London Musicals 2010.pub - Over The Footlights

THE LADY OR THE TIGER (2 nd Revival) 

London run: Orange Tree, January 5 th – February 13 th 

Music: Nola York 

Lyrics: Michael Richmond 

Book: Michael Richmond and Jeremy Paul 

Director: Sam Walters 

Musical Director: Greg Last & Tom Sellwood. 

Cast: Riona O’Connor (Princess), 

Eke Chukwu (Hero), 

Howard Samuels (King), 

Andrew C. Wadsworth (Factotum), 

Greg Last, Tom Sellwood (Musicians) 

2010 

1 

Notes: This show with its cast of just four performers, 

two musicians and no scenery had originated at the 

Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond in 1975 and transferred 

briefly to the Fortune Theatre for 52 performances in 

1976. It was revived in Richmond in 1989. This third 

outing was almost universally greeted with claims that 

Sam Walters was flogging a dead horse and the show 

was long past its sell-by date. 

See Original London production: Fortune Theatre, 

February 1976 

EVERY GOOD BOY DESERVES FAVOUR (4 th Revival) 

London run: Olivier Theatre, January 9 th – February 25 th (in repertoire) 

Music: André Previn 

Book: Tom Stoppard 

Director: Felix Barrett & Tom Morris 

Choreographer: Maxine Doyle 

Musical Director: Simon Over 

Cast: Adrian Schiller (Alexander), 

Julian Bleach (Ivanov), Shea Davis, Wesley Nelson, Jonathan Aris, Pandora Colin, Peter Pacey 

This was a straightforward revival of the 2009 

production, though with a new cast. 

Notes: See Original London production: 

Royal Festival Hall July 1977. 

1 st revival: Mermaid, June 1978; 

2 nd revival: Queen Elizabeth Hall, June 1987 

3 rd revival: Olivier Theatre, January 2009 

Eugene Lee & Julian Bleach 

Photo by Simon Annand

Photo by Tristram Kenton 

Sheridan Smith 

2010 

LEGALLY BLONDE 

London run: Savoy Theatre, January 12 th , 974 performances 

Music & Lyrics: Laurence O’Keefe & Nell Benjamin 

Book: Heather Hach 

Director-Choreographer: Jerry Mitchell 

Musical Director: Matthew Brind 

Cast: Sheridan Smith (Elle Woods), 

Duncan James (Warner Huntingdon), 

Peter Davison (Professor Callahan), Jill Halfpenny (Paulette), 

Chris Ellis-Stanton (Kyle), Aoife Mulholland (Fitness Instructor), 

Alex Gaumond (Emmett Forest) 

Songs: Omigod you guys, Serious, Daughter of Delta Nu, What 

You Want, The Havard Variations, Blood in the Water, Positive, 

Ireland, Chip on my Shoulder, So Much Better, Whipped into 

Shape, Take it Like a Man, Bend and Snap, There Right There (Is 

he Gay or European?), Find My Way 

Story: Blonde, Chihuahua-toting fashion-student Elle Woods is devastated when her fiancé Warner Huntingdon 

decides to abandon her in favour of his legal studies at Havard. So, determined to prove she is more than an emptyheaded 

bimbo, she also enrols at Havard. Clashing with snobby classmates and 

appalled professors, especially the supercilious Professor Callahan, she eventually saves 

the day as a legal intern working on a scandalous murder case where she wins the case 

by forcing a witness out of the closet (Is he gay or European?). Along the way she 

solves the romantic problems of Paulette, a lovelorn manicurist and Kyle, an hilariously 

macho delivery-man; gets support from a celebrity fitness instructor; and finds true love 

for herself in the shape of the geeky but lovable Emmett Forrest. 

Notes: Based on the novel by Amanda Brown and 2001 film version starring Reese 

Witherspoon, the stage version originally tried out in San Francisco in February 2007, 

and then opened on Broadway in April. The Broadway show ran until October 2008, 

with 595 performances, and was then re-created for London, where it won three Olivier 

Awards and ran until April 7th 2012 – achieving considerably greater success in the UK 

than in America. 

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JIHAD THE MUSICAL 

London run: Jermyn Street Theatres, January 14 th – February 6 th 

Music: Benjamin Scheuer 

Book & Lyrics: Zoe Samuel & Benjamin Scheuer 

Director: Gordon Greenberg 

Choreographer: Nick Windston 

Musical Director: Elliot Davis 

Cast: Yannick Fernandes (Sayid), Gina Murray (Mary), 

Sorab Wadia (Hussein), Tara Corrozza, Richard David-Caine, 

Delroy Atkinson. 

Songs: Building a Bomb Today, The Jihad Jive, I Wanna Be Like 

Osama 

Yannick Fernandes & Tara Corrozza 

Story: A young flower seller called Sayid, is lured from Kyrgzstan to Britain by Mary, an over-eager TV reporter, 

desperate to produce an award-winning film about a terrorist. Sayid falls in love with a burka-clad girl (and sings a 

love song limited to her eyes and the bridge of her nose). He also meets Hussein, a camp terrorist cell-leader, who 

puts everyone’s life on the line except his own, and who spends all his bomb money on clothes. Sayid is encouraged 

to make a bomb and blow up an important building, but love and good sense intervenes and all ends happily. 

Notes: Originally staged at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe, this was intended to be a Monty Python-type or “Springtime 

for Hitler”-type satire. It was generally condemned as a one-joke show, where the joke was not very good. 

Photo by Alastair Muir

SILENCE – THE MUSICAL 

London run: Above the Stag , January 21 st – February 28th 

Music & Lyrics: Jon & Al Kaplan 

Book: Hunter Bell 

Director-Choreographer: Christopher Gattelli 

Musical Director: Bob Broad 

Cast: Miles Western (Hannibal Lechter), 

Tory Ross (Clarice M Starling), Fabian Hartwell (Jame Gumb), 

Catherine Milson, Tim McArthur, Shakella Dedi, Phillipa Holliday, 

Leon Kay, Chris Mitchell, Phil Price 

Songs: Silence of the Lambs, Thish Ish It, Papa Shtarling, Are You 

About A Size 14? I'd Fuck Me, Catherine Dies Today, Put The Fucking 

Lotion In The Basket , Were Going In! – 

2010 

Notes: A parody of the 1991 film “Silence of the Lambs”, this show 

Tory Ross & Miles Western 

began as a series of songs published on the internet. It was developed 

into an off-Broadway musical which ran for two weeks in 2005 directed by Christopher Gatelli, and won the first 

prize at the New York International Fringe Festival. Its first British production was a two week run at the Barons 

Court Theatre, directed by David Phipps-Davis in October 2009, and this production was re-worked by Christopher 

Gatelli, incorporating new material especially written for London, and presented Above the Stag in January 2010. 

The critical reaction was not very enthusiastic. (An off-Broadway revival in 2011 had more success.) 

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Photo by Karolina Webb 

Photo by John McGovern 

ONCE UPON A TIME AT THE ADELPHI 

London run: Union, March 5 th – 27 th 

Music: Elliot Davis 

Book & Lyrics: Phil Willmott 

Director: Phil Willmott 

Choreographer: Andrew Wright 

Musical Director: Michael Bradley 

Cast: Ally Holmes (Alice), Matthew Markwick (Neil), 

Rebecca Hutchinson (The Stranger), Jon-Paul Hevey (Thompson), 

Paddy Crawley, Jodie Michaels, Will Stokes, Jamie Birkett, Marc Antolin, 

Matthew Naegeli, Lucyelle Cliffe 

Songs: Somebody on the Roof, Thompson, Once in a Lifetime, First Romances, Show Tune, Rats, A Wedding and a 

Yacht, Tell Her, Dance For Me Boy, The next Ten Seconds, Take a Moment, Just Fine 

Story: In present day Liverpool, Alice is the receptionist at the world famous Adelphi Hotel where her boyfriend 

Neil wants her to move with him to Japan. Alice is asked to investigate reports of a strange woman seen on the hotel 

roof and, up on the roof, Alice unknowingly enters a kind of time-warp, meeting a stranger who takes her back into 

the hotel’s glamorous 1930s past. The stranger says she too worked at the hotel in the past, and fell in love with a 

young man called Thompson. Because of a misunderstanding over a stolen ring, he left her and went to fight in the 

Second World War. Years later, during the blitz, he promised to return so they could dance on the roof of the hotel. 

Back downstairs in the present, a mystified Alice tells Neil about 

the stranger, and he decides to do some research. Back on the 

roof the stranger tells Alice how a dance for American soldiers 

in the Adelphi ballroom was interrupted by an air-raid, and she 

tried to reach the roof to meet with Thompson. Neil interrupts 

the story as the woman disappears. He tells Alice that he has 

discovered that the stranger had died in that air-raid. Alice 

realises life is too short to deny love, and agrees to leave for 

Japan with Neil. As they embrace, the spirit of Thompson 

arrives, and the reunited ghostly couple finally dance on the 

roof. 

Notes: Written to mark Liverpool’s year as a European Culture 

Capital this was produced at the Liverpool Playhouse in June 

2008. It was given a semi-staged showcase at London’s 

Trafalgar Studios in November 2008, but this production at the 

Union was its first London full staging. 

Rebecca Hutchinson & Jon-Paul Hevey

LOVE NEVER DIES 

London run: Adelphi, March 9 th – August 27 th , 2011 

Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber 

Lyrics & Book: Glenn Slater 

Book: Ben Elton & Frederick Forsyth Cast: 

Director: Jack O’Brien 

Choreographer: Jerry Mitchell 

Musical Director: David Charles Abell 

Revised production from November 2010 

Additional Lyrics: Charles Hart 

New Director : Bill Kenwright 

New Choreographer: Bill Deamer 

Producer: The Really Useful Group 

Cast: Ramin Karimloo (Phantom), Sierra Boggess (Christine Daaé), 

Joseph Millson (Raoul), Liz Robertson (Mme Giry), Summer Strallen (Meg), Niamh Perry (Fleck), 

Adam Pearce (Squelch), Jami Reid-Quarrell (Gangle) 

2010 

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Songs: Till I Hear You Sing, Only for You, What a Dreadful Town, Look With Your Heart, Beneath a Moonless 

Sky, Once Upon Another Time, Mother Please I’m Scared, Ten Long Years of Yearning, Dear Old Friend, The 

Beauty Beneath, Why Does She Love Me? Devil Take the Hindmost 

Story: Ten years after the events of “Phantom of the Opera”, the Phantom has escaped to America with the help 

of Madame Giry and her daughter, Meg. He now runs a freak-show whose star attractions are his “human 

prodigies”: Fleck, the aerialist half-bird half- woman; Squelch, a tattooed strong-man and Gangle, the barker. 

Meg is a vaudeville singer in the show but hopes to become a great singer and expects the Phantom to help her just 

as he helped Christine back in Paris. 

But, tortured by the absence of Christine, who is now a world famous opera star and mother, the Phantom invites 

her to make her American debut and she accepts without knowing his identity. She arrives with her husband 

Raoul, and their ten year old son, Gustave. When Madame Giry realises the Phantom intends to ignore Meg and 

make Christine his star attraction, she and Meg plot to have Christine return to Paris. When they learn that 

Gustave is really the son of the Phantom and Christine, and the Phantom will leave all his money to Gustave, their 

anger turns to madness and they plan to kill Gustave. During a confrontation Meg accidentally shoots Christine. 

