Notes from Best of Broadway

Next week, we welcome the return of Rolling Stock Theatre Company to The Playhouse - seen here last year with their hugely successful production of the musical Chess - with their latest touring show, The Best of Broadway. Here, to tell us a little more, is the director, Ann Wessen:

"The idea behind this revue came about as a result of a desire to raise money for a very worthy charity: The Sue Ryder Foundation.

Musicals have proven to be universally popular and continue to draw large audiences, hence a glimmer of an idea was born. We decided to select from amongst the best-of-the-best - those shows which have won a prestigious Tony Award: the Oscar of the musical world.

The Tony Awards began in 1948 with Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate and continue to this day. The 2008 winner was In The Heights by Lin-Manuel Miranda, a show that most people have never even heard of - as so often has been the case in the history of the awards.

For our show, we have chosen a wide range of great winners with songs that have enchanted and entertained audiences worldwide for the past 50 years. In the selection are personal memories of two great leading men - Peter Wessen and Sean Mayo who are sadly no longer with us. As members of Rolling Stock, their love of musical theatre gave us the energy and inspiration to make this show possible. It is our heartfelt tribute to both of them.

From old standards like The Sound of Music and South Pacific, by way of the ever popular Phantom of the Opera and Evita, to modern classics such as Avenue Q and Wicked, there is something here for everyone."

THE BEST OF BROADWAY
Tues 24 - Sat 28 February at 7.45 pm
Tickets £10 (£8 concessions Tues - Fri)