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Jesus Christ Superstar

IT is interesting that some of the best British Theatre continues to happen outside the M25, especially now.

Yes, The Watermill in Newbury has opened a must-see version of the 1970 Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice biblical opera Jesus Christ Superstar, featuring a large cast of actor-musicians and a Gethsemane scene that takes place around a fire pit in the garden.

Jesus Christ Superstar, originally conceived as a concept album in 1970, was only later adapted into a sung-through musical. This unique format eliminates spoken dialogue, making it a truly immersive experience for audiences.

Director Paul Hart portrays Jesus (Michael Kholwadia) as an ambivalent political leader, icon, with fluid staging responding to Webber’s eclectic score.

Despite evasiveness about Christ’s divinity, the production taps into New Testament and uses secular rhythms to awaken spiritual longings.

Indeed, Kholwadia is an unforced, quietly impressive Jesus, while Michali Dantes plays Judas, a young fanatic who is watchful and isolated right from the start. His electric guitar screeches as he loses the plot.

“I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” Mary Magdalene’s mournful ballad, was the show’s big hit, and its enduringly pretty melody is sung here with soulful flourishes by Parisa Shahmir.

The most important part of the production is the mob, which is whipped into a frenzy by populist politics. It’s clear that a mob is always a mob, regardless of which side it supports.

There’s not a weak link in the actor musician cast.

Christian Edwards struts around the stage as a tightly wound Pilate, his performance big, theatrical, and enjoyably precise, with a wardrobe to die for.

King Herod (Samuel Morgan-Graheme) strutting song is still camp, but that’s a moment of necessary comical relief.

Hart’s resurrection deploys a visual imagination: the action flows like a stream over the rapids, accompanied by the multitalented actor musicians, that twangles and bubbles, disguising the eggy bits and enlivening the good. 

Rory Beaton’s stadium-style lighting helps here. Everything plays to the strength of the intimate venue.

Anjali Mehra’s energetic and gut-punch choreography pulses like a heartbeat throughout the show, complementing the high-energy songs. Never over done.

After Roman thugs drag Jesus off, bind his hands, and leave him with a look of resignation, he returns for a flogging. Each lash is counted down, represented by red splashes of paint across his torso and flashes of Daniel Denton’s video design are projected on the brick wall.

The final scene and title number – is one of those high moments of art when character and symbol coalesce.

All in all, it’s good to be reminded that regional theatre competes with London’s best.

This ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ is thoughtful and challenging. It’s an expected and considerable pleasure that really rocks. 

Just go.

Jesus Christ Superstar runs at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury until 21 Sep 2025.

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Evita at the London Palladium – review

ONE only needs to revolutionise theatre once to secure one’s legacy.

Giving a show a contemporary spin is fine, but Jamie Lloyd’s production of EVITA (a reworked version of the 2019 Open Air piece) substitutes decibels for drama.

If ever a subject suited director-slash-mogul Lloyd’s myth-making artistic instincts, this is the one.

Written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, it tells the story of Eva Perón, first lady of Argentina from 1946 to 1952.

Perón’s journey was nothing short of extraordinary: born illegitimate and raised in hardship, she defied society norms — adored by the masses, yet mired in controversy.

Rachel Zegler, in fine voice, makes her West End debut as Evita, the icon: a glamorous populist. She stands as both a symbol of female ambition and a cautionary morality.

His monochrome Evita is so alienating – how to put this? – because Lloyd has done all this gimmickry before. And having no emotional centre, this production leaves little impression — only a chill. This pouting Evita evaporates.

Furthermore, Soutra Gilmour’s bare design, with just a set of steps, leaves us little to get excited about. White balloons go pop. Handheld microphones are passed around, a large EVITA sign looms, coupled with a jagged sound. We are told to vote.

To that end, Lloyd’s fragmented production holds you, in a suffocating way. It’s all over-deliberate, metallic, and the nightmarish choreography (Fabian Aloise) doesn’t make the story accessible – it drove me up the wall.

Along the way, the dedicated young dancers push their bodies to extreme physical limits, twerking, spinning and stomping around. Yet they rarely convey identifiable emotions or ideas. Stomp, stomp, stomp.

Anyway: populism, whether left or right, always ends badly. Eva and her repellent husband resented critics. They plotted against the middle classes. They created division.

James Olivas is a strangely laid-back Juan Perón, relaxed to the point of blankness. His singing is, unfortunately, flat. But he’s hot.

Anyhow. As everyone knows, vast crowds are gathering daily outside the London Palladium to watch tiny Zegler sing “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”, the show’s signature song, from the balcony — while paying theatregoers inside see it on a screen.

Don’t Cry for Me— incidentally the actual words carved on Eva’s tomb in Recoleta Cemetery — unfolds at the start of the second act.

Zegler, with her sparkling jewels, blonde hair scraped back, jewellery and a white dress ablaze, is made up to look like Eva briefly, but this is hardly enough to carry the production. Despite her impressive vocal performance, we’re never remotely tempted to cry for her.

