After having seen the musical Priscilla, I’ve decided to come out: I’m a Sondheim fan. Yes, Into the Woods, Sweeney, the lot… even Merrily We Roll Along and The Frogs. Every cd, the live recordings, the scores. Now I’ve got that off my chest, I can say how thoroughly enjoyable I find Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. No, it’s not Sondheim, Shakespeare, or even Stephen Schwartz, … [Read more...]
Christopher Wheeldon and team scoop up Tony nominations
The Brit in New York, responsable for the new hit musical An American in Paris, has been nominated for a Tony award as Best Director of a Musical and also for Best Choreography. His creative team and cast have also been nominated in almost every category with twelve nominations in total: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical - Craig Lucas, Best Performance by an Actor in a … [Read more...]
Milan’s Dirty Dancing glimmers but doesn’t shine
At the risk of sounding petty, this was the first time that I have been given restricted view tickets to review a performance, so I'll review the three-quarters of Milan's Dirty Dancing that I saw. The first musical number, for example, was either performed by someone offstage, by a pre-recorded voice, or by someone standing down-right which was the zone hidden from me. It … [Read more...]
Eleanor Bergstein’s Dirty Dancing alights in Milan
Dirty Dancing comes to Milan with the biggest advance booking since Stage Entertainment took over the Teatro Nazionale, beating even Beauty and the Beast and Mamma Mia! The producers must be breathing a sigh of relief as the Italian economy's bumpy ride doesn't seem to be affecting ticket sales, such is the film in the cultural DNA of women who want to dance with Patrick … [Read more...]
Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson to star in Sweeney Todd in London
After the success of Sweeney Todd in concert with the New York Philharmonic in March of this year, Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson return in their roles for thirteen performances at the London Coliseum. It will be the first musical under the new collaboration between English National Opera and the GradeLinnit Company, which will see several semi-staged musicals and one fully … [Read more...]