Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Les Dennis. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Les Dennis. Sort by date Show all posts

Friday 31 March 2023

Cast Announced for 42nd Street Tour


David Ian for Crossroads Live and Jonathan Church Theatre Productions are thrilled to announce that Samantha Womack will star as Dorothy Brock, alongside Michael Praed as Julian Marsh, Faye Tozer as Maggie Jones, Les Dennis as Bert Barry and Nicole-Lily Baisden as Peggy Sawyer in the UK tour of 42nd Street.

The cast will be completed by Sam Lips as Billy Lawlor, with Erica-Jayne Alden, George Beet, Charlie Bishop, Kevin Brewis, Olly Christopher, Briana Craig, Jordan Crouch, Rhianna Dorris, Ashleigh Graham, Alyn Hawke, Aimee Hodnett, Connor Hughes, Deja Linton, Sarah-Marie Maxwell, Greta McKinnon, Ben Middleton, Benjamin Mundy, Anthony Ofoegbu and Jessica Wright.

Following its run at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, the production will visit Leeds, Bristol, Plymouth, Cardiff, Glasgow, Milton Keynes, Liverpool, Manchester, Southampton, Newcastle, Woking and Belfast. Current tour schedule below, with further dates to be announced. 42ndstreettour.com

Samantha Womack most recently starred as the White Witch in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at the Gillian Lynne Theatre. Her other credits include the role of Rachel in The Girl on the Train both in the West End and on tour, Morticia Addams in The Addams Family UK tour, Nellie Forbush in the Lincoln Center’s production of South Pacific at the Barbican and on tour, and Miss Adelaide in Michael Grandage’s production of Guys and Dolls alongside Patrick Swayze. Her screen credits include Ronni Mitchell in EastEnders, Mandy in Game On, the titular role in Imogen’s Face and The Kingsman franchise.

Michael Praed’s theatre credits include Tom Beauregard in Darker Shores at Theatre Royal Windsor and on tour, George in War of the Worlds at the Dominion Theatre, Alex in Aspects of Love at the Prince of Wales Theatre, Lawrence Jameson in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Dexter Haven in High Society and Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music all on UK tours. His television credits include the role of Frank Clayton in Emmerdale, Prince Michael in Dynasty and the titular role in Robin of Sherwood.

Faye Tozer is best known as a member of BRIT Award winning pop band Steps. Her theatrical credits include Singin’ In The Rain at Sadler’s Wells and on tour in the UK and Canada, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at the Apollo Theatre, and touring productions of In The Spotlight, Over The Rainbow, Me And My Girl, Love Shack and Tell Me On A Sunday. Faye was also a runner-up in BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2018.

Les Dennis most recently starred as Grandad Trotter in Only Fools and Horses The Musical. His other West End credits include Wilbur in Hairspray opposite Michael Ball at the London Coliseum, Amos Hart in Chicago and Bill in Me and My Girl. His touring theatre credits include Art, Legally Blonde, High School Musical 2 and Uncle Fester in the musical comedy The Addams Family. His many TV credits include Michael Rodwell in Coronation Street and a fictional version of himself in Extras.

Nicole-Lily Baisden’s theatre credits include the role of Nabulungi in The Book of Mormon, both in the West End and on tour, and Hope Harcourt in Anything Goes at the Barbican Theatre and on tour.

Sam Lips’ theatre credits include the role of Don Lockwood in Singin’ In The Rain and Scott Hastings in Strictly Ballroom, both in the UK and Canada. His Broadway credits Cats, Chicago, Pippin, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella and The Cher Show.

This new production will be directed by Jonathan Church (Singin’ in the Rain, The Drifters Girl) with choreography and design by Olivier Award winners Bill Deamer and Rob Jones, lighting design by Ben Cracknell, sound design by Ian Dickinson and Gareth Tucker, video design by Jon Driscoll, musical supervision by Jennifer Whyte and orchestrations by Larry Blank.

This iconic song-and-dance spectacular features a hit parade of toe-tapping songs, including the title number, “We’re In The Money”, “Lullaby of Broadway”, “Shuffle Off To Buffalo” and “I Only Have Eyes For You”. 42nd Street is a timeless and inspiring showbiz fairy tale that combines breath-taking tap dance routines, backstage intrigue, classic romance and delightful comedy to dazzling effect.

Fresh off the bus from small-town America, young and beautiful Peggy Sawyer arrives in New York City dreaming of her name in lights. She quickly catches the eye of a big-time director and lands a spot in the chorus line of Broadway’s newest show…and when the leading lady gets injured, Peggy gets her shot at stardom.

42nd Street is a larger-than-life, massively entertaining celebration of musicals and the irrepressible spirit of Broadway that’s guaranteed to lift anyone’s spirits.