Of course, it’s well done for what it is: those who made it are experts at manipulating responses; they are like Pavlov’s dogs, turning the hoi polloi into salivating spectators. Hypnotised.

Meanwhile, Diego Andres Rodriguez as narrator Che— drawing constant attention to Evita’s wiles and weaknesses— sings well.

However, near the end, he strips to black pants, before buckets of coloured paint and confetti tar and feather him. The front row is a splash zone.

Look, the most irritating thing is that Lloyd himself almost seems to be conscious of the minimalist creative pitfalls.
Is he trolling us?

“You let down your people, Evita,” Che sings. She let down the poor, providing cover for a fascist dictatorship, by squirrelling away charity cash, and by distracting from her husband’s protection of Nazi war criminals.

In the end, Evita perishes. It’s no coincidence we don’t care about character deaths. Lloyd’s hip people are uninteresting because characters and individual fates aren’t big enough for certain big theatre directors.

Along with the score, that sinks into a trough of repetitiveness, blue confetti at half time adds entertainment, but it lacks impact. It gets the material across, but does little of any note with it.

With every scene, Lloyd lays out the image, the music, and the movement concept, but rarely allows these elements to develop or to acquire nuance. It is relentless.

What you get is spectacle, but very little variety – the tender moments lost. After we’ve watched a director loading the dice, it’s not really much fun watching him roll them.

Lloyd will next direct Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot on Broadway, reuniting Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter after Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

Certainly, this is what populism looks like.

Evita runs at the London Palladium until 6 September 2025

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What’s The Point of Evita?

IF you’re familiar with your folklore, you’ll know the story of The Emperor’s New Clothes in which there is a vain king, who’ll do anything to dress to impress, even if it ends up making him look rather stupid. 

Basically, a show off. 

In 2025, director Jamie Lloyd is more of a mogul and less of an auteur.

Now, in Lloyd’s Evita, Rachel Zegler surprises hundreds of fans when she steps onto The London Palladium’s exterior balcony to sing Don’t Cry For Me Argentina —a controversial staging choice for some.

Zegler performs not inside the auditorium but outside, live on the balcony. Her performance is broadcast via video to a large screen within the theatre, blending of live theatre and cinematic mediation.

Lloyd previously directed Evita at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre six years ago, and his fingerprints are unmistakable here once again.

While Zegler sings to the crowds outside—symbolically placing Perón among her people—those of us inside are left watching from a screen, making the audience itself part of the spectacle.

The Ryan Murphy of theatre, Lloyd favours stylised minimalism and concepts over sets and props. His acclaimed Much Ado About Nothingtransformed Shakespeare’s lovers amid endless pink confetti.

But his hit-or-miss approach isn’t without flaws—his critically panned Tempest did little to flatter Sigourney Weaver’s legacy. Poor cow. (“Sometimes a production can be blazing away in rehearsal then around the press performances there’s extra pressure and things shift a bit and it wasn’t at its very best,” Lloyd said recently).

If anything, the latest Lloyd project feels like lagging indicators of the broader zeitgeist.

Instead, the endless deluge of typical Lloyd fare continues: cast a celebrity, dress them in black leisurewear, lead male stripped to the waist, crank up the dry ice, dim the lights, and absolutely no costumes.

Anyway. I saw the second preview of Evita last night.

For me, the Don’t Cry for Me Argentina scene is the only thing that really works— it’s slick, high quality. The staging is not just theatrically effective, but thematically resonant; it sobbingly pleads with its listeners to do the opposite of what it says. 

However, everything else feels rushed in Jamie Lloyd’s rapid-fire Evita—scenes blur in a conceptual fog. Literally. Zegler, in fine voice, gets lost—Evita evaporates.

Some of it is so off—no timing, no rhythm, no point—you hate yourself for watching. But when it’s good, it’s good. But like I say, you can’t keep up with it all.

Indeed, sending Zegler – in a dress that’s a puff of white gauze – out into the real world isn’t an outlier for Lloyd. In his Olivier and Tony-winning revival of Sunset Boulevard, Tom Francis famously wandered out onto the street mid-show. It worked. With Evita, he doubles down on this approach. 

I guess it’s free publicity, too.

If you are in central London around 9.00pm you too can watch this for free. Around 600 people gathered yesterday outside.

For many, Lloyd has cashed in on creating like-minded shows that feel like one long continuous sequel. 

It’s our funeral, too.

Evita runs at London Palladium from June 14 until September 6

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One Man Musical

AS Labour’s attempt to get rich landowners to pay their fair share demonstrated, hell hath no fury like Andrew Lloyd Webber. 

I’ve met the Lord Lloyd Webber three times.

First, I stood beside him at a urinal at The Other Palace in 2018 (I didn’t look). 

