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Operation Mincemeat

How good is Operation Mincemeat?

When I saw it 12 months ago at Riverside Studios, I thought it a marvellously tart, wry, original musical that got away from the blundering cliches of the formula-bound movie musicals plaguing the West End. 

Second time round I admire it more; partly because its surface joy seems to conceal a great wit, partly because it has the whiplash precision of the best shows plus a good deal of intellectual prescience.

“I don’t know what’s going on!” “Welcome to the British government” goes one exchange.

It’s a bold and imaginative work—a fizzing work and it’s important to mention Operation Mincemeat was nurtured at that powerhouse of a London fringe venue, the New Diorama.

Rob Hastie has been brought in as director to finesse the piece and it has paid off. He is an intelligent, tentative director — see: Standing At The Sky’s Edge — which is another way of saying that his virtues are largely negative.

Stones’ sensational design places the audience in the MI5 headquarters, while Jak Malone merits a medal of honour as the staunch secretary Hester Leggett, who performs a standout love-letter song.

This clever spoof musical tackles a secret service ruse in which the body of an unknown homeless man was used as a decoy, leading German troops away from Sicily in 1943.

It has a powerful and gripping plot, hardly a single extractable tune, a fierce sense of self awareness. The triumph of Hastie’s production and Stones’ design lies in their visualisation of SplitLip’s ideas.

In this regard, the show was concocted by a genius young cast of five: Natasha Hodgson, David Cumming and Zoë Roberts, who were later joined by Jak Malone and Claire-Marie Hall.

It’s very neatly done, the fine quintet of actors rising to the technical challenges of a piece that worms its way into the brain and send you scurrying out into the city blinking – and more attuned to the majesty of serendipity.

The score — it was put together by Cumming, Hagan, Hodgson & Roberts — has a life of its own that gives the show a buzzing vitality. 

Indeed, Operation Mincemeat may turn out to be the most liberating musical ever made. The whole production is a joy; a five year overnight success story. 

I loved it.

Operation Mincemeat runs at the Fortune theatre, London, until 19 August

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Brokeback Mountain

Yeehaw!

I had an uneasy feeling that maybe it would be better if I didn’t go to see Brokeback Mountain— but, if you’re driven to seek the truth, you’re driven.

The West End is currently overrun with movie musicals and stage adaptations, they serve a useful purpose, because they lead people to see live theatre on which the films are based. Not a bad thing in my book.

The young producers who are pushing their way up don’t want to waste their time considering scripts or new ideas that may not attract stars. For them, too, a good show is a show that makes money.

God forbid it that they should have to sit through the whole thing.

But when you see a stage show after seeing the film, your mind is saturated with the actors (Jake Gyllenhaal & Heath Ledger in this instance) and the imagery, and you tend to view it in terms of the movie, ignoring characters and complexities that were not included in it, because they are not as vivid.

This 90 minute stage adaptation is directed by Jonathan Butterell, with a functional script by Ashley Robinson.

Anyway, Young cowboys Jack Twist (Mike Faist) and Ennis Del Mar (Lucas Hedges) meet in the early 1960s when they are hired to tend a huge flock of sheep up on Brokeback Mountain.

They begin a physical affair, but then go their separate ways. Both marry women. When they cross paths four years later, they resume their relationship behind their wives’ backs. Ugh.

Brokeback Mountain, here a memory play with songs, features a live band who perform throughout. Eddi Reader, perched on a stool, delivers these mediocre bluegrass numbers by Dan Gillespie Sells. 

On the one hand, it’s lightweight, and too stifled to be boring. On the other, it’s efficient and visually engaging.

But the colour imagery of Tom Pye’s set and design is so muted that I regretted the need to look at the older Ennis (Paul Hickey) haunting the proceedings. It took precious time away from the other two’s complex performances, their hint of something passive, brooding and repressed.

Technically, the production is slovenly, and the in-the-round staging at the clinical 602 seat sohoplace doesn’t always work. There are totally dead spots in Butterell’s direction. And I was sat by the bed.

There are, however, marvelous actors here, and now and then almost all of them demonstrate how wonderful they can be, but they can’t sustain their roles or blend them without the guidance of the director, because in a show only the director, finally, can be responsible for the coming together of the piece.

