Carrie Dunn - Page 42

The cast has been announced for April de Angelis's new play Jumpy at the Royal Court Theatre from 13 October (press night 19 October). Tamsin Greig, playing Hilary, is joined by Doon Mackichan as her best friend Francis.

World-renowned entertainer DES O'CONNOR will join the cast of hit West End musical DREAMBOATS AND PETTICOATS from 3 October, for a strictly limited season at The Playhouse Theatre.

You know her as Cosette in Les Mis and Christine in Phantom, but how much do you really know about Gina Beck?

The Portuguese actress, composer and singer Madalena Alberto will present in concert in London the songs of her debut album 'Foreign Sketches - Live Studio Recording' during the weeks to come.

RSC Associate Director Roxana Silbert is directing a new production of Shakespeare's Measure for Measure in the Swan Theatre as part of the Winter Season. The play previews from 17 November 2011 and runs in repertoire in the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon until 10 March 2012.

The programme for September includes a variety of things to see and do during the weekends at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST), beginning with ‘Theatremakers with Hammers' on Saturday 3rd September.

"I'm going to wash that man right out of my hair": a mantra for gals everywhere who have discovered that actually, her fella ain't all that. And the lovely Samantha Womack sings it with relish as she channels Marilyn Monroe in South Pacific, currently showing at the Barbican.

The current cast, led by Marcus Brigstocke who plays Mr Perks, comprises Pandora Clifford as Mother, David Baron as the Old Gentleman, Mark Holgate as Jim, Elizabeth Keats as Mrs Perks, Tim Lewis as Peter, Stephen Beckett as the Father and Doctor, Amy Noble as Roberta, Blair Plant as Shepansky, Amanda Prior as Mrs Viney and Cook and Grace Rowe as Phyllis. They are joined by ensemble members Francesca Ellis, Felicity Houlbrooke and James Rigby.

Musical comedy BETTY BLUE EYES, by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe and based on the Alan Bennett and Malcolm Mowbray film 'A Private Function', will close at the Novello Theatre on Saturday 24 September 2011 after a run of six months.

After an award-winning debut run in 2010, Fresher the Musical returns to the Edinburgh Fringe, chest puffed and with a confident swagger, its flyer announcing a cast recording and the release of the amateur rights to perform it. And it has every right to be cocky - it's a highly entertaining romp through five students' early time living together at university and it's uniquely and refreshingly British, standing out in an unmistakably America-focused musical theatre landscape.

All smiles, wide eyes and key changes, the high school glee club is an all-too-familiar concept thanks to a certain hugely popular and equally irritating, inescapable television show. And so, One Academy Productions' ‘Show Choir! The Musical' doesn't have to work too hard to introduce itself. Even so, the expository opening number is a wonderfully over-the-top, sparkling treat. It's part of a dream sequence though, and what follows doesn't quite ever reach the same histrionic heights.

Despite enjoying a boosted profile thanks in part to a supposed copycat performer on last year's Britain's Got Talent, Frisky & Mannish are hard to describe succinctly. 'Pop songs with a twist' was the best I could manage outside the venue when a curious attendee asked, but this duo absolutely needs to be seen to be understood, and there really aren't many better ways to spend an hour at this or any other Fringe.

The setting of John and Gerry Kielty's Wasted Love - a group therapy session - immediately brings to my mind the 2009 Fringe production of Conor Mitchell's Have A Nice Life, my favourite of all the shows I've seen in my three years attending the Fringe. It seems an unfair comparison to make, given how much I enjoyed that, although it soon becomes clear that this show can more than hold its own.

I attended Flawless' latest Fringe show with what I imagine were standard expectations: that I was about to see a production featuring dazzling, pin-sharp choreography performed by extremely talented young men. And talented they undoubtedly are, but this hour is stuffed with superfluous and unnecessary narrative devices which do little more than waste time that could be better spent dancing, if you wouldn't mind, lads.

He's dancing across the stage at the Victoria Palace now - welcome to the West End, Adam Vesperman! Find out more about him with our very inquisitive questions...

Pleasance Theatre has taken six nominations, with Assembly Theatre, the Traverse and Zoo Venues all receiving four nods for this year's Stage Awards for Acting Excellence at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Jason Hall's new play THIRD FLOOR will receive its European premiere at Trafalgar Studios 2 on Thursday 13 October, previewing from 11 October, for a limited season ending on 5 November. This new thriller, a hilarious and unsettling look at urban living today, will be directed by Russell Labey and will star Craig Gazey and Emily Head.

Independent label SimG Records is to release Dougal Irvine's debut album 'Acoustic Overtures: The Songs of Dougal Irvine' this Autumn.

Filthy double entendres? There are plenty of those. Gayed-up versions of popular songs? Absolutely. Gratuitous displays of male flesh? There's some of that too. What you might not expect is singing of an exceptionally high standard, but that's what you'll get.

The first London production for 90 years of St John Ervine's searing Belfast tragedy Mixed Marriage, first seen at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, plays for a four-week season from Tuesday, 4 October 2011 (Press Night: Thursday, 6 October 2011 at 7.30pm) at the multi-award-winning Finborough Theatre.