Parade To Open In London
Parade, the Tony award winning musical by Jason Robert Brown, is set to open at the Donmar Warehouse in London in September. Preview performances begin on September 14th, with the opening scheduled for September 24th.
The production will be directed by Rob Ashford, who is a popular choreographer in New York and London. His recent productions include Thoroughly Modern Millie, Guys and Dolls, and Evita.
The full cast has been announced as follows: Bertie Carvel (The Man of Mode, The Life of Galileo) will make his musical theatre debut as Leo, and Lara Pulver, who starred in the Menier Chocolate Factory production of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years, takes on the role of Leo's wife Lucille.
The cast will also feature Helen Anker (On The Town); Mark Bonnar (Philisyines); Norman Bowman (Guys and Dolls); Shaun Escoffery (Les Miserables); Joanna Kirkland The Woman in White); Gary Milner (Evita); Steven Page (Sweeney Todd); Malinda Parris Caroline, or Change); Stuart Matthew Price; Zoe Rainey (Guys and Dolls); Celia Mei Rubin (Guys and Dolls); Stephen Webb (Guys and Dolls) and Jayne Weisener.
Parade is based on the true story of Leo Frank, a Jewish factory owner falsely convicted of murdering a girl in Atlanta in 1913.
Jason Robert Brown is the composer and writer of Songs For A New World, The Last Five Years, Parade, 13, and the upcoming Broadway production of Honeymoon In Vegas.
Parade is set to play until November 24th.
For show and ticket information, click on the Donmar Warehouse website.
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Stratford Festival Of Canada Gets A New Name
The Stratford Festival Of Canada, which began over 50 years ago in Stratford, Ontario, is getting a new name in 2008.
The festival, devoted to the work of William Shakespeare, will be re-named The Stratford Shakespeare Festival.
In 2008, a new artistic team takes hold of the festival, including Tony Award winning director Des McAnuff. He is known for his productions of Tommy, Big River, 700 Sundays, and Jersey Boys.
A partial list of their season has been announced, including Hamlet, All’s Well That Ends Well, Romeo & Juliet, and Taming Of The Shrew.
Cabaret and The Music Man are the rumoured musicals for the 2008 season.
For information on their 2007 season, click on the Stratford Festival website.
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The remake of the film Hairspray, which opened in theatres this past Friday is proving to be a hit with the critics and its audiences. Based on the John Waters film which spawned the hit Broadway musical, Hairspray tells the story of Tracy Turnblad, a Baltimore teenager in the 1960’s who dreams of dancing on a hit TV show. The film stars John Travolta, Michelle Pfieffer, Queen Latifah, Christopher Walken, and Nikki Blonsky as Tracy.
Check your local listings for showtimes.
