All stories by Maev Kennedy on BroadwayStars

Monday, July 30, 2018

Brexit looms large in arts festival that straddles Irish border by Maev Kennedy

Event features Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot and a sculpture by Antony Gormley at crossing points between north and southVisitors to the only arts festival that straddles the Irish bord…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:54PM[SHARE]
Friday, June 8, 2018

Adrian Edmondson and Nigel Planer reunite for actors satire by Maev Kennedy

Young Ones stars to appear on stage in Vulcan 7 as has-beens stuck in a literal and TV-career wastelandTwo slightly matured Young Ones, Adrian Edmondson and Nigel Planer, have reunited to wr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:36AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Play staged in central London church explores parish's gentrification by Maev Kennedy

Performed at St Giles-in-the-Fields, The End of History outlines site's transformation from gin-soaked squalor to swanky hangoutIn William Hogarth's celebrated print Gin Lane, the church of …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:36PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Broadway hit musical The King and I comes to London's West End by Maev Kennedy

Show starring Kelli O'Hara and Ken Watanabe to get 14-week run in UK before tour of AsiaFestooned with awards and five-star reviews, the Broadway production of the classic musical The King a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:36PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 8, 2018

From Degas muse to modern aerialist: exhibition charts black women in circus by Maev Kennedy

Show opening in Sheffield looks at hidden history of female and black circus performersMiss La La was the star of the show when Edgar Degas painted her in 1879 hanging by her teeth from the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:54PM[SHARE]
Friday, February 23, 2018

Lulu returns to West End after three decades for 42nd Street by Maev Kennedy

Singer takes over from fellow Scot Sheena Easton as vengeful Dorothy Brock at Theatre RoyalLulu is returning to the West End stage after an absence of more than 30 years to star in 42nd Stre…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:34PM[SHARE]
Thursday, December 28, 2017

V&A museum acquires Nijinsky ballet costume designed by Léon Bakst by Maev Kennedy

London museum obtains outfit as part of collection passed to family of dancer's sister, Bronislava NajinskaA silk costume designed by Léon Bakst and worn by Vaslav Nijinsky, one of the grea…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:06PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Shakespeare's Rose theatre gets go-ahead to pop up in York by Maev Kennedy

The 13-sided temporary structure, modelled on the Elizabethan playhouse, will house four Shakespeare plays directed by Lindsay Posner and Damien CrudenA 950-capacity pop-up open-air theatre …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:42PM[SHARE]
Sunday, October 29, 2017

Old Mahogany: Wilton's Music Hall archive acquired by the V&A by Maev Kennedy

Collection charts east London theatre from Victorian pomp to near collapse, then shabby but structurally sound redemptionAn archive recording the glory days as well as the decay and near col…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:24PM[SHARE]
Sunday, May 21, 2017

Henry Lewis obituary by Maev Kennedy

My friend Henry Lewis, who has died aged 70, was a happy soul who woke up humming and often sang his way through the day " often delivering renditions of his own songs, though he could also …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:18PM[SHARE]
Monday, March 13, 2017

Battersea Arts Centre ready to rise from ashes of fire that nearly destroyed it by Maev Kennedy

London arts space is holding a fund-raising auction and inviting the public to contribute ideas for the Phoenix season to mark reopening of grand hall next yearIt is two years to the day sin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, February 14, 2017

'A handsome Valentine': May Morris's love letter to George Bernard Shaw by Maev Kennedy

Card whose receipt Bernard Shaw noted in his diary is identified in uncatalogued album and will go on displayOn 14 February 1886, George Bernard Shaw wrote in his diary: "Got a handsome Vale…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:54AM[SHARE]
Sunday, February 5, 2017

Harker family visit great-grandfather's threatened scene-painting studio by Maev Kennedy

Actor Susannah Harker and relatives bid farewell to Joseph Harker's 1905 London studio which may be turned into flatsThe actor Susannah Harker and a chorus line of her theatrical relatives h…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:32PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Royal Shakespeare Company to stage Robert Harris's Cicero trilogy by Maev Kennedy

Described by director as 'Rome meets the West Wing', six-play adaption will be grand finale of the company's Rome seasonThe Royal Shakespeare Company is creating a six-play adaptation of Rob…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:12PM[SHARE]
Thursday, November 10, 2016

Did Shakespeare write Henry V to suit London theatre's odd shape? by Maev Kennedy

The newly excavated Curtain theatre in Shoreditch is believed to be where Henry V and Romeo and Juliet were first performedThe battle scenes of Shakespeare's Henry V and the dances and sword…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:54AM[SHARE]
Thursday, October 13, 2016

