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)
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
The vanishing Open Day
The more eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that our new spring brochure makes no mention of our Open Day, which was advertised in our autumn brochure as taking place on Saturday 14 February.
We've decided to postpone this event until later in the year, hopefully when the weather is a little better and warmer to maximise likely attendance. Watch local press, the website and this blog for announcements in due course!
We've decided to postpone this event until later in the year, hopefully when the weather is a little better and warmer to maximise likely attendance. Watch local press, the website and this blog for announcements in due course!
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Half-term workshops
Schools will be closed again next week – not due to snow, this time – and many parents will be looking for activities to keep the kids happy. The Playhouse may have the answer with a number of drama and musical theatre workshops.
Focus Theatre
From Monday 16 – Thursday 19 February, Sheila Mander will be holding several workshops, with classes running at different times depending on ages. The Junior workshop, for those aged between 5 and 7, runs from 9.30 am – 1 pm Monday – Wednesday and from 2 pm – 5 pm on Thursday. The Intermediate workshop, for those aged between 7 and 9, runs from 9.30 am – 2 pm Monday – Wednesday and 1 pm – 5 pm on Thursday, while the Senior workshop, for those aged 10 and over, runs from 9.30 am – 3.30 pm Monday – Wednesday and 10 am – 5 pm on Thursday. The course concludes at 4.30 pm on Thursday with a performance of The Sharing, and each child is entitled to 2 free tickets to this performance. Any remaining seats will be sold from the box office for £1 adults/50p children. The fees for these workshops are £70 Juniors, £85 Intermediates and £115 for Seniors, with a 50% discount for siblings. You can book your child’s place by contact the box office on 01242 522852.
Theatre Studio
The Playhouse-based drama school are also holding workshops for half-term on Thursday 19 and Friday 20 February. Places may already be full for this course, but you can double-check by calling Suzanna Segura on 07977 227707.
Focus Theatre
From Monday 16 – Thursday 19 February, Sheila Mander will be holding several workshops, with classes running at different times depending on ages. The Junior workshop, for those aged between 5 and 7, runs from 9.30 am – 1 pm Monday – Wednesday and from 2 pm – 5 pm on Thursday. The Intermediate workshop, for those aged between 7 and 9, runs from 9.30 am – 2 pm Monday – Wednesday and 1 pm – 5 pm on Thursday, while the Senior workshop, for those aged 10 and over, runs from 9.30 am – 3.30 pm Monday – Wednesday and 10 am – 5 pm on Thursday. The course concludes at 4.30 pm on Thursday with a performance of The Sharing, and each child is entitled to 2 free tickets to this performance. Any remaining seats will be sold from the box office for £1 adults/50p children. The fees for these workshops are £70 Juniors, £85 Intermediates and £115 for Seniors, with a 50% discount for siblings. You can book your child’s place by contact the box office on 01242 522852.
Theatre Studio
The Playhouse-based drama school are also holding workshops for half-term on Thursday 19 and Friday 20 February. Places may already be full for this course, but you can double-check by calling Suzanna Segura on 07977 227707.
Monday, 9 February 2009
Spring season now booking
The Playhouse, Cheltenham, has launched its spring season after an extremely successfully start to the New Year. “Our first production for 2009 was a new musical version of the classic story The Railway Children,” says theatre administrator Paul Scott, “and of the eight performances, four were sold out, with the matinee being completely booked out before Christmas. We had a lengthy list of people desperate for returns by the beginning of the production week!”
“Although we are only selling tickets at present for our spring season, we already know that our productions later in the year include the ever-popular West End comedy Art, a double-bill of Noel Coward with Relative Values and Blithe Spirit, The Hot Mikado and, in the run-up to Christmas, a stage version of the classic film It’s a Wonderful Life. Hopefully the trend started by The Railway Children will continue throughout 2009.”
The spring season lasts from February to early-May and with the top price seat for any show in the season costing just £10 (often with concessions available), a good night out at the theatre needn’t prove expensive.
February opens with a one-off performance of an Evening of Grimm Tales, with the members of Focus Youth Theatre bringing to life some of the famous fairy stories of the Brothers’ Grimm, while Rolling Stock Theatre Co – responsible for last-year’s sell-out production of Chess – return with The Best of Broadway, a revue of show-stopping numbers from 50-years of award-winning Broadway musicals.
March brings the annual One-Act Play Festival, with drama groups from around Gloucestershire trying to win their way through to the next stage of the competition. March also sees a production of Chekhov’s classic tragicomedy The Cherry Orchard, which includes two firsts: the theatre’s first Sunday night performance of a main house production, together with a special schools performance at an earlier timeslot.