Add to that, young and handsome Faist who delivers the famous speech “I wish I knew how to quit you” with raw emotion. He is a remarkably intelligent casting selection for Jack. Faist, fortunately, can wear white pants and suggest splendour without falling into the narcissistic athleticism that juveniles so often mistake for grace.

I suppose it’s a bit crude to say there isn’t enough gay sex. But we do get a quick shadow fumble of belts and zippers in a tent. Apart from one tender embrace, the show mostly left me cold.

There is a chemistry void. Still, it’s a great play for people who don’t like plays.

At worst, Brokeback Mountain becomes a desolate souvenir of the movie, an extended reminiscence.

Brokeback Mountain runs at @sohoplace, London, until 12 August

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Unchecked Ticket Hikes Are Pricing People Out Of Theatregoing

Glow sticks. We’ll come on to that in a moment.

This week, The iPaper’s Kasia Delgado issued an indictment of A Streetcar Named Desire’s £305 ticket prices, stating: “Theatre needs to make money. It also needs to remain valued and loved, and if only people with loads of spare cash, or a very relaxed approach to credit card debt, end up being able to see it, I worry about where that’ll leave the best form of entertainment that exists. An art form, that – after all – Shakespeare famously put on stage for anyone and everyone.”

Inflation busting premium ticket prices of £305, plus booking fee, is not only absurd, it is criminal amid the cost of living crisis.

To the West End, currently a topsy turvy combination of premium pricing, day seats and even a ‘game of chance’ involving glow sticks.
Rip off

Heck, even leading lady Patsy Ferran is uncomfortable with it all, stating in an interview recently: “The last couple of years theatre prices have reached a point that is shocking to me, but maybe I should just get used to it.”

In reality, profit thirsty ATG’s dominant market position means the company does not face any pressure to continually innovate and improve.

Of course, our old friend dynamic pricing is at play. I get it. Streetcar is a commercial show entitled to charge whatever the market can take.

But affordability equals sustainability, and sensible ticket prices are key to the theatre’s survival.

Speaking on a panel entitled Building a Better Financial Model for Theatre at The Stage’s Future of Theatre conference, Lighting designer Paule Constable said that premium tickets have generated a “wave of discontent” within the industry.

She added: “We need more transparency around how that money is spent. We, as a workforce, need to make the effort to understand that more and it needs to be talked about more.”

It’s hard not to admit that she has a point. Theatre has got to be kept accessible to everybody, because ultimately everything depends on keeping audiences excited about going.

Still, you can see A Streetcar Named Desire for a tenner. If you queue up 2.5 hours before performances for a glowstick (yes, really). Out of the 30, five glow sticks glow green when snapped. The lucky five can head to the box office and buy a pair of front row £10 tickets. There is a weekly lottery.

Send in the clowns. Ah, don’t bother. They’re here.

Phoenix Theatre Glowstick Day Seat Queue

Anyway, once I’d peeled myself off the ceiling, I went along to embrace the madness this week. Reader, my glow stick did not glow. But I was offered a £35 seat in the dress circle or a £10 standing ticket. I opted for the £10 standing ticket. Later my phone rang and I was put in a house seat. Lucky, eh.

A representative for A Streetcar Named Desire said that 83% of all its tickets have been sold at £100 or under. Hm.

Still, the average face value of top-price tickets in the West End has rocketed by a fifth since 2019, a recent survey by The Stage revealed. Glancing at a handful of West End shows £1-300 stalls seats are sadly standard now.

Of course, this fluctuates year on year and is frequently influenced by a small number of high-profile shows. Last year, Cock – starring Jonathan Bailey – saw producers disastrously try and flog £400 tickets, stating it was based on “supply and demand”

What are we to conclude from this?

As in many economic situations, there is a squeezed middle: theatre lovers who are neither wealthy enough to buy premium tickets and who don’t have a flexible work / life pattern to queue in person or online for discounted tickets. 

Seven Card Stud



Surely, extending personalised pricing to students or the unwaged, which was widespread in the 1980s, would maximise audiences. That said, personalised pricing can be progressive. In Finland, for example, speeding tickets are based on your income. 

