Friday 9 June 2023
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at the Southwark Playhouse review: A masterclass in storytelling
Southwark Playhouse
★★★★★
If you're wanting to see arguably the most mesmerising production in London right now, then look no further than The Curious Case of Benjamin Button the musical at Southwark Playhouse. From the stunning writing to the exceptional performances, this production is a moving celebration of life and the boundless capacity to find joy in unexpected places.
The writing (book and lyrics by Jethro Compton and music and lyrics by Darren Clark) is nothing short of extraordinary. It beautifully captures the essence of F. Scott Fitzgerald's timeless story, seamlessly translating it into a theatrical masterpiece which sweeps you up and takes your heart on an incredible journey. The script is both poignant and thought-provoking, delving deep into the profound themes of aging, love, and the significance of every moment we encounter. The fast paced lyrics are witty and woven together so well. The musical tenderly tugs at the heartstrings, leaving the audience reflecting on their own lives and the choices that shape our existence.
One cannot help but be enthralled by this show which really is the whole package. Every single moment feels well thought out and you can't help but notice how much care has gone into creating this show. A very strong aspect of this musical is the attention to the sound and lighting which accompanies the story. Zoe Spurr's lighting design has whimsical elements and the interplay between light and shadow creates a really magical visual tapestry, accentuating the emotional depth of the narrative. Each scene is carefully crafted to transport the audience through the passage of time, immersing us in the ever-changing world of Benjamin Button. Luke Swaffield's sound design further enhances the atmosphere, adding depth and texture to the production, as well as being perfectly balanced so that the music packs a punch and hits you in the gut but doesn't come across too loud or over the top.
Cast wise, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button features universally delightful performances. Each member delivers stellar vocals, acting and music (each person plays various instruments throughout), bringing the characters to life with authenticity and charisma. Their vocal prowess and impeccable timing are truly commendable, adding another layer of brilliance to an already captivating production. The chemistry among the cast members is palpable, creating an enchanting dynamic that draws the audience deeper into the story.
It's hard to mention specific people because the cast are a constellation of stars but mention must go to Jamie Parker who is astounding as Benjamin Button. His performance is incredibly layered and transformative. It really is a masterclass in how physicality and subtle changes can completely make a performance. As his love interest, Molly Osbourne is glorious and also shows excellent growth and character development. Across the board the vocals are divine so hopefully a cast recording is on the way!
This is a perfectly wrapped show that delivers on every base.
To sum it up, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button the musical at Southwark Playhouse is an absolute triumph. With its stunning writing, this production is a must-see for anyone who loves good storytelling. It's the sort of show you want to bottle up and bring out when you're feeling down. I wish I could see it again for the first time but I know that any subsequent visits will be just as endearing and wonderful. Don't miss your chance to embark on this enchanting journey of love, loss, and the beauty found in every moment of life.
Reviewed on Wednesday 7th June by Olivia Mitchell
Tuesday 31 December 2019
Olivia's Top Shows of 2019
Thursday 5 October 2017
The Addams Family (UK Tour), Grand Opera House | Review
Tuesday 10 January 2023
Aimee Lou Wood and John McCrea to Join Cast of Cabaret
Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club in London’s West End are delighted to announce that BAFTA Award winner Aimee Lou Wood will play ‘Sally Bowles’, Olivier Award nominee John McCrea will play ‘The Emcee’ and Nathan Ives-Moiba will play ‘Cliff Bradshaw’ from 13 February 2022 until 27 May 2023. kitkat.club
Aimee Lou Wood said today “I’ve wanted to be Sally Bowles since I was around 10 so this is really special. I’m unbelievably excited and having the greatest time in rehearsals. The production is so wonderful and I feel honoured to be stepping into this beautiful team of people!”
John McCrea said today “I’m thrilled to be taking on the iconic role of the Emcee in this ground-breaking production of Cabaret. It’s an absolute honour to be joining this amazing company of artists.”
Aimee Lou Wood is best known for her portrayal of Aimee Gibbs in all three series of the Netflix series Sex Education for which she won the BAFTA Award for Best Female Comedy Performance. She recently starred in the critically acclaimed film Living opposite Bill Nighy. Her stage credits include Sonya in Uncle Vanya at the Harold Pinter Theatre in the West End and Downstate at the National Theatre.
John McCrea created the role of Jamie New in the smash hit musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at both the Sheffield Crucible Theatre and the West End’s Apollo Theatre. For his performance he was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical and won the Most Promising Newcomer at the Critics Circle Theatre Awards, the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Actor in a Leading role in a Musical and the UK Theatre Award for Best Musical Performer. He recently appeared as Max in Daddy at the Almeida Theatre and his film credits include Artie in the hit Disney film, Cruella.
Nathan Ives-Moiba’s many theatre credits include As You Like It at the National Theatre, My Children My Africa at Trafalgar Studios, Our Country’s Good for Out of Joint, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, And Did Those Feet and Tull, all at the Octagon Theatre. For his performance in Tull, Nathan was nominated for the Best Newcomer at the Manchester Theatre Awards.
At certain performances, the role of Sally Bowles will be played by Emily Benjamin.
