Thursday, February 27, 2020
Three plays consider the divisions wrought by Brexit, Britain’s surveillance state and the terror of the news cycle, with varying levels of success.
SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:03AMMonday, February 24, 2020
American theatre phenomenon pushes buttons aplenty to diminishing effect
This latest musical theatre exercise in “geek chic” has been an American phenomenon: a show propelled by social …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 09:18AMFriday, February 21, 2020
Danny Mac dazzled followers on Strictly Come Dancing with his fancy footwork on the ever-popular BBC program, but the English performer has since made a separate name for himself in stage …
SOURCE: Broadway.com at 02:42PMRoger Allam and Colin Morgan refashion Caryl Churchill's contemporary classic
There are any number of ways to perform A Number, Caryl Churchill’s bleak and beautiful play about a father a…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 10:12AMSaturday, February 15, 2020
Lesley Manville rises above the prevailing muddle
Lesley Manville’s thrilling career ascent continues apace with The Visit, which marks American playwright Tony Kushner’s return to t…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 07:48AMFriday, February 14, 2020
Noah Thomas was appearing in a drama school production of Guys and Dolls when he was tapped to become the third person to star as Jamie New, an aspiring drag queen, in the hit British musica…
SOURCE: Broadway.com at 06:03PMThursday, February 13, 2020
The director Patrick Marber has knitted Tom Stoppard's putative swan song into a compelling whole
It’s not uncommon for playwrights to begin their careers by writing what they know, to co…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 11:32AMFriday, February 7, 2020
Gavin Creel has both Tony and Olivier Awards to show for his effervescent talent, so it makes sense that the New York-based Ohioan should continue crossing the Atlantic to work in the West E…
SOURCE: Broadway.com at 04:24PMThursday, February 6, 2020
Mike Bartlett's play has deepened in accordance with our divisive times
It's not been three years since Albion premiered at the Almeida Theatre, since which time Brexit has happened and, …
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 11:18AMFriday, January 31, 2020
Josh Williams has appeared across a range of London playhouses, from the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre to the Royal Court, but only now is he in the West End and in a starring role, no le…
SOURCE: Broadway.com at 07:18PMThursday, January 30, 2020
Friday, January 24, 2020
Jon Robyns is no stranger to Les Misérables, the musical phenomenon now in its fourth decade on the London stage. The 37-year-old Englishman played Marius over 10 years ago in the West End …
SOURCE: Broadway.com at 06:36PMCormac McCarthy two-hander tries an audience's patience
Cormac McCarthy’s two-hander, premiered at Chicago's mighty Steppenwolf Theatre in 2006, has by this point been everything short of…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 11:18AMTuesday, January 21, 2020
Overlong Sam Steiner play needs clarity to go with its compassion
Armageddon would appear to be at the gates in Sam Steiner’s intriguing if ramshackle play, a co-production between Paines…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 11:24AMFriday, January 17, 2020
Claire Moore was Sarah Brightman’s replacement more than three decades ago as Christine Daaé in the West End’s The Phantom of the Opera and has rarely been long absent from the London s…
SOURCE: Broadway.com at 03:42PMThursday, January 16, 2020
From the bloodbath of “The Duchess of Malfi” to the intergenerational confusion of “Snowflake,” family disputes are at the center of three plays in London.
SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 04:06AMSunday, January 12, 2020
Heavy topics abound, but there’s still room for a laugh and a song – from an Alanis Morissette musical to a dildo-waving new play
SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:42PMMonday, December 30, 2019
Newcomers and veterans were both given chances to shine on the London stage this year. Below, listed in no particular order, are five performances for which we will have fond memories of wel…
SOURCE: Broadway.com at 06:18PMSaturday, December 28, 2019
Arthur Miller may have been ubiquitous on the London stage this year, but there was no shortage of homegrown British talent—from that fearless octogenarian Caryl Churchill at the Royal C…
SOURCE: Broadway.com at 10:24AMThe classics got a shake-up, while provocative new writing came mostly from America
Political dysfunction and societal distress led many amongst us to the brink this year, so where better th…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 04:24AMWednesday, December 18, 2019
Late-arrival to the West End is broad, brash - and delightful
Who knew? This West End premiere of the 2007 Broadway entry from the legendary songwriting team of John Kander and Fred Ebb (Ch…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 12:24PMMonday, December 16, 2019
Katie Brayben won a 2015 Olivier Award for her star-making performance as Carole King in the West End premiere of Beautiful. Since that time, she shifted genres to star in a revival of the n…
SOURCE: Broadway.com at 02:03PMFriday, December 13, 2019
Mike Lew's riff on Shakespeare needs more art to go with its heart
If good intentions were everything, Teenage Dick would be the play of the year. As it is, this British premiere at the Donm…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 11:54AMSaturday, December 7, 2019
Jodie Prenger came to attention as the winner of the BBC reality TV competition series I’d Do Anything in 2008, as a result of which she got to play Nancy in Oliver! in the West End for th…
SOURCE: Broadway.com at 07:54AMThursday, December 5, 2019
As they take on more challenging themes, provocative material and divisive subjects, the capital’s theatres have never felt so vital.
SOURCE: www.standard.co.uk at 07:44AMWednesday, December 4, 2019
Period confection in three acts could use pruning
There’s slight (White Christmas, to name but one) and then there’s The Boy Friend, a period musical so unabashedly vaporous that if yo…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 08:48AMFriday, November 29, 2019
Jordan Belfort memoirs translate unpleasantly, even unnecessarily, to the stage
Of all the groups you probably wouldn’t want to be part of, surely the hyper-adrenalised, hardscrabble popu…
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 06:36AMThursday, November 28, 2019
Seasonal entertainment is cheerful if essentially dull
Nostalgia for things that probably never were is an animating theme in politics these days.
SOURCE: The Arts Desk at 09:06AM“Dear Evan Hansen” is the latest Broadway musical to open in the West End, along with the pop bonanza “& Juliet” and nearby, the quietly powerful “Ghost Quartet.”
SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 06:06AMTuesday, November 26, 2019
Miriam-Teak Lee was something of an overnight sensation when she played Claire De Loone in the 2017 Open Air Theatre Regent’s Park revival of On the Town, since which time she went on to u…
SOURCE: Broadway.com at 01:12PMFriday, November 22, 2019
Michael Greif has shepherded Dear Evan Hansen successfully into port many times at this point, but only now is the 2017 Best Musical Tony Award winner being seen outside North America. Its W…
SOURCE: Broadway.com at 11:54AM 
