Westend Box Office | London Tickets and Attractions » West End

One Man Two Guvnors in the West End

Alan — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:51:43 +0000

One Man, Two Guvnors has just come to theWest Endafter being performed at the National Theatre. The production is an excellent comedy and for three hours the audience will be absorbed into a hilarious story which will have them forgetting all of their worries.

The production is based on an Italian comedy called The Servant of Two Masters. The original comedy is also funny but Richard Bean has transformed it into something that is utterly hilarious. The play has been set in 1963 inBrightonand the dialogue will cause the audience to be in stitches.

Beans’ script is incredibly well crafted and is a wonderful blend of sight gags, wisecracks and even involves the odd bit of audience participation. Those on stage seem to be enjoying themselves almost as much as the audience are but they never slip into self-indulgence that can have the ability to take the comedy out of any production.

James Corden is in the main role and plays an overweight and always hungry man who finds himself working for two different people. He breaks the fourth wall by talking to the audience and he does so in a way as if they were old friends. He plays the role in a very funny way and the audience will find themselves very endeared towards him.

The show has, arguably, one of the funniest scenes ever seen in theatre. It is the scene where he is preparing dinner for his boss and you are sure to find it hilarious. The only reason you wouldn’t laugh at this point in the production has because you have already laughed too much at the previous jokes. Cordon does a spectacular job in the lead role, but it is by no means a one-man show and the rest of the cast perform exceptionally.

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Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth returns to the West End

Alan — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:07:39 +0000

After having honours heaped upon it from both sides of the Atlantic, the play Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth returns this week to the West End for a three month run. The appeal to many, as it was previously, is the outstanding performance of Mark Rylance ,who takes the main role of Johnny Byron. The Sunday Times recently described him in the role as an actor giving one of the most miraculous performances we will see in our lifetime.

There are some who will think that is too high a pitch, but the claim the article makes that those who witness it will be telling their children and grandchildren about it is certainly not far fetched. If you can get a ticket to see the man in action do so, but also go to see the play as it really is something special.

Johnny Byron is a brilliantly observed difficult and complex character, and this is an excellently written piece with is about many things, including conformity, outsiders, freedom, sex, youth, magic and, most of all, England. Mark Rylance wouldn’t receive half the plaudits he has if the play hadn’t been written so fearlessly around him and wasn’t so well structured.

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Hollywood needs the West End for ‘respect’

Alan — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 03:37:51 +0000

You can often find stars from Hollywood poking their faces in at the West End, especially when they are tired of the movie scene and need some fresh air or they want to reconnect with their classical training.

Jude Law performed as Hamlet in 2009. In 2007, Josh Harnett played at the Apollo theatre in Rain Man and Orlando Bloom, from Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean, performed in In Celebration. Going back further, David Williamson’s Up for Grabs starred Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna in 2002.

2010 saw Damian Lewis and Keira Knightley together in The Misanthrope. She was nominated in the Evening Standard Awards after awing audience and critics.

Again in 2011 she will come back in the stage performance of The Children’s Hour, by Lillian Hellman. The story takes place in New England in the 1930′s. Elisabeth Moss, nominee for the Golden Globe, is set to play in it as well.

A 1930′s boarding school for girls is operated by Martha Dobie, played by Moss, and Karen Wright, played by Knightly. The story revolves around a schoolgirl’s whispered rumour, tracking the disastrous results.

It was originally forbidden in many American cities and London as well, but premiered on Broadway in 1934. William Wyler made two movies that drew from the play. The first was an adaptation to a story about a love triangle, 1936, and the 1961 movie starred Shirley McLaine, Audrey Hepburn, and James Garner. The 1961 movie was nominated for five Oscars.

The last time it was produced in London was 1994 in the National Theatre. Harriet Walter and Clare Higgins were the stars. The latest production is being produced by Scott Landis and Sonia Friedman, directed by Ian Rickson, who is the ex-Royal Court artistic director. His other successes include Jerusalem.

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Love the Sin is interesting but not compelling

Alan — Mon, 17 May 2010 21:18:21 +0000

The new West End play, Love the Sin is quite a mess, although it is notable given the fact that it actually looks seriously at the Christian faith, which is not the trend in modern secular society.

The aim of the play is to examine Anglican Communion combined with a personal and political look at the lead character Michael, who is a devout Christian that has an affair with Joseph, an African porter during a bishop’s conference in Africa.

After the fact, Michael must sort through his guilt and vengeance, which continue to chase him while living at home in England.

The scenes such as the priests attempting to wrap their heads around openly gay priests show that screenplay writer Drew Pautz can write in a way that remind viewers of Shaw.

However, he fails to actually show the soul and heart of Michael to the audience, which is disappointing especially given the fact that the audience favourite Jonathon Cullen fails to deliver the performance as capturing as usual.

In the end, the play culminates with a scene showing Michael and his wife attempting to deal with his bisexuality and how it fits within their Christian faith and their relationship.

However, Pautz does not give this story the attention it should be, instead focusing on his wife’s internal struggle about IVF as a Christian option and childlessness. In fact, he even focuses more on an ethical way to get squirrels out of their home which is somewhat disappointing and a very isolated story line.

In the end, the supporting actors of Charlotte Radle and Ian Redford help make it worth a view, although it could have been better given a bit more depth.

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Debbie Reynolds back on the road

Alan — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 03:03:13 +0000

Debbie Reynolds has announced that she will embark on a UK tour marking the first time that the Singin in the Rain Star will perform on the West End stage in 34 years.

Reynolds, who is not only an Oscar nominated actress, but is also the mother of Carrie Fischer from Star Wars, plans to perform the songs that she feels inspired her career, while also reminiscing with the audience about her career via film clips that show the highs and lows of the past 34 years.

She is also slated to perform a Judy Garland tribute during the show, which should not be too much of a challenge given that she has danced alongside Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire in Hollywood movies.

During a launch interview that took place in central London, Reynolds joked that the title of her show, Alive and Fabulous, was actually a joke that she found amusing so she decided to keep it.

Reynolds stated that she has packed plenty of pizzazz and glitzy clothes for the tour stating that she is from the era when Hollywood was golden and is not a jeans and t-shirts type of celeb.

Her tour dates include stops in Leeds, Liverpool, Brighton, Norwich, Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham, Bristol, Leicester, Southend, Basingstoke, Lincoln, Northampton, Malvern, and Cambridge.

She will hit the West End stage in London from April 28^th to May 9^th at the Apollo Theatre.

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Gielgud Theatre returns to Hair

Alan — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:56:52 +0000

The Broadway spectacular Hair, which has been referred to as the consummate rock musical, has also been credited with many firsts from the first and only appearance of Cameron Mackintosh nude on stage, to its title of being the first theatrical production to come after the abolition of the role of theatre censor.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that back in 1968 it was the first theatrical production that contained full frontal nudity on the West End stage and also the first interracial musical. Of course, it should go without saying that Hair was also the first musical to offer songs written about LSD, pot, and sodomy. Never mind the fact that pretty much every evil of the time was also included somewhere in the play such as free love, astrology, drugs, hippies, and war-resisters.

Hair also holds the distinction of breaking plenty of chart records for a musical as the songs Let the Sun Shine in, I Got Life, Ain’t Got No, and Aquarius all rose to the top of the pop charts which outside of Andrew Lloyd Webber has never happened so many times for a musical.

Of course, all of these details make Hair appear to be a dated work that can now be looked back on for its significance, however the play accomplished much more than earning a slot in musical history as it is still a box office success forty years later with a new production running next week at the Gielgud Theatre in London.

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