Second, at the London Palladium, where I told him to stop banging on about nonsense and do more campaigning for arts in schools. 

And third, after the pandemic restrictions eased, I asked him about the disastrous closing of Cinderella (which he called “a costly mistake”). He ran off down a corridor.

While Lord Lloyd Webber, with his quirks and complexities, may seem like an easy target, crafting sharp satire is challenging.

One Man Musical is a parody of musical theatre that also aspires to be both spoof and morality tale.

George Fouracres, as ‘king of musicools’ ALW, achieves a trance-like quality in some scenes. He portrays the megalomaniac impresario with expertise and infectious delight, while the comedy duo Flo and Joan accompany on keyboard and drums.

Needless to say, Lloyd Webber—recently seen clutching his therapy Havanese dog at a farmer’s protest in Westminster—has always craved the critical reverence bestowed upon Stephen Sondheim. Critics have often dismissed his work as overwrought. 

The New York Times, in particular, has expressed disappointment, declaring Jesus Christ Superstar had “minimal artistic value” and deriding Evita as “like reading endless footnotes from which the text has disappeared,” along with Cats (“if you blink, you’ll miss the plot”) and Sunset Boulevard (“lurid”).

We hear of ALW’s notorious disdain for critics; I guess his work belongs to the breakneck era before TikTok and before publicists began to slavishly court lapdoggy influencers.

But where were we? Ah, yes: the Lloyd Webber journey. Growing up in West London, walking his cat Perseus on a lead, developing a love for Gothic architecture, and meeting his long-time collaborator Tim Rice (played by a bag of rice) while falling in love with his first wife, Sarah.

ALW sings one touching ballad for his first wife, Sarah, and then recycles it into a ballad for his second wife, Sarah 2. (For your information, Michael Ball sang “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” at Lloyd Webber’s wedding to his current third wife, Madeleine Gurdon, in 1991).

Anyway, the fun production really finds its footing during the jaunty “No One Says No to Andrew,” which consists mostly of boisterous ALW melodies and similar-sounding chords.

At times, I felt the show could benefit from sharper edges, although both Elaine Paige and Lin-Manuel Miranda are mercilessly mocked (ALW jokes about shoes made from leather harvested from Patti LuPone’s back).

There ought to be a number lamenting the fact that almost every new musical seems based on an old movie.

There’s the fact that Lloyd Webber (ranked 282 on the 2024 Sunday Times Rich List) famously turned up in the House of Lords to vote in support of tax credit cuts for the working poor is brought up. So is his cowardly refusal to acknowledge any responsibility for the critical and commercial disaster (a $71 million loss) of the 2019 film Cats “nothing to do with me.”

Look, Lloyd Webber is a complicated person, but his legacy is extraordinary—a genius, and the British public love him.

Indeed, there are clever, gleeful digs at certain producers, directors, and performers, but even those who detest musicals could enjoy themselves. There is a hilarious audience participation sequence.

The whole thing seems to exist in a frame of reference that rules out genuine feeling, but then the mask slips at the end, suggesting ALW is capable of righting the wrongs of all the people he has screwed over.

ALW’s desire for success and relevance continues; he suggests his next show will feature lyrics by “Billie Eyelash.”

While the evening isn’t entirely satisfying, I think it would benefit from a late-night summer slot. Yet, even at its most ragged, it holds one’s interest.

Today, musical comedy could be seen as a dying art in the UK. We need more musical comedies and comedy plays.

Even ALW himself would find himself weeping with laughter at its precision-engineered ridicule. It offers an evening of gloriously impure fun.

One Man Musical is at Underbelly Boulevard, London, 16 January to 2 March

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West End ticket prices are alienating an entire generation of audiences 🎭

TONIGHT at the Royal Albert Hall, London theatreland will gather for the annual Olivier Awards ceremony.

The Oliviers are seen as the most prestigious awards event in UK theatre.

To be eligible, shows must have played in a theatre that is represented within the membership of the Society of London Theatre (SOLT).

Pop your teeth-grinding guards in and gather round, because it’s time to talk about theatre ticket prices again. Long-suffering theatre fans know that sky-high ticket prices are now par for the course and £395 “package” seats are a complete norm for the London theatres.

In 2015, the most expensive ticket in the West End was £152.25 for The Book of Mormon. It’s more than doubled in less than a decade. 

In recent months actors Cush Jumbo, Ralph Fiennes, David Tennant, and Andrew Scott have hit out against high and elite theatre ticket prices. Some people seem perfectly happy that theatre is now a luxury item. But not me.

This week, Patti LuPone remarked: “I don’t believe how expensive the tickets are at the door. It’s become an elite sport. If you’re going to develop audiences, you have to get young people in the theatre, and they have to see more than Back to the Future.”

On Broadway, the most expensive tickets cost $599 (£480) for Merrily We Roll Along. 

According to the Broadway League, the average ticket price for a Broadway show has hit a new record high — last season’s (2022-2023) ticket prices corresponded to more than $128.

