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We Will Rock You - free hotel offer July 28, 2008

Posted by Andy in : Special Offers, hotel and theatre deals, wewillrockyou , add a comment

We Will Rock You theatre breaks

Great news for anybody who’s always wanted to see We Will Rock You or wants to go again (and who wouldn’t?). It’s one of the shows qualifying for the free hotel offer with midweek theatre breaks in August 2008.

This means you can get an inclusive theatre and hotel deal with top tickets to see We Will Rock You at the Dominion Theatre for as little as £60 per person, and this includes staying one night in a three star hotel in central London. Yes, a three star hotel stay thrown in!

For more details, read the London Hotel Deals page here at London theatre breaks or else head straight on over to book now.

We Will Rock You Free Hotel Offer

Les Miserables - the classic musical July 26, 2008

Posted by Linda in : Les Miserables , add a comment

Les Miserables or Les Miz - what’s in a name?

Les Miserables or Les Miz Give it its full title, Les Miserables or shorten it to Les Mis or even Les Miz, whatever you want to call, it is worth remembering that this classic musical has been playing in the West End since 1985 last century.

** book Les Miserables theatre breaks **

Les Mis recently extended its booking period through to April 25th 2009. The production has had over 9,000 performances. What is it about the show that makes it such a classic? How has it kept going when other great shows have come and gone? I thought I’d try to find out.

Les Miserables - the public’s favourite

Right from the start it was the public that made Les Miz a hit. The show had pretty much bombed in its original form in Paris in 1982. It took the vision of Cameron Mackintosh, Trevor Nunn and John Caird to bring it to London in 1985. The reviews of the critics were very mixed, most of them thought it was either too heavy or that the subject was more suitable for an opera than a musical. It was word of mouth that sealed the show’s success. The British theatre public simply loved the show. It moved from the initial run at the Barbican to the Palace Theatre and eventually to the Queen’s Theatre, where it still plays.

When, in 2005, BBC Radio 2 ran a poll to find “The Nation’s Number One Essential Musicals” 40% of the 400,000 votes cast were for Les Mis. No wonder, then, that people are still booking to see the show in large numbers. Some are new to the show, others are revisiting it, perhaps having seen it many years ago. Parents are sharing it with their children. Others are seeing it for the first time. It’s a favourite choice for theatre breaks for wedding anniversaries and special occasions. They all know that they will be taken on a huge emotional journey, with powerful music and drama.

Les Miserables - Favourite musical

What People Say About Les Mis

I asked a friend who recently returned from a Les Miserables London theatre break what her experience had been like and why she’d chosen the show. She explained that:

I remembered the music from my childhood as my parents had the CD. A friend and I were chatting about our childhoods and how we both remembered the music but didn’t really know the story. I got the idea to book a theatre break so that we could see what it was all about. I was amazed by how easily we got swept up in the story.

Another recent audience member told me:

I thoroughly and utterly recommend it, Linda! Before I went I listened to the soundtrack a bit and it really made me enjoy it even more because the music is just so amazing.

She went on to say it was the best show she had ever seen:

They got a standing ovation, and surely must do every time. I sobbed my heart out throughout, it was really pathetic! I loved it though, the music is just so amazing, as was everything else about it, now I want to go again!

So there we are, Les Miserables’ power to move and amaze are undiminished after all these years. Not only that but the show has had some interesting cast changes recently which have given it yet another lease of life with no end to the record breaking run in sight.

** book Les Miserables theatre breaks **

DVD

August Special Offer - Crazy London Hotel Deals July 26, 2008

Posted by admin in : offers , add a comment

Free London Hotel Deals

The summer sale at Show and Stay continues with the craziest London hotel deals for August. They are actually giving away one night’s stay in a posh London hotel for absolutely nothing! I don’t know how they can do it, its just mad. The only snag is that you have to sit through an entire performance at one of the West End’s top musicals. Better choose wisely then!

The Deal

It’s your chance to spend a free night in a three star London hotel after a great night out, just by buying theatre tickets for a weekday (yes, that includes Friday nights) in August 2008 out of a range of eleven of the best West End musicals or two plays (see below). In fact the offer extends right up until Friday 5th of September so this could also be very interesting to those who live just close enough to London to get home after a night out, but would relish the opportunity to stay over and do something in London the next day. You could turn an enjoyable evening at the theatre into an unforgettable city break for as little as £42.50 per person. That price would be for two people seeing The 39 Steps and then sharing a double room at the Jury’s Inn Islington.