42nd Street has music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Al Dubin, and book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, based on the novel by Bradford Ropes. Original direction and dances were by Gower Champion. The show was originally produced on Broadway by David Merrick.

The use of all songs is by arrangement with Warner Bros. and EMI Publishing Ltd.

Wednesday 17 May 2017

The Addams Family (UK Tour), New Wimbledon Theatre | Review


The Addams Family (UK Tour)
New Wimbledon Theatre
Reviewed on Tuesday May 16th 2017 by Olivia Mitchell
★★

The Addams Family musical comedy first made an appearance on the Broadway stage in 2010 and has finally made its way over the pond for its UK premiere. This version of the much loved cartoon series family, sees them struggle as their daughter Wednesday falls in love with a 'normal' boy. In an attempt to make good, Wednesday organises a dinner party between the two families. What ensues are secrets, wackiness and a whole load of kooky chaos.

The production is wonderful and great to look at. Diego Pitarch's set is constantly changing and extremely layered but doesn't look overcrowded or messy and the Gothic feeling is achieved extremely well. The lighting and sound effects work well alongside it and the elaborate costumes and make up add a whole other, very effective, dimension.

Samantha Womack's Moticia is surprisingly funny and suitably dark and stiff but at times it feels she is too reliant on people already knowing the character instead of making it her own. Overall though she gives a very good performance, especially in the tango scene!

Cameron Blakely is the standout of the show as Gomez. He is passionate and energetic throughout, with a constant humour and stage presence. His little camp moments are hilarious and his voice is outstanding. His relationship with the whole cast is brilliant but especially with his daughter Wednesday.

Played by Carrie Hope Fletcher, Wednesday is witty and sharp whilst being suitably kooky. Her vocals are fantastic and she seems at ease on the stage. Her incredibly clear voice works wonderfully with large belting moments and her precise diction is notable especially during 'Pulled' which seems to be an audience favourite!

Oliver Ormson plays Wednesday's love interest, the all-American Ohio born, Lucas. The pair work well together but Fletcher is definitely the stronger of the two performance wise. Les Dennis is strong as the quirky uncle Fester and has the audience laughing with him as well acting as the narrator at points. His character does seem a little out of place at times and not developed enough to warrant a full song but Dennis pulls it off well.

Charlotte Page is hilarious as the rhyme talking mother, her voice is brilliant and she frequently steals the show! Her partner is played by Dale Rapley who is good but again feels a little under developed.

Andrew Lippa's music is full of life (and death), colour and vibrance and certainly has something for everyone. There are energetic moments (helped along by Alistair David's brilliantly slick choreography), hilarious moments and more contemplative moments which all combine for a lovely production.

This is a wonderful production which will hopefully see a West End life after its tour. There are genuine laugh out loud moments which are sure to be enjoyed by people of all ages. Overall, a stellar production.

The Addams Family is at the New Wimbledon Theatre until the 20th May before continuing its tour.

photo credit: Matt Martin

Wednesday 27 September 2017

The Addams Family (UK Tour), New Victoria Theatre | Review


New Victoria Theatre
Reviewed on Tuesday 26th September 2017 by Valerie Field

The spooky, kooky classic, The Addams Family has made its way to the New Victoria theatre, Woking in its spectacular UK tour.

The Addams Family first become known to the public in the 1960’s as a TV show, they then made their way to the big screen in 1991 and on finally to Broadway in 2010. This production is the first ever professional one in the UK and has received brilliant reviews since it opened.

The story is about the very weird and spooky family whose daughter, Wednesday falls in love with a ‘normal’ boy. This causes many problems and some hilarious situations and she tries to tell her overprotective family and discovers that no one is really as normal as they seem. 

The energy was up right from the get go of the show. During the iconic opening theme tune music, the entire audience joined in with the signature clicks which was very funny and set the night off on a fantastic foot.

Carrie Hope Fletcher as Wednesday Addams and Cameron Blakely as Gomez were the stand out performances for me, with fantastic acting and singing from both. Cameron was suitably wacky and humourous whilst Carrie was suitably moody and full of love.

Samantha Womack looked great, but I felt that she didn't have the presence you would have expected from her character of Morticia. Whilst she looks the role and embodies the character well, she was a little underwhelming at times and could have played the character up a little more.

Les Dennis was unable to perform as Fester but his understudy, Scott Paige did very well as the man who’s in love with the moon. Dickon Gough' was the biggest surprise as Lurch. When he burst into song at the end, the whole audience were shocked at his fantastic voice.


All the scenery, stage sets and special effects were brilliant and all in all it was a very entertaining and enjoyable show. I would have liked it to be a little more spooky but its definitely worth a visit before the tour ends.

The Addams Family is at the New Victoria Theatre until September 30th before continuing its tour.

