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  It is always interesting to see how elements from landmark professional productions of Sondheim’s shows eventually filter into the amateur field. Directors working within the amateur circle often gain inspiration from going to see a West End or Broadway production and this inevitably sparks off new creative ideas which can be very fruitful. A typical example is Timothy Sheader’s ground-breaking production at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in 2010, which has inspired Luton’s St Andrew’s Players current production of the show, and resulted in an intriguing take-over of the St Andrews Church building. Terry Mills, the St Andrews chairman, told me: “it promises to be quite something with director Alistair Brown working very hard with what is a very talented cast gathered from all around this area trying to recreate the award winning 2010 Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production. As you will see we are presenting the [...]

Categories news, shows

With just a week to go until this year’s Stephen Sondheim Society Performer of the Year Competition, our Press Officer Katy Auker finds out more about the twelve Finalists. Click HERE, or select 2013 Finalists Profiles from the Student Competition menu above.

Categories news, SSSSPOTY

Gregg Edelman, who has been in Passion and Into the Woods on Broadway, will be performing a cabaret gig at Norden Farm, Maidenhead, on Sunday June 30th. Tickets are £13, and are available by calling 01628 788997.

Categories performances

We’re proud to announce the launch of An Evening With The Sondheim Society, our new series of informal cabarets at London’s Leicester Square Theatre Lounge. The series will feature an exciting mix of new talent and more established artists who all share a passion for performing Sondheim and similar repertoire. The series launch, with Rachael Louise Miller will take place on Wednesday 19th June 2013, at 7pm. Tickets are priced at just £12.50 for members and £15 for non-members. Click HERE to go to the theatre website to book tickets. ARE YOU A MEMBER? Click HERE to find out how to get your tickets at the DISCOUNT PRICE of £12.50! (You’ll need the password for the Members’ Area of the website.     Rachael (pictured above) trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, where she was the recipient of the Dame Judi Dench Scholarship. Her work in theatre includes [...]

At tonight’s Olivier Awards Sweeney Todd has garnered three awards: Best Musical Revival; Best Actor in a Musical (Michael Ball) and Best Actress in a Musical (Imelda Staunton). Congratulations to everyone involved. You can listen to the Awards online at the BBC iPlayer for the next week. Edited highlights can be seen tonight on ITV at 10.15 pm and should then be on the ITV On Demand site.

A report in Variety has suggested that Johnny Depp, who made such an impact as Sweeney in Tim Burton’s film version of Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, is in talks with Disney to join its big screen adaptation of Into the Woods. Variety’s report, which curiously does not mention Sondheim’s name anywhere, goes on to state: Meryl Streep is also in discussions with the Mouse House to join the production to play the evil witch. Rob Marshall (who helmed Disney’s fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean”) will direct the film. Musical revolved around a childless baker and his wife who attempt to lift a family curse by journeying into the woods to confront the witch that put the spell on them. Along the way, they encounter Rapunzel, Cinderella, “Jack and the Beanstalk’s” Jack Little Red Riding Hood and other classic fairy tale characters. There is no production start date yet for the film. David [...]

Categories news

The Independent’s Matt Wolf recently interviewed Stephen Sondheim at his Manhattan home, just in time to co-incide with Maria Friedman’s acclaimed interpretation of Merrily We Roll Along transferring from the Menier Chocolate Factory to the Harold Pinter Theatre on 23rd April. Matt Wolf writes: The last year in London musicals would have been pretty dismal without two Sondheim revivals that soared above pretty much everything else in town. The first, since closed, was the Chichester Festival Theatre production of Sweeney Todd, starring Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton, which has been nominated for six Olivier Awards. Not long after came the Menier Chocolate Factory reappraisal of Merrily We Roll Along, an erstwhile Broadway flop that continues to meet a tellingly contrasting fate in London: Michael Grandage’s Donmar staging of the piece in 2000 unexpectedly won the Olivier for Best Musical, while actress-turned-director Maria Friedman’s latest airing of the show is transferring [...]

Categories news, shows