The Hotels

You can stay in a 3* hotel from amongst the prestigious list available at Show and Stay. Some of these are closer to Theatreland whilst others are in the popular South Kensington area - it’s up to you. Or you could upgrade to a luxurious Four Star Hotel for as little as ten pounds. What?!? Ten pounds is just ridiculous, I mean you probably couldn’t get a dingy bed and breakfast in drizzly Morecombe for that price! We’re talking about prestigious international style Hotels in central London, where the jet set business community stay over and celebrities hang out.

The shows

free hotel with london theatre breaks in August
These are the popular shows included in the free london hotel offer, together with the total inclusive show and hotel deal price per person (including a £5 supplement for the first three shows listed)

Click on any of the shows above for more information or here to transfer to the special page on the booking site. All you have to do to get the free London hotel deals is to keep within the 13 qualifying shows, choose a weekday before September 7th 2008 and then pick one of the first hotels that comes up, with the golden “offer hotel” badge.\ then start looking forward to your best ever summer theatre break in London. Have a good one.

Imagine This - New London Musical set in Poland July 24, 2008

Posted by Linda in : Imagine This, Musicals, New London Theatre , 1 comment so far

Imagine This - the musical

Imagine This is a new musical set in Poland which is moving to The New London Theatre in the West End after a very successful run at the Theatre Royal Plymouth. The musical will start previews on November 4th and opens on November 19th.


**Book Imagine This London Theatre Breaks **

Imagine This

Imagine This - the story

The story is set in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942 Poland and follows the passions, relationships and courage of a troupe of actors staging a play to try to keep hope alive in their community. The story is very much about ordinary people forced by extraordinary circumstances into making heroic decisions.
The theatre director Daniel Warshowky persuades his closest family and friends to put on a play that will inspire the community and force them to imagine a world beyond Nazi domination. He bases the play on the classic Jewish story of the martyrs of Masada. Trapped in their stronghold on top of Masada almost 1000 Jews, with their leader Eleazar ben Yair chose to commit suicide rather than give in to the Romans.

The action moves between the two stories, that of the Ghetto players and the Masada play.

Despite the grim situation the musical is full of hope, energy and optimism. Surprisingly there is also lots of humour in such tragic circumstances.

Imagine This - the music

The score is by Shuki Levy, whose previous work seems to have been mostly for children’s TV. He wrote the themes for Power Rangers, Inspector Gadget and He Man Masters of the Universe . This didn’t seem too promising but then I realised I could still remember the tunes of all these 90s classics! On further investigation I found there are samples from the Plymouth production available on the web site and I have to admit I was favourably impressed. The music is described as soaring and uplifting and from what I’ve heard that’s accurate. Juke box musical this is not! I suspect if you like the music from Marguerite you’ll like this.

The lyrics are by David Goldsmith who has worked with Levy before.

Imagine This - the cast

A full cast list for Imagine This has not yet been announced but so far we only know that Peter Polycarpou will carry on from the Plymouth production. Stephen Ashfield is unlikely to appear as he’s now in Jersey Boys and Annette McLaughlin seems to have other commitments as well.


**Book Imagine This London Theatre Breaks **

Betwixt - comedy musical July 18, 2008

Posted by admin in : betwixt, westendlive , 3comments

Betwixt

One of the benefits from West End Live 2008 was an opportunity to peek at a new musical comedy called Betwixt. This show played at the Kings Head Theatre during June and is looking for a new home. There was a video excerpt from an american TV show on which the writers and actors talk about the fun they had putting the comedy musical show together.

MARGUERITE The Original London Cast Recording July 18, 2008

Posted by admin in : marguerite, music , add a comment

MARGUERITE - London cast recording

The Original London Cast Recording from Marguerite
Marguerite opened at the Theatre Royal Haymarket to ecstatic reviews on 20th May.
The story and conception is by the originators of Les Misérables, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg (with Jonathan Kent). Music is by Michel Legrand and lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer (the lyricist for Les Misérables).