The dying Christine reveals to Gustave that the Phantom is his father; she tells the Phantom that her love for him 

will never die; they have one final kiss and she dies in his arms. 

Notes: The musical opened with previews on 22nd February 2010, originally directed by Jack O’Brien and with 

lyrics by Glenn Slater. Although it was praised for its lavish staging, and received a few excellent notices, it was 

generally felt to be clunky and exceptionally dark and gloomy. It was rapidly nicknamed “Paint Never Dries”. 

Later in the year a new version was rehearsed simultaneously with the evening performances and the show closed 

for four days in November 2010 for substantial re-writes. It re-opened with new direction from Bill Kenwright, 

new choreography from Bill 

Deamer, and some new 

lyrics by Charles Hart. The 

London production closed 

on 27 August 2011 after a 

disappointing run of fewer 

than eighteen months. 

A heavily re-written 

Australian production with a 

new production team opened 

in Melbourne in May 2011 

and transferred to Sydney in 

January 2012 and was 

considered to be a great 

success. 

Ramin Karimloo 

& Sierra Boggess 

Photo by Catherine Ashmore

2010 

A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY 

London run: Wilton’s Music Hall, March 11 th – April 4 th 

Music & Lyrics: Various 

Book: Adam Rolston 

Director: Alvin Rakoff 

Choreographer: Joseph Pitcher 

Musical Director: Jo Stewart 

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Credit Unknown 

Cast: Sally Hughes (Doris Day), 

Ian McLarnon (Terry Melcher), 

Mark Halliday (Al Jorden/ William Kappelhof/Marty Melcher), 

Elizabeth Elvin (Alma Kappelhof/Grace Raine), 

Glyn Kerslake (George Weidler/Frank Sinatra) 

Songs: It’s Magic, Whatever Will Be Will Be, Secret Love, 

Move over Darling, Dream a Little Dream of Me, Deadwood 

Stage, and These Days (sung by Ian McLarnon), Young at 

Heart (sung by Glyn Kerslake) 

Sally Hughes as Doris Day 

Story: This was the life story of Doris Day (still alive at the 

age of 88), as narrated by her son, Terry Melcher . It quickly glossed over four disastrous marriages and a number 

of rumoured affairs, and skimmed over a career of 39 films, some 700 recordings, and a number of years as the 

Number One Hollywood Box Office attraction. The main purpose of the show was to perform some 26 of Doris 

Day’s most lasting hits. The fact that in real life Terry Melcher died in 2004 was ignored, and with a supporting 

cast of just three playing all the other roles, the audience had to cope with the leading actress marrying her own 

father not once, but twice! The show needed a bit of a humour transplant, but the singing and accompaniment 

from a four-piece band was much praised. It had originated at the Mill in Sonning . 

BUDDY (2 nd Revival) 

London run: Upstairs at the Gatehouse, March 16 th – April 18th 


Book: Alan Janes 

Director: John Plews 

Musical Director: Sean Green 

Cast: Roger Rowley (Buddy Holly), Jason Blackwater (Big Bopper), Jos Slovick(Ritchie Valens), 

Emily Altneu, Andrew Ashford, Henry Barrett, Deanna Farnell, Sean Green, Richie Hart, Patrick Rowley, 

Nicky Swift, Alex Wadham 

Notes: This was a much 

praised small-scale fringe 

revival. 

Original Production: 

Victoria Palace, 

Oct 1989 

(13 years) 

1 st revival : 

Duchess Theatre, 

Aug 2007 

(to February 2009) 

Jason Blackwater, 

Roger Rowley & 

Jos Slovick 

Credit Unknown

ANYONE CAN WHISTLE (2 nd Revival) 

London run: Jermyn Street, March 17 th – April 17th 

Music & Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim 

Book: Arthur Laurents 

Director: Tom Littler 

Choreographer: Alice Jackson 

Musical Director: Tom Attwood 

Cast: Issy van Randwyck (Cora), Rosalie Craig (Fay Apple), 

David Ricardo-Pearce (Dr Hapgood), Alistair Robins (Comptroller Schub), 

Leo Andrew, Karl Moffatt, Richard Colvin, Sophie Jugé, Lloyd Gorman, 

Deborah Hewitt, Elizabeth Reid, 

Rhiannon Sommers, Nick Trumble 

The music was provided by members of the cast 

working as actor-musicians. The production was 

part of the celebrations to mark Stephen 

Sondheim’s 80 th birthday which fell during the run 

of this show, and was felt to be a worthwhile look 

at one of his earliest and least successful works. 

Original London production: 

Gladys Child Theatre, February 1990 

First revival: Bridewell Theatre, January 2003 

2010 

6 

Issy van Randwyck 

PARIS 

London run: Lilian Baylis Theatre, March 28 th - April 25 th (5 Sunday performances) 

Music & Lyrics: Cole Porter 

Book: Martin Brown 

Director: Ian Marshall Fisher 

Musical Director: Gareth Valentine 

Producer: Lost Musicals season 

Cast: Anne Reid (Mrs Cora Sabot), Richard Dempsey (Andrew), Sian Reeves (Vivienne), 

James Vaughan (Guy Pennell), Clare Foster (Brenda Kaley), Stewart Permutt (Butler) 

Songs: by Cole Porter: Babes in the Wood, Don’t Look at Me That Way, Let’s Do It Let’s Fall in Love, Let’s 

Misbehave, Vivienne, The Heaven Hop. By other composers in the original production: The Land of Going 

to Be (Goetz/Kollo), Paris (Goetz/Alter), And Furthermore (Green/Warren), Sweet Old Watch-ma-call-it 

(Turk/Ahlert) 

Story: Mrs. Cora Sabot is a society matriarch living in Massachusetts. Her son Andrew plans on marrying the 

famous French stage actress Vivienne Rolland, but Cora goes to Paris and decides that this is not a suitable 

match. As part of her plan to stop the marriage she pretends to be drunk and to fall for Vivienne's stage 

partner, Guy Pennel. However, she really does become drunk and is comically transformed into a passionate 

woman. In the end her scheme works out: Vivienne realises she and Guy are meant to be romantic partners in 

real life as well as on the stage, and Andrew realises that the slow and none too bright Brenda Kaley, is a 

perfect match for himself. 

Notes: “Paris” premiered on Broadway on October 8th 1928 and ran until March 23rd 1929 – 195 

performances. It was Cole Porter's first Broadway hit and introduced the song “Let’s Misbehave” which, later 

in the run, was replaced with “Let’s Do It”. The song became a great hit for the star of the show, Irene 

Bordoni, who appeared in the 1929 film version of the musical, alongside Jack Buchanan and Zasu Pitts. 

The script was re-discovered in 1983 and the Cole Porter Trust agreed to a re-working of the score, restoring 

the cut Cole Porter songs, and adding other Porter songs to make it an all-Cole Porter musical. It was this 

“new” version that was performed as a series of five staged Sunday concerts as part of Ian Marshall Fisher’s 

Lost Musicals season. The rewritten version was given a fully-staged production off-Broadway from June to 

October 2011.

2010 

Notes: “Paris” premiered on Broadway on October 8th 1928 and ran 

until March 23rd 1929 – 195 performances. It was Cole Porter's first 

Broadway hit and introduced the song “Let’s Misbehave” which, later in 

the run, was replaced with “Let’s Do It”. The song became a great hit for 

the star of the show, Irene Bordoni, who appeared in the 1929 film version 

of the musical, alongside Jack Buchanan and Zasu Pitts. 

7 

The script was re-discovered in 1983 and the Cole Porter Trust agreed to a 

re-working of the score, restoring the cut Cole Porter songs, and adding 

other Porter songs to make it an all-Cole Porter musical. It was this “new” 

version that was performed as a series of five staged Sunday concerts as 

part of Ian Marshall Fisher’s Lost Musicals season. The rewritten version 

was given a fully-staged production off-Broadway from June to October 

2011. 

Photo by Tristram Kenton 

PORN - THE MUSICAL 

London run: Theatre 503 Battersea, April 9 th – May 1 st 

Music & Lyrics: Boris Cezek & Kris Spiteri 

Book & Lyrics: Malcolm Galea 

Additional material: Abigail Guan 

Cast: Brendan Cull (Stefan), Jody Peach (Jade), David Burt (Marvin Scoresleazy), 

Alain Terzoli (Dr Johnny), Sophia Thierens (Sanddy), Malcolm Galea (Narrator), 

Ahmet Ahmet (Miscellaneous Man) 

Songs: Everyone in Malta is Related, Sanddy with a Double D, I’ll Stick to You Like 

Herpes, Many Ways To Do It, I’ve got a PhD, The Song Where Everybody Bitches, 

You Can Go Home Now, Where the F*ck is Malta?, Naked on a Sunday 

Story: Innocent Maltese, Stefan, on the eve of his marriage to childhood sweetheart 

Jade, finds out that she has slept with everyone in Malta. So he flees to America to live the American Dream. 

But the moment he arrives he meets Marvin Scoresleazy, the flashy, medallioned porn-film director who is 

desperate to finish his latest film to pay off his Mob creditors. Stefan gets caught up in this sleazy world, and 

with the film’s leading players, the hunky well-endowed Dr Johnny and the equally well endowed Sanddy 

(with a Double D). The various parts of the plot are linked by an endearingly smarmy Narrator (in “Rocky 

Horror” style) and by a Miscellaneous Man who complainingly plays all the bit parts. Finally Stefan decides 

to return home to Jade – though initially no one can find Malta on the map because they are all “bloody 

Yanks” (a convenient rhyme, of course!) 

Notes: This show was first staged in 

March 2009 as an amateur cabaret-type 

revue in Valetta on the island of Malta. 

With some financial support from an 

enthusiastic Cameron Mackintosh, the 

original company re-created the show 

for the Edinburgh Fringe in 2009. It 

was then re-cast with established British 

professionals for this London debut. 

Praised for its witty dialogue and 

hilarious lyrics, this was generally 

welcomed as an entertaining satire, 

though some complained of its 

demeaning attitude to women. 

Jody Peach, Alain Terzoli 

& Sophia Thierens

8 

HAIR (4 th Revival) 

London run: Gielgud Theatre, 

April 14 th – September 4th (165 performances) 

Music: Galt MacDermot 

Lyrics & Book: Gerome Ragni and James Rado 

Director: Diane Paulus 

Choreographer: Karole Armitage 

Musical Director: Richard Beadle 

Producer: Cameron Mackintosh 

Cast: Gavin Creel (Claude), 

Will Swenson (Berger), 

Luther Creek (Woof), Darius Nichols (Hud), Caissie Levy (Sheila), 

Kacie Sheik (Jeannie), Alison Case (Crissy), Megan Lawrence, Andrew Kober, 

Kevin Kern 

Notes This revival opened on Broadway in March 2009 and was almost universally acclaimed. It went on to 

win several awards including the Tony Award for Best Musical Revival. Within six months it had recouped its 

entire $5,760,000 investment, becoming one of the fastest-recouping musicals in Broadway history. After a 

year’s run, the original cast transferred to London and a mostly new tribe took over on Broadway. However, 

Broadway sales dropped with this cast change and the show closed on June 27, 2010 after 29 previews and 519 

regular performances. (A touring version then ran for fourteen months through the USA returning to Broadway 

for ten weeks in the summer of 2011) 

Most of the original cast transferred to London where the show received very enthusiastic reviews and a 

tremendous audience reaction. Under Equity rules the American performers were only allowed to play for six 

months, after which they would need to be replaced by English performers. Cameron Mackintosh decided 

against re-casting, and the show closed on September 4, 2010 after 12 previews and 165 regular performances. 