Victorian conjuror's collection goes on show at British Library by Maev Kennedy

The Great Evanion, then down on his luck, gave photographs, tickets, playbills and posters to library in 1895In 1895 the British Library did something extraordinary: it bought, for 20 shilli…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:27PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Impossible magic show hopes to cast a spell on West End audiences by Maev Kennedy

New crop of illusionists and escapologists aim to breathe life into classic tricksIt could turn out to be a "now you see it, now you don't" trick in which a million pounds vanishes into thin…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:30PM[SHARE]
Saturday, September 10, 2016

John Malkovich to make London debut as a theatre director by Maev Kennedy and Chris Wiegand

Actor will return to the UK in order to stage Zach Helm's play Good Canary at Kingston's Rose theatreThe American actor John Malkovich is heading to the UK " not to the West End stage, but t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:24PM[SHARE]
Saturday, July 30, 2016

I Can't Sing X Factor musical to close after just six-week run by Maev Kennedy

£6m parody penned by Harry Hill and Steve Brown latest West End flop despite warm reviews and a divine Simon Cowell' Mark Lawson: Why I Can't Sing was voted off' Judge a song from I Can't…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:01AM[SHARE]
Friday, July 1, 2016

Daniel Radcliffe wins WhatsOnStage best actor award by Maev Kennedy

Former Harry Potter star recognised for performance in The Cripple of Inishmaan while Rupert Grint also wins prize' Michael Grandage rules out second season of West End showsFormer Harry Pot…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:54PM[SHARE]
Monday, June 6, 2016

Equus and Amadeus playwright Peter Shaffer dies aged 90 by Maev Kennedy

British playwright, who also won an Oscar for film adaptation of Amadeus, has died after falling seriously ill last weekThe playwright Sir Peter Shaffer, whose critical and popular successes…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:22AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Excavation finds early Shakespeare theatre was rectangular by Maev Kennedy

Foundations of the Curtain where Romeo and Juliet and Henry V were possibly first staged uncovered in ShoreditchThe foundations and shoulder-high walls of the Curtain theatre, where Shakespe…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:43AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Shakespeare's school to open to visitors to celebrate 400th anniversary by Maev Kennedy

The still-functioning school in Stratford-upon-Avon opens its doors after a £1.8m restorationThe school room in Stratford-upon-Avon where Shakespeare learned "small Latin and less Greek" …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:12PM[SHARE]
Friday, April 15, 2016

Brunel's Thames tunnel (and accidental brothel) becomes new arts space by Maev Kennedy

The entrance hall to Brunel's 19th-century tunnel under the Thames has been turned into a unique auditorium, complete with the rumble of Tube trainsThe engineers Marc and his son Isambard Ki…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:55AM[SHARE]

York Theatre Royal reopens after months of refurbishment by Maev Kennedy

A new production of Brideshead Revisited will signal the relaunch of one of the UK's oldest theatres, after the discovery of medieval remains forced its closureThe Theatre Royal in York, whi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:55AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Site of Shakespeare's grand Stratford home to open to the public by Maev Kennedy

Playwright's New Place mansion, which was demolished in 1759, is re-imagined following major excavation projectIn July a grand bronze-studded oak door will swing open on the main street of S…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:53PM[SHARE]
Friday, February 5, 2016

John Malkovich to make London debut as a theatre director by Maev Kennedy

The eclectic film actor has confirmed he will stage Zach Helm's Good Canary at Kingston's Rose theatre next year The American actor John Malkovich is heading to the UK " not to the West End …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:48AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 18, 2015

A film for each play to mark 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death by Maev Kennedy

Shakespeare's Globe project to show 37 new 10-minute films on 37 screens laid out along Thames path between Westminster and London BridgeShakespeare's Globe theatre is to mark the 400th anni…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:51PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Bard times: new novels, poems and plays for Shakespeare400 celebrations by Maev Kennedy

Dozens of cultural organisations will join forces in 2016 as part of a cross-disciplinary fiesta to mark 400 years since Shakespeare's death, including a major exhibition at the British Libr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:46AM[SHARE]
Friday, September 18, 2015

Thirty-one British theatres at risk of destruction, Theatres Trust reports by Maev Kennedy

Once-beloved venues such as the Brighton Hippodrome and Morecambe Winter Gardens could disappear completely after falling into disrepairThe Theatres Trust has announced that 31 theatres acro…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, August 14, 2015

Anna Maxwell Martin to star as Lady Macbeth at London's Young Vic by Maev Kennedy

Director Carrie Cracknell and choreographer Lucy Guerin will stage the gory tragedy with a company of actors and dancers Anna Maxwell Martin, the steely star of the BBC adaptation of Charles…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:20PM[SHARE]

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off