Track Listing:

1. Come One, Come All
2. Let The World Turn
3. Jazz Time
4. China Doll
5. China Doll (Reprise)
6. The Face I See
7. Time Was When
8. The World Begins Today
9. Waiting
10. Day By Day (Part 1)
11. Intoxication
12. I Am Here
13. Take Good Care Of Yourself
14. Overture Act 2/Day By Day (Part 2)
15. Dreams, Shining Dreams
16. Take Good Care Of Yourself (Reprise)
17. I Hate The Very Thought Of Women
18. The Letter
19. What’s Left Of Love
20. Paris
21. Day By Day (Part 3)
22. How Did I Get To Where I Am
23. Day By Day (Part 4)
24. Come One, Come All (Reprise)
25. Finale
26. Paris Est Libéré

James Bond London Breaks July 18, 2008

Posted by admin in : attractions, james bond, london breaks , add a comment

Celebrating one hundred years since the birth of successful British writer Ian Fleming, the London Imperial War Museum is hosting an exhibition dedicated to the life and works of the James Bond creator.

The first exhibition of its kind to be wholly dedicated to Ian Fleming the attraction will explore the inspirations behind some of the most recognisable characters in the literary world. Artefacts from the high grossing Bond films will be on display as well as rare materials from Fleming’s career during and after the war.

You can expect to see notes from the Thrilling Cities series, the bikini worn by Halle Berry in the Bond film Die Another Day and the “blood splattered” shirt as worn by Daniel Craig in the latest of the Bond films, Casino Royale. Detailing not only his colourful and varied career, For Your Eyes Only takes a look at the suggestion that many of the characters in Fleming’s novels and indeed the setting for the Bond novels were all inspired by his own experiences of the Cold War, spies and technology used in the armed forces.

There’s also a new book out in time for the exhibition

Be a part of celebrating Fleming’s legacy and indulge in a James Bond London Break or else add the exhibition as an additional attraction to a show as part of a Theatre Break.

timeout.com

This exhibition celebrates the centenary of the birth of Bond creator Ian Fleming, exploring his wartime career and work as a journalist and travel writer and how, as an author, he drew upon his experiences to create the iconic secret agent and his adversaries. The show includes Fleming’s desk and chair from his Jamaican home, Goldeneye, where he wrote all of the Bond novels, as well as props and gadgets from many of the Bond films, including Rosa Klebb’s flick-knife shoes featured in ‘From Russia with Love’ and a working model of the famous Aston Martin DB5.

The Female of the Species Reviewed July 17, 2008

Posted by Linda in : Vaudeville, comedy, female of the species, reviews , add a comment

The Female of the Species, Vaudeville Theatre 15-07-08

The Female of the Species at the Vaudeville theatre London

The Female of the Species a comedy, opened last night at the Vaudeville Theatre. The play is ‘loosely’ based on an incident in the life of Germaine Greer. The author Joanna Murray-Smith is at pains to deny that the feminist writer at the heart of the play is based on Greer stating that she wouldn’t dare to portray her on stage. Germaine Greer begs to differ, points out that the incident itself was nearer to tragedy than farce, and is suitably outraged.

I’ve read most of Germaine Greer’s books and I’m a great admirer of her work. This made me rather uneasy but we’d been given some complementary tickets (one of the perks of blogging ) and I thought I’d go with an open mind.

There is nothing like a Dame

Dame Eileen Atkins takes the lead as Margot Mason, a famous feminist author. I’m trying here to avoid mentioning Germaine Greer again but it’s very hard. She even looks a tiny bit like her, although at least she’s not wearing one of those classic grey Greer frocks. Her performance is quite wonderful, pure class and very funny. She dominates the stage and the play showing us in turn the vast ego of the woman, her undeniable intellect and her vulnerability. Atkins mixes this with some great comic timing and some lovely, physical comedy. Even in moments when the focus was off her it was hard to drag my eyes away from her expressive face.

I think her real triumph was to take a potentially unsympathetic part and make us see Margot as very human and often actually right in her assessment of people. Atkins’ Margot is witty and smart with a tiny edge of self-doubt. Even though Margot is the focus of everyone’s anger in the play Atkins’ performance steals the show and it is the other characters who end up looking hollow and foolish.