Original London production, Shaftesbury Theatre, September 1968. 

First revival: Queen’s Theatre. June 1974; 

Second Revival: Old Vic, September 1993 

Third revival: Gate, September 2005 

Photo by Michael Le Poer Trench 

Gavin Creek & Will Swenson

2010 

KRISTINA 

London run: Royal Albert Hall, April 14 th (One night concert ) 

Music: Benny Andersson 

Lyrics: Björn Ulvaeus & Herbert Kretzmer 

Director: Lars Rudolfsson 

Musical Director: Paul Gemignani 

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Cast: Helen Sjöholm (Kristina), Russell Watson (Karl Oscar), 

Louise Pitre (Ulrika), Kevin Odekirk (Robert) and a chorus of 24 

singers 

Songs: Path of Leaves and Needles, Where You Go I Go with You, A 

Bad Harvest, Golden Wheat-fields, In the Dead of Darkness, A Sunday in Battery Park, Lice, Dreams of Gold, 

Queen of the Prairie, Gold Can Turn to Sand, With Child Again, I’ll Be Waiting There 

Story: In the late 19 th Century , Kristina, a peasant woman, her husband and children make the perilous journey 

from their village of Duvemala in famine-stricken Sweden to a new life in rural America. They are accompanied by 

a motley collection of villagers including a prostitute seeking to better herself, and a brother-in-law with no heart for 

farming. Their lives are filled with hardships, miscarriages, deaths from fever, injustice and hunger. The prostitute 

marries an American preacher, but the faith of the others in this Swedish diaspora is heavily tested, particularly 

when Kristina dies in childbirth. 

Notes: This was an opera based on the novels of Wilhelm Moberg and had first been performed in a four-hour 

version in Sweden in 1995. In spite of it being completely unlike anything else in the ABBA canon it had been an 

enormous success in Stockholm. This shortened version, in an English translation, was given a one-night only 

concert performance at the Royal Albert Hall – to a sell-out audience and a standing ovation. Several critics 

expressed surprise that something so gloomy and drawn out could evoke such an enthusiastic audience response. 

ALL THE FUN OF THE FAIR 

London run: Garrick Theatre, 

April 28 th – 5 th September (150 Performances) 

Music: David Essex 

Book: Jon Conway 

Director: David Gilmore 

Musical Director: 

Cast: David Essex (Levi Lee), 

Louise English (Rosa), 

Michael Pickering (Jack), Nicola Brazil (Alice), 

Christopher Timothy (Harvey), 

Tim Newman (Slow Jonny), 

Cameron Jack (Druid) 

Songs: A Winter’s Tale, He Noticed Me , Here We 

Are All Together, Hold Me Close, Pretty Thing, 

Rock On, Street Fight, Gonna Make You a Star, 

Father And Son, You're In My Heart , Lamplight, 

Stay Young And Free, She's Leaving, Dangerous , 

Silver Dream Machine, It's Gonna Be All Right 

David Essex 

Photo by Alastair Muir 

Story: Set in a travelling funfair, this is the story of the owner, Levi Lee, trying to come to terms with the loss of his 

wife while fighting off the attentions of Rosa, an over amorous gypsy future teller who foretells the danger and 

mysticism in his future. Levi also has to deal with his rebellious teenage son, Jack, who runs off with Alice, 

daughter of the East End gangster, Harvey. His other problems involve Slow Jonny, the sweet-natured simple boy 

he regards as a second son, and Druid, a psychopathic heavy. Dodgems and motorbikes, crafty cons and candy 

floss, fairground horses and fights, as well as unrequited love, romance and rock and roll bring out the carnival 

atmosphere in this world of fairground life 

Notes: This is a jukebox musical based on the songs of David Essex and taken from the title of his 1975 album “All 

the Fun of the Fair”. The plot is fictional, not autobiographical. It began with a five month provincial tour and 

transferred to the West End in April 2010 for a limited season, ending September 2010. A second provincial tour 

ran from October 2011 to April 2012.

BRITAIN’S GOT BHANGRA 

London run: Theatre Royal, Stratford East, April 28 th – May 16 th 

Music: Sumeet Chopra 

Lyrics: Douglas Irvine 

Book: Pravesh Kumar 

Director: Pravesh Kumar 

Choreographer: Andy Kumar 

Musical Director: Mark Collins 

Cast: Surrinder Singh Parwana “Shin” (Twinkle), Natasha Lewis (Jussi), 

Sunil Pramanik (Rocky), Sophiya Haque (Mrs Shindie), Rakesh Boury (DJ), 

Arun Blair-Mangat, Davina Perera, Ankur Bahl, Keeza Farhan, Harveen 

Mann 

2010 

Story: Twinkle, and his bride Jussi, leave their Punjabi village for London 

where they dream the streets are paved with gold. However, the reality is very 

different, and they struggle to get along on Twinkle’s earnings as a bus driver 

in Southall. But Twinkle soon turns into a local celebrity, singing his 

bhangra songs at local weddings , and he and his musical partner Rocky are snapped up by the unscrupulous 

producer, Mrs Shindie, who realises that bhangra means big bucks. However, Twinkle’s fortunes fade: he is 

ripped off by Mrs Shindie and a loutish DJ; Rocky dies; and illegal sampling and downloads kill his record 

sales. Finally Twinkle hits the bottle and alienates his long suffering wife - but a last minute change of 

fortunes gives the show a happy ending. 

Notes: With excellent notices and sell-out houses, this show subsequently toured several venues in the summer 

of 2010 and was revived and re-written for an extensive provincial tour in 2011. 

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CAMP HORROR 

London run: Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch , May 24 th – June 12 th 

Music & Lyrics: The Heather Brothers 

Director: Bob Carlton 

Choreographer: Emily Parker 

Musical Director: Julian Littman 

Cast: Julian Littman (Mr Reynolds), Francesca Loren (Chrissie), Oliver Seymour-Marsh (Josh), 

Pam Jolley (Leanne), Kate Robson-Stuart (Mel), Sarah Scowen (Jasmine),Alex Marshall (Eddie), 

Joe West (Stu), Elliot Harper (Matt), Matthew Quinn (PJ) 

Songs: I die a Little, Twist, Fear is an Aphrodisiac, Abstinence will ensure You Survive the Bloodbath, 

Teenage Hanky-Panky Makes Psychos Real Cranky 

Story: In a dilapidated theatre on a remote and stormy island, 

a group of high-school teenagers are rehearsing their end-ofterm 

show, a horror-musical called “Teen Scream”, under the 

direction of the drama head, Mr Reynolds. With opening night 

just hours away, the sets and props have yet to arrive, and the 

bridge to the mainland has been washed away. Even worse, 

nobody’s mobile phone works. The students include plucky 

heroine Chrissie, her boyfriend Josh, Leanne, the wimp with 

psychic powers, and Mel and Jasmine, a pair of flighty 

blondes. Eddie is the reluctant technician for the show, whilst 

Stu and Matt are only doing the show for a chance to make out 

with the girls. One by one the youngsters are picked off by a 

blood-crazed killer in their midst – and killed in exactly the 

same way that the fictional Stutter Cutter, the hooded doggiemask 

wearing psycho killer of “Teen Scream” deals with his 

victims. 

Notes: With witty and sly references to the world of cheesy 

slasher-movies and the occasional nod to Hitchcock with his 

famous shower-scene, this worked both as a macabre and 

tongue-in-cheek bit of fun, with a tuneful rock 'n' roll score.

PARADISE FOUND 

London run: Menier Chocolate Factory, 

May 26th- June 26th 

Music: Johan Strauss II 

Lyrics: Ellen Fitzhugh 

Book: Richard Nelson 

Director: Harold Prince 

Director-Choreographer: Susan Stroman 

Musical Director: Charles Prince 

Cast: John McMartin (Shah of Persia), Mandy Patinkin 

(Eunuch), Kate Baldwin (Mizzi), Shuler Hensley (Baron), 

George Lee Andrews (Soap Manufacturer), Daniel 

Marcus (Soap Manufacturer’s Wife), Judy Kaye, 

Herndon Lackey, Lacey Kohl, Nancy Opel 

2010 

Mandy Patinkin, Kate Baldwin & Shuler Hensley 

Songs: Once and Now, Train Station, Feeling Good, Every Little Bit, The Bat, Faces Like Flowers, Empress of 

Fantasy, Without Desire, Save This Empire, The Same Lovely Vienna, How Could You Know?, Ve Made a 

Emperess, Perfect Love. 

Story: A sexually exhausted Shah of Persia comes to late 19 th Century Vienna and asks his eunuch to procure the 

sexual services of the Empress of Austria to stimulate his jaded appetite. His eunuch conspires with a Viennese 

baron to substitute an Empress look-alike, who is really a courtesan called Mizzi, and to disguise the local brothel as 

a Palace. Having thus fooled the Shah, the aristocrat himself, both client and lover of Mizzi, becomes intensely 

jealous, and even more so when the Eunuch, by virtue of his (lack of? ) assets, is allowed to view several Viennese 

sexual escapades with voyeuristic delight. So, the Shah is in love with Mizzi, who is in love 

with the aristocrat, who is also having an affair with the soap manufacturer’s wife. . . 

Notes: Based on Joseph Roth’s 1939 novel “The Tale of the 1002 nd Night”, “Paradise 

Found” was directed by Broadway showbiz-royalty, and included some of the greatest 

Broadway talents in the cast. Its London fringe debut was planned as a cheaper way of 

launching a try-out workshop prior to Broadway. It was a much anticipated and eagerly 

awaited “big” event. But that event turned out to be a huge flop, “an absolute stinker”. The 

plot itself was a “pastiche of unbelievable coarseness and vulgarity” and the lyrics attached to 

Johann Strauss melodies were decried as abysmal - especially the song where the Baron and 

Mizzi jointly sing “ I’m Feeling Yours {boom-boom, boom-boom} and You’re Feeling Mine 

{boom-boom,boom-boom}” to the tune of the Blue Danube Waltz ! The critics, aghast at 

such a total mess, could not believe how such names as Hal Prince, Susan Stroman and 

Mandy Patinkin could ever have agreed to work on such rubbish. 

11 

Photo by Catherine Ashmore 

THE FANTASTICKS (4 th Revival) 

London run: Duchess Theatre, June 9 th – 26 th (21 performances) 

Music: Harvey Schmidt 

Lyrics: Tom Jones 

Director - Choreographer: Amon Miyamoto 

Musical Director: Tom Deering 

Cast: Hadley Fraser (Narrator), Lorna Want (Girl), Luke Brady (Boy), 

Clive Rowe (Boy’s Father), David Burt (Girl’s Father), 

Edward Petherbridge (Old Actor), Paul Hunter (Man Who Dies), Carl Au (The Mute), 

Ross Aldred, Matthew Craig, Ceili O’Connor 

This production originated in Tokyo, where Tom Jones, the lyricist, saw it, liked it, and 

managed to raise the money to re-stage it in London. With some audience sitting on the 

stage, and with some vaguely kabuki clowning interludes and oriental drumming it was “different”. However, yet 

again it failed to make a favourable impact in the UK despite the fact it is the longest running musical in the USA 

(1960-2002 and then revived in 2006 and still running!) The critics hated it: “cheek-numbingly boring and 

desperately unfunny” (D. Mail), “sticky, sugary depths. . .ghastly musical” (D. Telegraph), “No sane adult should 

have to sit through this” (Sunday Times), “I lost the will to live” (Mail on Sunday). It lasted less than 3 weeks. 

