All stories by Chris Wiegand on BroadwayStars

Monday, November 14, 2022

Thrilled, relieved, perplexed: three Arts Council funding verdicts by Chris Wiegand, Imogen Tilden and Harriet Sherwood

In our second set of case studies exploring the impact of Arts Council England’s new funding decisions, we hear from Balbir Singh Dance Company, Britten Sinfonia and Little Bulb Organisati…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:54AM

Jellicle clown: Frankie Thompson on her unmissable feline fever dream Catts by Chris Wiegand

Her cat-tastic stage show is a riff on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical that swerves into emotionally raw territory. The Edinburgh fringe sensation talks about trauma, taboos and the importan…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:36AM
Thursday, November 10, 2022

Arts Council funding: organisations head into the unknown amid cuts by Arifa Akbar, Imogen Tilden and Chris Wiegand

In the first of a series of case studies exploring the impact of Arts Council England’s new funding decisions, we consider the view from the Watermill theatre, Welsh National Opera and Pai…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AM
Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Aidan Turner and Jenna Coleman to star in drama about a word-rationed world by Chris Wiegand

The actors will bring a revival of Sam Steiner’s 2015 play Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons to London, Manchester and Brighton, directed by Josie Rourke Jenna Coleman and Aidan Turner ar…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:06AM
Tuesday, November 1, 2022

The best theatre to stream this month: The Book of Dust, Four Quartets and the start of panto season by Chris Wiegand

Our roundup of drama to watch at home includes Alan Ayckbourn’s 87th play, live performance from Ukraine and lost showtunes The Bridge theatre’s big Christmas show from 2021, based on Ph…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:24AM
Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Sophie Okonedo to play Medea at new West End theatre by Chris Wiegand

The production, beginning next February, will be directed by Dominic Cooke for @sohoplace in London Sophie Okonedo is to star as Medea at the new West End theatre @sohoplace in a production…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:55AM

The Lavender Hill Mob review – Ealing’s golden comedy loses its lustre by Chris Wiegand

Everyman theatre, Cheltenham This adaptation of the postwar caper has its moments but lacks the adroit humour and tautness of the film Ealing Studios’ 1951 comedy of bowler-hatted banking …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:55AM
Monday, October 17, 2022

‘Sanitised’ new musical about Michael Jackson to open in London by Chris Wiegand

MJ the Musical, based around the making of the singer’s 1992-93 Dangerous world tour, won four Tony awards in New York A new musical about Michael Jackson that has been feted in New York y…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:03AM
Friday, October 14, 2022

Stranger Sings! review – goofy musical piggybacks on Netflix hit by Chris Wiegand

Vaults, LondonAn exuberant but baggy Stranger Things parody hardly turns its source material upside down It has a pulsating synth soundtrack and brought Kate Bush an overdue No 1 so why not …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:03AM
Friday, October 7, 2022

The Coral review – urgent parable of poverty and the one percent by Chris Wiegand

Finborough theatre, LondonGeorg Kaiser’s century-old call for a societal reset may not always hit the mark, but it is given an invigorated panache by Collide theatre company What a day, as…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:55PM

Good Luck, Studio review – the toddlers’ TV show that goes wrong by Chris Wiegand

Mercury theatre, ColchesterAn uneven new play from Mischief Theatre skews darker than their hit comedies, with jarring tragedy amid the clowning The Play That Goes Wrong’s Mischief Theatre…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:33AM
Monday, October 3, 2022

The best theatre to stream this month: Billie Holiday’s blues, McKellen’s Lear and Newsies by Chris Wiegand

Our roundup of stage shows to watch at home includes a Tony award-winning musical, international dance and a radical dramatisation of the crucifixion story Broadway stage sensation Audra McD…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:19AM
Tuesday, September 20, 2022

The cold never bothered them anyway: how Frozen made musical magic by Chris Wiegand

The set, costume, video and lighting designers of Disney’s London production – now in its second year in the West End – break the ice about its frocks, crystals and astonishing effects…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:25PM
Monday, September 19, 2022

Theatre world pays tribute after death of Marcello Magni by Chris Wiegand

Italian actor, who often worked with his wife Kathryn Hunter, was a co-founder of Complicité, a gifted clown and a voiceover artist for Pingu Tributes have been paid to the actor Marcello M…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:49AM
Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going to Happen review – seriously funny by Chris Wiegand

Roundabout @ Summerhall, EdinburghSamuel Barnett is remarkable in Marcelo Dos Santos’s one-man play which analyses joke-craft and a comedian’s compulsions Towards the end of this enthral…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:07AM
Monday, August 15, 2022

Cassie and the Lights review – family drama glows in the darkness by Chris Wiegand