But if that’s what the markets will bear, what are you supposed to do?

Indeed, while three quarters of Britons are willing to go to the theatre, fewer than half have been in the last 12 months.

A recent survey by YouGov found that 41 per cent of Londoners had been to the theatre in the past year (nationwide it was 31 per cent).

How much is too much for a theatre ticket? During a cost-of-living crisis anyone using dynamic pricing, a pricing strategy that businesses use to gain increased profits by driving up prices during high demand, needs to examine what exactly they are contributing to UK Theatre.

Newsflash: The cost of theatre tickets is the main reason people don’t go.

So, what’s the answer? Will commercial theatre ever not use dynamic pricing? Short answer: No. Because it’s easier, because it’s a habit, because producers and theatre owners can’t think of anything more constructive to do, and because it gets them instant cash.

For example, leading player Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) and their monopoly in the industry is harming customers and artists alike. Premium tickets for the Aladdin UK Tour at ATG’s Theatre Royal Glasgow are as much as £175.

What may sweeten the pill for theatregoers is that in some honest cases at least, the expensive premium seats are subsidising much cheaper tickets aimed at bringing in new, younger audiences.

Across the limited run of Jamie Lloyd’s Romeo & Juliet at the Duke of York’s Theatre, around 10,000 tickets for all tiers (including the front row) have sold out for £25 or less, 5,000 tickets were reserved for people under 30, key workers and in receipt of government benefits.

(Interestingly, Jamie Lloyd’s company recently became fully independent, after 10 years partnering with ATG.)

Up the road, at the Phoenix Theatre (ATG) Sonia Friedman recently revealed Netflix sci-fi prequel spin-off Stranger Things: The First Shadow is attracting “thousands of people who are coming to the theatre for the first time.”

Well, that’s great news.

There is a weekly TodayTix lottery for a dozen front-row ‘Shadow Seats’ at £19.50 each. That said, the venue is a 1,028 seat venue – so, around 1 per cent of seats are under £20 that 99.9999% people probably won’t win.

And if you want to sit in the stalls the cheapest seats are £75 — with a severely restricted view, because of the dreadful overhang from the level above. Top price tickets are as much £250. Of course, there is more price volatility, which can push prices higher due to a surge of last-minute demand.

Alas, despite rising wage bills, rampant inflation, dramatic energy costs, profits seem to be up for the usual suspects in the West End.

As for Andrew Lloyd Webber, recent LW Theatres’ accounts, reveal that sales rose by 19% to £190.7 million from £160.8 million in 2022, with the boost attributed to the end of pandemic disruptions.

In a report posted to Companies House LW noted: “We expect another full year of trading next year but anticipate our turnover and profitability will continue to be put under pressure by the cost-of-living crisis and high interest rates and the impact of these factors on consumer spending.”

Taking in the “broader economic environment”, the report emphasised LW Theatre’s aim to head off falling ticket sales by “continually monitoring and adjusting ticket prices”.

But let’s move on to Cameron Mackintosh Ltd – – that operates eight venues and produces Hamilton– the company saw turnover almost double year on year – to £186 million – Profit before tax was £45.5 million, compared with £18.9 million in 2022.

It was revealed recently that Delfont Mackintosh’s average ticket price for a play is £54. For a musical it’s £68.

Interviewed recently Cameron Mackintosh chirped, with all apparent sincerity: “You would be bloody lucky to get out of a decent restaurant, including a decent bottle of wine, for under £100. It is expensive … But it is not too expensive,”

Mackintosh added: “This is a very good system. This is capitalism working properly.” 

Honestly, no it is not.

In my wildest fantasies I’d like to think Sir Cameron would dwell on an irony here; in reality, people are contending with stagnant wages, high energy bills, staggering food prices and dreadful living standards — one in five tenants are now spending over half their salary on rent. 

Denying accusations of greed, SOLT responded to David Tennant’s criticism of “ludicrous” West End ticket prices, highlighting that average ticket prices have decreased when adjusted for inflation. Well, now. SOLT’s argument is irrelevant since pay does not go up by inflation.

The cheapest seats, which often have a restricted view, and induce vertigo increased by almost 13% this year compared with last. 

Of course, these conditions mean that rising ticket prices are alienating an entire generation of future audiences, it can’t just be left to the subsidised regional theatres to take moral responsibility for building tomorrow’s audiences

So how’s this for a plan? Transparent, clear up-front information about the cost of theatre – it would be a win for everyone.

It would demonstrate to the public how much it takes to get a show on. More schemes like Jamie Lloyd’s – ring fencing cultural opportunity for those from diverse backgrounds. 

And if Broadway publishes weekly grosses, what makes the West End so special not to?

But I’m not expecting two miracles in a week, ’cos all I’ve ever really wanted was West End theatre owners, producers and corporate companies like ATG to make theatre truly accessible. Theatre should be for everyone.