Notes: See Original production: Apollo Theatre, September 1961; 

First revival: Hampstead Theatre Club, May 1970; Second revival: Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, July 1990 

Third revival: King’s Head, August 1996

DESIRE 

London run: Albany, June 30 th – July 2 nd 

Music: Peter Scott-Presland 

Book & Lyrics: Peter Murphy 

Director: Peter Scott-Presland 

Choreographer: Stuart Glover 

Musical Director: Peter Murphy 

Cast: J.J. Cris, Joe Grenata, Joe Shefer, Mark Stewart, 

Michael Woodhams, Ozer Ercan, Randy Smartnick, 

Rex Melville, Russell Fleet, 

Sertan Sanderson. 

2010 

12 

Based on “States of Desire” by Edmund White, this is a 

full-length parade of gay life in America in the late 

1970s, the heady years before AIDS. A Narrator 

provides a gay travelogue and portraits of people in 15 

USA cities: lifeguards, bisexual Native Americans, 

waltzing cowboys, party-goers, rent boys, drag queens 

and radicals. The music reflects melting-pot America, 

not one country but many, and conveys the array of characters in a wide range of music styles - Latin, 

bluegrass, blues, gospel, 70s pop, and jazz. The show aimed at presenting a gay sense of community and a 

celebration of gay power, pride and identity. The critics generally found it more a semi-staged oratorio than a 

book musical, but there was much praise for the songs and the spirit of the show. 

Credit Unknown 

ASSASSINS (3 rd Revival) 

London run: Union, July 1 st – 24th 


Book: John Weidman 

Director: Michael Strassen 

Musical Director: Michael Bradely 

Cast: Adam Jarrell (Leon Czolgosz), Paul Callen (John Hinckley), John Barr(Charles Guiteau), 

Joe Alessi (Giuseppe Zangara), Nick Holder (Samuel Byck), Alison Larnder (Squeaky Fromme), 

Leigh McDonald (Sara Jane Moore), Glyn Kerslake (John Wilkes Booth), Nolan Frederick (Balladeer), 

Lisa Stoke (Emma Goldman), Marc Joseph (Lee Harvey Oswald),Davis Brooks, Neil Canfer, 

Anthony Delaney, Hannah Bingham, Holly Easterbrook 

Original London run: Donmar Warehouse, October 1992 

First revival: New End Theatre, July 1997 

Second revival: Landor, September, 2000

Photo by Robert Day 

Jason Denton & Cynthia Erivo 

2010 

I WAS LOOKING AT THE CEILING 

AND THEN I SAW THE SKY 

London run: Theatre Royal, Stratford East, July 7 th – 17 th 

Music: John Adams 

Lyrics: June Jordan 

Director: Kerry Michael & Matthew Xia 

Choreographer: Jason Pennycooke 

Musical Director: Clark Rundell 

Cast: Cynthia Erivo (Leila), Jason Denton (David), 

Anna Mateo (Consuelo), Stewart Charlesworth (Mike), 

Leon Lopez (Dewain), Natasha J. Barnes (Tiffany), 

Colin Ryan (Rick) 

Songs: Three Weeks and I’m Still Outta My Mind, A Sermon on 

Romance, Solo in Sunlight, Song about the Bad Boys and the News, 

Alone Again or at Last, How Far can I Go in a Car 

Story: Set is the aftermath of the 1994 Los Angeles earthquake, this is the story of the intertwined lives of seven 

Los Angeles citizens: Leila, a frustrated sexual health worker; David, a philandering preacher; Consuelo, an illegal 

immigrant from El Salvador; Mike, a rookie cop; Dewain, a black gang leader just out of prison; Tiffany, a blonde 

news reporter; and an idealistic lawyer, Rick, whose parents were Vietnamese boat-people. In the course of the 

show we learn their reactions to the earthquake, and the nature of their lives before and after the event in present-day 

USA. 

Notes: John Adams is the minimalist composer best known for his operas “Nixon in China” and “The Death of 

Klinghoffer”. This “musical” is a mixture of song-cycle, opera, blues, rock, gospel and funk and is performed with 

no dialogue. It was first staged in May 1995 in Berkeley, California, and its title is based on a comment by one of 

the survivors. This was a joint production between the Barbican and the Theatre Royal, Stratford East. The critics 

were divided on whether this was an opera or a musical, and whether it belonged in a concert-hall rather than a 

theatre. However, there was much praise for the performers. 

13 

WOLFBOY 

London run: Trafalgar Studio 2, July 8th-31st 

Music & Lyrics: Leon Parris 

Book: Russell Labey 

Director: Russell Labey 

Musical Director: Iain Vince Gatt 

Cast: Paul Holowaty (David), Gregg Lowe (Bernie), 

Daniel Boys (Christian), Emma Rigby (Cherry), 

Annabel Howitt (Annie) 

Songs: The Visit, One Wall Away from Your Dreams, 1 

Seven, 2 Jacks & an Ace, Come Home 

Story: Hockey team captain and golden boy Bernie wakes 

up in an asylum, after his suicide attempt. His elder brother, 

Gregg Lowe & Paul Holowaty 

Christian, tries to understand what drove him to this desperate action, but he ends up ignoring his brother and 

making love to the resident nurse, Cherry. Meantime Bernie befriends the patient in the next room – a rent-boy 

named David who believes he is a werewolf and is gagged and strapped to his bed. Over time both boys grow closer 

as they exchange stories of their similar past lives, filled with sexual abuse, loneliness and psychiatric disorders. 

Notes: Based on the play by Canada’s leading playwright, Brad Fraser, “Wolfboy” was first staged in 1981 and had 

a major revival in Toronto in 1985 with Keanu Reeves in one of his earliest stage roles. The musical version by 

Russell Labey and Leon Parris had a four-night preview at the Tabard Theatre in Chiswick prior to opening at the 

Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2009. The original cast included Paul Holowaty, Gregg Lowe and Lee 

Latchford-Evans from “Steps”. With just a few minor revisions, the production was re-staged for its premiere at the 

Trafalgar Studios, previewing from July 6th, and running until the end of the month. Large parts of the show were 

“sung-through” and the music was pre-recorded. Because two of the performers were leading players in TV’s 

“Hollyoaks” it attracted good business, but its homo-eroticism, and sado-masochistic themes, together with its 

graphic sex scenes, proved too much for the majority of the critics who found it offensive.

ASPECTS OF LOVE (2 nd Revival) 

London run: Menier Chocolate Factory, July 15 th – September 11 th 

Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber 

Lyrics: Charles Hart & Don Black 

Book: Charles Hart & Don Black 

Director: Trevor Nunn 

Choreographer: Lynne Page 

Musical Director: Tom Murray 

Cast : Michael Arden ( Alex Dillingham), Katherine Kingsley (Rose Vibert), Dave 

Willetts (George Dillingham), Rosalie Craig (Giulietta), 

Martyn Ellis (Marcel), Louisa Lydell, Rebecca Brewer, Jill Armour, Ian McLarnon, 

Chris Andrew Mellon, David Roberts, Savannah Stevenson, Dominic Tighe, Rebecca 

Trehearn 

Performed with a seven-piece band and projected scenery, this was presented as a chamber musical and for many 

critics, the show was vastly improved by being reduced in this way. The original run was advertised to September 

26 th , but the show closed two weeks earlier than this. No explanation was offered. 

Notes: Original London Production, Prince of Wales Theatre, April 1989 

First revival: Prince of Wales, December 1993 

2010 

14 

SMOKEY JOE’S CAFÉ (1 st Revival) 

London run: Landor, July 20 th – September 12th 

Music & Lyrics: Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller 

Director-Choreographer: Mykal Rand 

Musical Director: Alex Parker 

Cast: Steph Fearon, Kym Mazelle, Marc Akinfolarin, 

Miguel Angel, Edward Baruwa, Simon Hardwick, Ngo Ngola, 

Philippa Stefani, Yaa. 

Original London run: Prince of Wales, October 1996 

THE GO GO GO SHOW 

London run: Leicester Square Theatre, July 29 th – August 30 th 

Music & Lyrics: Mike Stock & Steve Crosby 

Book: Dean Wilkinson 

Director: Carole Todd 

Choreographer: Paul Domaine 

Cast: Ian Hardman (Mr Baffled) – others not credited. 

Notes: The Go Go Go group consists of five teenagers: bossy Holly, ditsy Gemma, nice Kirsten, magical Carl and 

sporty Steve. One morning they wake up to discover their socks are missing yet again. The culprit is Fluffalope 

who likes to munch his way through a tasty pile of socks! They must catch the Fluffalope, return him to his family 

home and most importantly - retrieve their socks! En route, the gang visit Holiday Bay and spend time in the Land 

Of Lost Property, where they are waylaid by the bumbling Mr Baffled. Sung-along to pre-recorded tracks this was 

derided by the critics as a cheap attempt 

to jump on the High School Musical 

bandwagon. However it returned twice 

more to Leicester Square during holiday 

periods in 2010 and then undertook a 

highly successful provincial tour during 

the summers of 2011 and 2012, as well as 

a series of one-night shows at various 

venues including the Garrick Theatre. 

The CD and merchandising sales were 

considerable!

2010 

AFTER THE TONE 

London run: Bridewell, August 2 nd -14 th 

Music & Lyrics: Oliver Fenwick 

Libretto: Russell Thompson 

Director-Musical Director: Oliver Fenwick 

15 

Cast: Christopher Wheeler (Dylan), 

Joseph Davenport (Harry), 

Sejal Keshwala (Saffy), 

Laura Jane Matthewson (Louise) 

Christopher Wheeler & Joseph Davenport 

Notes: This is a four-handed series of 

monologues and songs about love, regret and confusion. The characters do not meet each other, and are linked 

only through their love for an offstage woman called Livvi, who never appears. Following the death of his 

unloved father, Harry is forced to quit university to be with his mother, though he 

spends his time ogling a pretty girl in the bus queue outside his window; Louise 

has a dark history she’d love to share with her best friend; Saffy is lonely until she 

starts attending dance classes and learns more than how to tango; and dreary 

Dylan, smoking and drinking too much because his girlfriend seems to have gone 

off him. 

The music and lyrics were by 18 year old Oliver Fenwick, and though the show 

had a number of faults, its warmer moments and rounded characters were very 

promising indeed. Oliver Fenwick was marked out as a talent to watch. 