Underbelly, EdinburghAlex Howarth’s hugely moving play has plenty of humour and a homemade aesthetic, while asking tough questions about parenting and the law When Cassie and her younger s…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:54AM
Sunday, August 14, 2022

Yippee Ki Yay review – Die Hard, starring a knackered dad in a vest by Chris Wiegand

Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh The Bruce Willis action film has had a big impact on superfan Richard Marsh. He retells the story in rhyme, with his finger for a gun Richard Marsh has clearly seen…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:12AM
Wednesday, August 10, 2022

False Start review – sprinter’s nightmare makes for pacy theatre by Chris Wiegand

Summerhall, EdinburghThe pressures faced by elite athletes are explored in a dynamic show presented as part of the fringe’s Belgian Selection A gun is fired and the agonised figure before …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:42AM

Everything Has Changed review – a children’s guide to navigating our new normal by Chris Wiegand

Pleasance Courtyard, EdinburghCovid and the climate crisis are the subjects of a smart and fun two-hander that processes disaster through drama Edinburgh is bustling again this summer, with …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:42AM
Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Coming Out of My Cage (and I’ve Been Doing Just Fine) review – killer karaoke by Chris Wiegand

Underbelly, EdinburghIrresistibly gleeful celebration of the enduring popularity of Mr Brightside, the Killers’ 2004 debut anthem still in the charts today Vegas rockers the Killers have j…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:07PM
Monday, August 8, 2022

Midsummer Mechanicals review – the Dream’s rude players deliver more merriment by Chris Wiegand

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, LondonBottom, Quince, Flute and Patience make the young audience feel right at home in this affably silly show that puts Shakespeare in a spin Last summer, Shakespea…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:42AM
Sunday, July 31, 2022

The best theatre to stream this month: Edinburgh fringe, Jane Eyre and more by Chris Wiegand

Our roundup of drama to watch at home includes highlights from the world’s biggest arts jamboree and startling fresh takes on Charlotte Brontë and Henrik Ibsen “I was struck by her spir…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:12PM
Friday, July 29, 2022

Venice Dance Biennale review – Wayne McGregor delivers sinners and shapeshifters by Chris Wiegand

The British choreographer’s programme includes beguiling digital dance created by Tobias Gremmler, a reckoning with desire from Rocío Molina and seven visions of vice Leonora Carrington i…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:07AM
Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Horrible Histories: Terrible Thames review – behold the poop deck! by Chris Wiegand

Tower Bridge Quay, LondonA teacher and his unruly student host a family tour of the capital’s river with scatological gags and gory stories aplenty They’ve conquered cinema, telly and st…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:42AM
Monday, July 4, 2022

Helen Hunt to star in satire at the Old Vic about ‘a highly contagious virus’ by Chris Wiegand

Jonathan Spector’s 2018 play Eureka Day, about the social disarray after an outbreak of mumps, will receive its European premiere in September Helen Hunt is to star in a “wince-inducing�…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:33AM
Thursday, June 30, 2022

The best theatre to stream this month: Dancing at Dusk, Maryland and more by Chris Wiegand

Our roundup of drama to watch at home includes international festivals, Gemma Arterton in The Duchess of Malfi and Christopher Plummer in The Tempest When Pina Bausch’s The Rite of Spring …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:33PM
Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Muppet power! RSC uses puppet legends for My Neighbour Totoro staging by Chris Wiegand

The RSC’s version of the Japanese classic has smashed box office records – before the curtain’s even gone up. We meet the Jim Henson puppeteers bringing Studio Ghibli’s beloved fluff…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18AM
Wednesday, June 22, 2022

King James review – basketball fans bond over LeBron fever by Chris Wiegand

Mark Taper Forum, Los AngelesRajiv Joseph’s play conveys the elation and heartbreak of sporting obsession, seen through the eyes of two friends The king in this new American play is basket…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:29AM
Monday, June 20, 2022

Man of God review – fright and fury in a Bangkok hotel room by Chris Wiegand

Geffen Playhouse, Los AngelesPrivacy, religion, abuse of power and the spotlight of Instagram are all explored in Anna Ouyang Moench’s darkly comic tale A group of women wield retribution …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:48PM

New London theatre to open with ‘frighteningly vivid’ unfinished Schiller play by Chris Wiegand

Dmitry by Peter Oswald at the Marylebone theatre completes a drama by the German writer that offers a complex historical perspective on Russia A new London theatre, based in the Grade II-lis…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:24AM
Sunday, June 19, 2022

LA Dance Project: Be Here Now review – at close quarters with Millepied’s magnetic movers by Chris Wiegand

LA Dance Project, Los AngelesBenjamin Millepied’s charismatic company shine in a performance shrewdly set to Caroline Shaw and Andy Akiho’s rich compositions Dancing to music is one thin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:18AM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic