Edinburgh International Festival and Festival Fringe both officially kick off on August 5 – but even if there’s a temptation to

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Mark Shenton: The critics keep their claws in as Cats returns to Broadway by Mark Shenton

In John Guare’s 1990 Broadway play Six Degrees of Separation, a married couple of cultured New Yorkers are discussing Cats: “You said

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Guys and Dolls to Shutter in West End by Mark Shenton

The transfer from Chichester is to close August 21, four months earlier than planned.

SOURCE: Playbill at 09:21AM

Mark Shenton: Young people aren’t reading criticism, so who is? by Mark Shenton

When I was talking to some graduating students at the Musical Theatre Academy recently, I asked how many of them read theatre

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Monday, August 1, 2016

J.K. Rowling Says Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Marks End of the Series by Mark Shenton

The creator of Harry Potter says, “Harry is done now.”

SOURCE: Playbill at 09:54AM

Lin-Manuel Miranda's 21 Chump Street to Make U.K. Premiere by Mark Shenton

It will be part of the fourth annual From Page to Stage season of workshops and readings at London's Tristan Bates Theatre.

SOURCE: Playbill at 09:50AM

25th Anniversary Performance of Miss Saigon to Be Screened in U.K. Cinemas by Mark Shenton

The screening of the filmed version of the hit musical will be seen October 16.

SOURCE: Playbill at 09:44AM

Mark Shenton’s week: Sometimes theatre critics should tread more carefully by Mark Shenton

Critics are often in danger of being used as merely cheap copywriters – so cheap, they don’t even pay us when we

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Saturday, July 30, 2016

What’s Hot in London: July 23-29 by Mark Shenton

Reviews (and some of the secrets) are out for Harry Potter, and re-runs for two 1960s hits, Half a Sixpence and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, return.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM