Latest news with #AndrewLloydWebber
Express Tribune
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Disney's 'Hercules' opens in London West End theatre
Disney takes London audiences back to Ancient Greece with its new musical Hercules, bringing alive its 1997 animation on the West End stage, reports Reuters. Showing at composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the show is inspired by the much-loved Disney film, itself based on the ancient myth. It follows the titular character and son of Zeus who, upon losing his immortality as a baby due to the plotting Hades, god of the underworld, goes from zero to hero to stop his uncle from taking over. "It's a myth that reflects contemporary culture and still honours the DNA of (the) animated movie," Robert Horn, who wrote the show's book with Kwame Kwei-Armah, told Reuters late on Tuesday at the musical's press night. "It's its own new thing and yet fans of the movie will absolutely come and recognise it and love it." Central to the show are the five Muses, who sing their way through the story with energetic gospel-like tunes and plenty of costume changes. "I think I speak for all of us ... we have idolised these women. We have looked at these women and seen ourselves in times when we weren't really represented," actor Malinda Parris, who plays Calliope, said. "So being able to be that representation for other young girls ... who ... want to be The Muses ... it's living the dream." The show differs from the film in several ways, including Hercules' mentor, Phil, no longer being a satyr but a taverna owner. "The main thing is that he still is there ... to love and support Hercules on his journey," actor Trevor Dion Nicholas said. "It really is about building this bond between the two of them that kind of builds this paternal relationship that I think we were able to deepen more so than the animated film was." Hercules is the latest Disney stage adaptation in London, showing in the same theatre where the hit show Frozen ran up until last year. It features songs written by Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken and lyricist David Zippel from the animation, including Go the Distance and Zero to Hero, as well as new tunes. As per UK daily The Independent, while the film wasn't an immediate box office smash Hercules has garnered a cult following over the years. The musical, which began life as a workshop in Central Park in 2019, was previously performed in German in Hamburg. Hercules will play at Theatre Royal Drury Lane from June 24 until March 28, 2026.
Gizmodo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
A Wild New Take on ‘Phantom of the Opera' Is Coming, and No One Has Any Idea What It Is
For the past few months, Phans (The Phantom of the Opera fans) have been following mysterious messages and clue drops around New York City for something called Masquerade. Talk online abounded about the roses left in Times Square or the red envelope letters signed by 'the Opera Ghost' for the faithful, as a viral campaign teased that something was coming in the realm of immersive theater. As a big Phan and immersive theater nerd, I've waited from the far wings on the West Coast with major FOMO for more news. And finally, we know who the minds are behind the teased project based on Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera. huge @Masquerade update um i have a mirror now?? #theatre #theatretiktok #theatretok #phantomoftheopera #masqueradenyc #thephantomoftheopera #andrewlloydwebber #immersivephantom ♬ original sound – selena Masquerade has officially been confirmed as a spin-off immersive experience inspired by Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera by Deadline. The trade named Tony Award winner Diane Paulus (Waitress, Real Women Have Curves) as director, with Webber on board as a producer. It has not yet been revealed if the immersive production will include musical performances or be an atmospheric walk-through much like NYC's late great Sleep No More. The Phantom himself shared a statement through Deadline: 'I have secured an address on 57th Street, a more salubrious part of town than my previous, where I have instructed the director Diane Paulus to prepare my new vision of the legend,' it read. 'I have observed that she has considerable credentials in the fields of opera and musical theater. Under my guidance she has created, along with my minion Lloyd Webber, an event like no other with my characters played by performers of exceptional ability.' Fellow Phans can RSVP for more news on the official site. Masquerade is slated to have a six-week preview run, with tickets going on sale Monday, June 30, for the show. The engagement dates have yet to be announced. Described as a production that's 'to be located on multiple floors' by Deadline, the experience 'is designed to simulate a masked ball with attendees moving from room to room and floor to floor.' If some of what TikTok has sleuthed is true, we may be walking through key moments from the musical's book. The possibilities are making my imagination run wild—there's the cemetery, the Phantom's lair, and, of course, the masquerade. We at least know the masquerade is the centerpiece of the production, as instructions mention a strict dress code including masks. On the official site you can also see pertinent details from 'O.G.,' who we can just say is a fabulous party planner with a flair for the dramatic. '1) Masquerade is a 21+ event. However, during the six-week preview period, Saturday and Sunday Matinees will be 16+ 2) The dress code is for the six-week preview period 3) Masks WILL be provided to guests free of charge if they arrive without one. The complimentary masks are designed to be worn under glasses if you require them. Limited edition couture masks will be available for purchase as well. 4) Guests can choose either the glass of champagne OR a non-alcoholic sparkling option on arrival 5) The experience is ADA-accessible' The details of having a mask on and it mostly being a 21+ production are definitely reminiscent of Sleep No More's hallmarks. So this might be Phantom in a way we've never seen. As a Universal Monsters fan, the possibility of horror tonally being involved pleases me. A celebration of his return, homaging his whole legacy, would be a dream. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find out how to secure seats in Box Number 5. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Observer