As a member of the original cast of this production, Emily has been a swing and understudy to the role of Sally Bowles since the show opened. Her other West End theatre credits include Bat Out of Hell The Musical at the London Coliseum and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at the Bridge Theatre.
The final performance for Callum Scott Howells as ‘The Emcee’ and Madeline Brewer as ‘Sally Bowles’ will be Saturday 28 January 2023. Sid Sagar’s final performance as ‘Cliff Bradshaw’ will be Saturday 11 February 2023.
Between 30 January 2023 – 11 February 2023 the role of ‘The Emcee’ will be played by Matthew Gent and the role of ‘Sally Bowles’ will be played by Emily Benjamin. At certain performances the role of ‘Sally Bowles’ will be played by Sally Frith.
Matthew Gent’s West End theatre credits include Sweeney Todd at the Adelphi Theatre, The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre and Les Misérables at the Queen’s Theatre. His other theatre credits include Rags at the Park Theatre, The Queen of the Mist at Charing Cross Theatre, The Water Babies at Leicester Curve, The Carnival of the Animals at Riverside Studios and Taboo at Brixton Club House.
The cast also includes Vivien Parry as ‘Fraulein Schneider’, Richard Katz as ‘Herr Schultz’, Danny Mahoney as ‘Ernst Ludwig’ and Michelle Bishop as ‘Fraulein Kost’. The cast is completed by Gabriela Benedetti, Charles Croysdill, Laura Delany, Sally Frith, Matthew Gent, Ying Ue Li, Ela Lisondra, Chris O’Mara, Grant Neal, Hicaro Nicolai, Adam Taylor, Toby Turpin, Patrick Wilden and Sophie Maria Wojna.
The Prologue Company currently includes Rachel Benson, Ami Benton, Laura Braid, Reuben Greeph, James Hastings, Samantha Ho, Emma Holt, Liz Kamille, Andrew Linnie, Aine McLoughlin and Callum Sterling.
This unique production of Cabaret opened in December 2021 to critical and audience acclaim, widely praised as the ultimate theatrical experience. In April 2022 the production won a record-breaking seven Olivier Awards, the most for any musical revival in Olivier history. The production has also won three prestigious Critics Circle Awards and most recently the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Design for designer Tom Scutt.
One of the most successful musicals of all time Cabaret features the songs Wilkommen, Don’t Tell Mama, Mein Herr, Maybe This Time, Money and the title number. It has music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, book by Joe Masteroff. Based on the play by John Van Druten and stories by Christopher Isherwood.
Cabaret is directed by Rebecca Frecknall, set and costume design is by Tom Scutt with choreography by Julia Cheng. Musical supervision is by Jennifer Whyte and musical direction is by Ben Ferguson with lighting design by Isabella Byrd and sound design by Nick Lidster. The casting director is Stuart Burt and the associate director is Jordan Fein.
Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club is produced by Ambassador Theatre Group Productions and Underbelly.
Friday 19 November 2021
My Fair Lady to Open at the London Coliseum
New York’s Lincoln Center Theater’s critically acclaimed and multi award-winning production of Lerner & Loewe’s much loved MY FAIR LADY will transfer to the London Coliseum for a limited summer engagement in what will be the first major West End revival of the show for 21 years. The season comes as part of the ongoing celebrated tradition of summer musicals at the London Coliseum. The perfect way to celebrate London’s theatre scene as it blossoms once more after the pandemic. Performances begin on 7 May 2022 with an opening night on 18 May 2022.
Tickets will go on sale to the general public on 23 November 2021 at 10am. For the latest news and to be amongst the first to access tickets please sign up to the mailing list at www.myfairladymusical.co.uk
Directed by Bartlett Sher, this sublime production, which premiered in the spring of 2018 at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater, was the winner of the Tony Award for Best Costume Design, 5 Outer Critics’ Circle Awards including Best Musical Revival, the Drama League Award for Outstanding Musical Revival, and the Drama Desk Awards for Best Musical Revival and Costume Design. The London production will feature the English National Opera’s award-winning Orchestra playing Frederick Loewe’s ravishing score.
Bartlett Sher said: “Getting a chance to revisit Shaw's extraordinary story of class and privilege in a new age, and especially for London audiences, is a rare and special event. And I am also thrilled to be back at the ENO and the Coliseum, a perfect space for this epic musical.”
“Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady has returned to Broadway in a smashing new production from Bartlett Sher (The Sound of Music, The King and I).”
The Guardian
“Lavish revival of Lerner and Loewe’s 1956 masterwork…”
The Washington Post
My Fair Lady tells the story of Eliza Doolittle, a young Cockney flower seller, and Henry Higgins, a linguistics professor who is determined to transform her into his idea of a “proper lady”. But who is really being transformed?
With a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, MY FAIR LADY boasts a score including the classic songs “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “Get Me to the Church on Time,” “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” “On the Street Where You Live,” “The Rain in Spain,” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.”
“Thrilling! Glorious and better than it ever was! A marvellous and transformative revival.”
