“Break a leg” are the words usually given to an actor to wish him luck, unfortunately in this case lead actor Nicholas Le Prevost (playing the title role of Vanya )did exactly that immediately prior to the show transferring to Newcastle.

Up step Mark Extance, changing from his normal role of workman to Uncle Vanya (apparently he did this mid performance last Saturday when Le Provost was hurt) and looking as if he was made to play the role. In fact there were times when his looks and approach reminded me of the late great Sir Ralph Richardson ( who I had the pleasure of briefly working with more years ago than I care to remember). Read more

Single Spies

Single Spies
Venue: Theatre Royal
Date Reviewed: 17th March, 2008

Single Spies is a double bill by Alan Bennett that first saw life at the National Theatre in 1988. When the production toured shortly afterwards, and appeared at this very theatre, it starred Prunella Scales as Coral Browne and the Queen, which I can still recall.

In this tour we have Nigel Havers and Diana Quick playing the lead roles with Jack Ryder (Jamie in Eastenders and married to Kym Marsh) disappointingly not having the opportunity to demonstrate his acting skills as both of his roles (Tolya and Colin) are little more than cameos. Read more

Dancing on Ice talks to Whatsonstage Northeast

Whatsonstage Northeast had the opportunity to catch up with the Dancing on Ice starts as they prepared not only for the TV Final but to start there live tour.

We wondered what ice skating legends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean first thought about the idea for teaching a bunch of celebrities how to skate in front of the viewing millions at home, they were frankly sceptical. ‘It was a gamble,’ says Chris. ‘We worried that people might fall flat on their faces. Quite literally.’

We now know those fears proved unfounded. As all the world now knows, Dancing On Ice has become one of television’s biggest hits in recent years, the current ITV series attracting an audience in excess of ten million viewers. ‘We knew from quite early on,’ says Jayne, ‘that we’d struck a chord with the public because the demand for tickets to attend the live show dramatically outstripped the supply. The studio holds not much more than 300 people and we had thousands of applications.’ Read more

Wedding Singer

The Wedding Singer
Venue: Theatre Royal
Date Reviewed: 10th March, 2008

At last a new musical, ok its based on the hit film of the same name (starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore) but its not a revival in the way we know every song before the show starts.

In the male lead, we have the excellent Jonathan Wilkes as the wedding singer Robbie Hart and Natalie Casey as Julia, the waitress who will change his life.

We have all the ingredients of a typical show with nasty and annoying partners for the main characters, best friends who have the best of intentions for their friends and a lovable grandma, but somewhere along the line the romance that should be at the heart of the show gets lost. Read more

New season at Theatre Royal announced

THEATRE ROYAL NEWCASTLE has announced details of its new summer ’08 season which features fantastic drama productions.

These include both Alan Ayckbourn’s Relatively Speaking (Mon 9 – Sat 14 June) starring Peter Bowles (To The Manor Born)

and the revival of Anthony Shaffer’s stage thriller Sleuth (Mon 30 Jun – Sat 3 Jul) which stars Simon MacCorkindale (Casualty, Falcon Crest) and Michael Praed (Dynasty).

Other highlights of the season include:

Dad’s Army (Tue 27 – Sat 31 May) is one of the most popular British comedies of all time and it is lovingly recreated for the stage with a star-studded cast, including Leslie Grantham (Dirty Den, EastEnders).  This production will offer a unique opportunity to see the lost episodes after the originals were erased by the BBC. Read more

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