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Observer
Disney launches stage musical 'Hercules' in London
Disney takes London audiences back to Ancient Greece with its new musical "Hercules", bringing alive its 1997 animation on the West End stage. Showing at composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the show is inspired by the much-loved Disney film, itself based on the ancient myth. It follows the titular character and son of Zeus who, upon losing his immortality as a baby due to the plotting Hades, god of the underworld, goes from zero to hero to stop his uncle from taking over. "It's a myth that reflects contemporary culture and still honours the DNA of (the) animated movie," Robert Horn, who wrote the show's book with Kwame Kwei-Armah, told Reuters late on Tuesday at the musical's press night. "It's its own new thing and yet fans of the movie will absolutely come and recognise it and love it.' Central to the show are the five Muses, who sing their way through the story with energetic gospel-like tunes and plenty of costume changes. "I think I speak for all of us ... we have idolized these women. We have looked at these women and seen ourselves in times when we weren't really represented," actor Malinda Parris, who plays Calliope, said. "So being able to be that representation for other young girls ... who ... want to be The Muses ... it's living the dream." The show differs from the movie in several ways, including Hercules' mentor, Phil, no longer being a satyr but a taverna owner. "The main thing is that he still is there ... to love and support Hercules on his journey," actor Trevor Dion Nicholas said. "It really is about building this bond between the two of them that kind of builds this paternal relationship that I think we were able to deepen more so than the animated film was." "Hercules" is the latest Disney stage adaptation in London, showing in the same theatre where the hit show "Frozen" ran up until last year. It features songs written by Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken and lyricist David Zippel from the animation, including "Go the Distance" and "Zero to Hero", as well as new tunes. —Reuters
The Guardian
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Everybody's talking about Jamie Lloyd: the explosive rise of superstar director masterminding Evita
Rarely can a balcony have caused such a kerfuffle. But the row about the extramural staging of Don't Cry for Me Argentina in Evita at the London Palladium is a sign of its director's increasing celebrity status. Indeed I'm tempted to rephrase a number from an earlier Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice musical: 'Jamie Lloyd Superstar, Do you think you're what they say you are?' What, in short, does it tell us about our theatrical culture that this puckishly likable director has become a figure famed on both sides of the Atlantic? His beginnings, as a recent Vogue feature pointed out, were relatively modest. He grew up in rural Dorset, was turned on to live theatre by seeing Michael Jackson on tour and attended the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. But, right from the start, there was something there. The first production of his that I saw was The Caretaker, which in 2007 transferred from the Sheffield Crucible to what was then the Tricycle in London. Two things made it original: the use of a creepy score by Ben and Max Ringham to give the play a film noir feel and the insistent presence of Nigel Harman's Mick reminding us that the work is about the fraternal bond between him and the brain-damaged Aston, which Pinter's intrusive hobo fails to understand. Over the next few years I followed Lloyd's career with interest and was struck by several things. One was his trust in actors and his ability to extend their range. There was Zawe Ashton in the title role in Oscar Wilde's Salome at Hampstead theatre dancing to a ghetto-blaster; Douglas Hodge in Inadmissible Evidence at the Donmar turning John Osborne's disintegrating hero into a quasi-Beckettian figure; and Katherine Kelly, best known for Coronation Street, playing Kate Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer, with a rustic graciousness. For a young director, Lloyd had a rare faith in the language and setting of classic plays: that production of Oliver Goldsmith's comedy at the National was robustly true to the late-18th century just as his Duchess of Malfi at the Old Vic was unequivocally Jacobean. Without distorting authorial intention, Lloyd also made you look again at a work you thought you knew. By casting Elena Roger, who had played Evita and Piaf, as the heroine in the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical Passion at the Donmar in 2010, Lloyd changed the whole balance of the show: Roger's sickly Fosca, instead of being an ugly duckling, was a lonely woman embodying the power of unconditional love. Significantly, much of Lloyd's best early work was done when he was an associate at the Donmar working under the tutelage of Michael Grandage. Even when he branched out and formed the Jamie Lloyd Company in 2013 there was still much to