Popular posts on London Theatre Breaks from Dec 2008

New Year Theatre BreaksWhilst some people are all caught up in preparations for December others are snapping up New Year Theatre Breaks bargains.Demand for hotels from business users is slacking slightly, so that means there is some increased capacity available for visitors to London on short UK theatre breaks and many bargains are there to be had in the New Year if you book now.

Carousel ReviewsThe newspaper critics reviews for Carousel at the Savoy Theatre are in and mostly they are fairly positive. Lesley Garrett comes in for a bit of criticism for her performance but apart from that I think they had a good time.Benedict Nightingale in The Times at first felt the production suffered by comparison with the revival at the National 10 years ago but eventually warmed to it:Yet gradually I thawed, as caught up in Hammerstein’s book as I was captivated by maybe the finest score even Rodgers ever produced.

Voting opens at WhatsOnStage today for the Theatregoers Choice Awards 2008Here is the full list of nominations:The SPOTLIGHT Best Actress in a PlayDeanna Dunagan (August: Osage County – National Theatre Lyttelton)Katy Stephens (The Histories – Royal Shakespeare Company at the Roundhouse)Lesley Sharp (Harper Regan – National Theatre Cottesloe)Lindsay Duncan (That Face – Duke of York’s Theatre)Margaret Tyzack (The Chalk Garden – Donmar Warehouse)Penelope Wilton (The Chalk Garden – Donmar Warehouse)The SPOTLIGHT Best Actor in a PlayAdam Godley (Rain Man – Apollo Theatre)Chiwetel Ejiofor (Othello – Donmar Warehouse)Eddie Redmayne (Now Or Later – Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs)Ian McDiarmid (Six Characters In Search Of An Author – Gielgud Theatre)Kenneth Branagh (Ivanov – Donmar West End at the Wyndham’s Theatre)Kevin Spacey & Jeff Goldblum (Speed-The-Plow – Old Vic)Best Supporting Actress in a PlayBarbara Jefford (Pygmalion – Old Vic)Denise Gough (Six Characters In Search Of An Author – Gielgud Theatre)Michelle Terry (The Man Who Had All The Luck – Donmar Warehouse)Phoebe Nicholls (The Vortex – Apollo Theatre & Waste – Almeida Theatre)Sophie Thompson (The Female Of The Species – Vaudeville Theatre)Susan Engel (Her Naked Skin – National Theatre Olivier)Best Supporting Actor in a PlayDouglas Henshall (The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot – Almeida Theatre)Kevin R McNally (Ivanov – Donmar West End at the Wyndham’s Theatre)Malcolm Sinclair (Rosmersholm – Almeida Theatre)Paul Ready (Major Barbara – National Theatre Olivier)Pip Carter (Gethsemane – National Theatre Cottesloe)Tom Hiddleston (Othello – Donmar Warehouse & Ivanov – Donmar West End at the Wyndham’s Theatre)The VIAGOGO Best Actress in a MusicalConnie Fisher (They’re Playing Our Song – Menier Chocolate Factory)Elena Roger (Piaf – Donmar Warehouse & Vaudeville Theatre)Leila Benn Harris (Imagine This – New London Theatre)Lisa O’Hare (Gigi – Open Air Theatre)Ruthie Henshall (Marguerite – Theatre Royal Haymarket)Sofia Escobar (West Side Story – Sadler’s Wells)The SEE TICKETS Best Actor in a MusicalDarius Danesh (Gone With The Wind – New London Theatre)Douglas Hodge (La Cage Aux Folles – Menier Chocolate Factory & Playhouse Theatre)Julian Ovenden (Marguerite – Theatre Royal Haymarket)Matt Rawle (Zorro – Garrick Theatre)Rolan Bell (The Harder They Come – Barbican Theatre & Playhouse Theatre)Ryan Molloy (Jersey Boys – Prince Edward Theatre)Best Supporting Actress in a MusicalLesli Margherita (Zorro – Garrick Theatre)Linda Thorson (Gigi – Open Air Theatre)Lorraine Bruce (Piaf – Donmar Warehouse & Vaudeville Theatre)Natasha Yvette Williams (Gone With The Wind – New London Theatre)Sophia Ragavelas (Never Forget – Savoy Theatre)Tracie Bennett (La Cage Aux Folles – Playhouse Theatre)Best Supporting Actor in a MusicalAlexander Hanson (Marguerite – Theatre Royal Haymarket)Jason Pennycooke (La Cage Aux Folles – Menier Chocolate Factory & Playhouse Theatre)Luke Evans (Piaf – Donmar Warehouse & Vaudeville Theatre)Michael Matus (Imagine This – New London Theatre)Nick Cavaliere (Zorro – Garrick Theatre)Stephen Ashfield (Jersey Boys – Prince Edward Theatre)Best Solo PerformanceDavid Bradley (The Quiz – Trafalgar Studio 2)Derren Brown (Derren Brown Mindreader: An Evening Of Wonders – Garrick Theatre)Eddie Izzard (Eddie Izzard: Stripped – Lyric Theatre)Maria Friedman (Maria Friedman: Rearranged – Menier Chocolate Factory)Nadine Marshall (Random – Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs)Vanessa Redgrave (The Year Of Magical Thinking – National Theatre Lyttelton)The AMBASSADOR TICKETS Best Ensemble PerformanceAugust: Osage County – National Theatre LytteltonBlack Watch – National Theatre of Scotland at the Barbican TheatreBrief Encounter – Cinema, HaymarketInto The Hoods – Novello TheatreThe Histories – Royal Shakespeare Compnay at the RoundhouseThe Norman Conquests – Old VicThe MILK TWO SUGARS Best Takeover in a RoleDaniel Boys (Avenue Q – Noël Coward Theatre)Denis Lawson (La Cage Aux Folles – Playhouse Theatre)Kelly Brook (Fat Pig – Comedy Theatre)Rachel Tucker (We Will Rock You – Dominion Theatre)Summer Strallen (The Sound Of Music – London Palladium)Suzanne Shaw (Chicago – Cambridge Theatre)The NICK HERN BOOKS Best New PlayAugust: Osage County (by Tracy Letts – National Theatre Lyttelton)Black Watch (by Gregory Burke – National Theatre of Scotland at the Barbican Theatre)Now Or Later (by Christopher Shinn – Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs)That Face (by Polly Stenham – Duke of York’s Theatre)The Pitmen Painters (by Lee Hall – National Theatre Cottesloe)Under The Blue Sky (by David Eldridge – Duke of York’s Theatre)Best New ComedyFat Pig (by Neil LaBute – Trafalgar Studio 1 & Comedy Theatre)God Of Carnage (by Yasmina Reza – Gielgud Theatre)Lifecoach (by Nick Reed – Trafalgar Studio 2)The Female Of The Species (by Joanna Murray-Smith – Vaudeville Theatre)The Walworth Farce (by Enda Walsh – National Theatre Cottesloe)Well (by Lisa Kron – Trafalgar Studio 2)The WALDORF HILTON Best New MusicalEurobeat (by Craig Christie & Andrew Patterson – Novello Theatre)Imagine This (by Shuki Levy, David Goldsmith & Glenn Berenbeim – New London Theatre)Jersey Boys (by Bob Gaudio, Bob Crewe, Rick Elice & Marshall Brickman – Prince Edward Theatre)Marguerite (by Michel Legrand, Herbert Kretzmer, Alain Boubil, Claude-Michel Schönberg & Jonathan Kent – Theatre Royal Haymarket)Never Forget (by Guy Jones, Daniel Brocklehurst & Ed Curtis -Savoy Theatre)Zorro (by the Gipsy Kings, John Cameron, Stephen Clark & Helen Edmundson -Garrick Theatre)The EMG Best Play RevivalIvanov – Donmar West End at the Wyndham’s TheatreSix Characters In Search Of An Author – Gielgud TheatreSpeed-The-Plow – Old VicThe Chalk Garden – Donmar WarehouseThe Norman Conquests – Old VicWaste – Almeida TheatreThe TICKETMASTER Best Musical RevivalCandide – London ColiseumGigi – Open Air TheatreLa Cage Aux Folles – Menier Chocolate Factory & Playhouse TheatrePiaf – Donmar Warehouse & Vaudeville TheatreThey’re Playing Our Song – Menier Chocolate FactoryWest Side Story – Sadler’s WellsBest Shakespearean ProductionA Midsummer Night’s Dream – Shakespeare’s GlobeMuch Ado About Nothing – National Theatre OlivierOthello – Donmar WarehouseThe Histories – Royal Shakespeare Company at the RoundhouseThe Merry Wives Of Windsor – Shakespeare’s GlobeTwelfth Night – Tricycle TheatreThe SEATCHOICE Best DirectorEmma Rice (Brief Encounter – Cinema Haymarket)Michael Grandage (Othello & The Chalk Garden – Donmar Warehouse / Ivanov, Donmar West End at the Wyndham’s Theatre)Matthew Warchus (The Norman Conquests – Old Vic)Michael Boyd (The Histories – Royal Shakespeare Company at the Roundhouse)Rupert Goold (The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot – Almeida / Six Characters In Search Of An Author – Gielgud Theatre / No Man’s Land – Duke of York’s Theatre)Samuel West (Dealer’s Choice – Trafalgar Studio 1 / Waste – Almeida Theatre)Best Set DesignerEugene Lee (Imagine This – New London Theatre)Klara Zieglerova (Jersey Boys – Prince Edward Theatre)Miriam Buether (In The Red And Brown Water – Young Vic)Neil Murray (Brief Encounter – Cinema Haymarket)Rob Howell (The Norman Conquests – Old Vic)Tom Piper (The Histories – Royal Shakespeare Company at the Roundhouse)The WHITE LIGHT Best Lighting DesignerChahine Yavroyan (Relocated – Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs / Wig Out!

** book Spamalot Theatre Breaks – quick! **This post has nothing much to do with Spamalot Theatre Breaks at all really, it’s just an excuse to alert readers to the new Monty Python YouTube channel by including an excellent promotional video. But if you are interested in Spamalot Theatre Breaks in London you do need to act soon because the show is going on the road around Britain after January 3rd which is the date of the last performance in London.