Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Lucie Jones Returns to Les Misérables as 'Fantine' in London, with Katie Hall Joining Arena Spectacular World Tour
Thursday, 10 October 2024
Full Cast Announced for UK & Ireland Your of Kinky Boots the Musical
Friday, 31 March 2023
Cast Announced for 42nd Street Tour
Tuesday, 8 November 2022
Benjamin Rauhala & his West End Besties at Cadogan Hall
Fourth Wall Live are delighted to announce BENJAMIN RAUHALA & HIS WEST END BESTIES at the Cadogan Hall on Sunday 5 February at 6.30pm. Tickets on sale now www.fw-live.com/ben
One of Broadway’s most trusted music directors and collaborators, Benjamin Rauhala will be joined on stage by stars of the West End including Luke Bayer (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Soho Cinders), Paisley Billings (Six, The Lion King, ‘Tattoo Fixers’), Lauren Drew (Six, Heathers, Legally Blonde, ‘The Voice’), Hiba Elchikhe (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Aladdin), WhatsOnStage Award nominee Jordan Luke Gage (& Juliet, Bonnie & Clyde, Bat Out of Hell), Ben Joyce (Back to the Future, Jersey Boys), Claudia Kariuki (Six, Wicked, School of Rock), Olivier Award nominee Frances Mayli McCann (Bonnie & Clyde, Heathers, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour), Zara MacIntosh (&Juliet, Six) Olivier Award nominee Natalie Paris (Six, Billy Elliot, Les Miserables), Courtney Stapleton (‘Belle’ in Beauty and the Beast, Six), Jodie Steele (Six, Heathers) Benjamin Yates (Jersey Boys, School of Rock, Wicked). Guests are subject to change.
Music director Benjamin Rauhala’s love affair with the London theatre community and actors of the West End has been ongoing since his first sold-out concerts with Jeremy Jordan in the summer of 2016. Rauhala grew up obsessed with British pop music, including a subscription to Top of the Pops magazine! As a mainstay of the Broadway community, he has produced hundreds of sold-out concerts that spawned viral YouTube concert clips totalling * totalling over 56million views, including Jeremy Jordan’s ubiquitous cover of “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” and the many medleys featured in his Broadway Princess Party concert series.
Rauhala found that everyone he met in London had a favourite one of those videos and wanted to chat about it, so he had an idea: what if he gathered a dozen of his favourite West End performers with an epic band and re-created some of those beloved videos, as well as crafting some new arrangements for these amazing singers? On the heels of a sold-out run at Theatre Royal Drury Lane with Jeremy Jordan and in preparation to play the London Palladium with Ariana DeBose and for an upcoming international tour of Disney Princess The Concert, this was the perfect moment to create a concert unlike anything London has ever seen! BENJAMIN RAUHALA AND HIS WEST END BESTIES will be a night filled with Rauhala’s signature mashups and medleys, some of the best contemporary musical theatre, some radically rearranged Disney tunes, and, of course, tunes from the likes of Céline Dion, the Spice Girls, Selena Gomez, and Sam Smith!
Benjamin Rauhala is the Music Supervisor, co-creator, and ‘Fairy Godfairy’ of Disney Princess - The Concert, touring over 100 cities in North America throughout 2022, and internationally in 2023. He helped conceive and arrange the opening and closing numbers of the 2022 Tony Awards for Academy Award winner Ariana DeBose. Rauhala has toured the world since 2014 as the music director forJeremy Jordan, the Tony-nominated star of Broadway's Newsies and TV’s ‘Supergirl’, and in 2020, Rauhala was named 'Best Musical Director' at the Broadway World Cabaret Awards.
His Broadway credits include Fiddler on the Roof, American Psycho, and Pippin. His Off-Broadway credits include Hit List, the meta-musical from the NBC television show Smash, Duncan Sheik’s The Secret Life of Bees and David Byrne’s Joan of Arc: Into The Fire. He is also the music director for Academy Award Winner Ariana DeBose, Halston star Krysta Rodriguez, Tony Award nominees Derek Klena, Jennifer Damiano, Kathryn Gallagher, and Disney legend Jodi Benson, as well as Nashville star Kyle Dean Massey, Anastasia star Christy Altomare, Smash star Andy Mientus, Moulin Rouge star Ashley Loren, and Frozen stars Caroline Bowman and Austin Colby.
Rauhala co-founded the Write Out Loud songwriting competition with Mean Girls Tony Award nominee Taylor Louderman, which is currently in its fourth season of supporting the next generation of composers. Additionally, he is an Original Programming Producer at 54 Below, where he has created hundreds of sold-out concerts, including the Broadway Loves Series, that has famously honored Celine Dion, Britney Spears, Selena Gomez, Sam Smith, Demi Lovato, and many more beloved pop icons.
Follow him @brauhala
Wednesday, 25 May 2022
Line-Up for West End LIVE is Unveiled
‘London’s theatres are the envy of the world, and West End LIVE is a highlight of the theatrical calendar for so many - not just the countless fans who converge on Trafalgar Square to enjoy a wealth of incredible live entertainment, but also the hundreds of performers and crew involved in putting on what is always an unforgettable weekend. We are delighted to continue to work so closely with Westminster to deliver West End LIVE, and hugely grateful for the support of Sky, who have a long history as champions of theatre and the arts.’