And the tragedy is that we all know it, and even the brilliant people who come up with the brilliant shows know it – but they’re still pushing premium prices because they think that it works in the very short term.

Yet in the long term, it really, really doesn’t – even the most shrewd producer should realise the damage that short-term financial gain does to public perceptions about theatre and who it is for. 

No doubt that well-oiled theatre PR machine will again defend sky-high ticket prices.

Ultimately, of course, one of the biggest questions for many remains: if theatre ceases to be a popular art for people in their twenties and thirties, will it become extinct for all but the wealthy?

Theatre is already being sidelined in favour of movies and gaming. The prominence of reviews and arts coverage is shrinking. Editors know that theatre is no longer an important part of the national cultural conversation. Yup, The Sunday Times now leads with only one theatre review and has all but given up on the idea of providing an overview of the theatre week in London.

Finally, change will not come from the generosity of those who profit from the existing state of affairs. It will emerge from the continued challenge of those who do not. 

Has the hour of need ever been greater?

The Olivier Awards will broadcast a highlights programme on Sunday 14 April at 10:10pm on ITV1.

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Aspects of Love

There is something off in the tone of Aspects of Love right from the start.

The decision to revive Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical – based on David Garnett’s 1955 novella – about a love triangle in 2023 was Michael Ball’s idea.

Ball – who played Alex in the 1989 production – returns to sing Love Changes Everything, (lyrics by Charles Hart and Don Black) this time as uncle George. He does it nobly.

There are 39 random scenes. At some point through Alex (Jamie Bogoyo) shoots former lover Rose (Laura Pitt-Pulford) in the arm. His uncle (Ball) is more concerned about his Matisse wall art. 

The majority of the book and lyrics are stupefying. At the interval I thought my drink had been spiked.

“I only have one life,”‘ drones one character. Only judderingly to add: “Not two.”

In one bit, the chaotic singing collides with the unspeakable: “George used to say you can have more than one emotion at the same time.”

The actual dialogue seems almost an afterthought, and the actors speak their lines without much confidence that they’re worth saying. And so we’re aware of the performers as performers. They’re not all sure what they’re meant to be conveying. And we’re not either.

The other overriding issue with this toe-curling production is that it borders on misogyny. Grooming is overlooked. It’s grim viewing, obviously.

Theatre is an addictively evil thing, though, so once I’d watched act 1 I knew I’d sit through the lot, just to see if something deeply significant actually happened. It didn’t, obviously.

The second half of Jonathan Kent’s production is scattered – as if it had been added to or subtracted from at random. Everything is spelled out. 

Nothing you think could possibly be worth salvaging from this abomination.

The ones who really stand out in this mess, though, are Pitt Pullford and Bogoyo. But their work doesn’t really hold together here, how could it?

They deserve better.

One of the only other things I thought, though, that really elevated the occasion beyond the sum of its parts was the 13-piece band and Tom Kelly’s lush new orchestrations. Other redeeming moments come thanks partly to John Macfarlane’s design and Jon Clark’s lighting. 

But the set, expensive costumes and people seem to be sitting there on stage, waiting for the unifying magic that never happens.

Leaving the Lyric theatre where I saw Aspects of Love, I felt the same way the women must have when uncle George dropped dead: exhausted and relieved.

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Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella: Not So Happy Ever After

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cinderella will close next month less than a year after its West End premiere.

Cinderella at the Gillian Lynne Theatre

And so to how the day unfolded. The Stage ran a Sunday ‘Exclusive’ – on a Bank Holiday weekend – that the doomed musical was closing in June, as the creative team prepare to launch the musical on Broadway, where it will supposedly preview from February 2023. 
To recap, the current cast were told at 5.45pm — a statement was released at 6.30pm on Sunday.

LW Management wrote to the cast and crew: 

Dear Cinderella Family,

It is with regret that we’re writing to let you know that the Really Useful Group’s production of Cinderella will perform its final show at the Gillian Lynne theatre on Sunday June 12th…. Thank you for your immeasurable contribution to the show. We should all be very proud of Cinderella and all that we have achieved together, and we look forward to our paths crossing again before too long.

Having made his peace with losing out on Employer of the Year 2022, Lloyd Webber said: “I am incredibly proud of Cinderella. Not only did it get some of the best reviews of my career, but we led the charge to reopen the West End, ensuring that theatre and live entertainment remained relevant and in the news.”

He added: “mounting a new show in the midst of Covid has been an unbelievable challenge”.  

I can tell you that a mere four months ago, I attempted to discuss the beleaguered Cinderella with Lloyd Webber at the Palladium and he literally ran off down a corridor.

Anyway, In a 164-minute video on Instagram, actress Summer Strallen (who was due to join the cast as the Queen in July) discussed the situation in detail, saying that, while her agent received an email, she “basically got fired by social media, which is just not OK”.