New York Times
Adapted from George Bernard Shaw’s play and Gabriel Pascal’s motion picture Pygmalion, Lerner & Loewe’s MY FAIR LADY premiered on Broadway in March 1956, winning 6 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and becoming the longest-running musical in Broadway history at the time. Following this success, the production transferred to London in 1958, where it played in the West End for five and a half years.
MY FAIR LADY has seen many notable revivals and adaptations, including the acclaimed 1964 film starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison, which won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Most recently on the London stage, Cameron Mackintosh’s 2001 revival at Theatre Royal Drury Lane won three Olivier Awards, and later toured across the UK and Ireland in 2005.
James L. Nederlander, Jamie Wilson, Hunter Arnold, Playful Productions and the English National Opera present the Lincoln Center Theater production of Lerner & Loewe’s MY FAIR LADY at the London Coliseum, with sets by Michael Yeargan, costumes by Catherine Zuber, lighting by Donald Holder, sound by Marc Salzberg, original musical arrangements by Robert Russell Bennett and Phil Lang, and dance arrangements by Trude Rittmann.
Full casting for the London production will be announced in due course.
Tuesday 29 March 2022
Gemma Collins to Star as Mama Morton in Chicago
David Ian in association with Barry and Fran Weissler are delighted to announce TV personality Gemma ‘The GC’ Collins will star as ‘Mama Morton’ in the acclaimed UK and Ireland tour of the international smash hit musical Chicago. Gemma will join the tour at the Sunderland Empire from Tuesday 31 May 2022, ahead of playing Cardiff New Theatre, Blackpool Winter Gardens, Sheffield Lyceum, Norwich Theatre Royal and New Theatre, Oxford.
David Ian said today, “We were completely stunned by Gemma’s audition for the role. She’s an undeniable force both on and off stage, and we can’t wait to see her portrayal of ‘Mama Morton’ on tour. Audiences across the country are in for a treat.”
Gemma Collins is best known as a media personality and businesswoman, having first featured in the reality series The Only Way Is Essex. She was awarded the 2021 winner of the Best Female Personality at the National Reality Television Awards. Since ‘Essex’ Gemma has appeared in numerous television shows including, I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, Celebrity Big Brother, Dancing on Ice and All Together Now in which she was a finalist. Most recently Gemma was seen on screens with her intimate Channel 4 documentary, Gemma Collins: Self-Harm & Me. Before finding fame on The Only Way Is Essex, Gemma was a keen performer having studied dance and winning a place at the renowned Sylvia Young Theatre School.
Gemma joins Faye Brookes as ‘Roxie Hart’, Djalenga Scott as ‘Velma Kelly’, Jamie Baughan as ‘Amos Hart’ and B.E. Wong as ‘Mary Sunshine’. The role of ‘Billy Flynn’ will be announced soon. Full tour schedule below. www.chicagothemusical.com
The cast is completed by Ishmail Aaron, Michelle Andrews, Gabby Antrobus, Delycia Belgrave, Joel Benjamin, Tanisha-Mae Brown, Daniel Clift, Callum Fitzgerald, Emily Goodenough, Billie Hardy, Aaron Jenkins, Liam Marcellino, Theo Reece, Hollie Jane Stephens and Harrison Wilde.
Faye Brookes (Roxie Hart) reached the final of last year’s series of ITV’s Dancing On Ice. She is best known for her role as Kate Connor in ITV’s Coronation Street, for which she won a National Television Award. Her theatre credits include Princess Fiona in Shrek and Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, both on national tour, Ann/Edna in That Day We Sang directed by Victoria Wood at Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Liesl in The Sound of Music at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and Frenchy in Grease at the West End’s Piccadilly Theatre. Faye’s other TV credits include Agnes Franklin in Our Girl and Helena in Atlantis, both for the BBC.
Djalenga Scott’s (Velma Kelly) West End credits include Lily St Regis in Annie at the Piccadilly Theatre, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the New London and Chicago at the Adelphi, Cambridge and Garrick Theatres. Her other credits include Anita in the national tour of West Side Story, Rizzo in Grease at Curve Leicester, Magenta in The Rocky Horror Show and Carmen in Fame, both on European tours, the US tour of Batman Live and Bombalurina in Cats at Kilworth House. Djalenga’s screen credits include Scarlett/Esme in Trapped for the BBC and Alexandra in the film I Give It A Year.
Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, Chicago is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago’s slickest criminal lawyer to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just as easily be ripped from today's tabloids.
Created by the musical theatre talents of John Kander, Fred Ebb and legendary choreographer Bob Fosse, Chicago’s sexy, sassy score includes the show-stopping songs “Razzle Dazzle”, “Cell Block Tango”, and “All That Jazz”. Winner of six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards and a Grammy, Chicago is the longest running American musical in Broadway and West End history.
Since it opened in New York in 1996, Chicago has played in 36 countries worldwide and has been performed in English, Dutch, German, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Danish, Japanese and Korean. Worldwide it has been seen by an estimated 33 million people, grossed over $1.7 billion and played over 32,500 performances.
Chicago, which is based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins, has a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1996 Broadway revival of Chicago was choreographed by Ann Reinking in the style of Bob Fosse, directed by Walter Bobbie, and produced by Barry and Fran Weissler.