All the same, I worry that we shall soon reach the point of no return, that the gap between the commercial and subsidised sector is growing ever wider and that the young will be put off by high prices. Of course, the system is broken, it’s not working for weary audiences.

But it’s not just the rising ticket prices that worry me. It’s also the sense of banality afflicting the West End. There are, as ever, 33 musicals of varying quality currently running. We should ponder both the escalating cost of tickets and the actual quality of what is on offer. 

Anyway, I’m with singer Neil Young who last week said it best: “It’s over” and that “the old days are gone” amid wider consternation at ticketing company’s pricing policies. And that is where we are. 

Paul Mescal and Patsy Ferran in A Streetcar Named Desire

Since the success of the subsidised and commercial sectors are intimately bound, it can’t just be left to subsidised theatre to take responsibility for building tomorrow’s audiences, the West End has to play – and pay – its part too.

A Streetcar Named Desire runs until 6 May

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Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol: A Festive Fiasco (bring wine)

In one of the more camp events to hit the London theatre scene this Christmas – which is saying something when Ian McKellen is in panto – Dolly Parton arrives at the Southbank with her Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol.

It’s a story we all know but this time set in Tennessee, Dolly’s much-loved mountain home, with as much ‘rootin’ and ‘tootin’ as you can shake your jingle bells at. The set and staging is beautiful, and the songs (though there aren’t many, it’s just the same handful repeated for the most part) are toe-tappingly pleasing and delivered with great gusto by a cast eager to please.

Beyond the pleasantries though, this show is not good. It is, in fact, actively bad. It is the Hallmark Movie of festive theatre productions. Despite everyone’s commitment to having a good time, this has more rough edges than Scrooge has humbugs – the accents are all over the place, the choreography is pedestrian, and the whole thing could be about half an hour shorter.

It must be said there are some wonderful turns, the acting is upbeat, and Olivier award-winner George Maguire’s flamboyant turn as Jacob Marley is a stand-out portrayal. The cast presents itself with an emphatic and infectious glee, and there are plenty of chuckles along the way.

Often, though, the story it’s trying to tell doesn’t match up with what the rest of your senses are telling you. Everyone’s dying, everyone is poor, Scrooge’s past present and future are bleak, but all of this will fly over your head when delivered with whatever darn-tooting accent has been chosen for this particular line.

At one point we were told that seven people had died and the US Army had been brought in, which almost gave the audience whiplash as they tried to marry it with the non-stop hoedown the line was sandwiched between.

“It’s two o’clock, the clock has just struck two,” says Scrooge, in just one example of a piece simultaneously over and underwritten as it tries to slam together a Dickens classic and a Parton playlist. At one point we find Ebeneezer speaking to a violin in a way one would converse with a clanger (this was the ghost of Christmas Future). I don’t know either, nobody in the audience did.

None of it works. It has the air of a fever dream. But at the heart of this ‘Christmas Carol’ message is that of love and goodwill to all men. It’s a goodwill it asks of its audience, and one it gleefully receives. It’s terrible, and yet I wholeheartedly loved it in spite of its flaws, and if that’s not the true meaning of Christmas I don’t know what is.

Ollie Cole is a journalist and broadcaster based in London. His writing credits include The Stage, Secret London, The Times, KentOnline & EachOther.

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God Bless Tammy Faye!

If you need a hit show, you get Rupert Goold on the phone.

Tammy Faye Bakker gets the 325-seat Almeida treatment in a new musical penned by Elton John, James Graham and Jake Shears.

Katie Brayben in Tammy Faye, at the Almeida credit: Marc Brenner

And now, at last, directed by Goold, Tammy Faye – A New Musical starring Katie Brayben and Andrew Rannells, officially opens. He and choreographer Lynn Page deliver the glitterball goods.

Quick recap: Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker helped expand Christian broadcasting from a niche into an insane empire via their Praise The Lord (PTL) satellite network. A Christian couple who spectacularly fell from grace.

I went to the very first preview (two have been cancelled due to cast injury and technical delay) and thought it was a tart, wry and quirky show with legs.

