News – Page 12 – The Theatre Playbook

Cabaret and Life of Pi dominate Olivier Awards 2022

Cabaret and Life of Pi were the big winners on the biggest night in Theatreland – the Olivier Awards.

The Royal Albert Hall last night hosted the star-studded annual event, which culminated in a special musical tribute to legendary theatre composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, who died last year aged 91.

Check out the full list of winners here:

Best Entertainment or Comedy Play: Pride and Predjudice* (*sort of), Criterion Theatre

Best New Dance Production: Revisor, by Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young/Kidd Pivot, Sadler’s Wells

Outstanding Achievement in Dance: Arielle Smith, for her choreography of Jolly Folly in Reunion by English National Ballet, Sadler’s Wells

Best Director: Rebecca Frecknall, Cabaret, The Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre

Best Family Show: Wolf Witch Giant Fairy, Royal Opera House – Linbury Theatre

Best Set Design: Tim Hatley for design and Nick Barnes & Finn Hadley for puppets, Life of Pi, Wyndham’s Theatre

Best Costume Design: Catherine Zuber, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Piccadilly Theatre

Best Revival: Constellations, Donmar Warehouse at Vaudeville Theatre

Best Actor in a Supporting Role: The actors who play the Tiger, Fred Davis, Daisy Franks, Romina Hytten, Tom Larkin, Habib Nasib Nader, Tom Stacy and Scarlet Wilderink, Life of Pi, Wyndham’s Theatre

Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Liz Carr, The Normal Heart, National Theatre – Olivier

Best Actress: Sheila Atim, Constellations, Donmar Warehouse at Vaudeville Theatre

Best Actor: Hiban Abeysekera, Life of Pi, Wyndham’s Theatre

Best New Play: Life of Pi, Wyndham’s Theatre

Outstanding Achievement in Affiliate Theatre: Old Bridge, Bush Theatre

Best New Opera Production: Jenufa, by Royal Opera, Royal Opera House

Outstanding Achievement in Opera: Peter Whelan and the Irish Baroque Orchestra, for Bajazet Irish National Opera and Royal Opera, Royal Opera House – Linbury Theatre

Best Lighting Design: Tim Lutkin and Andrzej Goulding, Life of Pi, Wyndham’s Theatre

Best Sound Design: Nick Lidster, Cabaret, The Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre

Best Original Score or New Orchestrations: Get Up Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical, Orchestrator: Simon Hale, Lyric Theatre

Best Theatre Choreographer: Kathleen Marshall, Anything Goes, Barbican Theatre

Best Musical Revival: Cabaret, The Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre

Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical: Elliot Levey, Cabaret, The Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre

Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical: Liza Sadovy, Cabaret, The Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre

Best Actress in a Musical: Jessie Buckley, Cabaret, The Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre

Best Actor in a Musical: Eddie Redmayne, Cabaret, The Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre

Best New Musical: Back to the Future – The Musical, Adelphi Theatre

JLS star Aston Merrygold joins Footloose

Former JLS star Aston Merrygold, who recently appeared on TV in The Masked Singer, has joined the touring cast of Footloose the Musical.

Merrygold will play Willard in the show, which will stop at the New Wimbledon Theatre between August 15-20.

He said: “Willard is a superb role and I’m really looking forward to the challenge of stepping into such a lovable, comedy part and performing on these amazing stages. Footloose is just the best night out and I guarantee if you come along you’ll leave with a spring in your step and a smile on your face. I’m so looking forward to working with this team and I can’t wait to see you all there.”

The rest of the cast includes Darren Day as Reverend Moore with Lucy Munden (Ariel), Oonagh Cox (Rusty), Anna Westlake (Lulu) Alex Fobbester (Bickle) Ben Barrow (Wes) Ben Mabberley (Jeter) Geri Allen (Ethel) Holly Ashton (Vi), Jess Barker (Wendy-Jo) Joshua Hawkins (Ren) Samantha Richards (Urleen) Tom Mussell (Chuck) and Daniel Miles and Lucy Ireland as off-stage swings.

In Footloose, city boy Ren thinks life is bad enough when he’s forced to move to a rural backwater in America. But his world comes to a standstill when he arrives at Bomont to find dancing and rock music are banned. Taking matters into his own hands, soon Ren has all hell breaking loose and the whole town on its feet.

Based on the 1980s film, Footloose The Musical blends cutting edge modern choreography with classic 80s hits including Holding Out for a Hero, Almost Paradise, Let’s Hear It For The Boy and the iconic title track Footloose.

Footloose The Musical is presented by Selladoor Productions, Runaway Entertainment and Jason Haigh Ellery with casting by Debbie O’Brien, direction by Racky Plews, with choreography from Matt Cole, musical supervision by Mark Crossland, design by Sara Perks with lighting design from Chris Davey and sound design from Chris Whybrow.

Tickets are on sale now.

Gecko brings The Wedding to the Barbican

Physical theatre company Gecko is bringing The Wedding to London’s Barbican.

The show, which questions the union between state and the individual, will play for one week only in June, following an acclaimed run as part of London International Mime Festival in 2019.

