Theatre News
How do you solve a problem like Maria? Not with a TV show
Published: 23 September 2006
Richard Rodgers, of the legendary songwriting team Rodgers and Hammerstein, was once asked to justify the duo's relentlessly optimistic musical fantasies. "What's wrong with sweetness and light?" he countered. "It's been around quite awhile."
Passions flare in fight for flamenco's future
Published: 16 September 2006
A battle is raging in the world of flamenco which is almost as passionate as Spain's most quintessential art form.
Nunn plans 'Porgy and Bess' created with new black talent
Published: 31 August 2006
Trevor Nunn, the acclaimed director of a £3m adaptation of Porgy and Bess has said the musical, focusing on the lives of a black American community, could not have been staged in the West End a decade ago, because of the lack of diversity in theatre.
'Naked Racist' wins top Edinburgh comedy award
Published: 28 August 2006
Festival stalwart Phil Nichol has won Edinburgh's blue riband comedy award for his show, described by the critics as "thermonuclear", which culminates in the comedian running into the audience naked.
Brandauer is booed on opening night
Published: 14 August 2006
Klaus Maria Brandauer's eagerly awaited production of The Threepenny Opera has received a mixed reception.
Darth Vader cut down to size for stage debut
Published: 09 August 2006
Promising the "lamest special effects in the galaxy", three self-confessed Star Wars nerds will set about compressing George Lucas's epic six-part battle of good against evil into 15 minutes of live theatre.
Mel Smith stubs out plan to defy Scottish smoking ban
Published: 08 August 2006
The actor Mel Smith avoided a confrontation with Scotland's legal system yesterday when he backed down from smoking on stage at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Scott Thomas ready to fly in for Chekhov's 'Seagull'
Published: 01 August 2006
The Seagull by Anton Chekhov is a classical staple, guaranteed to attract the finest theatrical stars. Now Kristin Scott Thomas becomes the latest actress to tread the boards as Arkadina, in a production at the Royal Court in January.
Opera cast rebels as tempers fray in heat
Published: 29 July 2006
It isn't easy performing opera in this heat. So after four long days of rehearsals, an opening night and party, it was predictable that tempers might fray at the Holland Park Opera's production of Rigoletto.
Musicals boom in West End hits right note with theatre fans
Published: 28 July 2006
With at least 20 new productions in London's theatreland in 2006, the West End is alive with the sound of musicals - and regular theatre-goers are thrilled.
Donmar sexes up its season by casting Cattrall in Mamet play
Published: 15 July 2006
Kim Cattrall , the Sex and the City star, is to leave glamour behind her when she returns to the London stage as a mother at the centre of a family breakdown.
New musical charts the rise of Bollywood cinema
Published: 07 July 2006
It is a true story that charts a history of the world's largest film industry and contains the trademark dance routines, sparkling saris and obligatory happy ending of a typically spectacular Bollywood production.
Stoppard's new play opens... and it's more than Rock'n'Roll
Published: 15 June 2006
The eagerly awaited premiere of Tom Stoppard's new play, Rock 'n' Roll, at the Royal Court in London last night attracted a star- studded audience including world leaders and music legends.
RSC unveils 'world's best Shakespeare theatre'
Published: 15 June 2006
Almost from the moment the Royal Shakespeare Theatre opened in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1932, it was deemed inadequate for great performances.
Triumph for Alan Bennett as 'History Boys' wins six Tonys and equals 50-year record
Published: 13 June 2006
Not since Arthur Miller's seminal play Death of a Salesman triumphed in 1949 has a single drama stormed the Tony Awards so decisively.
Globe issues health warning after four collapse at 'Titus'
Published: 03 June 2006
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre has issued a warning about its gory new production of Titus Andronicus after four members of the audience fainted in one night.
London's Roundhouse Theatre returns for an encore
Published: 02 June 2006
It is the famous London venue where The Doors played their only UK gig and the police raided Oh! Calcutta! to investigate the nudity in the show.
Now Broadway gets a mobile broadside from Richard Griffiths
Published: 02 June 2006
He was the scourge of the rude and absent-minded theatregoer in London. Now the actor Richard Griffiths has turned his ire on audiences in New York. When mobile phone calls disrupted Wednesday's matinee of The History Boys for the third time, the actor known for his roles in the films Harry Potter and Withnail and I threatened to quit the stage.
Film director fights to keep 'Withnail & I' off the stage
Published: 01 June 2006
For years, student union bars have resounded to such memorable lines as "I demand to have some booze" and "Officer, I've only had a few ales", as generations of students attempt to match the characters' prolific alcohol intake drink for drink.
Now Elvis Presley ain't nothin' but a trapeze artist
Published: 20 May 2006
Elvis may have left the building but nobody ever expected him to run away and join the circus. But it won't be long before fans of legendary show Cirque du Soleil find themselves all shook up at the sight of the King growling "I ain't nothin' but a hound dog" while swinging from a trapeze.
Brits look set for a clean sweep at Tony theatre awards
Published: 17 May 2006
They may do musicals with pizzazz and they are the movie kings. But the Americans were forced to step aside for the Brits yesterday when Ralph Fiennes, Zoë Wanamaker and The History Boys team launched a serious attempt to make a clean sweep of Broadway's top dramatic honours.
Too hot for Broadway
Published: 14 May 2006
Alan Bennett's 'History Boys' scoops New York critics' awards
Published: 13 May 2006
They are renowned as the harshest of judges; the critics who can close down a play with a sentence of finely-honed invective.
Laurence Olivier's wish is finally granted as Robert Lindsay takes lead in 'The Entertainer'
Published: 10 May 2006
Laurence Olivier's performance as the struggling comedian Archie Rice in John Osborne's The Entertainer was acclaimed as one of his greatest.
Theatrical agents accused of charging illegal 'up-front' fees
Published: 27 April 2006
Aspiring and established actors, extras and models are being charged thousands of pounds up-front by agents in breach of legislation introduced two years ago to ban such fees.