Needless to say, we’ve been here before with School of Rock closing and a broken-hearted cast finding out on Twitter. The way present and future creative teams, crew and casual front of house staff continue to be discarded is completely unacceptable. 

The cast and crew of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production of Cinderella at the Gillian Lynne Theatre (Andrew Lloyd Webber/PA)

Lloyd Webber is believed to have been making escalating losses, LW Theatres suffered pre-tax losses of £28.1 million in the 12 months to June 2021, with box office revenues down 97% on the same period the year before. 

Furthermore, company’s annual accounts show the company’s staffing reduction as a result of the pandemic, with LW Theatres employing a monthly average of 418 people in the year ending June 2020 and 217 in 2021, a reduction of almost half. If Cinderella, backed with Lloyd Webber’s millions, can fail, so can many others.

A spokesperson for the Really Useful Group said on Monday: “Everyone involved in Cinderella was contacted by call, email or in person (some through agents) before the news went live in the evening. Every effort was made to ensure people were notified before it went live, while trying to manage how quickly it would move on social media once people were informed.”

Which seems a little on the nose, even by the debased standards of the age. Like they weren’t in control of the timing of this announcement? Despicable.

The cast and crew of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production of Cinderella at the Gillian Lynne Theatre (Andrew Lloyd Webber/PA)

In the meantime, what we really need now is systemic change so this can never happen again. In theatre, few creative freelancers and performers speak out for fear of losing work or being labelled ‘difficult to work with’. Change is overdue and every employer has the legal duty to ensure that their staff are treated with dignity. Until then there can be no happy ever after – for anyone. 

I admired Lloyd Webber for keeping theatre in the news during the darkest moments of the Covid lockdowns; The 74-year-old even said that he was prepared to be arrested if authorities tried to intervene in his reopening plans.

He also volunteered to personally take part in an early Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine trial.

About 60 people attended an EQUITY protest against the handling of Cinderella closure

In the end, though, bungling the closure of Cinderella after a global pandemic is the ultimate measure of failure from Lord Lloyd Webber. 

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Casting Announced for First-Ever Tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Smash Hit Musical, School of Rock

School of Rock The Musical

School of Rock – The Musical, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s smash hit, Olivier Award-winning West End show today reveals casting for its first-ever UK and Ireland tour.

Jake Sharp is getting the band back together as it is confirmed that he will lead the cast as Dewey Finn having previously performed the role in the West End. Alex Tomkins will perform in the role at certain performances. They are joined by Rebecca Lock as Rosalie Mullins, Matthew Rowland as Ned Schneebly and Nadia Violet Johnson as Patty Di Marco. The remaining adult cast comprises Ryan Bearpark, James Bisp, Joanna O’Hare, Samuel Haughton, Tom Hext, Harveen Mann, Richard Morse, Annell Odartey, Amy Oxley, Helena Pipe, Michaela Powell, Richard Vorster and Craig Watson.

One of three incredibly talented teams of twelve children will perform live alongside Dewey each night and are currently getting ready to stick it to the man when the bell rings for the new school term in September. They comprise (including covers) Eva McGrath (thirteen years old from Birmingham), Emerson Sutton (thirteen years old from the West Midlands), Thomas Harvey (twelve years old from Cheshire) and Isaac Forward (twelve years old from Buckinghamshire) who will play Freddy; Chloe Marler (ten years old from Essex), Marikit Akiwumi (twelve years old from Guildford), Daisy Hanna (thirteen years old from Surrey) and Ivy Balcombe (nine years old from Surrey) who will play Katie; Oliver Forde (twelve years old from London), Angus McDougall (thirteen years old from Buckinghamshire), David Gluhovsky (twelve years old from London) and Oliver Pearce (eleven years old from North Wales) who play Lawrence; Joseph Sheppard (twelve years old from the West Midlands), Harry Churchill (nine years old from Devon), Hanley Webb (ten years old from Northamptonshire) and William Laborde (twelve years old from Surrey) who will play Zack; Wilf Cooper (twelve years old from Surrey), Logan Matthews (eleven years old from Berkshire) and Alfie Morwood (ten years from South Wales) who play Billy; Keira Laver (eleven years old from Essex), Florrie May Wilkinson (ten years old from London) and Saffia Layla (eleven years old from Hertfordshire) who will play Summer; Jasmine Djazel (eleven years old from London), Souparnika Nair (ten years old from Bury St. Edmunds) and Angel Lucero (eleven years old from London), who will play Tomika; Hadlee Snow (ten years old from Brighton), Darmani Eboji (twelve years old from Essex), Devon Francis (eleven years old from London), Riotafari Gardner (ten years old from London) who will play James; Lily Rose Martin (eleven years old from Kent), Elodie Salmon (eleven years old from London) and Paris Banyong (nine years old from London) who will play Marcy; Caelan Wallington (eleven years old from Watford), Alex Shotton (twelve years old from Buckinghamshire) and Nesim Adnan (ten years old from Kent) who will play Mason; Kyla Robinson (eleven years old from Surrey), Eden Anthony (twelve years old from London) and Elisha Kerai (eleven years old from London) who will play Shonelle; Ophelia Parsons (twelve years old from London), Jemima Newman (nine years old from Bedfordshire), Ava Masters (eleven years old from Kent) and Inez Danielak (twelve years old from Essex) who play Sophie.

