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Olly Dobson is one of Back to the Future's biggest fans, so it's been a dream come true to step into the shoes (and onto the skateboard) of the time-travelling teenager Marty McFly in the new stage adaptation, which is set to open at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End in August.But to make this iconic character really sing, both literally and figuratively, onstage, Dobson has to take things up a notch."The ante has to be up," Dobson says of translating the beloved movie into a musical....
Many actors would shudder at the idea of recreating one of the most-beloved film roles of all time onstage. The kind of role that has become so synonymous with the actor who originated it, that it seems impossible to separate the two.Well, the was the challenge Roger Bart faced when he took on the role of Dr. Emmett Brown in Back to the Future The Musical, a character made so memorable by Christopher Lloyd in the film trilogy."How does one fill the shoes of the iconic and amazing Christopher...
Are there more puppets than actors on our stages at the moment? Well, perhaps not quite, but this is certainly a golden age of puppetry in British theatre — from Life of Pi, Frozen, The Ocean at the End of the Lane and The Lion King in the West End to Animal Farm on tour, and the upcoming 101 Dalmatians at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. Crucially, puppets can make the impossible seem possible. Finn Caldwell, co-puppet designer and puppetry and movement director for Life of Pi, knew the show's...
Liisi LaFontaine never thought she would do musical theatre professionally. The Los Angeles native grew up in the shadow of Hollywood, where film and television rule, and she always gravitated toward pop and R&B music rather than show tunes. She also never imagined her stage career would take shape in London, but after making her West End debut as Deena in Dreamgirls in 2018, she's back across the pond, this time starring as the sultry nightclub songstress Satine in Moulin Rouge! The...
Watch the news at the moment and it's like seeing a farce unfold. There's exaggerated stories, nobody trusts each other, and everyone shakes their heads in disbelief. But what if crazy turns of events were actually meant to happen? When we spoke with Ria Jones about Habeas Corpus, Alan Bennett's 1970s comedy play being staged at the Menier Chocolate Factory this winter, it's apparent that life is imitating art. "It's quite bizarre how [the dialogue] is so current to a point where the audience...
Typically, performers spend weeks in rehearsals, developing scenes and memorising their lines. But what happens when that time frame is drastically reduced? Simon Lipkin found himself with limited time for preparing for his latest show, called in to play Brian in the world premiere of Brian & Roger - A Highly Offensive Play just eight days before the first preview."I had a friend meet me every night and we would work in the theatre until late," Lipkin told London Theatre. Learning 700 lines...
As soon as Dino Fetscher went on one of his first vacations post-lockdown, he scored an audition for The Normal Heart at The National Theatre, a play he had read in drama school and is very close to him."If I really want to get a job, all I need to do is book a holiday," Fetscher jokes over Zoom. "And then without a doubt, I get a job that clashes with the dates."Fetscher ultimately landed the role of Felix Turner, a closeted reporter in 1980s New York who falls in love with Ned Weeks, inspired...
Thomas Schumacher, the longtime president of Disney Theatrical Group, isn't scared of making big changes - whether its adding a song to a time-tested musical, testing a show in a new international city, or reopening multiple productions around the world in the wake of a global pandemic."There are real things in life to be afraid of in musical theatre isn't one of them," Schumacher says.His latest venture in London: opening Frozen in the West End at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. The beloved...
Nathaniel Parker could well classify as the British theatre's leading history boy - or shall we say man. He played the onetime prime minister Gordon Brown on the West End in The Audience; was the former speaker of the House of Commons, Jack Weatherill, in James Graham's This House; and has spent the better part of a decade living on and off with the character of Henry VIII in the various stage versions of Hilary Mantel's trio of novels about Thomas Cromwell and Tudor England: Wolf Hall, Bring up...
Patsy Ferran and Luke Thallon formed their own bubble while rehearsing for Camp Siegfried at The Old Vic. Although the actors had done some work on the new Bess Wohl play virtually, the nature of the story requires a fast and intimate connection between their characters and Zoom just wasn't going to work for the long term."The chemistry between these two people is pivotal," Ferran said. "If you already put on these literal physical barriers, it's just not quite going to land, because these...
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