ZIP – A STREETDANCE MUSICAL 

London run: Lion & Unicorn, August 4 th – September 5 th 

Music, Book & Lyrics: Ray Shell, Sarah Henley, James Kenward 

Director: Ray Shell 

Choreographer: Gary Lloyd 

Musical Director: Anthony Warnes & Warren Wilson 

Cast: Jack Guttmann (Muse), Brandon Lee Henry (Lexus), Alma Eno (Chloe), Jennifer Oliver (Queesha), 

Beau Baptist (Reffessi), Ololade Adewusi (Kid Ill), Mark Gillham (Tru Blond), James Kenward (Selky) 

Songs: This Was My Life, It’s Not My Fault 

Story: Four teenagers, Muse, Lexus, Chloe and Queesha, pair off for a drug-fuelled night in an empty 

warehouse – but maybe it’s not so empty: the place is used as a 

weapons stash for the Kalipha Krew, headed by wannabe terrorist 

Reffessi, Kid Ill (Muse’s brother), and Tru Blond. The warehouse 

also turns out to be home to the ghosts of the dead young people who 

have been murdered ("merked") on local streets. And some of the 

living may join their number before the night is out. Among the ghosts 

are Selky (knifed earlier that day by Tru Blond) 

Notes: A lottery-funded musical about street violence, devised in 

workshops with young local people, this was based on a simple 

premise: the living world is played straight while the dead world is 

sung and danced. Of the fifteen performers, the “living” characters are 

played by professional actors, and the remaining cast made up of local 

young people. The danger that presenting the story in a song and 

street-dance show might glamorise the violence was definitely 

countermanded by the moving finale where each of the fifteen 

performers dedicated their performance to a named local victim of 

gun and knife crime - just fifteen names out of a list that sadly 

numbered many more.

STATE FAIR (1 st Revival) 

London run: Trafalgar Studios, August 5 th -28th 

Music: Richard Rodgers 

Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II 

Book: Tom Briggs & Louis Mattioli 

Director: Thom Southerland 

Choreographer: Sally Brooks 

Musical Director: Magnus Gilljam 

Cast: Philip Rham (Abel), 

Susan Travers (Melissa), Laura Main (Margy), 

Gareth Nash (Harry), Karl Clarkson (Wayne), 

Jodie Jacobs (Emily), Stephen McGlynn (Pat), 

Gemma Boaden, Anthony Wise, Lewis Grant 

2010 

16 

This was the same production that had played the 

Finborough in 2009, though with several changes 

of cast, but again with piano-only 

accompaniment. 

Original London production: 

Finborough, August 2009 

Photo by Olivia Shaw 

ELEGIES FOR ANGELS PUNKS AND 

RAGING QUEENS (3 rd Revival) 

London run: Shaw Theatre, 12 th – 28 th August 

Music: Janet Hood 

Book & Lyrics: Bill Russell 

Director: John-Jackson Alomond 

Choreographer: Omar F. Okai 

Musical Director: Michael Roulston 

Cast: Miguel Brown, Jonathan Hellyer, Titti La Camp, Leon Lopez, 

Anna Mateo, West End Gospel Choir 

Notes: Following significant progress in 

AIDS treatment since this piece was written, 

a new speech had been added to highlight 

the dangers of greeting such medical 

advances with complacency. Other updates 

included an attack on the pronouncements of 

current South African political leaders. 

However, the show was now felt to be 

outdated in its message and its format. It 

had simply lost its edge. 

Original London run: 

King’s Head, Nov 1992/ Drill Hall Jan 1993 

First revival: Comedy Theatre, June 1993 

Second revival: Bridewell, June 2001 

Photo by Marilyn Kingwell

INTO THE WOODS (4 th Revival) 

London run: Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park, 

August 16 th – September 11th 

Music & Lyrics: 

Stephen Sondheim 

Book: James Lapine 

Director: Timothy Sheader 

Director-Choreographer: 

Liam Steel 


Gareth Valentine 

Cast: Hannah Waddingham (Witch), 

Ben Stott (Jack), 

Marilyn Cutts (Jack’s Mother), 

Mark Hadfield (Baker), 

Jenna Russell (Baker’s Wife), 

Helen Dallimore (Cinderella), 

Beverly Rudd (Red Riding Hood), 

Billy Boyle (Mysterious Man) 

Alice Fearn (Rapunzel) 

Michael Xavier (Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf), 

Simon Thomas (Rapunzel’s Prince), 

Amy Griffiths (Lucinda), 

Ethan Beer/Eddie Manning/Joshua Swinney 

(Narrator), 

Amy Ellen Richardson (Florinda). 

(Giant’s voice pre-recorded by Judi Dench) 

2010 

Notes: This was framed around the idea that the 

Hannah Waddingham as the Witch 

first narrator is a troubled child, fleeing a parental 

quarrel. Sitting on the edge of a forest he conjures 

up a jumbled fairy-tale, and then falls asleep in his sleeping bag to experience a nightmare which is the show 

itself. The show attracted great praise, with many critics commenting on how well the show suited an open-air 

venue. It won the Olivier Award for the Best Musical Revival. It was later announced that the production 

would be re-created in the Open Air Theatre in New York’s Central Park during July and August 2012. 

17 

Original London Production: 

Phoenix Theatre, 

September 1990 

First Revival: 

Donmar Warehouse, 

November 1998; 

Second revival: 

Linbury Studio, 

Royal Opera House, 

June 2007 

Third revival: 

Upstairs at the Gatehouse, 

December 2008 



Ben Stott as Jack

DARLING OF THE DAY 

London run: National Portrait Gallery, August 22 nd – September 19 th 

(5 successive Sundays) 

Music: Jule Styne 

Lyrics: E.Y.Harburg 

Book: Nunnally Johnson 

Director: Ian Marshall Fisher 

Musical Director: Mark Warman 

Producer: Lost Musicals Season 

Cast: Nicholas Jones (Priam Farll), Paul Stewart (Henry Leek), 

Louise Gold (Alice Challice), Vivienne Martin (Lady Vale), Myra Sands, 

Michael Roberts, Chris Stanton, Lee William-Davis, Nicola Bryan, Adam Dutton, 

Michael Storrs, Emma Hatton 

Songs: Mad for Art, He’s a Genius, To Get Out of This World Alive, It’s Enough 

to Make a Lady Fall in Love, A Gentleman’s Gentleman, I’ve Got a Rainbow 

Working for Me, What Makes a Marriage Merry, Not on Your Nellie, Sunset Tree, Butler in the Abbey. 

Story: In 1905 London, Priam Farll is a shy but brilliant artist who has been recalled from the South Pacific in 

order to receive a knighthood. However, he doesn’t like the fuss and the publicity, so he swaps identities with 

his butler, Henry Leek. But Henry suddenly dies, and their identities are confused by an official. Instead of 

correcting the error, Priam allows Henry to be buried in Westminster Abbey with full honours as the famous 

artist, and he settles down to a happy "upper working class" existence. He marries a Cockney widow, Alice 

Challice, but when they run into financial difficulties he has to sell some of his paintings. His "cover" 

becomes increasingly flimsy, but in the nick of time everything works out, and he is allowed to stay plain 

Henry Leek after all. 

Notes: The original Broadway production went through three directors and five librettists before opening on 

January 27, 1968 and closing just 31 performances later. The Broadway production starred Vincent Price and 

Patricia Routledge as Priam and Alice. In spite of the flop, Patricia Routledge won the Tony Award for Best 

Actress in a Musical. There have been some concert versions and in 2005 the show was given a fully-staged 

regional production in the USA. However, in spite of enthusiastic critical reassessment, the show has had no 

Broadway revival or West End staging. This production in the Lost Musicals season was a combination of 

concert version and rehearsed reading. 

18 

THE REMAINS OF THE DAY 

London run: Union SE1, September 2 nd – 25 th 

Photo by Michael Brydon 

Stephen Rashbrook & Lucy Bradshaw

THE REMAINS OF THE DAY 

London run: Union SE1, September 2 nd – 25 th 

Music & Lyrics: Alex Loveless 

Director: Chris Loveless 

Choreographer: Omar F. Okai 

Musical Director: Richard Bates 

2010 

Cast: Stephen Rashbrook (Stevens), 

Lucy Bradshaw (Miss Kenton), Alan Vicary (Lord Darlington), 

Dudley Rogers (Stevens Senior), Reuben Kaye (Mr Farraday), 

Christopher Bartlett, Adrian Beaumont, Hannah Bingham, 

Sophie Jugé, Gemma Salter, Katia Sartini, Paul Tate, Leejay 

Townsend, Rebecca Whitbread. 

Story: Lord Darlington’s butler, Stevens, is rigorously devoted to duty and honour at great cost to his personal 

happiness. His sense of class and tradition causes him to abandon the bedside of his dying father in order to 

wait on his lord and a party of Nazi sympathising house guests. At the heart of the story is the many years of 

non-romance between Stevens and Miss Kenton, the housekeeper – a romance that might have flourished were 

it not for Steven’s obsessive devotion to “service”. After the war, Stevens is forced to ponder the true nature of 

his relationship with Miss Kenton and his own criminal passivity in the face of his master’s fascist politics. 

Miss Kenton, it later emerges, has been married for over 20 years and therefore is no longer Miss Kenton but 

has become Mrs Benn. She admits to wondering occasionally what a life with Stevens might have been like, 

but she has come to love her husband and is looking forward to the birth of their first grandchild. Stevens 

muses over lost opportunities, both with Miss Kenton and, with the death of Lord Darlington, focuses on the 

"remains of his day", referring to his future service with Mr Farraday. 

Notes: The Booker prize-winning novel by Nagasaki-born Kazuo Ishiguro was adapted into a 1993 film 

starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, and was nominated for eight Academy Awards. This musical 

adaptation received mixed notices. 

19 

FIVE GUYS NAMED MOE (1 st Revival) 

London run: Theatre Royal, Stratford East, September 7 th – October 9th 

Music: Louis Jordan 

Lyrics: Various 

Book: Clarke Peters 

Director: Paulette Randall 

Choreographer: Paul J. Medford 

Musical Director: Sean Green 

Cast: Carlton Connell (Four Eyed Moe), 

Chris Colquhoun (Big Moe), 

Ashley Campbell(Little Moe), 

Horace Oliver (No Moe), 

Paul Hazel (Eat Moe), 

Clark Peters (Nomax) 

This revival had opened at the Edinburgh Fringe 

in August and then transferred to its original 

home, celebrating its 20 th Anniversary. 


Stratford East October 1990 

(trans. Lyric/Albery to Jan 1996) 

Photo by Robbie Jack

THE HUMAN COMEDY 

London run: Young Vic, September 13th – 18th 

Music: Galt MacDermot 

Lyrics & Book: William Dumaresq 

Director: John Fulljames 

Choreographer: Sasha Milavic Davies 

Musical Director: Phil Bateman 

Cast: Joe Slovick (Homer), Helen Hobson (Kate), 

Tom Robertson (Marcus), Kate Marlais (Bess), 

Jordi Fray/Theo Stevenson (Ulysses), 

Jo Servi (Spangler), Tony Stansfield (Grogan), Brenda 

Edwards (Diana), Terel Nugent (Toby), 

Sarah Harlington (Mary), Tomm Coles, Chris Storr 

2010 

Songs: In a Little Town in California, I Think the Kid Will 

Do, Cocoanut Cream Pie, Daddy Will Not Come Walking Through the Door, Remember Always to Give, Long Past 

Sunset, An Orphan Am I, The Birds in the Trees, The World is Full of Loneliness 

Story: The show is set in the World War 2 Californian town of Ithaca (a classical reference to the place Ulysess 

longed to return from his Odyssey). 14 year old Homer Macauley, a telegram messenger, faces the day-to-day 

sorrows and joys of the town. His mother Kate struggles to support her children following the death of her husband; 

his older brother Marcus is in the army; his teenage sister Bess daydreams about romance; and his younger brother 

Ulysses divides his attention between the passing trains and an unrequited desire to know why his father had to die. 