Based on the hilarious hit movie, this new musical follows Dewey Finn, a failed, wannabe rock star who decides to earn a few extra bucks by posing as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school. There he turns a class of straight-A students into a guitar-shredding, bass-slapping, mind-blowing rock band – sensationally performed live by the production’s young actors every night with roof-raising energy! While teaching these pint-sized prodigies what it means to truly rock, Dewey falls for the school’s beautiful, but uptight headmistress, helping her rediscover the wild child within.

School of Rock – The Musical features new music written by Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyrics by Glenn Slater (The Little Mermaid, Sister Act) and a book by Julian Fellowes. Originally directed by Laurence Connor (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, London Palladium 2019) with choreography by JoAnn M Hunter, set and costume designs by Anna Louizos, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Mick Potter and music supervision by John Rigby.

School of Rock- The Musical debuted at Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre in New York in 2015, and ran for more than three years, picking up four Tony nominations along the way. It transferred to London in late 2016 and ran for over three year at the New London Theatre, winning an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Music.

For the production’s first UK and Ireland tour, Christopher Key takes the reigns as Associate Director, Maria Graciano as Associate choreographer and Musical Supervision is by Matt Smith. Adam Fisher and Stuart Porter complete the team as Associate Sound and Lighting Designers.

The UK & Ireland Tour of School of Rock – The Musical is produced by David Ian for Crossroads Live by arrangement with the Really Useful Group.

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Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cinderella” releases full album

ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER’S “CINDERELLA”

Polydor Records today released the full album of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella. The album, written and produced during lockdown in the UK, features voices from the cast of the new musical, as well as high-profile guest vocalists including Todrick Hall and Adam Lambert.  Todrick Hall contributes his unique version of ‘’Only You, Lonely You’’ – originally sung by cast member Ivano Turco – as a bonus track.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella will host its world premiere at the Gillian Lynne Theatre on July 20, 2021. Cinderella is a new romantic musical comedy based on an original story by 2021 Oscar® winner Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) and lyrics by Tony & Olivier award winner David Zippel (City of Angels).  Laurence Connor (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, School of Rock) directs, with choreography by Joann M. Hunter. 

Recording for the album began in March 2020 and continued through lockdown with Andrew Lloyd Webber recording artists remotely and producing the majority of the score from his home. The recording process continued with socially distanced studio sessions at Abbey Road in London. 

The debut single from the album, “Bad Cinderella”, was released in October last year.  This single, the first new material released by Andrew Lloyd Webber in five years, was performed by Carrie Hope Fletcher, who stars as Cinderella. She has starred in Heathers (Theatre Royal Haymarket), The Addams Family (UK Tour), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (UK Tour), Mary Poppins (Prince Edward Theatre), and most recently played Fantine in Les Misérables at the Sondheim Theatre. She is also a bestselling author and social media personality.    

The release of this album mirrors Andrew Lloyd Webber’s creation of a concept album for Jesus Christ Superstar before the show even debuted exactly 50 years ago this year. A string of further acclaimed releases including “I Know I Have A Heart”, “Far Too Late” and “Marry For Love” have already amassed over 5 million streams and 1 million video views.

The full track list for Cinderella is revealed below:

ACT I

  1. Buns ‘N’ Roses
  2. It Has To Be Her
  3. Bad Cinderella
  4. So Long
  5. Unfair
  6. Unbreakable
  7. Hunks’ Song
  8. Man’s Man
  9. So Long (Reprise) / Introduction To Only You Lonely You
  10. Only You, Lonely You
  11. The Queen’s Boudoir In The Palace
  12. I Know You
  13. I Know You (Reprise)
  14. The Village Square
  15. Unfair (Reprise)
  16. The Godmother’s Shop
  17. Beauty Has A Price

ACT II

  1. Fanfare
  2. The Cinderella Waltz
  3. The Ball
  4. I Know I Have A Heart
  5. Act 2 Scene 2
  6. I Am No Longer Me
  7. Moment of Triumph
  8. What Were You Thinking? /Introduction To Far Too Late
  9. Far Too Late
  10. Ego Has A Price (Reprise)
  11. The Wedding Fanfare
  12. The Wedding March
  13. The Ceremony
  14. The Vanquishing of the Three-Headed Sea Witch
  15. Man’s Man (Reprise)
  16. Marry For Love
  17. Cinderella’s Soliloquy
  18. The Wedding Party
  19. Finale

BONUS TRACKS

  1. Marry for Love (Full Version / Bonus Track)
  2. Only You, Lonely You (US Single Version / Bonus Track)

Ahead of Cinderella’s arrival at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, the building has been extensively refurbished and renovated, including upgrade works to the auditorium and Front of House.

