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Wizard of Oz theatre breaks – see Danielle Hope in London

admin — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:42:54 +0000

The BBC talent show ‘Over The Rainbow’ may have recently finished, but online coach holidays website Door2Tour.com is offering customers the opportunity to see the newly crowned ‘Dorothy’, Danielle Hope, take to the stage with its newly-launched coach packages to see the ‘Wizard Of Oz’.

Door2Tour.com features a wide range of theatre weekend breaks and day trips to see the Wizard of Oz (as well as a variety of other holidays by coach) with over 30 departure dates available between March and August 2011. The addition of Wizard takes the number of shows available to book as part of London theatre weekend packages to 18, which include old favourites from ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and ‘Les Miserables’ to new kids on the block ‘Legally Blonde’ and ‘Hair’. All shows are available to book online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and have nationwide pick-up points across the UK.

Kate Glanfield, web manager of Door2Tour, said: “Interest in theatre breaks to ‘The Wizard of Oz’ was remarkable even before tickets went on sale and if demand to date is anything to go by, we’ve no doubt that it will follow in the footsteps of its predecessor ‘Oliver!’ in terms of sell-out opening success.”

Thousands of girls auditioned for the leading role and it was down to the judging panel to decide who the final 20 should be. During the two-month TV series, the contestants were whittled down from the initial 20 to the final trio of Sophie Evans, Lauren Samuels and Danielle Hope who were all eager to be Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s next leading lady. Each ‘Dorothy’ had to impress not only the judging panel of John Partridge, Charlotte Church and Sheila Hancock with their singing and stage presence but also win over Lord Lloyd-Webber and the viewing public.

After receiving the highest number of viewers’ votes, Danielle Hope was declared the winner and will be wearing the famous ruby slippers as she takes the leading role in Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s new West End production of ‘The Wizard of Oz’.

Andrew Lloyd Webber will be bringing this classic story to life on the London stage from 1st March 2011. His new production will contain all the much loved songs from the Oscar winning movie score, all the favourite characters (Scarecrow, The Cowardly Lion and The Tin Man) and iconic moments, plus a few surprises along the way.

Kate concluded: “No matter what the season or economic climate, London theatre breaks continue to be one of our most robust products, remaining popular month after month. People are still determined to enjoy themselves and theatre weekends offer the perfect, wallet-friendly form of escapism.”

Packages include tickets to see ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (ticket upgrades available), return coach travel, hotel to theatre transfers and accommodation with continental breakfast.

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Love the Sin is interesting but not compelling

Alan — Mon, 17 May 2010 21:18:21 +0000

The new West End play, Love the Sin is quite a mess, although it is notable given the fact that it actually looks seriously at the Christian faith, which is not the trend in modern secular society.

The aim of the play is to examine Anglican Communion combined with a personal and political look at the lead character Michael, who is a devout Christian that has an affair with Joseph, an African porter during a bishop’s conference in Africa.

After the fact, Michael must sort through his guilt and vengeance, which continue to chase him while living at home in England.

The scenes such as the priests attempting to wrap their heads around openly gay priests show that screenplay writer Drew Pautz can write in a way that remind viewers of Shaw.

However, he fails to actually show the soul and heart of Michael to the audience, which is disappointing especially given the fact that the audience favourite Jonathon Cullen fails to deliver the performance as capturing as usual.

In the end, the play culminates with a scene showing Michael and his wife attempting to deal with his bisexuality and how it fits within their Christian faith and their relationship.

However, Pautz does not give this story the attention it should be, instead focusing on his wife’s internal struggle about IVF as a Christian option and childlessness. In fact, he even focuses more on an ethical way to get squirrels out of their home which is somewhat disappointing and a very isolated story line.

In the end, the supporting actors of Charlotte Radle and Ian Redford help make it worth a view, although it could have been better given a bit more depth.

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People will still pay for a West End show

Alan — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 09:34:14 +0000

London’s West End is still seeing good in revenues even in a recession, with receipts that total around half a billion pounds, showing that people again are enjoying dance, plays, opera, and musicals.

Over 2009 box office receipts have increased up to 7.6% totalling up to £505m according to figures from the Society of London Theatre. Among the top earning plays were The Habit of Art and Hamlet, which stars Jude Law.

Nica Burns, the president of SOLT has credited the increase with the exceptional talent of the West End.

Burns also stated that the amount of quality productions that have become available across London explain how the figures can be so high even when the year overall was difficult in terms of the economy.

2009 was the seventh year in a row that revenue and attendance records have been set with attendances passing the 14m mark and showing an increase of 5.5%.

Most of the attendees were reported at plays within London, which show an increase of 26% since 2008 while those who attended entertainment, opera, and dance productions increased by about 7%. However, although musicals decreased by 2% over the entire course of the year, more people attended in the final quarter of the year than the previous year.

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