Other characters include Spangler and Grogan, who run the telegraph office, Spangler's girlfriend Diana, Marcus's 

orphaned army buddy Toby and Marcus's sweetheart Mary. There are glimpses of deep pain in the story, especially 

when Homer brings his mother the telegram announcing the death of his older brother, and the scene in which the 

bereaved citizens are presented with neatly folded American flags in memory of their dead soldier sons. 

Notes: This through-composed show is more American folk-opera than traditional book musical. It originated in 

1943 as William Saroyan’s rejected screenplay, which he then turned into a novel. The musical version opened off- 

Broadway on December 28th 1983 to excellent notices and ran for 79 performances before transferring to Broadway 

itself. After 20 previews it opened on April 5th 1984 but ran for a mere 13 performances, the general reaction being 

this was more an oratorio for the concert platform rather than a conventional theatre. The London premiere used a 

cast of 20 professionals and an amateur chorus of around 80 people drawn from the local community. It received a 

great deal of praise. 

20 

Photo by Keith Pattison 

Photo by Johan Persson 

PASSION (2 nd Revival) 

London run: Donmar Warehouse, 

September 21 st – November 27th 


Book: James Lapine 

Director: Jamie Lloyd 

Choreographer: Scott Ambler 

Musical Director: Alan Williams 

Cast: David Thaxton (Giorgio), 

Elena Roger (Fosca), Scarlett Strallen (Clara), 

David Birrell (Colonel Ricci), 

Allan Corduner (Doctor Tambourri), 

Simon Bailey, Haydn Oakley, Ross Dawes, 

Tim Morgan, Iwan Lewis. 

Elena Roger & David Thaxton 

This revival, part of Stephen Sondheim's 80th 

birthday celebrations, opened on September 10, 2010 in previews, with the official opening September 21. It 

received almost unanimous critical praise and won the Evening Standard Best Musical Award, while David Thaxton 

won the Olivier Award for the Best Actor in a Musical. (Elena Roger’s outstandingly moving performance missed 

out on the Best Actress in a Musical Award, which went to Sheridan Smith for “Legally Blonde” – something which 

caused a lot of controversy.) 

Notes: Original London production: Queen’s Theatre, March 1996; First revival: Bridewell, March 2004

LES MISERABLES 

(Touring Version) 

London run: Barbican, 

September 23 rd – October 2 nd 

Music: Claude-Michel Schönberg 

Lyrics: Alan Boublil 

English lyrics: Herbert Kretzmer 

Director: Laurence Connor 

& James Powell 

Musical Director: Peter White 


Cast: John Owen-Jones (Jean Valjean), 

Earl Carpenter (Javert), 

Madalena Alberto (Fantine), 

Gareth Gates (Marius), 

Ashley Artus (Thenardier), 

Lynne Wilmot (Mme. Thenardier), 

Katie Hall (Cosette), 

Jon Robyns (Enjolras), Owain Williams (Feuilly), David Lawrence, Jonathan Alden 

2010 

21 

A new tour to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the show began performances on 12 December 2009, at the 

Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. This touring version included a new set, new costumes, new direction and 

alterations to the original orchestrations. There was no revolving stage and the scenery was inspired by the paintings 

of Victor Hugo. The tour then played seven major UK dates, and a special engagement in Paris, before returning to 

the Barbican, where the original 1985 production commenced. This tour ended its run at the Barbican. 

Trevor Nunn, stated publicly that he was profoundly unhappy and felt betrayed that something inferior has been 

created by outsiders, and that he had not been consulted or involved in the new production. 

Cameron Mackintosh replied : “I am saddened by Trevor's inaccurate and ungracious remarks. After 25 years, I 

wished to create a new production that reflected the contemporary appeal of the musical today and it seemed right to 

engage the energies of a new younger team to do this. I believe that each new generation has to be able to put its 

own stamp on great material. Over 18 months ago and at every subsequent stage we informed Trevor and John Caird 

and John Napier of our plans. It is wholly untrue that they were in any way 'kept in the dark'. It is bewildering to me 

that Trevor Nunn who has spent much of his brilliant career reimagining existing material should be questioning the 

right of others to do so with Les Miserables.” 

THE DROWSY CHAPERONE (1 st Revival) 

London run: Upstairs at the Gatehouse, September 28 th – October 31st 

Music & Lyrics: Lisa Lambert & Greg Morrison 

Book: Bob Martin & Don McKellar 

Director: Racky Plews 

Choreographer: Fabian Aloise 

Musical Director: Tim Whiting 

Cast: Matthew Lloyd Davies (Man in Chair), 

Siobhan McCarthy (Drowsy Chaperone), 

Ursula Mohan (Mrs Tottendale), Ted Merwood (Underling), 

Ashley Day (Robert Martin), Gavin Keenan (George), Graham Lappin (Feldzieg), 

Michael Howe (Adolpho), Tanya Robb (Kitty), Amy Diamond (Janet), S 

ophia Nomvete (Trix), Jo Parsons, Will Stokes. 

This revival – just three years after its West End flop – was greeted rather unenthusiastically, although several critics 

felt there is a truly worthwhile show inside, struggling to get out. 

Original London Production: Novello Theatre, June 2007

Picture Book, Spanish Hospitality, Left Spain, We Rule the World. 

2010 

DEPARTURE LOUNGE 

London run: Waterloo East, 

September 30 th – October 31 st 

Music & Lyrics: Douglas Irvine 

Director: Pip Minnithorpe 

Choreographer: Cressida Carré 

Musical Director: Chris Maloney 

Cast: Chris Fountain (JB), 

Steven Webb (Ross), 

Liam Tamne (Jordan), 

Jack Shaloo (Pete), 

Verity Rushworth (Sophie) 

22 

Songs: Brits on Tour, Brand New, 

Thursday Night, Do You Know What I 

Think of You? Why Do We Say Gay? 

Story: Four lads are stuck at Malaga airport awaiting a delayed flight home after their 

drunken post-A-Level holiday. They are JB the posh kid, Ross the intelligent outsider, 

Jordan the quiet lady-killer with a secret, and Pete the badly sunburnt hard man. Gradually 

tension and rivalry grows because of Sophie, the “bit of a tart” they met on holiday. The 

story involves flashbacks, anger, soul-searching and musing about being stuck in the 

departure lounge of life. 

Notes: The production was first staged at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival, winning an award 

for the Best Music Score. In mid-2009 the show played a summer festival in New York and 

had a 6 week run at a cabaret theatre in Chicago. This production at the Waterloo East 

venue was the first fully staged London production of the show, and was warmly received. 

BELLS ARE RINGING (2 nd Revival) 

London run: Union, October 1 st – 23rd 

Music: Jule Styne 

Lyrics & Book: Betty Comden & Adolph Green 

Director: Paul Foster 

Choreographer: Alistair David 

Musical Director: Peter McCarthy 

Cast: Anna-Jayne Casey (Ella Peterson), Gary Milner (Jeff Moss), Corinna Powlesland (Sue Summers), 

Fenton Gray (Sandor), Richard Grieve (Inspector Barnes), Tama Phethean (Blake Barton), 

Bob Harms (Larry Hastings), Carl Au (Carl), 

Adam Rhys-Charles (Dr Kitchell), 

Aoife Nally (Gwynne Smith), 

Michael Bryher (Francis) 

It was generally agreed that small fringe 

theatres provide the perfect venues for 

reviving dated but delightful shows like this 

one – past its sell-by date for major fullscale 

production, but still offering a great 

deal of entertainment. 

Original London Production: 

Coliseum, November 1957 

First revival: Greenwich Theatre, 

December 1987 

Photo by Roy Tan

LES MISERABLES – 

25TH Anniversary Concert 

London run: The O2, Sunday October 3 rd 

Music: Claude-Michel Schönberg 

Lyrics: Alan Boublil 

English lyrics: Herbert Kretzmer 

Director: 

Musical Director 


2010 

23 

Cast: Alfie Boe (Jean Valjean), Norm Lewis (Javert), 

Lea Salonga (Fantine), Nick Jonas (Marius), 

Samantha Barks (Eponine), Matt Lucas (Thenardier), 

Jenny Galloway (Mme. Thenardier), Ramin Karimloo (Enjolras), 

Mia Jenkins (Young Cosette), Robert Madge (Gavroche), 

Earl Carpenter (Bishop of Digne) 

Casts of the current London, international tour and original 1985 London productions took part, comprising an 

ensemble of three hundred performers and musicians 

This special concert celebrating the show’s 25 th anniversary was marked by the increasingly bitter dispute 

between Cameron Mackintosh and Trevor Nunn, the original director. Sir Trevor’s sense of betrayal seems to 

have grown since he was not appointed to direct the new touring version and has deepened because he is not 

directing this special two-performance concert. Asked if he and Sir Trevor were on speaking terms, Sir 

Cameron said: "No, actually, and given that Trevor Nunn is about to take over the chair this month of my 

professorship at Oxford, I just think Trevor's been very silly. Trevor is entitled to his own opinion, but it's sad. 

He hasn't actually directed Les Miserables on his own, or at all really, since 1987. I sent him a little note 

saying, 'Don't be so silly. Your memory is as bad as your manners'. But listen, I've got nothing to talk to him 

about. Trevor sees the world the way he sees it." Sir Cameron said that co-director John Caird, unlike Sir 

Trevor, has been "an utter gentleman" about things. 

Photo by Bing Shimizu

24 

ME AND JULIET 

London run: Finborough, October 5 th – 30 th 

Music: Richard Rodgers 

Book & Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II 

Director: Thom Southerland 

Choreographer: Sally Brooks 

Musical Director: Joseph Atkins 

Cast: Laura Main (Jeanie), John Addison (Bob), 

Robert Hands (Larry), Dafydd Gwyn Howells (Mac), 

Jodie Jacobs (Betty), Peter Kenworthy (Ruby), Gemma Atkins, 

Terry Doe, Daniella Gibb, Reeda Harris, Brendan Matthew, 

Stephen McGlynn, Tom O’Brien, Olivia O’Shea, Anthony Wise 

Songs: A Very Special Day, Marriage Type Love, Keep it Gay, The 

Big Black Giant, No Other Love, It’s Me, I’m Your Girl 

Jodie Jacobs 

Story: Backstage in a show called “Me and Juliet”, Jeanie, a singer 

in the chorus is besotted with Bob, the jealous, heavy-drinking 

electrician, in spite of being warned by Sidney, a fellow electrician, that Bob is only toying with her. Meantime Larry, 

the assistant stage manager, secretly in love with Jeanie, urges her to audition for the position of understudy to Juliet 

in the show. Larry is reprimanded by Mac, the stage manager, who tells him never to get romantically involved with 

a cast member in the same show, but when Mac’s girl-friend, Betty, gets the part, Larry is furious. Gradually romance 

blossoms between Jeanie and Larry, but they have to keep it secret from Bob. When Bob finally finds out it leads to a 

general all-round physical fight involving Bob, Mac and Larry. Ruby, the company manager, has to sort it all out, and 

inform Bob that Larry and Jeanie had secretly married earlier that day. Taken aback, and rather sheepishly, Bob gives 

in, Jeanie is congratulated by her showmates, and the show within the show goes on. 