First, let’s unpack what this new (largely) British musical gets right. It understands Faye as a gay icon, earning both sympathy and ridicule, and our heroine emerges with a measure of dignity intact. 

Olivier winner Katie Brayben (Beautiful) stars as Tammy Faye with Tony nominee Andrew Rannells (The Book of Mormon)

Granted, in the cold light of 2022, it’s easy to argue that the sold out run was simply the latest power move from a theatre whose ascent to theatre dominance has been signposted by a succession of smart marketing, big names and artistic brilliance.

Similarly, it would be easy to blame one’s emotional response on the ongoing disintegration of civilisation.

Religion, politics, sex and money are all equal and the story of the rise is much more substantial than that of the fall. 

That said, Tammy Faye gives you everything you could possibly want, and maybe it’s a victim of its own gargantuan accomplishment at times. (Each cast member has roughly 10 looks, with Tammy Faye’s character coming in at around a dozen — there are 15 poppy-slash-rock-slash-honky songs.)

Tammy Faye curtain call

Still, once you add Elton John‘s songs into the mix — and Tammy (Brayben) sings in most of them — there’s no time for coherence, let alone subtlety. (There is a song called ’He’s Inside Me’)

Yet most effectively, concluding Act One gospel ballad ‘Empty Hands’ things click. There are several poignant vignettes, that strike a chord with anyone who’s come face to face with the fact that an idol – whether it’s a televangelist, or even a lover – is a human being.

Rannells is entertaining and effective as closeted husband Jim.

Bunny Christie’s snazzy Celebrity Square-style designs, a reliable star of any show, do everything they can to convey the kooky world of the right wing televangelist.

Elsewhere in the musical, the ensemble are working overtime to keep things interesting. There is a lot of breaking of the fourth wall. A lot.

Furthermore, it’s a funny, smart script, loaded with jokes. Graham’s book puts the ‘fun in Christian fundamentalism’.

Andrew Rannells and Katie Brayben star as Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Messner in “Tammy Faye.”

Things pick up in Act Two. Here Faye is seen as a woman who made a career of living her best life. Slick 11’ O Clock number ‘Prime Time’ is exhilarating, I think.

A dazzling and award-worthy performance from Brayben playing a central character full of tensions and contradictions, is reason enough to see this show. Her performance transcends the show.

Musicals are difficult and expensive. I won’t reveal too much more, except to say that the finale (when it arrives) is euphoric, poetic, and moving. 

In the Bible love is mentioned 489 times, hate 89 times.

“Love more than hate,” Tammy Faye cautions.

Amen.


Tammy Faye is at the Almeida theatre, London, to 3 December.

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New video released of the four performers playing Matilda in the RSC’s multi award-winning musical which reopens in the West End on 16 September

L-R Alex, Zoe, Elliot, Alyssa and Imogen from RSCs Matilda The Musical

Images and a brand-new video have been released today of the four young performers who will share the title role in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Matilda The Musical when it reopens on 16 September at the Cambridge Theatre in the West End. In the video, Imogen Cole, Alyssa D’Souza, Alex Munden and Zoe Simon can be seen getting to grips with their gymnastic ribbon skills under the watchful eye of Elliot Harper (Miss Trunchbull).

https://youtu.be/H80Jt-S3Uu8

Celebrating 10 years since the multi award-winning show opened in London, this iconic British musical has won 99 international awards including 24 for Best Musical and has been seen by more than 10 million people across more than 90 cities worldwide. Matilda The Musical is now booking through to 13 February 2022. For further information visit www.matildathemusical.com.

A tonic for audiences of all ages, this anarchic production about a strong and determined heroine with a vivid imagination has welcomed almost 4 million audience members in London. Matilda The Musical will also visit the Netherlands for the first time, translated into Dutch for a run at the Oude Luxor Theater Rotterdam. The theatre hopes that the musical will bring visitors to the city as it emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic. It has also announced plans to work with partners in Rotterdam to develop an education programme around the show. Tickets are now on sale for Matilda De Musical in Rotterdam visit matilda-demusical.nl

Adapted from Roald Dahl’s much loved 1988 book and commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, the musical premiered at the RSC’s Stratford-upon-Avon home in 2010, before transferring to the West End in October 2011, where it opened to rave reviews.

