London Theatre News Today: Monday 7 June

Debbie Kurup and Kate Pakenham join Theatre Chat Live tomorrow night

In this week’s Theatre Chat Live, Jess will be joined by West End star Debbie Kurup and theatre producer Kate Pakenham. Debbie will be talking to Jess all about her role as Queen Tuya in The Prince Of Egypt when it returns #BackOnStage this summer while Kate will be sharing all the details of The Money, an immersive theatre and game experience like you’ve never seen before.

Tune into Official London Theatre’s Instagram channel tomorrow at 6pm to find out more about our special guests. In the meantime, you can enjoy some of our previous episodes including special guests Gabrielle Brooks (J’Ouvert) and Paul Taylor-Mills, Manny Tsakanika (Magic Mike Live), Lucie Jones (Les Mis: Staged Concert) and Rhiannon Porter (Abba Mania) and Nadiya Bychkova and Graziano di Prima (Here Come The Boys) and Francesca Forristal and Jordan Paul Clarke (Public Domain.)

Win Theatre Tokens & a stay in a London hotel in our #BackOnStage competition

If you’d like to be in with a chance of winning a super stagey prize, you’ll definitely want to enter our competition before it ends in one week!

To celebrate the return of theatre #BackOnStage, we’re giving you the chance to win £200 in Theatre Tokens and a stay for two people (including a delicious full English Breakfast) in a luxurious and centrally located Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel in London.

To enter this amazing competition, all you need to do is:

• Post about your #BackOnStage experience on Instagram and/or Twitter.
• Include the word ‘theatre’ in your caption and tag us using @londontheatre
• Use #BackOnStage

The competition ends 17 June 2021 and we can only collect entries from those with a public profile. Specific hotel and stay dates are subject to availability.

If you’d like to see what other theatre fans are saying about their experience #BackOnStage, click here.

First look: Globe on Tour – As You Like It production images

Shakespeare’s Globe have today released a selection of production images for the first Globe on Tour production of As You Like It performed by the touring ensemble and directed by Brendan O’Hea. Check them out! 

The talented and versatile company of eight actors will perform As You Like It and The Tempest  on a variety of dates between 8 June – 29 August. Also, the ever-popular Audience Choice performances return for three nights giving the power to the crowds to vote for which play our company will perform on the night. Globe on Tour will also participate in a Midnight Matinee audience choice performance on Saturday 21 August, 11.59pm. Midnight Matinee’s give audiences the chance to revel in the enchanting atmosphere of the Globe under the stars, experiencing Shakespeare’s plays in a truly unique and magical way and with tickets from £5 it’s the perfect London date night!

Recreating the touring tradition of Shakespeare’s day has always been a key feature of the Globe’s summer season but this year Globe on Tour are unable to bring live theatre across the UK and beyond. Although the Globe hopes to eventually take these revels beyond bankside, for the time being the tour will stay local and be performing at home.

 Click here for all the details on how you can enjoy some of the iconic productions as part of Globe on Tour.

Kiran Landa to star in Theatre Royal Stratford East’s EXTINCT

Theatre Royal Stratford East today announces that Kiran Landa will make her Stratford East debut and star in EXTINCT, a new one woman play written by April De Angelis and directed by Kirsty Housley.

A woman stands alone on stage. She has one hour to change our future. One hour to avert a catastrophe. She’ll give everything she has. April De Angelis’ urgent new play takes on the climate emergency head on using a tapestry of testimonials from environmental activists.

The show will also be streamed from Tuesday 13 – Sunday 18 July.

Kiran Landa makes her Theatre Royal Stratford East debut, with her previous credits including War Horse (National Theatre UK and International Tour), Primetime (Royal Court Theatre), Great
Expectations (ETT/Watford Palace Theatre), Arabian Nights (RSC), Dov and Ali (Theatre 503). Her television credits include Ackley Bridge, 4 O’Clock Club, Line of Duty, Hollyoaks, Scott and Bailey, Doctors, Wire in the Blood and her film credits include Jadoo: Kings of Curry and Shoot on Sight.

The Show Must Go On! Live At The Palace Theatre raise £1 million for theatre charities

Following a record-breaking week of THE SHOW MUST GO ON! LIVE AT THE PALACE THEATRE, the creators, Theatre Support Fund+ announced at the show last night they have reached an incredible milestone of raising £1million pounds for theatre charities. The show was broadcast LIVE across the world via the Shows Must Go On YouTube channel with the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in attendance. Over 320,000 people watched the broadcast on Sunday 6 June and the show will be available to watch until Saturday 12 June.  

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan joined Chris and Damien, the founders of Theatre Support Fund+ on stage last night when this milestone was announced and spoke about the importance of theatre to London.  

Chris and Damien said today, ‘We are stunned to have reached this extraordinary figure during our concert last week at The Palace. It’s been a thrill to have brought all of these amazing performers together and we are overwhelmed by the response.  The views of the concert and donations from across the world really show the love and admiration there is for theatre in London and our talented community.  Thank you to everyone who has supported us, and please continue to do so’.  

Theatre Support Fund+ was founded last year to raise much needed funds for freelancers after the pandemic forced theatres to close on 16  March 2020. After creating the iconic The Show Must Go On! t-shirt, the creators produced The Show Must Go On! Live at the Palace Theatre as a celebration of West End theatre with 18 of the biggest musicals in a one-off unique concert.  

The full range of The Show Must Go On merchandise and limited edition live at the palace items can be purchased from www.theatresupportfund.co.uk and you can still donate by texting ‘THEATRE’ followed by the amount you want to donate to 70460.   

Enjoy a sneak peak of In The Heights movie

Musical theatre fans, listen closely… You can now enjoy the first 8 minutes of Warner Bro’s Pictures, In The Heights musical-turned-movie and we can’t contain our excitement.

The creator of Hamilton and the director of Crazy Rich Asians invite you to a cinematic event, where the streets are made of music and little dreams become big… In the Heights.

Lights up on Washington Heights…The scent of a cafecito caliente hangs in the air just outside of the 181st Street subway stop, where a kaleidoscope of dreams rallies this vibrant and tight-knit community. At the intersection of it all is the likeable, magnetic bodega owner Usnavi (Anthony Ramos), who saves every penny from his daily grind as he hopes, imagines and sings about a better life.

The film stars Anthony Ramos, Corey Hawkins, Leslie Grace, Melissa Barrera, Olga Merediz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Gregory Diaz IV, and Jimmy Smits. 

In the Heights fuses Lin-Manuel Miranda’s kinetic music and lyrics with director Jon M. Chu’s lively and authentic eye for storytelling to capture a world very much of its place, but universal in its experience.

If the teaser has got you feeling pumped to see more, you’ll be pleased to know that it’ll be opening at cinemas across the UK from 18 June!