Friday 9 December 2016

She Loves Me, Menier Chocolate Factory | Review

She Loves Me is a perfect mix of over the top sweetness and sincerity- pure joy to watch


She Loves Me
Menier Chocolate Factory
Reviewed on Thursday 8th December 2016 by Olivia Mitchell
★★★★★

Let's start this review by saying that She Loves Me at the Menier Chocolate Factory is definitely in my top 5 shows of 2016. I loved pretty much everything and really couldn't have asked for more from this idealistic but delightful show.

The basic idea of She Loves Me is that Amalia (Scarlett Strallen) and Georg (Mark Umbers) work together and detest each other but don't realise they are sending anonymous lonely hearts correspondences to one another whilst falling in love with the person on the page. There are also two sub-plots where we follow a heartbreaking time for the store owner Maraczek (Les Dennis) and the love trials of the giddy, Ilona (Katherine Kingsley).

Admittedly the story is cliched and somewhat predictable but that doesn't matter because for two and a half hours I escaped every day life to visit a sickly sweet and nostalgic world full of wonderful moments, sweet smells and fabulous music. Matthew White's revival of the 1963 show has the humour, wit, charm and above all sincerity to make it a truly great production.

The set by is fairly simple but super effective. The four small revolves which transition each scene to the next perfectly, fit so well in the intimate Menier Chocolate Factory but I can definitely see the beautiful set being easily transferred to a much bigger West End stage (which hopefully it will!) The shop design is especially beautiful with lots of intricate details which create a spectacle to look at. 

Scarlett Strallen is outstanding as Amalia Balash, her beautiful soprano voice rings out effortlessly and her comedic timing is impeccable. She makes  over the top and crazily idealistic Amalia, lovable and relatable- a positively dazzling performance. Mark Umbers as Georg Nowack is equally brilliant. Showing a number of different sides and gradually transitioning from a stiff, cold man to a romantic, caring gentleman. Each ensemble member gives an individual and memorable performance. Katherine Kingsley is hilarious as Ilona and had the audience laughing out loud throughout the show; every movement and facial expression is perfectly timed to create a fantastic character.

There's not a weak link in the cast and this whole production is a sweet as a music box's tune. I'm definitely hoping for a West End transfer as She Loves Me is sure to delight any audience member and make them fall in love with this sweet, festive, heart-warming musical.

She Loves Me runs at the Menier Chocolate Factory until 4th March

Thursday 21 September 2017

The Addams Family (UK Tour), Bristol Hippodrome | Review


Bristol Hippodrome
Reviewed on Tuesday 19th September 2017 by Isobelle Desbrow

Full disclosure this show is a must see for all, with a mixture of pure wit, funny lines and the occasional sexual innuendo underpinned by a fabulous musical score, everything hit the right notes, especially the actors.

The scene changes were smooth, and visually or musically pleasing, never a dull moment. The acting was exquisite, Cameron Blakely as Gomez was the perfect mix of enthusiasm and misguided sentimentality. Morticia played by the stunning Samantha Womack was perfectly caste, an incredible voice matched with brilliant characterisation. Carrie Hope Fletcher played a very powerful Wednesday Addams, with pitch perfect harmonies, she was a thrill to watch. The relationship she portrayed with Lukas Beineke played by Oliver Ormson was magical. ‘Crazier than You’ was spectacular with perfect vocals and staging. 

Without giving away too much Lurch certainly didn’t leave much to imagination with well timed movements and grunts, Dickon Gough is definitely a wonderful addition to the cast, especially towards the end!

A special mention must go to Scott Paige who stepped into rather large shoes to play Uncle Fester as Les Dennis was out for the evening. Scott was one of my highlights for the evening as he had wonderful vocals and characterisation, he brought so much to the character and I would love to see him one day stepping out into more of a leading role.

The music was well played and perfectly underpinned the drama of the  musical. The costumes perfectly brought to life the outrageous, kooky Addams family world, especially with the exceptionally detailed ancestors. Each of whom were played fantastically by the ensemble and it was clear how much character development had been done in the rehearsal room. They also added a whole other dimension to full cast pieces such as ‘When You’re an Addams’ and ‘Full Disclosure’.

Overall this show is witty, modern and leaves nothing to the imagination. With updated jokes, amazing vocals and spooktacular acting it is a must see for all! 

Thursday 5 October 2017

The Addams Family (UK Tour), Grand Opera House | Review


The Addams Family (UK Tour)
The Grand Opera House, Belfast
Reviewed on Tuesday October 3rd by Damien Murray

This Irish and UK premiere tour production of the musical comedy, The Addams Family was an entertaining and fast-paced production of Andrew Lippa’s funny musical about a less than conventional family and its ancestors.