Matilda The Musical swept the board at the 2012 Olivier Awards, with a record-breaking seven awards, and won four Tony Awards and a Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theater for the four girls sharing the title role on Broadway. It has since toured North America, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Ireland, South Africa and China and played its first non-English language production in Seoul, South Korea in 2018/19.

With the upcoming film adaptation from the same core creative team as the theatre production (direction by Matthew Warchus, adapted for the screen by Dennis Kelly, with the music and lyrics of Tim Minchin), Dahl’s themes of bravery and standing up for what you believe in will continue to inspire young audiences all over the world. Produced by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working Title, Jon Finn, and Luke Kelly of The Roald Dahl Story Company. Sony Pictures U.K. and Tristar Pictures will release Matilda across the U.K. and Ireland exclusively in cinemas on 2nd December 2022 for Christmas. Netflix will release the film in the rest of the world in December 2022.

Written by Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and developed and directed by Matthew Warchus, the theatre production is designed by Rob Howell, with choreography by Peter Darling, orchestrations, additional music and musical supervision by Christopher Nightingale, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, sound by Simon Baker and the special effects and illusions are by Paul Kieve.

Matilda The Musical is the story of an extraordinary little girl who, armed with a vivid imagination and a sharp mind, dares to take a stand and change her own destiny.

Matilda The Musical is produced by Executive Producers Denise Wood and Griselda Yorke for the Royal Shakespeare Company.  The production was developed with the support of Jeanie O’Hare and the RSC Literary Department.

André Ptaszynski had worked as one of the Executive Producers of the production from 2011 until his untimely death in 2020.  He is much missed by all of his colleagues.

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Join stars of the West End stage at West End Wonderland

Westend Wonderland
Join stars of the West End stage for festive fun galore at West End Wonderland, a week of unique performances with plenty of stardust. All right in the heart of theatreland at the Welsh Chapel, Charing Cross Road.

·    Running 18-23 December, West End Wonderland is a star-filled line-up of intimate West End concerts
·    Featuring West End stars including Joe Stilgoe, Sarah-Louise Young, George Maguire, Rachael Wooding & many more
·    Cutting edge opera from the renowned Kings Head Theatre
·    Enjoy a night out for all the family, in our Covid-secure venue

West End Wonderland is a packed programme of shows featuring the stars of opera and the West End. Join us for a line-up that will transport you to a Christmas Wonderland.

West End Wonderland is the perfect family experience, designed to bring theatre lovers closer to their favourite West End stars. With just 100 seats, this is a beautifully intimate concert space where every seat feels close to the stage and everyone has the perfect view of West End superstars performing their favourite songs. All in a venue that will blow your socks off – the gorgeous 19th Century Welsh Chapel.

The safety of our audiences, performers and staff is our utmost priority. We have put in place a number of Covid-secure measures to ensure that social distancing is at a maximum, including reduced capacity, one way systems, separate entry/exit points, and audience bubbles.

Highlights Include:

Cabaret Whores, Sarah-Louise Young’s brilliant musical character comedy is packed with hilarious original songs, bitingly funny stories and lightning quick changes. Named as one of Time Out’s Top Ten Cabaret Acts of the Year, Sarah-Louise has appeared in the West End with Fascinating Aida, Julie Madly Deeply, La Soirée and Showstopper! The Improvised Musical.

Yes Queens is the West End’s first female-led improvised comedy night, featuring top UK improv talent from Olivier Award-winning productions such as Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, Austentatious and Mischief Theatre. Interactive Theatre at its best.

Joe Stilgoe is an internationally acclaimed singer, pianist and songwriter. With 3 chart-topping albums, Joe has appeared in High Society (Old Vic), Guys and Dolls (Albert Hall) and performed at the Olivier Awards. He is the composer & lyricist of The Jungle Book and The Midnight Gang.

Join West End stars Rachael Wooding and George Maguire in Anyone for Christmas, an intimate evening of cool covers, fresh original music and possibly a Christmas tune or two. Rachael Wooding has played leading roles in some of The West End’s biggest shows including starting in Pretty Woman at the Piccadilly Theatre. George Maguire won the Olivier award for his performance as Dave Davies in Sunny Afternoon.