Notes: The show opened on Broadway on May 28 th 1953 and closed after 358 performances. It opened to an 

enormous advance, and had recovered its production costs within six months. When it closed, after ten months, it had 

made a small profit of $100,000, and later played a six week season in Chicago. For anyone except Rodgers and 

Hammerstein this would have represented a success, but the show is usually classed as a failure when compared to 

their other mega-hits. (An unknown Shirley MacLaine was in the chorus on Broadway, and an equally unknown 

Shirley Jones was in the Chicago chorus.). Subsequent short-run off-Broadway revivals were staged in 1970 and 

2002, but the show has never had a major Broadway revival. This fringe theatre version was billed as its European 

premiere – 47 years after its first performance. 

FLASHDANCE THE MUSICAL 

London run: Shaftesbury Theatre, October 11 th – January 15 th , 2011 

Photo by Brinkhoff & Mögenburg

2010 

FLASHDANCE THE MUSICAL 

London run: Shaftesbury Theatre, October 11 th – January 15 th , 2011 

Music & Lyrics: Robbie Roth 

Book & Lyrics: Robbie Roth 

Director: Nikolai Foster 

Choreographer: Arlene Phillips 

Musical Director: Dave Rose 

Producers: David Ian, Christopher Malcolm and others 

25 

Cast: Victoria Hamilton-Barritt (Alex), Matt Willis (Nick), 

Charlotte Harwood (Gloria), Ricky Rojas (Dr Kool), Hannah Levane (Keisha), 

Twinelee Moore (Jasmine), Russell Dixon, Andrew Spillett, Brendan Cull, 

Sam Mackay, Sarah Ingram, Robbie White, Kirby Hughes. 

Songs: (By other composers -From the film) What a Feeling, Maniac, Gloria, Imagination, I’ll Be Here Where 

the Heart is . (Specially written for the musical) Steeltown Sky, Up in Smoke, In Touch With the Beat, High 

Art, The Long Way Home, Totally Different People, Don’t Stop, You Can’t Keep Me Down, Manhunt, My 

Next Step, New Economy, You’re Not Done, I Love Rock and Roll. 

Story: Set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the show revolves around 18 year old Alex, a female apprentice welder 

by day and ‘flashdancer’ by night. Her Mom wants her to audition for the local ballet school, but insecure Alex 

can’t bear the snobby ballet types. Things get worse when her rich boyfriend, Nick, tries to buy her way into 

the Dance Academy, and her dreams of attending the prestigious Shipley Dance Academy. The show attempts 

a grittier sub-plot involving the closure of the steel mill, drug abuse in the form of coked-up dancer Gloria, a 

rival dance club run by the seedy Dr Kool and the sudden death of Alex’s mother, but with friendly support 

from fellow-dancers Keisha and Jasmine Alex will finally realise all her dreams, professionally and personally. 

Notes: Based on the 1983 Hollywood film Paramount Pictures film, the stage version added some fifteen new 

songs and started previews on September 25th. It received mixed notices, though everyone agreed on the 

extremely high energy level of the show and the dazzling performance of Victoria Hamilton-Barritt. Originally 

booking until February 26th, the production closed earlier than planned on January 15th. (There are plans for 

an American production, announced to open in Philadelphia in January 2013) 

TOMORROW MORNING (1 st revival) 

London run: Landor Theatre, October 19 th – November 13 th 

Music, Book & Lyrics: Laurence Mark Wythe 

Director: Robert McWhir 

Musical Director: David Eandall 

Cast: Grant Neal (Jack), Yvette Robinson (Catherine), 

Jon Lee (John), Julie Atherton (Kat) 

Songs: (New to the revised version) The Pool Guy, Self Portrait, All About Today 

(Cut from this version : The Time is Coming, Chapter 17, Suddenly.) 

Notes: Originally staged at the New End Theatre in July 2006, this was a re-written 

version. The basic plot still involved two couples respectively about to tie and untie 

the marriage knot. Jack and Catherine are the older divorcing pair, and John and Kat 

are getting married in the morning. In the revised version, on the eve of their wedding, Kat finds out that she 

is pregnant. When she informs Jack, he walks out on her. Catherine and John are arguing about their divorce 

settlement when Adam, their 10-year-old son, disappears, causing the couple to realize that they still care for 

each other. The plot still ends with the two couples being the same people: John and Kat are Jack and 

Catherine's memories of their younger selves. Jack returns to Kat and they marry, and John and Catherine 

reconcile, as love conquers all. This re-written version received excellent notices. 

The show underwent further re-writing for a month-long run off-Broadway production in March 2011, cutting 

the interval, and shortening the show to an hour and 15 minutes. Several songs were removed and two new 

songs, What it Takes and The Game Show were added.

SONGS FROM A HOTEL BEDROOM 

London run: Linbury Studio, November 4 th – 6 th 

Music & Lyrics: Kurt Weill 

Book: Kate Flatt & Peter Rowe 

Director: Peter Rowe 

Choreographer: Kate Flatt 

Musical Director: James Holmes 

Cast: Frances Ruffelle (Angelique), Nigel Richards (Dan), 

Amir Giles, Tara Pilbrow (Tango Dancers) 

Songs: September Song, Speak Low, I’m a Stranger Here 

Myself, West Wind, Je ne t’aime pas, Here I’ll Stay, It Never 

Was You, To Love You and To Lose You 

2010 

Story: It is 1949 in a stylish and sophisticated post-war New 

York. Cabaret singer Angélique relives the memories of her Nigel Richards & Frances Ruffelle 

brief but passionate love affair with songwriter Dan. Their love 

affair took a back seat due to his increasing professional success, but when Dan discovered he was terminally 

ill and time was running out, he turned back to Angelique, but it was too late. They each reflect on how their 

lives have changed through the highs and lows, their joys, ambitions, travels and separation. 

Notes: This was a “book” show created around a collection of Kurt Weill’s American theatre songs. 

Performed with a seven-piece band, it had originated at Watford Palace, played at Ipswich and then came to the 

Linbury Studio at the Royal Opera House for just three nights. The two leading characters were provided with 

“alter egos” who danced a series of tangos to reflect the sensual side of the affair. However, the critical 

consensus was that the whole thing didn’t work. A collection of random songs, many of which originally had a 

satirical, cynical or political edge didn’t really work when they were re-used in a new sentimentalised setting. 

However, ignoring the plot, the songs themselves were truly worth hearing again. 

26 

Photo by Alex Rumford 

FELA 

London run: Olivier Theatre, November 16th – January 23 rd , 2011 (in repertoire) 

Photo by Alastair Muir 

Sahr Ngaujah as Fela

2010 

FELA 

London run: Olivier Theatre, November 16th – January 23 rd , 2011 (in repertoire) 

Revived: Sadler’s Wells, July 26 th – August 28th,2011 

Music & Lyrics: Fela Anikulapo-Kuti 

Book: Jim Lewis & Bill T. Jones 

Director-Choreographer: Bill T. Jones 

Musical Director: Michael Henry/Laurence Corns/Robin Hopcraft 

Cast: Sahr Ngaujah/Kevin Mambo (Fela), Melanie Marshall (Funmilayo), 

Paulette Ivory, Craig Stein, Sylla Allasane-Papson, Kwame Peter Crensil, 

Jacqui Dubois 

Songs: Everything Scatter, Iba Orisa, Medzi Medzi, Manteca, I Got the Feeling, 

Trouble Sleep, teacher Don’t Teach me Nonsense, Expensive Shit, Suffering and 

Smiling, Sorrow Tears and Blood, Coffin for Head of State 

Story: Based on the life of the late Nigerian activist, Fela Anikulapo Kuti: in 1977, at the height of his influence, 

Fela originated the Afro-beat sound at his club, the Afrika Shrine in Lagos. His club became a gathering place for 

youth opposed to Nigeria's military dictatorship. Fela is torn between the example of his mother, Funmilayo, a 

teacher and civil rights activist, and his own desire for fame and an easy life. He gradually becomes more involved in 

opposition to Nigeria's military regime, and his lyrics become overtly political. The regime responds with 

increasingly violent retaliation. The show depicts the army raid of a thousand soldiers on his club, the torture of 

Fela, his wives and others, and the murder of his mother and ends with symbolic coffins being laid on the stage to 

protest injustices suffered by the people of Nigeria and throughout Africa. 

Notes: After a one-month off-Broadway try-out in 2008, the show opened on Broadway proper on November 23, 

2009, receiving eleven Tony Award nominations and running until January 2, 2011. The London staging began 

previews on November 6, 2010 with an opening night on November 16 and ran in repertoire with other National 

Theatre productions. There was a mixed reaction to this show: all agreed it had stunning choreography and a superb 

cast of singers and dancers, but for many its political message was lost in what was ultimately another “jukebox 

musical”. By avoiding an honest portrayal (in real life Fela had 27 wives and died of AIDS because of his refusal to 

use condoms) it was felt this was a whitewash and missed opportunity to create a serious and groundbreaking 

musical. 

27 

PINS AND NEEDLES 

London run: Cock Tavern, November 19 th – December 11 th 

Music & Lyrics: Harold Rome 

Book: Various sketches 

Director: Rachel Grunwald 

Choreographer: Nicola Martin & Josephine Kiernan 

Musical Director: Joseph Finlay 

Cast: David Barnes, Mark Gillon, Laure-Kate Gordon, Josephine Kiernan, Elain Lloyd, 

Elizabeth Pruett, Rachel Rose Reid, Matthew Rutherford, Adam Walker 

Songs: Sing Me a Song with Social Significance, Sunday in the Park, Nobody Makes a 

Pass at Me, Chain Store Daisy, One Big Union for Two, Four Little Angels of Peace, 

Doin’ the Reactionary, Sitting on Your Status Quo, It’s Not Cricket to Picket, We’d 

Rather Be Right 

Notes: This satirical revue began as an amateur production staged by factory workers belonging to the International 

Ladies Garment Workers’ Union in New York. It opened for a limited run on November 27th 1937. Because of their 

factory jobs, the cast could rehearse only at night and at weekends, and initial performances were presented only on 

Friday and Saturday nights. Suddenly the show developed a cult following and its run was extended. Word-ofmouth 

was so enthusiastic that the cast abandoned their day jobs and the production expanded to a full performance 

schedule of eight shows per week. New songs and skits were introduced every few months to keep the show topical. 

It remains the only hit show ever produced by a trades union, and the only time when a group of amateurs brought a 

long-running hit musical to Broadway. It eventually ran for 1,108 performances, finally closing on June 22nd 1940. 

In 1962, to mark the show’s 25th anniversary, a studio recording was issued, featuring the then newcomer, Barbra 

Streisand. An off-Broadway revival in 1978 ran for 225 performances. This production at the Cock Tavern was its 

London premiere and had undergone a number of slight revisions to suit the country and the times – but the critics 

were delighted at how much of the original still had satirical relevance today.

END OF THE RAINBOW 

London run: Trafalgar Studio 1, 

November 22nd – May 21st 2011 


Play: Peter Quilter 

Director: Terry Johnson 

Choreographer: Jason Pennycooke 

Musical Director: Gareth Valentine 

Cast: Tracie Bennett (Judy Garland), 

Hilton McRae (Anthony), 

Stephen Hagen (Mickey Deans), Robin Browne. 