In April, our Easter workshops will result in several performances of the rock-and-roll musical Return to the Forbidden Planet, while The Playhouse Company end the season with Godspell, the classic 1970s musical version of the Gospel of St Matthew.
FOR PERFORMANCE DATES, TIMES AND PRICES, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE
Friday, 6 February 2009
Talbot House - NOT cancelled
Some people have been wondering, due to the current weather conditions, if this evening's performance is going ahead, as some other venues have had to postpone productions.
Having just spoken with the producer and director of the show, I can confirm that this evening's performance WILL take place.
Having just spoken with the producer and director of the show, I can confirm that this evening's performance WILL take place.
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Railway Children availability
Following a sell-out performance last night (Monday 26 January), please be advised that the performances on Friday and Saturday (both matinee and evening) are also sold out. We do have tickets available for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evening performances.
Monday, 12 January 2009
Notes from The Railway Children (2)
Director Jill Mico tells us a little more about what the cast of our forthcoming production of The Railway Children have been getting up to:
“As part of our rehearsals we were lucky enough to have an opportunity to work with the creators of the show, lyricist Julian Woolford and composer Richard John. It's not every day you get the chance to meet and actually work with the creators of one of our musicals. Julian and Richard spent a Sunday afternoon with the cast and production team. It was fascinating to hear how the show had come into being and how they decided which elements of the book to include and which to leave out and to understand how the musical numbers evolved from simple constructions into the wonderful compositions that punctuate the story.
Just to give you a flavour, Richard, explained how 'Posh Talk' - the musical number where the Railway Children meet the children of the village for the first time and view one another with hostility and suspicion - evolved from the playground chant “Nah, nah, nah, nah nah!” See if you can detect it when you hear 'Posh Talk' on the stage.
Julian took us through a wonderfully simple and yet fascinating exercise to help us develop the characters. Using a roll of brown paper laid out on the floor, he jotted down key dates over the past 30 years and asked each of us to write down important dates in our own lives: being born, going to school, getting married, etc. Then using a second sheet of paper he wrote down dates from 1850 – 1905 (the period in which the Railway Children characters are living) and asked each of us to imagine important occasions and times in our characters lives. Such a simple yet effective tool in getting us to flesh out the characters on stage.
As well as enhancing our production, it was a special opportunity for musical theatre enthusiasts both young and old to gain an insight into the world of the professionals and we are delighted and not a little daunted to know that Julian and Richard will be in the audience during our run!”
THE RAILWAY CHILDREN
Sat 24 – Sat 31 January (no Sunday performance)
Evenings at 7.45pm, 31 January matinee at 2.30pm
Please note that the matinee performance is SOLD OUT and there are very few seats remaining for the Monday 26 and Saturday 31 evening performances
“As part of our rehearsals we were lucky enough to have an opportunity to work with the creators of the show, lyricist Julian Woolford and composer Richard John. It's not every day you get the chance to meet and actually work with the creators of one of our musicals. Julian and Richard spent a Sunday afternoon with the cast and production team. It was fascinating to hear how the show had come into being and how they decided which elements of the book to include and which to leave out and to understand how the musical numbers evolved from simple constructions into the wonderful compositions that punctuate the story.
Just to give you a flavour, Richard, explained how 'Posh Talk' - the musical number where the Railway Children meet the children of the village for the first time and view one another with hostility and suspicion - evolved from the playground chant “Nah, nah, nah, nah nah!” See if you can detect it when you hear 'Posh Talk' on the stage.
Julian took us through a wonderfully simple and yet fascinating exercise to help us develop the characters. Using a roll of brown paper laid out on the floor, he jotted down key dates over the past 30 years and asked each of us to write down important dates in our own lives: being born, going to school, getting married, etc. Then using a second sheet of paper he wrote down dates from 1850 – 1905 (the period in which the Railway Children characters are living) and asked each of us to imagine important occasions and times in our characters lives. Such a simple yet effective tool in getting us to flesh out the characters on stage.
As well as enhancing our production, it was a special opportunity for musical theatre enthusiasts both young and old to gain an insight into the world of the professionals and we are delighted and not a little daunted to know that Julian and Richard will be in the audience during our run!”
THE RAILWAY CHILDREN
Sat 24 – Sat 31 January (no Sunday performance)
Evenings at 7.45pm, 31 January matinee at 2.30pm
Please note that the matinee performance is SOLD OUT and there are very few seats remaining for the Monday 26 and Saturday 31 evening performances
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