Join The Kings Head’s Olivier Award nominated singers, as they present radically distilled and reimagined opera classics in Opera Undone. These beautiful voices will share their favourite sumptuous and sultry arias, a mix of well known and loved classics; it’s a wintry treat that’s sure to thrill. Featuring Honey Rouhani, Robert Barbaro and Hugo Herman-Wilson.

Relive the magic of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons with The Other Guys, a remarkable tribute to the most successful band in music history. Charisma, choreography and classic hits – come find out why these boys get standing ovations every night. Featuring Danny Whitehead (Les Misérables, Wicked, Sweeney Todd, Phantom of the Opera), Ashley Stillburn (Les Misérables, The Woman in White, Phantom of the Opera), Joey Bishop (Jersey Boys, Doctor Doolittle) and Louis Maskell (Doctor Faustus, West Side Story).

About the Venue
The Welsh Chapel is a truly unique space, ideally located in the heart of the West End on Shaftesbury Avenue. The Grade II listed former chapel, formerly the infamous Limelight Nightclub, is a stunning venue which retains many of its 19th century architectural features, including a beautiful galleried central space with arched windows and an umbrella dome ceiling.
Full Listings information
Show: Joe Stilgoe: Live at Christmas
Dates/Time: 19:00 & 21:00, 18 December, 2020 (1h15m)

Show: The Other Guys: A Tribute to Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
Dates/Time: 19:00, 19 December, 2020 (1h15m)

Show: Cabaret Whore
Dates/Time: 21:00, 19 December, 2020 (1h15m)

Show: Anyone for Christmas? George Maguire & Rachael Wooding
Dates/Time: 21:00, 20 December, 2020 (1h15m)

Show: Opera Undone
Dates/Time: 19:00 & 21:00, 21 December, 2020 (1h15m)

Show: Yes Queens
Dates/Time: 19:00, 23 December, 2020 (1h15m)

Tickets from £15. To purchase tickets, go to www.westendwonderland.com

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 New dates announced for the West End transfer of The Ocean At The End Of The Lane

National Theatre

Due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which was scheduled to begin performances this autumn, has been postponed. The acclaimed production will now open at the Duke of York’s Theatre in 2021, with previews beginning from 23 October 2021, playing for a limited run, with a press night on 4 November 2021.

Whilst government recently made the welcome announcement that performances can resume indoors, they can do so only with social distancing. Performances of The Ocean at the End of the Lane from 31 October 2020 – 6 February 2021 have been cancelled. All existing ticket holders will be contacted by their original point of sale regarding their booking.

Tickets for the newly announced 2021 performance dates will go on sale to the public at 12pm on Friday 2 October 2020.

The National Theatre’s critically acclaimed production of The Ocean at the End of the Lane, based on the best-selling novel by Neil Gaiman (American Gods, Coraline, Stardust and the Sandman series), adapted by Joel Horwood and directed by Katy Rudd, transfers following its sold-out world premiere at the Dorfman Theatre in 2019.

The set designer is Fly Davis, with costume and puppet design by Samuel Wyer, movement direction by Steven Hoggett, composition by Jherek Bischoff, lighting design by Paule Constable (Olivier Award Nominee), sound design by Ian Dickinson, magic and illusions direction and design by Jamie Harrison and puppetry direction by Finn Caldwell.  Casting to be confirmed.

Suitable for ages 12+.

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Budding young presenter Charlie Kristensen interviews the stars of stage and screen for his YouTube chat show Musical Chairs with #CheerUpCharlie!

(L-R) Sam Retford with Charlie Kristensen

Ten-year-old Charlie Kristensen, from Wokingham in Berkshire, won over the hearts of the West End theatre industry and the British public last year when he launched his #CheerUpCharlie campaign, channelling his own traumatic experiences of being bullied, and the support he received afterwards, to help others. Charlie has now taken a step towards his dream of being a television presenter by launching a series of lockdown interviews with high-profile entertainment industry guests on his YouTube channel – Musical Chairs with #CheerUpCharlie!. The chat show is supported by The Theatre Café, and it is hoped that most interviews will be recorded there when it becomes possible.