Songs: I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Just in 

Time, For Me and My Gal, You Made Me Love You, 

The Trolley Song, The Man That Got Away, When 

You’re Smiling, Come Rain or Come Shine, Get Happy, Over the Rainbow, By Myself 

2010 

Story: Judy Garland, preparing for her five-week run of come-back shows in London, is staying at the Ritz, with 

her new fiancé, Mickey Deans and loyal friend and pianist Anthony. The declining star attempts to drag herself on 

stage yet again, sometimes sober, sometimes pumped up with booze and pills. As the back-wall flies in and out to 

reveal a six-piece band, the hotel room is transformed into various performances at the Talk of the Town, and the 

show moves between “drama” and “cabaret” – creating a hybrid which isn’t quite a straight play, and isn’t quite a 

musical. However, it was universally agreed that Tracie Bennett gave one of the most electrifying performances 

seen in the West End for many, many years. With standing ovations at every performance, she gave “one of the 

greatest musical theatre performances I have ever witnessed” (D. Telegraph) Tracie Bennett won the Olivier Award 

for the Best Actress in a Musical, and Best Actress in the Evening Standard Awards. 

Notes: In August 2001 at the New End fringe theatre Peter Quilter’s play with songs, “The Last Song of the 

Nightingale”, saw Tracie Bennett as Martha Lewis, a foul-mouthed diva, pushed by her 

merciless son on to the stage to pay off debts. The only other character in the show was 

Anthony, her effete English pianist caught up in the stormy mother-son relationship. 

That story of Martha’s glittering but drug-fuelled career obviously had strong echoes of 

the Judy Garland story. By August 2005 the show had been re-written for an Australian 

production with Caroline O’Connor – though this time it was openly a portrait of Judy 

Garland. It was revived in Sydney in 2006 and played the Edinburgh Festival that year. 

In February 2010 it was revived in Northampton with Tracie Bennett as Judy Garland 

and transferred to the Trafalgar Studios from November 16th (previews). Its enormous 

success and huge critical praise led to its West End run being extended to 21 May 2011, 

followed by a UK tour. The production then opened in Minneapolis in January 2012, 

and on Broadway on April 2 nd , 2012 (previews from March 19th). The American cast 

had Michael Cumpsty and Tom Pelphrey supporting Tracie Bennett. 

28 

Photo by Robert Day 

THE CRADLE WILL ROCK (3 rd Revival) 

London run : Arcola, November 26 th – December 18 th 

Music: Marc Blitzstein 

Director: Mehmet Ergen 

Choreographer: Hemi Yeroham 

Musical Director: Bob Broad 

Cast: Alicia Davies (Moll) , Chris Jenkins (Larry Foreman), Aaron Shirley (Mister Mister), 

Adey Grummet (Mrs Mister), Robin Samson (Rev Salvation), Adam Linstead (Editor Daily), Ian Midlane, 

Eown Thomas Clift, Rachel Louise Miller, Stuart Matthew Price, Russell Morton, Nathan Osgood. 

This was the last show at the old Arcola before it moved to a new venue. The artistic director, Mehmet Ergen, 

revived the production he had staged in Battersea 13 years earlier. The passing years seemed to produce 

diminishing returns as far as this show was concerned, and it was felt to be a fascinating impassioned curio from the 

archives. 

Original London Production: Unity Theatre June 1951 

First revival: Old Vic, August 1985; Second revival: BAC 1, August 1997

JUST SO (1 st Revival) 

London run: Tabard, December 2 nd – January 9 th 2011 

Music: George Stiles 

Lyrics: Anthony Drew 

Director: Andrew Keates 

Choreographer: Phyllida Crowley Smith 

Musical Director: Magnus Gilljam 

2010 

29 

Cast: Ian Knauler (Eldest Magician), Lee Greenaway (Elephant Child), 

Lisa Baird (Kolokolo Bird) , Stuart Douglas James (Rhino), Lewis Barnshaw, Luke 

Fredericks, Nathan Taylor, Sophie Bowden, Holly Easterbrook, 

Thomas Lloyd, Cheryl Neal. 

A Christmas revival, putting George Stiles in the extremely rare position of having two successive opening nights 

of shows where he had written the music – “Just So” at the Tabard on Thursday, and “Three Musketeers” at the 

Rose on Friday. 

Original London production: Tricycle, Kilburn, November 1990 

THE THREE MUSKETEERS 

London run: Rose, Kingston, 

December 3 rd – January 2 nd , 2011 

Music: George Stiles 

Lyrics: Paul Leigh 

Book: Peter Raby & Francis Matthews 

Director: Francis Matthews 

Choreographer: Georgina Lamb 


Cast: Michael Pickering (D’Artagnan), 

Matt Rawle (Aramis), Paul Thornley (Athos), 

Hal Fowler (Porthos), Kaisa Hammarlund 

(Constance), Kirsty Hoiles (Queen), 

Iain Fletcher (King), C.J.Johnson (Milady), 

Christopher D. Hunt (Cardinal), 

Marcello Walton (Duke of Buckingham) 

Matt Rawle, Paul Thornley & Hal Fowler 

Songs: Riding To Paris, Doing Very Well Without You, It´s a Funny Thing Being a Hero, Paris By Night, Count 

Me In, Ride On!, A Good Old Fashioned War, Take A Little Wine ,The Life Of a Musketeer, Who Could Have 

Dreamed Of You. 

Story: Young D'Artagnan leaves his home in Gascony to pursue his dream of adventure and glory in Paris with 

the King's Musketeers. Once there he falls in love with Constance Bonacieux, seamstress to the Queen. 

Unfortunately Constance is already married. He also falls in with three musketeers – the middle-aged Porthos, the 

cocky Aramis, and the lovelorn and vulnerable Athos. As the characters weave their way through heart ache, 

quests and political intrigue, the importance of honour, passion, self-belief and friendship, stand at the core of this 

tale. 

Notes: This show has a long and complex history – beginning in 1968 when Peter 

Raby wrote a play version premiered in Canada, and later staged in Nottingham 

with William Hobbs as fight director. In 1989, Hobbs persuaded Peter Raby to 

adapt the 21 year old play into a musical, asking George Stiles and Anthony Drewe 

to provide music and lyrics. Anthony Drewe didn’t feel it was suitable for him 

personally, and so Paul Leigh was asked to work on the lyrics. The project 

stretched out until January 1995 with a workshop and three private performances in 

London and in September 1996 the show was performed in Denmark, and later in 

Switzerland. After some further revision, an American production (with the name 

changed to “The 3hree Musketeers”) opened in March 2001 in San José . This 

production was recorded and a CD issued. Nearly ten years later the show was 

given yet another once-over and staged as a Christmas production at the Kingston 

Rose. The score and the performances came in for much praise, but critics were 

divided on the merits of the piece overall. 

Photo by Alasrair Muir

LOVE STORY 

London run: Duchess Theatre, December 6th – February 26th, 2011 

Music: Howard Goodall 

Book & Lyrics: Stephen Clark & Howard Goodall 

Director: Rachel Kavanaugh 

Choreographer: Nick Winston 

Musical Director: Stephen Ridley 

Cast: Emma Williams (Jenny Cavilleri), Michael Xavier (Oliver Barrett IV), 

Peter Polycarpou (Phil Cavilleri), Richard Cordery (Oliver Barrett III), 

Jan Hartley, Gary Milner, Julie Stark, Paul Kemble 

Songs: What Can You Say?, Winter's Night, The Recital, What Happens 

Now?, Nocturnes, Summer's Day, Pasta, Everything We Know, The Tide Has 

Turned, Clapping Symphony. 

2010 

Story: At Jenny's funeral, her family and friends look back on her life: Jenny, 

from a poor Italian family, is a very talented pianist who meets Oliver, a rich 

young man. They fall in love and marry, against his family's wishes. Without 

his father's financial support, the couple struggle to pay Oliver's way through Emma Williams & Michael Xavier 

Harvard Law School with Jenny working as a private school teacher. 

Graduating third in his class Oliver joins New York law firm and the couple decide to have 

a child. After trying for some time they consult a medical specialist who informs Oliver that 

Jenny has leukaemia and does not have long to live. The musical is a celebration of love 

and life and inevitably contains the film’s celebrated byline, “Love means never having to 

say you're sorry” 

Notes: It was inspired by Erich Segal’s best-selling novel of the same name, and the 

enormously successful 1970 film version starring Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw. The 

stage version, with a cast of 12 and an onstage band of seven, runs for an hour and forty 

minutes without an interval. It opened for a month-long sell-out run at the Minerva Theatre 

in Chichester on May 29 th 2010 and transferred to the Duchess for a limited ten week 

season. As with the original film, critical reaction was divided into two distinct camps: 

those who loved it and wept profusely into their hankies, and those who hated it and 

dismissed it as “Camille with bullshit”. 

30 

Photo by Manuel Harlan 

Photo by Roy Tan 

SALAD DAYS (7 th Revival) 

London run: Riverside Studios, December 9 th – February 6 th , 2011 

Music: Julian Slade 

Lyrics & Book: Julian Slade & Dorothy Reynolds 

Director: Bill Bankes-Jones 

Choreographer: Quinny Sacks 

Musical Director: Anthony Ingle 

Cast: Matthew Hawksworth (Tramp), Katie Moore (Jane), Sam Harrison (Timothy), Lee Boggess (Troppo), 

Ellie Robertson, Andrew Ahern, Spencer O’Brien, Luke Baker, Rebecca Caine, Charlie Cameron, 

Emma Harris, Mark Inscoe, Richard Kent, Kathryn Martin, Tanya Stephens, Tony Timberlake. 

This was a revival of the show which ran at the 

Riverside Studios the previous November. There 

were a few changes of cast. 

Notes: See Original Production , 

Vaudeville Theatre, Aug 1954; 

1st Revival: Prince’s Theatre, Dec 1961; 

2nd Revival: Lyric, Hammersmith, Aug 1964; 

3rd Revival: Duke of York's, April 14 1976; 

4th Revival: Vaudeville Theatre, April 1996; 

5th Revival: Greenwich Theatre, Oct 2006 

6th Revival: Riverside Studios, Nov 2009 

Katie Moore & Sam Harrison

ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 

(2 nd Revival) 

London run: Union SE1, 

December 16 th – January 15 th 2011 

Music: Cy Coleman 

Book & Lyrics: Betty Comden & Adolph Green 

Director: Ryan McBryde 

Choreographer: Drew McOnie 

Musical Director: Oliver Jackson 

2010 

31 

Cast: Howard Samuels (Oscar Jaffee), 

Rebecca Vere (Lily Garland), 

Robbie Scorcher (Bruce Granit), 

Valda Aviks (Letitia Primrose), 

Chris David Storer, Matt Harrop, 

Mensah Bediako, Kristopher Milnes, 

Lulu Alexandra, Virge Gilchrist, 

Leejay Townsend 

Very much produced on a small scale, the quality of 

the music, lyrics and book managed to shine 

through, and generally the show was well received. 


Her Majesty’s Theatre, March 1980 

First revival: Bridewell, August 1996

London Musicals 2010.pub - Over The Footlights

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