Right from the off, it was obvious that this was not going to be ‘One Normal Night’, as – during the overture – a finger-clicking hand appeared through the letter box; the hand of an unknown person (in this case, probably a ‘stage hand’!!).

Mainly played out on the superbly old and run-down eerie mansion befitting to such a weird and spooky family, the functional set designs, with moveable staircases and great use of the two side balconies, helped greatly with the good pace of this production.

Despite the family’s appearance, values and lifestyle, this atmospheric piece is not so much scary as it is a funny musical with great one-liners that, thankfully, are never just throw away lines for the experienced cast.

We were then introduced to a mixed bag of weird ancestors who looked almost normal when compared to the central family of the piece.


They made up a well-used ensemble, which, despite its relative lack of numbers, produced some excellent harmonies during choral pieces (e.g. 'One Normal Night' and 'Move Toward The Darkness') and provided solid support throughout in vocals, dance, movement, visuals and as a distraction during scene changes.

While the Act 1 finale, 'Full Disclosure' (Part 2) was a great production number, the orchestra and cast rose to the challenge here with the varied and difficult score, which - apart from the variety of tempo changes from one song to the next - had to cope with a degree of musical fragmentation caused by lots of start/stops throughout many songs and challenging underscoring.

While the great musicality of the tango rhythms made numbers like 'Trapped', 'Secrets' and 'Not Today' stand out here, it was the orchestra’s sheer accuracy of performance and the visual impact of the dancers in the production number, 'Tango De Amour', that combined to make this an irresistible musical highlight.

'Pulled' was another highlight because of Wednesday’s strong vocal performance, while the flamenco flavoured music of 'Let’s Live Before We Die' impressed and 'But Love' provided a little vaudeville-style distraction between scenes.

There were some soft ballads in the varied score, including the gentle, 'The Moon And Me', while 'Move Toward The Darkness' was unusual in that it is rare that a ballad is used as a finale number, but it did allow for some great choral work.It was good to see the reprise of the up-tempo, 'When You’re An Addams', being used to send all home happy after the ballad finale.

Choreography was a strong element in this production and the concepts were well-executed right from the opening production number, 'When You’re An Addams', when we knew that there was going to be no problems with dance, as this song’s varied choreography included lots of arm movements and samples of line dancing, the bunny hop and the twist. The moon ballet was well-staged ('The Moon And Me'), while it was a nice touch to use a ‘young’ Wednesday to highlight the emotions of the song during Happy Sad.


The nightmarish family in this macabre musical was effortlessly brought to life by the talented principals, including Cameron Blakely as the Latino-looking and hen-pecked husband, Gomez, who supplied some touching moments in the song, 'Happy Sad', yet also managed to deliver the song’s humorous lines on cue, while always maintaining the right comic timing to get the laughs when needed. 

Samantha Womack as the very much in-charge and matriarchal Morticia was both tall and elegant and looked the part in her long black ankle-length dress and long black hair like Crystal Gale. Boasting dead-pan looks that could kill, this was a very confident performance from a total all-rounder with a great voice and good stage presence who perfectly captured her character’s dry wit. She also proved to be a most impressive dancer, especially in the song and dance number, 'Just Around The Corner', which allowed her to show her macabre emotions of joy.

However, for me, the star of the show was Carrie Hope Fletcher’s manipulative daughter, Wednesday. This amazingly talented girl is a strong performer with a great voice and real stage presence and this was highlighted in her performance throughout, but especially during the ‘coming of age’ song, 'Pulled'.

In the absence of Les Dennis, due to illness, his understudy, Scott Paige, was more than deserving of this role and impressed greatly both in his acting, comic timing and vocal ability, especially as he was acting so much ‘out of age’ in this part. Despite playing the loveably crazy uncle, Fester, he provided lovely vocals during his gentle ballad, 'The Moon And Me' and as the show’s narrator character.

Dickon Gough had a dream role as the ever-growling zombie-like butler, Lurch, and played one of musical theatre’s great non-speaking parts exceptionally well, while Grant McIntyre, as Pugsley, played the younger brother with a grown-up attitude well.

There was good support from Charlotte Page’s fully-disclosed Alice, Dale Rapley’s typical American parent, Mal, and his college student son, Lucas, played by Oliver Ormson, while Valda Aviks’ eccentric Grandma was good, but I would like to have seen more of her character’s outspoken and irreverent attitude. 

Perfectly-timed sound effects and special visual effects like the thunder and lightening, the monster in the box and the use of individual ancestors in the portrait painting all added to the success of this slick production.

Thanks to the brilliant lighting, costumes, props, make-up and hair, this was a visually stunning show from its strong opening to its unusual ballad ending … absolutely ‘finger-clicking good’ throughout!

The Addams Family runs at the Grad Opera House, Belfast until October 7th.


Photo credit: Matt Martin