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British Theatre Is Facing A Covid Tragedy

July 2021. UK Theatres are in limbo. By now, of course, you know the latest facts, because you live in them. 

In no particular order, over 62% of British adults are now fully vaccinated. And 84% have had one dose.

A new production of Jersey Boys is set to begin at the Trafalgar theatre next month

But the Indian or Delta variant (which is ultra-infectious, so infectious that one person may infect up to six others) has resulted in the UK having the highest infection rate in Europe. New research suggests ‘scarily fleeting’ contact could infect, and that places with high jab rates are susceptible.

Fortunately, we now have one of the lowest death rates because of the astounding vaccine programme. Indeed, now stadiums, shopping centres and theatres have joined the “grab a jab” campaign in England in a bid to boost vaccine uptake.

However, even by late August, only 39 per cent of under-40s are set to have been fully vaccinated, opening a generational divide and zero chance of foreign summer travel should vaccine passports become a thing. 

Health Secretary Matt Hancock may have resigned but his successor Sajid Javid has his hands full with an NHS struggling to cope with a vast backlog of operations, treatment and surging cases.

Either way, according to the latest official figures, more arts, entertainment and recreation businesses were still suffering last month than in any other industry.

Felicity Kendall & Sutton Foster in Anything Goes rehearsals

But the show must go on, right? Major West End shows including Anything Goes and The Lion King have started rehearsals, with more set to follow; contracts have been signed, audiences have rebooked tickets (as many as four times) and the consequences of another delay beyond July 19 are unthinkable.

The pandemic has exposed the Tory government’s insulting attitude to theatre: a mixture of apathy and hostility. Despite generating billions pre-pandemic, London theatre owners and impresarios for example, claim regularly they are now “on the brink of ruin”.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Howard Panter – owner of the second-largest operator, Trafalgar Entertainment, said the situation in the West End was “intolerable”.

In the meantime, tempers (and sanity) are fraying; Andrew Lloyd Webber, Cameron Mackintosh and Sonia Friedman launched legal action to force government to publish Events Research Programme pilot results.

A masked usher awaits The Mousetrap audiences

A stretch of the imagination that might have dumbfounded me pre-pandemic, but Lloyd Webber certainly seemed to be speaking from the heart when he went on LBC recently: “Public Health England officials don’t have a clue about theatre and how they’re operated. We’ve somehow been made a sacrificial lamb.”

Alas, the long awaited report – which was released promptly after a Court order – said there were “no substantial outbreaks” identified by public health teams and their surveillance systems around any of the events.

Unfortunately, it also demonstrated that the testing regime of the Events Research Programme was pointless and incompetent, meaning it clear the government is repeating their own mistakes at a colossal cost to everyone else.

But weary theatres still need insurance to safeguard against the possibility of Covid-based cancellation, however the pandemic means that the private market will not provide it. This would help thousands of freelancers return to the industry and reassure producers, venues and artists alike.


The major issue for theatres from the West End to Liverpool Everyman is that rehearsals, preparation and planning take months not weeks and often costs thousands and thousands of pounds, and the current question marks hanging around hospitality and entertainment venues are making such work impossible or loss-making. Regional theatres dependent on income from tours will lose the very shows that might help them survive.

Temperature checks outside a west end theatre

Of course, Slytherin Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden would refer to the generous £1.5bn culture recovery fund, even if the rescue funds left the actual freelance workforce – musicians, photographers, actors, artists, dancers, choreographers, designers out in the cold. In fact hundreds of cultural organisations have still not received promised funds leaving some worse off than when they applied.  

The delaying of Step Four of the road map is a final straw for many: confidence in reopening has been shattered, despite the vast sums invested in venues to restrict Covid transmission. The creative sector must now be allowed to cautiously trade their way – at full capacity – out of difficulties and contribute to our national recovery.

It is completely stupefying that we have spent 66 weeks being told to “take responsibility” and “use common sense” by a government religiously incapable of either.

Anyway, July 19 is yet another ‘not before date’ and this week came rumblings of future winter lockdowns amid warnings from scientists. So, don’t rule out another delay to the ‘cautious but irreversible’ easing of lockdown restrictions. In fact, don’t rule out restrictions being completely ditched before a murderous third wave, subsequent U-turn and more mutant strains.

Frankly I’m not sure we will ever reconcile the impact that Covid, Brexit and the ‘streaming economy’ are having on the sector in my lifetime.

Continuing to allow galleries, art centres, opera, communities, theatres and independent cinemas to wither away is an act of profound cultural vandalism.

A socially distanced audience at the London Palladium

Hell, if a whole generation of talent goes to the wall, no one wins, the whole country will be poorer for it.

Something’s got to change. Fast.

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