Latest from the blogosphere
Links to the latest from the UK's theatre blogs. Click on a link to go to the original post on the original site. If you know of a theatre blog that you think should be included in this feed, please email Roo Rogers - roo[at]upthewestend.com.
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In which the Whingers support 100% the Royal Opera House clamping down on copyright infringement
10 Sep 2010 | 5:05 amWe would like to make it clear how important it is not to use a Royal Opera House copyrighted picture such as this one… … without permission. They quite rightly get very upset. We feel it our duty to point out that this kind of flagrant abuse of copyright is[…]
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Off the face...
10 Sep 2010 | 3:39 amWhere have I been for over a week? What have I been doing? Did I really just disappear off the face of the planet as a result of drinking a couple of beers after seeing Ensemble 52's As We Forgive Them at Fruit? Will I return and say something substantial[…]
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Feeling Footlost
10 Sep 2010 | 3:21 amWe’re two performances in to our five show run of Footloose, which means each set of main parts among the young performers has had their first night, and I have experienced the show once through with each daughter and each antagonist. And I am feeling lost, footlost. Last year, my[…]
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Review: Punk Rock, Lyric Hammersmith
10 Sep 2010 | 3:16 amHaving been quite disdainfully referred to as “The History Boys on acid”, the only similarities between Bennett’s play and Simon Stephen’s Punk Rock is the choice of school setting during A-level time. Punk Rock requires no classic comparison for validation. Dealing with the overwhelming pressures that young adults are put[…]
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Sondheim on Sondheim now heading for West End next Spring
10 Sep 2010 | 2:34 amRhydian Roberts recently revealed that he was appearing in Sondheim on Sondheim this year, but his news seems a bit premature as the producer Sonia Friedman has just announced that she has plans to bring it over from Broadway next Spring. Part bio-play and part song revue Sondheim on Sondheim[…]
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London's theatrical feast....
10 Sep 2010 | 12:23 amI’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: it’s a nice problem to have. I’m referring to the simply staggering number of theatrical openings we’ve suddenly got; after the Edinburgh-induced famine in London, there’s now a veritable feast. By the end of play(s) this Sunday, I will have seen[…]
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Windsor premiere for Chas & Dave musical Stop Dreamin’
9 Sep 2010 | 11:54 pmKing of farce Ray Cooney’s new musical Stop Dreamin’ featuring the songs of Chas & Dave is to open next month at the Theatre Royal Windsor. As already mentioned, Cliff Parisi (Minty from EastEnders) takes the lead role in the show which will also feature Vicki Michelle (‘All ‘Allo), Trevor[…]
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Latest News on Shrek the Musical
9 Sep 2010 | 11:42 pmWhen Shrek the Musical opens at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane next May it will undergo a huge refit. The show has just completed a run in Chicago and is already much improved than when it ran on Broadway. Shrek the Musical casting so far is Nigel Lindsay playing the[…]
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Ghost the Musical choreographer announced
9 Sep 2010 | 11:30 pmThe production team for Ghost met earlier this week and have appointed hot young Australian choreographer Ashley Wallen to create dance numbers for the new musical. Wallen has worked on Dance X and this is the first stage musical he has choreographed. He has created dance routines for artists including[…]
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REVIEW: Into the Woods at the Open Air Theatre, Regents Park
9 Sep 2010 | 12:14 pmWest End Boy has a long-standing tradition with one of his best friends and for her birthday every May she gets tickets for the OA’s annual musical. Oh we’ve seen them all…The Boyfriend (rather good), Gigi (awful), Hello Dolly (amazing) and each time we go armed with copious amounts of[…]
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30 Day Shred for Poetry, Plays, Novels
9 Sep 2010 | 12:06 pmIt's my birthday in November, a time when traditionally I hold a party at which I serve frozen vegetarian pizza from Lidl and cava from Sainsbury's, and wake with a crashing hangover to take stock of my life. Every September I'm filled with loving kindness for my future self, and[…]
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Widening access after the funding axe falls
9 Sep 2010 | 10:36 amOne thing is for sure, the cuts are coming. But, after more than a decade of ever-increasing investment, how can arts organisations possibly sustain their access strategies as well as their artistic programmes when the axe does fall? A new report written by the former head of culture at Demos[…]
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Play with a health warning: The Aliens, plus rehearsal pics
9 Sep 2010 | 10:34 amJust got an email through from the Bush Theatre about its play The Aliens which I'm booked to see with @polyg a week on Saturday. As well as the running time it had the following warning: Please note that the show contains strong language and real cigarettes. Obviously I shall...
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A break from Bollywood: make a song and dance about this brave Indian play
9 Sep 2010 | 9:39 amThe Indian film industry may shy away from swearing and realism on screen, but Ram Ganesh Kamatham's Dancing on Glass shows a darker and angrier vision of India on stageAt New Delhi's Habitat Centre, a young actor has just unleashed a string of expletives in both English and Kannada, drawing[…]
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Nationwide search for actor-musicians to play Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis in Million Dollar Quartet
9 Sep 2010 | 9:05 amAs previously mentioned Million Dollar Quartet is heading to the UK from Broadway and due to open in 2011 with dates and theatre still to be announced. The producers are looking for actor-musicians to play 1950s rock ‘n’ roll stars Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis[…]
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Deathtrap – The Opening Night
9 Sep 2010 | 8:28 am[Note: this is really not worth reading unless you were there. Sorry. It's mainly an aide memoire to ourselves] Biggins must have had other plans. But gosh – even the Whingers had other plans. But happily the first preview of Blood and Gifts at the National got cancelled enabling the[…]
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Whoopi Returns To Sister Act
9 Sep 2010 | 7:41 amWhoopi Goldberg is to return to the London production of Sister Act for five performances. Goldberg’s run was cut short earlier this month following the sudden death of her mother. However, producers have confirmed that the multi-award-winning Hollywood megastar will return to the West End for five performances. The first[…]
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Review – Pieces of Vincent – Arcola Theatre
9 Sep 2010 | 7:09 amWhile I was flattered to get a direct invite to a “bloggers’ review night” at the Arcola, unfortunately my experience of David Watson’s new play Pieces of Vincent wasn’t good. I’m going to skip my normal tendency to avoid spoilers and just utterly spill the beans about the plot, so[…]
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Flip flop paradigm....
8 Sep 2010 | 11:47 pmNo, it’s not the name of an intellectual gay porn movie; rather, ‘Flip Flop Paradigm’ is one of the numbers - there are some 29 in all - listed in the programme for Shoes, the new ‘dansical’ at Sadler’s Wells, featuring music and lyrics by Richard Thomas. Richard wrote the[…]
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How to lose friends and alienate critics...
7 Sep 2010 | 11:05 pmI once saw Michael Billington, driven to distraction by the late start for the West End opening night of Hairspray, begin a slow handclap to try to urge the curtain up; and last night it was the turn of Charles Spencer to do the same thing at Deathtrap, which finally[…]
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