On stage, a nine-strong ensemble will take audiences on a journey to a dystopian world where everyone is a bride, wedded to society, and that ends with a tribal and rhythmic finale promising revolution and hope.

Led by Gecko artistic director Amit Lahav, the cast includes Madeleine Fairminer, Vanessa Guevara Flores, Saju Hari, Wai Shan Vivian Luk, Mario Patrón, Ryen Perkins-Gangnes, Uroš Petronijević, Miguel Hernando Torres Umba and Kenny Wing Tao Ho.

Tickets are now on sale.

The Old Vic names new executive director

The Old Vic has appointed a new executive director.

Laura Stevenson will work alongside artistic director Matthew Warchus to further the artistic and social mission of the iconic theatre.

Stevenson, who starts her new role in July, previously worked as executive director of Sadler’s Wells, deputy director of the Hayward Gallery, and has also held positions at the Royal Opera House and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

She succeeds Kate Varah, who leaves the theatre after 12 years, seven years as executive director, to take up the same position at the National Theatre.

The Old Vic is currently staging The 47th, a new play from Mike Bartlett starring Bertie Carvel, Tamara Tunie and Lydia Wilson, until May 28.

Legally Blonde confirms Park Open Air cast

As rehearsals get underway for Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s upcoming 2022 season, the full cast of its production of Legally Blonde has been unveiled.

Joining Courtney Bowman, who will take the lead role as Elle, are Gabriela Benedetti, Lucca Chadwick-Patel, Jasmin Colangelo, Allie Daniel, Joe Foster, Dominic Lamb, Esme Laudat, Liam McEvoy, Billy Nevers, Ashley Rowe, Shakira Simpson, Biancha Szynal and Paulo Teixeira (also Dance Captain).

Other cast previously announced are Michael Ahomka-Lindsay (Emmett), Lauren Drew (Brooke), Vanessa Fisher (Vivienne), Isaac Hesketh (Margot), Nadine Higgin (Paulette), Alžbeta Matyšáková (Enid), Eugene McCoy (Callahan), Grace Mouat (Pilar), Alistair Toovey (Warner) and Hannah Yun Chamberlain (Serena).

When she is dumped by her Harvard Law School boyfriend, fashion merchandising major Elle Woods embarks on a drastic plan to win him back, only to discover that there is more to love – and definitely Elle Woods – than meets the eye.

Based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the MGM feature film starring Reese Witherspoon, the show is directed by Lucy Moss (Six). It is written by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin (music and lyrics) and Heather Hach (book).

Other creatives include Cassiopeia Berkeley-Agyepong (dramaturg), Cat Beveridge (musical supervisor), Jean Chan (costume designer), Shanaé Chisholm (casting assistant), Natalie Gallacher CDG for Pippa Ailion Casting (casting director), Tony Gayle (sound designer), Phillip Gladwell (lighting designer), Ainsley Hall Ricketts (assistant choreographer), Laura Hopkins (set designer), Barbara Houseman (voice & text and season associate director), Majella Hurley (dialect coach), Ellen Kane (choreographer), Ingrid Mackinnon (season associate: intimacy support), Priya Patel Appleby (associate director), Chris Poon (associate musical director), Alexzandra Sarmiento (assistant choreographer), Amber Sinclair-Case (associate director) and Katharine Woolley (musical director).

Legally Blonde, which opens on May 13, marks the start of the Open Air Theatre’s 90th anniversary season. The line-up also includes 101 Dalmatians and Antigone.

Cast unveiled for The Breach

The cast for Naomi Wallace’s play The Breach, coming to Hampstead Theatre, has been set.

Charlie Beck (Masters Of The Air), Jasmine Blackborow (Shadow and Bone), Alfie Jones (Teenage Dick, Richard III), Tom Lewis (Gentleman Jack), Douggie McMeekin (Bach & Sons, Chernobyl), Stanley Morgan (The Sandman) and Shannon Tarbet (Yous Two, Killing Eve) will lead the show, which is directed by Sarah Frankcom (West Side Story, Light Falls).

The creative team also includes designer Naomi Dawson, lighting director Rick Fisher, sound designer Tingying Dong, voice director Michaela Kennen, movement director Jennifer Jackson, casting director Nadine Rennie and assistant director Tramaine Reindorf.

The story introduces the Diggs siblings, for whom love knows no limits. There’s nothing that 17-year-old Jude won’t do to keep her younger brother Acton safe. Growing up in the turbulence of 1970s America, Jude works nights and weekends to pay the bills, just so that they can stay together and with their mother. But when Acton’s troublesome pals form a club in their basement, a foolish game threatens to upend Jude’s plans, and derail their lives forever. How far will Jude go to protect her brother? And who will pay the eventual price of her doing so?

Wallace (One Flea Spare, Slaughter City) said: “The Breach is my first in a trilogy of plays focused on different communities in my home state of Kentucky. It tells a story of love and survival amongst a specific set of youths in 1970s America, shining light on the political landscape designed to fail them and the American Dream intended to fool them. I am thrilled that the play is receiving its UK premiere at Hampstead Theatre, and I am excited to see what director Sarah Frankcom and the fantastic ensemble of young actors bring to The Breach.”

The Breach will run at Hampstead from May 6 until June 4, 2022.