So far so good.

I was not so happy with some of the other performances. I felt that the rest of the cast were patchy. Everyone had good moments but no one shone. Each of the characters in turn gets to have a go at Margot (by now handcuffed to her desk) and tell her just where she, and the rest of the feminist movement have gone wrong. Each tries to tell her she is to blame for the situation they find themselves in.

female of the species rectangle

The two younger women, Anna Maxwell Martin (the self styled ‘homicidal intruder’) and Sophie Thompson (the ‘disappointing’ daughter) both played their parts with gusto but with a rather exaggerated use of physical ticks.

I quite enjoyed Paul Chahidi as the son -in -law. Despite the character being dense, well meaning, full of platitudes but a bit of a cardboard cut out Chahidi managed to make me feel quite sympathetic to him.

Poor Con O’Neill has a strange and amazingly short part to play, coming on only for the last 15 minutes or so as the taxi driver. He’s almost the last to speak and is made to give voice to the argument that it’s these nasty feminists who have messed up a system that’s worked fine since the time of the cave men (no - really!) Unfortunately the biggest laugh he raised the night we saw it was when he slightly corpsed in response to a line from Sophie Thomson.

There’s also a very small cameo role as Margot’s publisher for Sam Kelly right at the very end.

So is it funny?

Well, yes. There are some wonderful one liners and moments of hilarity. It’s not the great intellectual comedy, which it sort of aspires to be but it is funny. It made an interesting and enjoyable evening at the theatre. If I had paid for my ticket I wouldn’t have felt in the least bit cheated. It was a real treat to see a genuine Dame of the theatre in action.

The Female of the Species ** Find Cheap Tickets for Female of the Species**

Rain Man July 17, 2008

Posted by Andy in : Rainman, apollo , add a comment
Rain Man charicature
RainMan

Rain Man is the title of a new play coming to the Apollo Theatre in August, which is an adaptation of the award winning film starring Dustin Hoffman.

David Grindley directs the play with Hollywood film actor, Josh Hartnett in a West End debut as Charlie and Olivier nominated actor, Adam Godley as Raymond.

** Search for Rainman Tickets **

Come Dancing - Ray Davies new musical July 16, 2008

Posted by Linda in : Musicals, Theatre Royal Stratford East, come dancing, dates , 6comments

Come Dancing with the Kinks

Come Dancing, is a new musical written by former Kinks singer-songwriter Ray Davies. It will open at the Theatre Royal Stratford East for a short run (13 September to 25 October 2008) before a possible West End transfer. Although the title comes from a song written by Davies in 1983 the show is not a jukebox musical. Original music and lyrics have been written by Davies. The multi-talented Davies (no mean poet as well as song writer) originated the story and co-wrote the book with Paul Sirett, there’s also additional material by Terry Johnson.The show will be directed by Theatre Royal Stratford East’s artistic director Kerry Michael.

The Story

Come Dancing is set in the Ilford Palais in the 1950s. According to the web site it:

“takes us back to a time when Saturday night dancing at the local palais was the magical, not-to-be-missed highlight of every young person’s week”.

Back in 2000 in an interview with Rolling Stone Davies said:

“‘Come Dancing’ is a musical with lots of actors and actresses. It’s about my sisters and how they lived through that time in post-war Britain.”

Ray Davies

Londoner Ray Davies was the frontman and main song writer for The Kinks from the early days (1963) to the end of the band in mid-1990s. He wrote classic hits such as “You Really Got Me”, “All Day and All of the Night”, “Lola”, “Waterloo Sunset”, “Do It Again” and one of my particular favourites “Muswell Hillbilly Boy”. As I mentioned he’s also a published author of both fiction and poetry.

Come Dancing with the Kinks

My thoughts on Come Dancing

It’s been a long time coming but it might just be worth the wait. It had a pretty good eight week workshop at the National way back in 2000 and has been promised for further development ever since. Now I’m a Kinks fan of old and I think Ray Davies is a brilliant song writer so I will definitely be hoping to see this at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. I just wonder if Come Dancing will finally make it to the West End, we shall see….

Come Dancing Kinks Video

Meanwhile here’s a video taster of Come Dancing