‘West End LIVE is a much-loved annual event that brings together the musical theatre community in celebration of the world-class theatre we have right on our doorstep. One of the main aims the new administration has for the council is to make culture, arts and leisure accessible to everyone living in Westminster, not just the few. We want to encourage all residents, especially those in disadvantaged communities, to participate and join in cultural opportunities and big, fun events such as West End LIVE so we can bring all our communities in Westminster together.’
Sky is delighted to be part of West End LIVE again. This annual celebration of London’s world class theatre is a fantastic event and a highlight in the arts calendar. It’s a great opportunity for us to host and thank our customers, getting them closer to the entertainment they love through Sky VIP.
Tuesday, 29 March 2022
Gemma Collins to Star as Mama Morton in Chicago
David Ian in association with Barry and Fran Weissler are delighted to announce TV personality Gemma ‘The GC’ Collins will star as ‘Mama Morton’ in the acclaimed UK and Ireland tour of the international smash hit musical Chicago. Gemma will join the tour at the Sunderland Empire from Tuesday 31 May 2022, ahead of playing Cardiff New Theatre, Blackpool Winter Gardens, Sheffield Lyceum, Norwich Theatre Royal and New Theatre, Oxford.
David Ian said today, “We were completely stunned by Gemma’s audition for the role. She’s an undeniable force both on and off stage, and we can’t wait to see her portrayal of ‘Mama Morton’ on tour. Audiences across the country are in for a treat.”
Gemma Collins is best known as a media personality and businesswoman, having first featured in the reality series The Only Way Is Essex. She was awarded the 2021 winner of the Best Female Personality at the National Reality Television Awards. Since ‘Essex’ Gemma has appeared in numerous television shows including, I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, Celebrity Big Brother, Dancing on Ice and All Together Now in which she was a finalist. Most recently Gemma was seen on screens with her intimate Channel 4 documentary, Gemma Collins: Self-Harm & Me. Before finding fame on The Only Way Is Essex, Gemma was a keen performer having studied dance and winning a place at the renowned Sylvia Young Theatre School.
Gemma joins Faye Brookes as ‘Roxie Hart’, Djalenga Scott as ‘Velma Kelly’, Jamie Baughan as ‘Amos Hart’ and B.E. Wong as ‘Mary Sunshine’. The role of ‘Billy Flynn’ will be announced soon. Full tour schedule below. www.chicagothemusical.com
The cast is completed by Ishmail Aaron, Michelle Andrews, Gabby Antrobus, Delycia Belgrave, Joel Benjamin, Tanisha-Mae Brown, Daniel Clift, Callum Fitzgerald, Emily Goodenough, Billie Hardy, Aaron Jenkins, Liam Marcellino, Theo Reece, Hollie Jane Stephens and Harrison Wilde.
Faye Brookes (Roxie Hart) reached the final of last year’s series of ITV’s Dancing On Ice. She is best known for her role as Kate Connor in ITV’s Coronation Street, for which she won a National Television Award. Her theatre credits include Princess Fiona in Shrek and Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, both on national tour, Ann/Edna in That Day We Sang directed by Victoria Wood at Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Liesl in The Sound of Music at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and Frenchy in Grease at the West End’s Piccadilly Theatre. Faye’s other TV credits include Agnes Franklin in Our Girl and Helena in Atlantis, both for the BBC.
Djalenga Scott’s (Velma Kelly) West End credits include Lily St Regis in Annie at the Piccadilly Theatre, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the New London and Chicago at the Adelphi, Cambridge and Garrick Theatres. Her other credits include Anita in the national tour of West Side Story, Rizzo in Grease at Curve Leicester, Magenta in The Rocky Horror Show and Carmen in Fame, both on European tours, the US tour of Batman Live and Bombalurina in Cats at Kilworth House. Djalenga’s screen credits include Scarlett/Esme in Trapped for the BBC and Alexandra in the film I Give It A Year.
Set amidst the razzle-dazzle decadence of the 1920s, Chicago is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago’s slickest criminal lawyer to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just as easily be ripped from today's tabloids.
Created by the musical theatre talents of John Kander, Fred Ebb and legendary choreographer Bob Fosse, Chicago’s sexy, sassy score includes the show-stopping songs “Razzle Dazzle”, “Cell Block Tango”, and “All That Jazz”. Winner of six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards and a Grammy, Chicago is the longest running American musical in Broadway and West End history.
Since it opened in New York in 1996, Chicago has played in 36 countries worldwide and has been performed in English, Dutch, German, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Danish, Japanese and Korean. Worldwide it has been seen by an estimated 33 million people, grossed over $1.7 billion and played over 32,500 performances.
Chicago, which is based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins, has a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The 1996 Broadway revival of Chicago was choreographed by Ann Reinking in the style of Bob Fosse, directed by Walter Bobbie, and produced by Barry and Fran Weissler.
Monday, 21 March 2022
Fra Fee, Amy Lennox, Omar Baroud and Vivien Parry in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Hello!