admire. I may have disliked his Doctor Faustus, which became a pointless satire on the lure of showbiz stardom, but there was good work with James McAvoy, including Macbeth and Peter Barnes's The Ruling Class, and notable revivals of Pinter's The Hothouse and The Homecoming. It was, however, a six-month season in 2018-19 of all of Pinter's one-act plays that for me was proof of Lloyd's quality. For a start, the season demolished the myth that Pinter's shorter pieces are inferior to his full-length plays: what became abundantly clear was that, whatever the chosen form, Pinter was preoccupied with analysing the roots of power. Lloyd also attracted an astonishing range of actors: Antony Sher for One for the Road, Tamsin Greig for Landscape and A Kind of Alaska, Martin Freeman and Danny Dyer for The Dumb Waiter, Jane Horrocks and Luke Thallon for The Room. Lloyd's own productions were often revelatory. Having myself wrestled with the difficulty of directing Party Time, in which a wealthy elite remain oblivious to a round-up of dissidents, I was staggered by Lloyd's courage in having the characters simply line up facing the audience in a cocktail party from hell. Even more impressive was his production of Betrayal, with Tom Hiddleston, Zawe Ashton and Charlie Cox, which stripped the action of circumstantial detail and reminded us that there are three sides to an emotional triangle: in other words, that the deceived partner is always present in the imagination. Betrayal transferred to Broadway and was nominated for numerous Tony awards, since when Lloyd's star has been in the ascendant on both sides of the Atlantic. While that is welcome, it also means that in the last six years Lloyd has forged his own particular style: a hi-tech minimalism that involves abandonment of scenery, heavily miked actors and ubiquitous cameras. It worked well for his version of Sunset Boulevard partly because Nicole Scherzinger gave a dazzling performance and partly because the musical is about the narcissism of the film industry. As the cameras tracked every gesture of the actors, I was reminded of Billy Wilder's quip on seeing the original stage production: 'It'll make a good movie.' But similar techniques were used less happily in Lloyd's production of Romeo and Juliet. The idea that for their first encounter Tom Holland's Romeo should be alone on stage and Francesca Amewudah-Rivers's Juliet should be partying in the theatre foyer struck me as absurd. Lloyd's belief in amplified sound also had fatal consequences in his Drury Lane Tempest. Instead of the tonal variety of the human voice we got an homogenised sound in which, with the exception of Selina Cadell's Gonzalo, it was difficult to tell who was speaking. I thought back wistfully to the 1957 production of The Tempest at that theatre in which the unaided voices of John Gielgud, Alec Clunes and Robert Harris had a distinct and beautiful resonance. Lloyd is a man of undoubted talent, and technology has a place in modern theatre. But he is in danger of falling back on a formula and, without a strong producer behind him, succumbing to the modern cult of the director. Ideally, theatre is a coalition of all the talents in which writer, actor and director are all working to the fullest possible realisation of the work in question. I look forward to seeing how Evita plays at the London Palladium but we should remember that Everybody's Talking About Jamie is the title of a musical and not a recipe for theatrical success. Evita is at the Palladium, London, until 6 September
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Rachel Zegler praised for defending bodyguard after run-in with fan
Rachel Zegler is being praised for leaping to the defense of her bodyguard after a fan took issue with something he did. The incident was captured in a TikTok video uploaded on Saturday and showed the 24-year-old actress telling a fan as she signed autographs: 'He is protecting me.' When the fan answered back that it was 'too much, no need to shove', Rachel stood firm, adding: 'He works here and he's helping me, because crowds are very intimidating.' SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO When the autograph seeker pushed back, she said: 'I know babe, and I love you so much, but please don't disrespect my Danny, okay?' After seeing the clip, fans rushed to stick up for the actress who stood up for her bodyguard. ''Please don't disrespect my Danny' is everything,' wrote one social media user. Another added: 'Having to gentle parent adults about the necessity of a body guard is crazy.' A third chimed in: 'She's such a Disney princess (literally).' Rachel is currently starring in Evita at the London Palladium. The revival of the Tony winning musical by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice opened on June 14. In an interesting twist, when Rachel has to sing Don't Cry For Me Argentina, she steps out on to the balcony at the Palladium where any passersby can hear her, while the performance is streamed onto a screen in the theater. And while some may think the 24-year-old Zegler is too young to play the former First Lady of Argentina, history records Eva Peron died at age 33. Rachel told Vogue: 'It's one of those roles for women in musical theater that has everything you could possibly want to do as a performer. 'You get to sing your face off, you get to dance, and it's a really meaty acting part where you go through 18 years of someone's life, from the age of 15 until her death.' Speaking of the controversial real-life Evita, she said: 'To this day in Argentina, people revere her or they revile her. Yet she made such an impact. I think it is wonderful when pieces turn to the audience and ask them how they feel.' Her 12-week run opened on June 14 and was scheduled to end on September 6.
