The uniquely American phenomenon of Spelling Bees, where students are one by one eliminated as they attempt to spell such words as Weltanschauung seems an unlikely subject for a musical comedy but, in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, the Donmar Warehouse has shown that the comedy works just as well for a UK…
King Lear is giving Hamlet a run for its money as play of the moment right now. We’ve have a rush of Danish princes and now it’s the turn of mad Monarchs as a raft of Lears take to the stage. Much like the Hamlet productions it is unfair to compare wildly different interpretations, how…
The second of the Donmar Warehouse’s concert celebrations for Sondheim’s 80th birthday turns attention to his 1970 score Company. This one was a hit for the Donmar back in 1995 and as with last weeks Merrily We Roll Along features many of the cast of that production. Also like Merrily Company is not your traditional linear…
Stephen Sondheim’s birthday celebrations continue with the much-anticipated Donmar Warehouse concert revivals of two of their many associations with the composer. Next week sees two concert performances of Company but first up it’s the turn of Merrily We Roll Along. For many this is one of Sondheim’s ‘problem’ scores, closing on Broadway just 16 performances…
Stephen Sondheim’s Passion is perhaps one of his more complex works, a deeply dark tale with no conventional numbers, it is not an easy viewing. As part of its birthday tribute to the octogenarian composer, the Donmar Warehouse turns out a ravishing production. Given the intimate nature of the score, it works well as a…
Much has been made of the fact that The Late Middle Classes is indeed late coming into the West End, having been bumped first time around in favour of Boyband The Musical (anyone actually admit to remembering that show?). Does it deserve a West End run – well possibly although this production does make a…
There is an interesting letter in tonight’s Evening Standard bemoaning the fact that recent visits to the Donmar Warehouse have resembled “John Lewis on a Wednesday Afternoon”. The author also notes “Yes it’s great to have mailing lists so the oldies can fill their time with theatre visits booked months in advance, which means financial…
There is an interesting letter in tonight’s Evening Standard bemoaning the fact that recent visits to the Donmar Warehouse have resembled “John Lewis on a Wednesday Afternoon”. The author also notes “Yes it’s great to have mailing lists so the oldies can fill their time with theatre visits booked months in advance, which means financial…