Theatre Interviews with Top West End Stars

Hannah Lowther on 'Heathers', TikTok musicals, and the future of social media

The future of West End theatre looks bright. The rise of shows created via TikTok such as Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical introduces new audiences to theatre, and the Grammy Award-winning Bridgerton musical gained traction via social media. There’s a new type of theatremaker too, and Hannah Lowther is at the forefront of this pioneering performing generation. The “Tesco TikTokker” gained notoriety at the start of the pandemic for combining her retail job with musical theatre. To date, she’s...

Frances Mayli McCann and Jordan Luke Gage on the everlasting appeal of ‘Bonnie & Clyde’

In a world of cancel culture, it seems nonsensical that people could romanticise or socially elevate criminals. However, there are a few who retain an alluring charm, even though they lived a life of crime, and there’s no pair who achieve this quite like Bonnie and Clyde. During the Great Depression, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow spent years on the run as America’s most notorious criminals. Fast forward a few decades, and their lives are immortalised in musical form: Bonnie & Clyde makes its...

The ‘My Fair Lady’ cast on finding a fresh take with Bartlett Sher

“People may say 'What’s the point in bringing My Fair Lady back?',” observed Stephen K. Amos at a recent My Fair Lady press event. And it’s a worthwhile question to ask. With plenty of potential West End musicals fighting for the few available theatres, should older shows make way for newer stories on stage? But this My Fair Lady isn’t dated. Instead, My Fair Lady in London rips up the textbook and revises the narrative for a 21st-century audience. Bartlett Sher’s revival earned 10 Tony Award...

Peter Andre achieves a lifelong dream with ‘Grease’ in the West End

Most people will associate Peter Andre with the 1990s hit, "Mysterious Girl." During his career, he's released 11 albums and competed in British reality TV shows, I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here and Strictly Come Dancing. Now Andre takes on his latest challenge — performing to thousands each night in Grease in the West End. Peter Andre’s love for Grease goes back over 40 years. “I was five years old when Grease was released in 1978,” said Andre. Even though he couldn’t watch it in the...

Amara Okereke and Harry Hadden-Paton on why ‘My Fair Lady’ is like Shakespeare

Amara Okereke is a relative West End newcomer. She graduated in 2018 and has since starred in Les Miserables and The Boy Friend. In 2018, Harry Hadden-Paton assumed his My Fair Lady role for Broadway performances. Fast-forward four years and the pair now co-star in the much-anticipated revival of My Fair Lady in the West End. London’s latest Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins aren’t resting on their laurels, though. Speaking to the pair in rehearsals, we learned that they’re channelling what...

'My Fair Lady's Bartlett Sher and Gareth Valentine on the musical's endearing qualities

Bartlett Sher is the directorial brain behind two Broadway productions now in London. His critically-acclaimed play, To Kill a Mockingbird, is at the Gielgud Theatre. And now, his 2018 revival of My Fair Lady, which picked up 10 Tony Award nominations, opens in the musical's actual setting, Covent Garden. For Sher, staging My Fair Lady in London is akin to a ceremonial homecoming. “My Fair Lady is a perfect sort of marriage of the American musical form with Lerner and Loewe and George Bernard...

Vanessa Redgrave and Malcolm Sinclair: ‘My Fair Lady’ is a diamond musical

Between Vanessa Redgrave and Malcolm Sinclair, their West End resumes include more than 35 shows. Now, for their latest theatrical appearance, the veteran actors star alongside one another in My Fair Lady at the London Coliseum as Mrs. Higgins and Colonel Pickering respectively. Even though they’ve worked on stage for decades, the chance of performing at the vast Coliseum marks a lifetime achievement. As soon as we begin chatting about the show, Sinclair commented on the immense privilege of...

We go together: Dan Partridge and Olivia Moore on playing Danny and Sandy in 'Grease'

There are numerous romantic film couples taking over West End theatres at the moment, from Vivian Ward and Edward Lewis in Pretty Woman: The Musical to the doomed love affair between Christian and Satine in Moulin Rouge! The Musical. The Dominion Theatre is adding to that tally: Rydell High’s Danny Zuko and Sandy Dumbrowski are strutting into town as Grease hits the West End. Grease was last at London's Dominion from 1993-9. During those six years, the show featured actors such as Tamzin...

Choreographer Arlene Phillips putting women front and centre in 'Grease'

Choreographer Arlene Phillips is no stranger to Grease. In 1993, she received an Olivier nomination for her Grease choreography. Nearly 30 years later, Phillips and Grease go together once more, as Grease heads to its London spiritual home, the Dominion, where it's currently playing for 26 weeks. But this Grease is unlike the musical film, and the show taps into the story’s hard truths. In recent years, the Grease story has faced backlash due to misogynistic tropes and a dated idea that a woman...

Mazz Murray, Josie Benson, and Gemma Goggin on creating Dynamo magic in ‘Mamma Mia!’

Mamma Mia! is about women supporting women. Despite involving a wedding, the ABBA-scored jukebox musical is a rare example of a story that is not about a woman’s quest to find a man. In fact, it’s really about three lifelong friends who get together to support each other, and that’s one of the many reasons audiences have flocked to Mamma Mia! for 23 years and counting at the Novello Theatre in London. “We're also one of those rare shows that celebrates winners,” said Mazz Murray, who stars as...