Russ Abbot as Fagin from June 14th Russ Abbot will be take over the role of Fagin in the hit musical Oliver! from 14 June. Russ has played the role of Fagin before at the Palladium, at the Theatre Royal and also on tour. His other credits include Grandpa Potts in hit musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady. Most recently, Russ played the role of Hobbo in the latest series of BBC 1’s Last of the Summer Wine. Russ takes over from that other favourite entertainer Griff Rhys Jones. Griff has played the role for the last 5 months but he bids farewell to Oliver! on Saturday 12 June.
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I posted to theatrebreaksinlondon.co.uk
Oliver – new Fagin
http://theatrebreaksinlondon.co.uk/94/oliver-new-fagin/
- Tags:
- Fagin
- chitty chitty bang bang
- Russ Abbot
- Palladium
- West End Theatre
- BBC
- 5 Months
- Bbc 1
- Chitty Chitty Bang
- Doolittle
- Farewell
- Grandpa
- Hobbo
- Last Of The Summer Wine
- Musical Oliver
- My Fair Lady
- Rhys Jones
May 24 2010, 12:40pm | Comments »
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I posted to theatrebreaksinlondon.co.uk
Sweet Charity
http://theatrebreaksinlondon.co.uk/82/sweet-charity/
I went to see Sweet Charity in the West End a couple of weeks ago. It was a superb production and Tamzin Outhwaite was quite stunning in the title role. The show transfered from the Mernier Chocolate Factory after a very successful run. You can’t help but be impressed by Tamzin’s performance. She is on stage for most of the show and she is never still. Her energy is amazing and the set piece numbers like If They Could See Me Now are brilliant. It is her comic timing that really surprised me, I’d no idea she was such a good comedy actress. After all she’s played so many dramatic roles in soaps and other TV productions who’d have guessed she’d be such a great singer, dancer and all round entertainer? The rest of the cast are great too of course. Tamzin’s co star Mark Umbers plays all Charity’s male interests, a grand total of 4 roles! I particularly like him as the weedy, insecure Oscar. I won’t spoil the lift scene for you but it’s hysterical! The chorus of dancers sing what is probably the most menacing version of Hey Big Spender you are ever likely to hear and generally give excellent performances with some lovely comic touches. They also give a spirited and spaced out performance of The Rhythm of Life which is guaranteed to get your toes tapping!
I can’t recommend this production enough and I think it’s perfect for theatre breaks.
- Tags:
- west end
- comedy
- West End Theatre
- sweet charity
- Actress
- Co Star
- Comic Timing
- Dancer
- Dancers
- Dramatic Roles
- Grand Total
- Hey Big Spender
- Male Interests
- Mark Umbers
- Mernier Chocolate Factory
- Piece Numbers
- Rhythm Of Life
- Soaps
- Star Mark
- Tamzin Outhwaite
- Toes
- Tv Productions
May 22 2010, 6:27pm | Comments »
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I posted to theatrebreaksinlondon.co.uk
Kylie – the musical?
http://theatrebreaksinlondon.co.uk/73/kylie-the-musical/
The pocket-sized pop diva yesterday confirmed that there will be a musical of her greatest hits. What’s more it is likely to be coming to the West End. In an interview in the Daily Mail she says: “It’s definitely happening. We’ve brought a scriptwriter in and are working on a few synopses now. “And the critics … music critics are one thing but theatre critics are something else. I suppose if it doesn’t work then that’s it — it’s a closed book. I need to get through this album launch first, and then I’m probably touring, but we’ll get to it after that. It’s early days but it’s very exciting.”
Kylie is writing the production with her stylist William Baker. It will be based on her back catalogue of hits and she hopes it will be rather like Abba’s Mamma Mia! She’ll need quite a strong story line for that to work out! So rather than tell the story of Kylie’s own rise to fame it will tell another tale. I think it’s a shame that more performers haven’t learned the lesson of Jersey Boys. I’d be quite interested to see the story of her rise to mega stardom told against the backdrop of her greatest hits.
- Tags:
- west end
- jersey boys
- West End Theatre
- Abba
- Mamma
- Back Catalogue
- Backdrop
- Daily Mail
- Greatest Hits
- Kylie
- Music Critics
- Pop Diva
- Scriptwriter
- Shame
- Stardom
- Stylist
- Synopses
- Theatre Critics
- William Baker
May 20 2010, 1:12pm | Comments »
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I posted to theatrebreaksinlondon.co.uk
West End Live Running Order for 2009
http://theatrebreaksinlondon.co.uk/26/west-end-live-running-order-for-2009/
Here’s the running order list for the West End Live shows free in leicester Square on Saturday 20th June and Sunday 21st June 2009. Looks like a great line up again, and don’t forget that Jodie Prenger will be there from Oliver and Jerry Springer from Chicago.
West End Live for Saturday 20th June, 2009 11.05 Hairspray 11.15 Been So Long 11.30 Wicked 11.40 Dirty Dancing 11.55 The King and I 12.05 Oliver! 12.15 Sister Act 12.25 We Will Rock You 12.45 Priscilla Queen of the Desert 12.50 Chicago 13.10 Jersey Boys 13.30 Thriller Live 13.50 Forbidden Broadway 14.05 The Sylvia Young Theatre School 14.25 The South Bank Centre presents ‘Tom Tom Crew’ 14.45 Little Big Club 15.10 So Jest End 15.25 Avenue Q 15.45 Zanna Don’t 16.05 The London Gay Men’s Chorus 16.30 Too Close to the Sun 16.50 Faithless Bitches 17.05 The KB Fusionnaires 17.45 La Cage Aux Folles 17.55 Stomp West End Live Sunday 21st June 12.00 Stomp 12.15 Little Big Club 12.35 West End Kids 12.55 Jersey Boys 13.15 Thriller Live 13.35 Noise Ensemble 13.55 Zanna Don’t 14.10 Honk! 14.20 SOLT – Competition 14.25 Royal Albert Hall presents ‘The Red Stripe Band’ 15.05 Chinatown Arts Space Presents ‘TheBathroomGirl’ 15.25 Bar Rumba presents ‘Salsateca’ 15.40 Players Theatre presents ‘Victorian Music Hall’ 15.55 National Youth Music Theatre 16.10 Lord Mayor of Westminster’s West End LIVE presentations 16.20 Octave8 presents ‘Yot.K’ 16.50 Dover Street Restaurant and Jazz Bar presents ‘The Blues Engineers’ 17.25 Ain’t Nothin But Blues Bar present the ‘West Western Bluesonics’
- Tags:
- Jerry Springer
- jersey boys
- sister act
- running order
- Avenue Q
- West End Theatre
- Bar Rumba
- Blues Bar
- Cage Aux Folles
- Chicago West
- Jazz Bar
- Lord Mayor
- Noise Ensemble
- Prenger
- Queen Of The Desert
- Red Stripe Band
- Royal Albert Hall
- Sylvia Young Theatre School
- Victorian Music Hall
- West End Kids
- Yot
June 18 2009, 3:05am | Comments »
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