Marianka Swain - Page 14

This August, a company of over 200 people from across London joins forces at the National Theatre to perform a new musical version of Shakespeare's Pericles.

Cole Porter's 1948 love letter to showbiCole Porter's 1948 love letter to showbiz is brilliantly served by Opera North's big, bold and bawdy production - both soaringly romantic and packed with meta winks. A touring staple, Jo Davies' detailed take (the revival helmed by Ed Goggin) beds down very comfortably in the London Coliseum.

The bells, the bells! They're ringing out at the Donmar - ushering girls into class, and nuns into cloister. It's one of the creative ways in which director Polly Findlay reframes this beloved classic, although a new adaptation from David Harrower also rings the changes.

A packed schedule of productions will be performing at this year's West End Live, including Disney's The Lion King, Wicked, Les Miserables, Mamma Mia!, The Phantom Of The Opera, Disney's Aladdin, Dreamgirls, Bat Out Of Hell The Musical, Kinky Boots, Matilda The Musical, Motown The Musical, Everybody's Talking about Jamie and Thriller Live.

Polly Stenham's updating of Strindberg's Miss Julie moves the action to contemporary London, and finds both contempt and sympathy for this new version of the idle rich. But, shorn of its 19th-century context, the play struggles to make the class transgression feel dangerous, nor does this 85-minute piece dwell long enough on subjects like racism or sexism.

It begins with deep breathing, in order to access words that hold unimaginable power. And Ian Rickson's exquisite production of Brian Friel's masterpiece maintains that space throughout: for words to breathe and simmer, to hang in the air, and for us to understand how vital language is not just as a means of communication, but identity, nationality, and a rich heritage at risk of extinction.

Today, on the 150th anniversary of Memorial Day, PBS' multi award-winning NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT returned live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol hosted by Tony Award-winner Joe Mantegna and Emmy Award-winner Gary Sinise.  Broadway leading ladies Megan Hilty and Cynthia Erivo were among the all-star line-up. Watch them perform in the video below!

London is never short of temptations, whether splashy West End shows, epic dramas or bold fringe offerings. From a ground-breaking musical to a mighty modern classic, here are some of this month's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld reviews, interviews and features!

Michelle Terry's first season as Artistic Director of the Globe will be carefully scrutinised. Emma Rice's contentious exit raised important questions about the venue's purpose, its balancing of tradition and innovation, new and returning audiences, and about how we engage with Shakespeare in the 21st century.

Students from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama recently organised a walkout 'for equity, diversity and inclusion', protesting the institution's inequalities and comments made by Principal Gavin Henderson at a Dear White Central event - read more here. The Governing Body of Central has today released the following statement in response

Tomorrow, Friday 11 May, at 3:15pm, students from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama have arranged a peaceful protest outside the institution.

American playwright Rajiv Joseph's latest certainly doesn't lack for ambition, spanning 90 years, three countries, and mixing history and fiction in its form to make a point about, well, mixing history and fiction. Storytelling through to the pertinent “fake news” abounds, but this near-three-hour show is ultimately more compelling in its ideas than in its drama.

Classic Spring's third Oscar Wilde production gains extra piquancy from Amber Rudd's resignation - dealing, as it does, with political scandal and social hypocrisy. It's another facet for Jonathan Church's well-balanced revival, which proves as handsome, witty and ultimately kindly as its beguiling hero.

The New Adventures production of Matthew Bourne's CINDERELLA, currently on a nationwide tour, will be broadcast to cinemas in UK and Ireland on Tuesday, 15 May, including a live Q&A with Matthew Bourne. Watch an exclusive sneak peek below!

Gendered power dynamics, the commodification of art, and abuse in the creative industries: Joe Penhall's new play certainly feels of the moment, and there's a particular frisson in seeing such subject matter explored at the Old Vic, which is dealing with the legacy of Kevin Spacey. Yet a potent topic remains stubbornly discursive in this rather circular piece.

The first West End production of Chess since 1986 stars Michael Ball as Anatoly, Alexandra Burke as Svetlana, Cedric Neal as The Arbiter, Tim Howar as Freddie, Cassidy Janson as Florence and Phillip Browne as Molokov. This epic musical love story had its press night last night and is now playing at the London Coliseum for a strictly limited season. Watch a video from the opening night party below!

Chess, by Tim Rice and ABBA's Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, hasn't had a major West End revival since its Eighties heyday, but it's back with a bang in a semi-staged production that features aerial silk acrobatics, cheerleading stunts and drunken Cossack dancing. But it's the work that really shines through: period, yes, and distinctly unwieldy, but oddly timely too - and not just because ABBA are reuniting.

London is never short of temptations, whether splashy West End shows, epic dramas or bold fringe offerings. From meaty revivals to the open-air theatres opening their doors, here are some of this month's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld reviews, interviews and features!

Some students at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama raised concerns following remarks by its principal Gavin Henderson during a Q&A at a recent event, Dear White Central.

The original version of Rodney Ackland's provocative work, The Pink Room, had a bruising reception back in 1952, losing thousands for investor Terence Rattigan amidst furious reviews. Since salvaged by the Orange Tree in the Eighties, its rebirth was cemented by a Judi Dench-starring production at the National, where it now returns for an intriguing if not entirely convincing encore.