Blog / Features
Check here for the latest musical news with links to all your #StageFaves performers, shows and theatres. Also look out for our regular #GetSocial features and contributions from our syndicate media partners including MyTheatreMates.com and the Musical Theatre Appreciation Society.
Do biscuits inspire your creativity? Custard creams, Hob Knobs or pink wafers? Before he became a world-famous novelist (think Mortal Engines), Philip Reeve shared a spark of inspiration over a cup of tea in Brighton with Brian Mitchell. Terri Paddock talked to them about their collaboration 20 years on as The Ministry of Biscuits is revived...
How many musicals have you committed to memory: plot, songs, choreography, musical style? For the Showstoppers, they've got a library in their improv brains of more than 300. Watch Faves founder Terri Paddock's post-show Q&A with co-founders Adam Meggido and Dylan Emery and the company after the premiere of that night's brand-new musical 'One Block Away'...
2019
How many types of improv laughs are there? How do the pros ‘listen, accept and commit’ in an improvised musical? In our last of our three-part SHOWSTOPPER! The Improvised Musical interview series, co-founder DylanEmery shares his faves and secrets after 11 years leading the way. (Have you entered our competition yet?)
2019
In the first of our three-part SHOWSTOPPER! The Improvised Musical interview series, co-founder Dylan Emery told us about he and Adam Meggido brought The Showstoppers to life, with influences from the likes of Ken Campbell and Alan Marriott. What happened next? We talk to Dylan about some highlights since from Edinburgh Fringe to the Olivier Awards... (Have you entered our competition yet?)
2019
How did the late British maverick theatremaker Ken Campbell, leading Canadian improv teacher Alan Marriott and the four Elizabethan humours contribute to the birth of SHOWSTOPPER! The Improvised Musical? In the first of a three-part series, founder Dylan Emery recalls the rollercoaster ride that he and Adam Meggido went on when setting up the troupe more than 11 years ago... (Have you entered our competition yet?)
2019
A hidden gem in the Andrew Lloyd Webber canon, ASPECTS OF LOVE has returned to the London stage after a successful run at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester, and Jonathan O'Boyle's production is certainly making its mark! We've rounded up the reviews, the Offies nominations - and the stunning, brand-new trailer...
If it was possible to love Lin-Manuel Miranda even more than we already do (we thought we were on full-love but now we're not sure) this video might be the thing that does it! In this video, the actor and writer of both HAMILTON and IN THE HEIGHTS teaches us all about Broadway slang...
It feels like we've waited forever for a MOULIN ROUGE stage musical, but now it's on Broadway we're getting impatient for a West End run! Well, for now we may have to dream, but at least we can fill our days with the dreamy tones of Aaron Tveit in this gorgeous music video for "Come What May".
New immersive nightclub musical CLUB MEX has just started performances at Manchester's Hope Mill Theatre, where it's booking until 10 February. Manchester-based contributor Glenn Meads rounds up his top five reasons you should be making a beeline to the dancefloor for this world premiere. Plus, have you seen the heart-thumping trailer yet? Watch here.
2019
Kelly Price stars as the romantically entangled Rose Vibert in Andrew Lloyd Webber's ASPECTS OF LOVE, now transferred to London's Southwark Playhouse from the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester. We caught up with her to find out more about her Andrew Lloyd Webber journey, her other musical influences and her Shakespeare debut...
2019
Bernadette Robinson is currently wowing the West End in the brilliant transfer of SONGS FOR NOBODIES, in which she breathes new life into five legendary performers - Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Edith Piaf, Billie Holiday and Maria Callas - and five ordinary women whose lives were changed by their brushes with them. We asked her four questions about each leading lady and learnt some lesser-known facts about the stars...
2019
Got a #FridayFeeling that you absolutely escape dreary January blues in Britain? We love the summer vibes radiating from these photos of the CLUB MEX cast and director Julie Atherton in holiday mode. They've just started partying properly at Manchester's Hope Mill Theatre...
2019
The team behind brand-new immersive nightclub musical CLUB MEX have been counting down to tonight's opening with daily videos on social media this week, and we just can't get enough. So we've rounded them up for you here. Watch, including sneak-peek interviews in the rehearsal room with director Julie Atherton... and just try not to feel like dancing along. (Don't forget to enter our competition!)
2019
Our #FirstNightTakeover series continues with Perry O’Bree attending the London opening of ASPECTS OF LOVE at Southwark Playhouse. Dressed appropriately (you’ll see what we mean), Perry is wowed by the beautiful setting for Jonathan O'Boyle’s acclaimed chamber revival, the gorgeous score and the stunning performances. Plus he gets to chat with several of the cast including Jerome Pradon, Madalena Alberto, Felix Mosse, Kelly Price and Eleanor Walsh. Does love change everything? Read on and find out…
2019
Just a few days until SONGS FOR NOBODIES returns, transferring to the West End for a strictly limited season. Why did critics go crazy for Bernadette Robinson in this one-woman spectacular last year at Wilton's Music Hall? We've rounded up the rave reviews - time to get booking! (And don't miss our competition or Terri Paddock's post-show Q&A!)
2018
Lewis Cornay, Molly Lynch and Duncan Drury lead the actor-musician ensemble cast of Stiles and Drewe's JUST SO at the Barn Theatre. We caught up with them to discuss the biggest challenges and rewards of performing in an actor-muso production (and putting it all together in just three weeks!)...
2018
Our #FirstNightTakeover series continues with Perry O’Bree attending the West End opening of CAROLINE, OR CHANGE at the Playhouse Theatre, continuing in the West End to 9 February 2019 following sell-out seasons at Chichester and Hampstead. Perry was there at the after-party to catch up with several members of the cast including Sharon D Clarke (who “blew the roof off the Playhouse”), Naana Agyei-Ampadu, Alastair Brookshaw, Me’sha Bryan and Lauren Ward. It turned out to be quite an emotional night!
What can you expect when you get yourself to Cirencester for the Barn Theatre's critically acclaimed new actor-musician revival of Stiles and Drewe's JUST SO? Watch this brilliant new trailer and check out what critics have been saying...
2018
Like so many of us, Jonathan O'Boyle grew up on Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals. But one show he never saw was 1989's ASPECTS OF LOVE. Now he gets to bring his acclaimed Hope Mill Theatre revival to London thirty years after the musical's West End premiere. He explains how he feels about this honour...
2018
Our #FirstNightTakeover series continues with Stage Door Joe attending the opening night of JUST SO at the Barn Theatre, Cirencester, a festive treat that brings an incredibly successful first year at the venue to a colourful close. What a night Joe had seeing Stiles and Drewe’s creation brought to life by such a talented actor-muso cast. Catch up with all his animal adventures below…