Theatre News

Leanne Jones Has Delfont Room Cabaret Debut

Editorial Staff
London's West End

Three Whatsonstage.com Award divas – Leanne Jones, Patina Miller and Hannah Waddingham – feature in the new spring season of the LIVE IN THE DELFONT ROOM late-night cabarets, presented in association with Whatsonstage.com at the West End’s Prince of Wales Theatre (See News, 10 Jun 2009), where the Winners’ Concert of the tenth annual Whatsonstage.com Awards takes place on 14 February 2010.
Leanne Jones won the 2008 Whatsonstage.com Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Hairspray, while Hannah Waddingham was nominated for Spamalot in 2007 and is in the current 2010 Awards shortlists for A Little Night Music, competing for Best Actress in a Musical with Sister Act’s Patina Miller. Miller, this year’s only two-time nominee, is also shortlisted for London Newcomer of the Year.

This past June, Whatsonstage.com became the official media partner for the LIVE IN THE DELFONT ROOM, continuing our association with the Prince of Wales Theatre, where we held our second inaugural Whatsonstage.com Awards Concert in front of a capacity 1,225-strong audience in the main auditorium last February (See WOS TV, 18 Feb 2009).

Tickets are now on sale for the 2010 Awards Concert at 7pm on Sunday 14 February. Call 0844 482 5133 or click here to book online!

Speaking about the media partnership, Whatsonstage.com editorial director Terri Paddock said: “Everyone at Whatsonstage.com fell in love with the splendour of Prince of Wales and the intimacy of the Delfont Room during our experience with the Whatsonstage.com Awards, and we love what the team there are doing with the ongoing success of the LIVE IN THE DELFONT ROOM so we are really thrilled to be a part of it.”

The current spring schedule for the LIVE IN THE DELFONT ROOM season is as follows. For all, doors open at 10.30pm with performances commencing at 11pm:

  • Hannah Waddingham – Saturday 30 January 2010 – Waddingham launches the season, returning for her third engagement at the Delfont Room. In addition to the Whatsonstage.com Awards, she was Olivier nominated for her diva performance as the Lady of the Lake in Monty Python’s Spamalot. As well as A Little Night Music, which she performed at the Menier Chocolate Factory and in the West End, her other musical credits include The Beautiful Game, Tonight’s the Night, Lautrec, Grease, Bad Girls, Smokey Joe’s Cafe and Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens. (Waddingham’s cabaret replaces the previously announced Songs of David Friedman event.)
  • Leanne Jones – Have You Met Miss Jones? – Saturday 6 March 2010 – Jones made her professional debut originating the starring role of Tracy Turnblad, opposite Michael Ball, in the West End premiere of Hairspray. In addition to her Whatsonstage.com Award, her performance earned her the Olivier for Best Actress in a Musical and the Critics’ Circle Award for Most Promising Newcomer.
  • Patina Miller – March 2010 (exact date tbc) – As previously tipped (See The Goss, 19 Nov 2009), after the sell-out, standing-ovation success of her first solo concert, at the Delfont Room last month, the Sister Act star Patina Miller will return for a second helping, with the assistance of her collaborators, director Billy Porter and musical director and arranger James Sampliner. Miller made her West End debut this past June, following in the footsteps of Whoopi Goldberg in the screen-to-stage hit musical Sister Act at the London Palladium, and – so far – counts amongst her accolades, her two Whatsonstage.com nominations and a raft of critical raves.
  • Vampo Jazz – Saturday 24 April 2010 – Trained at the Royal Academy of Music and the Trinity College of Music, Vampo Jazz’s Verona Chard had her big jazz break in 2005 when Humphrey Lyttelton asked her to record the track “Jail Break” for his Sad Sweet Songs and Crazy Rhythms album. Chard’s own album Fear No More, due for release on 23 April and launched at the Prince of Wales, will feature a new arrangement of the song as a tribute to the late Lyttelton.

TO BOOK TICKETS FOR THE SPRING SEASON, CLICK HERE.

Ahead of the new season, the final LIVE IN THE DELFONT ROOM cabaret in 2009 takes place this Thursday 17 December, with another 2010 Whatsonstage.com Award nominee Jessie Buckley, the I’d Do Anything finalist who made her debut in A Little Night Music, now confirmed to guest star:

  • Cantabile Christmas Cracker – Thursday 17 December 2009 – For over 25 years Cantabile have been wowing audiences worldwide with their amazing musical range. From ‘a cappella’ classics to contemporary musical theatre favourites, Cantabile always play to capacity houses. With their unique blend of riotous comedy and dazzling vocal arrangements, Cantabile have produced 14 solo albums, over 2,500 live performances and more than 250 international TV appearances (most recently as The Civil Servants in Chess in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall). Cantabile are quite simply one of the world’s top vocal groups. Having sung music – sacred and secular – all over the world, for Christmas 2009, Cantabile are coming home.

    This special pre-Christmas late-night show is a musical frolic with fun, mayhem and a festive sprinkling of West End guests, including Buckley as well as David Bedella, Caroline Sheen and Sir Tim Rice. The evening is directed by Hugh Wooldridge and choreographed Whatsonstage.com Awards choreographer Andrew Wright.

TO BOOK CANTABILE CHRISTMAS CRACKER TICKETS, CLICK HERE.

As part of the Whatsonstage.com media partnership, members of the Whatsonstage.com Theatre Club can take advantage of a special value-added package for all concerts: a signed poster of the evening’s star plus two free drinks to enjoy before or during the performance. Once a date is confirmed, Club members will also be able once again to book from our exclusive allocation for the Patina Miller concert! Check the Club section later this week for booking information!!