 As well as chatting to his guests about their own experiences of being bullied, in Charlie’s own words he also asks a mix of “fun, interesting and serious questions” about their life and work. He has set up a steady stream of interviews with actors, musicians and visual artists from the UK and USA, and his recent chat with actress Amanda Henderson (star of Casualty) has already hit nearly 6,000 views.  Others in the Musical Chairs line-up include Iain Armitage, Luke Bayer, Daniel Boys, Kerry Ellis, Dominic Ferris, Jacqueline Hughes, Irvine Iqbal, Nathaniel Morrison, Nadim Naaman, Will Poulter, Sam Retford, Gaby Roslin, Nina West, Nathan Wyburn and Michael Xavier, with many more planned. Actor Matt Lucas not only recorded a Musical Chairs interview but also, to Charlie’s delight, invited him to duet together singing The Baked Potato Song in support of NHS workers, in a video which has also received 100k views on Twitter.

Sam Retford, star of television show Ackley Bridge, said: “I first met Charlie last year when the campaign was just starting after his bullying came to light. It was such an honour to be Charlie’s interview guinea pig.  Not only did we laugh and get to know each other better, but I was also able to get a better perspective and see just how far this incredible young man has already gone.  His Cheer Up chats are going to be something very special and have grown with such enormity already. I truly cannot wait to see what 2020 has in store for this special young man and feel truly grateful to be watching it unfold. He is one of the most intelligent, charismatic and talented people I have ever met.”

Charlie said: “I love speaking to people and I know that by sharing their experiences of bullying and how they overcome it we can start to make a change. I want everyone to associate #CheerUpCharlie with acceptance and feel confident in just being themselves. The world is full of different people, with different talents and in my eyes that is what makes the world an exciting place. If me talking to people helps just one person then we are doing the right thing. I want to talk to everybody as talking makes it all okay.”

Charlie has come a long way since this time last year. Then, having been mentally and physically bullied severely for over 18 months, in part due to his love of performing, Charlie couldn’t take any more and for a long time his parents ‘lost’ the cheerful boy they recognised. Charlie continued with his singing lessons, and when he opened up to his singing teacher West End actress Jacqueline Hughes and broke down, she comforted him but also rallied support from performers in the theatre industry. She put out a Tweet about the heart-breaking situation and straight away West End performers inundated Charlie with video messages of support, love and solidarity including exciting backstage invitations. This led to national media interviews including live chats on the BBC Breakfast sofa and Michael Ball’s BBC Radio 2 show. It took months for the smile to return to Charlie’s eyes but he is now fighting for others, and keen to see where his presenting talents might lead along the way.

Charlie’s mother, Kat Kristensen, said: “Charlie is the most selfless, kind, caring and funny boy you will ever meet, and this kid can certainly talk! When The Diana Award invited him to write and deliver a five-minute speech for Anti-Bullying Week last November, he reduced a room of 5,000 to absolute silence and tears. It is something we did not know Charlie could do and he continues to amaze us daily, including now with his chat shows! We have been blown away by the entertainment industry and public support, and would like to thank them for helping him achieve his dreams.”

Future plans which are currently in the pipeline for Charlie and his #CheerUpCharlie campaign, with the support of his West End friends, include a special fundraising show and a musical theatre video – watch this space!

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Update for West End theatre audiences

London’s West End looks forward to welcoming audiences back into theatres as soon as performances can safely resume.

To give our customers some clarity, we have been cancelling performances across the West End on a rolling basis, in line with the latest advice from the Government.

We are now extending those cancellations until Sunday 28 June.

This does not mean theatres will reopen on 29 June; if further cancellations are necessary they will continue to be announced on a rolling basis. Different theatres and productions are likely to reopen at different times.

Ticketholders for affected performances do not need to do anything. They will be contacted by the organisation from which they bought their tickets to arrange a refund, credit note or exchange for a later date.

We are grateful to customers for the patience they are showing during this challenging time for our industry. With 300,000 people visiting West End theatres in a normal week, it’s a major undertaking to process refunds, exchanges and credit notes, particularly when many staff are working remotely. Please rest assured that we are all working as quickly as we can and we appreciate the on-going support of our audiences.

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