All stories by Mark Shenton on BroadwayStars

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Casting Set for New U.K. National Tour of Chicago by Mark Shenton

A new U.K. national tour of John Kander and Fred Ebb's Chicago, which will begin performances at Oxford's New Theatre Feb. 12, 2016, is to feature John Partridge as Billy Flynn, Hayl…

SOURCE: Playbill at 10:35AM[SHARE]

Mark Shenton: Bruce Willis is helping make Misery on Broadway by Mark Shenton

Broadway has just got one more thing to be miserable about: while Les Miserables continues its popular way at the Imperial Theatre,

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM[SHARE]
Monday, November 16, 2015

Mark Shenton: This is not a review of Lloyd Webber's School of Rock on Broadway by Mark Shenton

Critics don’t usually go to early previews, and we certainly don’t review them. (In New York " and increasingly in London "

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM[SHARE]

The Illusionists Open in London Tonight by Mark Shenton

The Illusionists – Witness the Impossible, which played a sell-out season at Broadway's Marquis Theatre last November, makes its West End debut, opening officially at the S…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM[SHARE]
Sunday, November 15, 2015

INTERVIEW: Warren Mitchell " Mark Shenton's interview with the actor in 2008 by Mark Shenton

In 2008 I interviewed the veteran actor Warren Mitchell, who died yesterday (November 14) at the age of 89, ahead of his final West End appearance in a play called VISITING MR GREEN that ca…

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 08:43AM[SHARE]
Friday, November 13, 2015

What's Hot in London: "Downton Abbey" and "Orange Is the New Black" Stars Take to the Stage by Mark Shenton

By coincidence, two of London's smaller producing theatres have taken on Broadway in the same week. Here's a look at which shows crossed the pond and what television stars are coming…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00PM[SHARE]

Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights Extends London Run by Mark Shenton

The return of Lin-Manuel Miranda's first Broadway musical, In the Heights, originally seen in London at Southwark Playhouse in 2014, has been extended a second time. It is now bookin…

SOURCE: Playbill at 10:58AM[SHARE]

Mark Shenton's top venues: Menier Chocolate Factory
 by Mark Shenton

I kicked off this new series last week with a venue on my doorstep " the Southwark Playhouse. This week I continue

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, November 12, 2015

Is there more to a transfer than a hop across the pond? by Mark Shenton

Last week Ben Brantley, the powerful chief theatre critic of the New York Times, wrote a rare rave review for the latest

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 10:15AM[SHARE]

Mark Shenton's theatre picks: November 12 by Mark Shenton

There’s a brief lull before the annual storm of Christmas openings. The big events are limited runs for variety turns, with each

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM[SHARE]

Stanley Tucci, Ian McKellen, Jeremy Irvine Perform The Odyssey in London Today; Free Streaming Avail by Mark Shenton

A live reading of Homer's The Odyssey, being held Nov. 12 and live-streamed free from unusual and iconic locations across London, marks the culmination of the Almeida Greeks season. …

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Performance Halted Due to Ill Audience Member at Opening-Night Performance at London's National by Mark Shenton

An audience member became seriously ill during the closing minutes of the National Theatre's production of Harley Granville Barker's Waste at its press-night opening Nov. 10.

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:17PM[SHARE]

Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story to Be Revived for U.K. Tour in 2016 by Mark Shenton

Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, which premiered in the West End in 1989, where it ran for over 12 years, originally at the Victoria Palace Theatre and subsequently the Strand (now the Ivor Nov…

SOURCE: Playbill at 09:39AM[SHARE]

Stanley Tucci, Ian McKellen, Jeremy Irvine and Andrew Scott Set for Live Reading of The Odyssey by Mark Shenton

A live reading of Homer's The Odyssey, being held Nov. 12 and live-streamed free from unusual and iconic locations across London, will mark the culmination of the Almeida Greeks seas…

SOURCE: Playbill at 08:27AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Chief Executive of Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society Steps Down by Mark Shenton

Kath M. Mainland, who has been chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society for the last seven years, is to step down from the post, to take up a new position as executive direct…

SOURCE: Playbill at 01:29PM[SHARE]

Jesus Christ Superstar to Be Revived at London's Open Air; Season Announced by Mark Shenton

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's New Testament musical Jesus Christ Superstar is to receive an outdoor staging at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in London in 2016, to mark the 45th…

SOURCE: Playbill at 10:12AM[SHARE]
Monday, November 9, 2015

Mark Shenton: It's official, we have lost the battle against disruptive audience members by Mark Shenton

One of the side-effects of the social media culture we now live in, is that everyone’s a critic " on Facebook and

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM[SHARE]
Sunday, November 8, 2015

Diary of a Theatre Addict: Ten Crazed Days (and Nights) Before I Go Away Again by Mark Shenton

I've had ten days in London between a holiday in Gran Canaria and heading to New York -- and have been to fifteen shows. But I'm finally giving up on going to live concerts.

SOURCE: mytheatremates.com at 03:46AM[SHARE]
Saturday, November 7, 2015

First Two Productions of Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company Open; Casts Include Branagh, Judi Dench, Zo by Mark Shenton

The opening productions of the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company's season at the West End's Garrick Theatre officially open with a press day Nov. 7, following previews that began Oct. …

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, November 6, 2015

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Sets West End Record for Advance Sale by Mark Shenton

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the two-part new play co-created by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany that tells an original eighth "Harry Potter" story, is rep…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:06PM[SHARE]

War of the Worlds, Stage Version of Hit Album Based on H.G. Wells Story, to Make West End Debut by Mark Shenton

The War of the Worlds, a much-traveled stage version of Jeff Wayne's album of the same name that has played regular arena tours around the U.K. and the world for eight years, is to f…

SOURCE: Playbill at 05:19AM[SHARE]

"Orange is the New Black" Star Uzo Aduba to Play Opposite "Downton Abbey" Star Laura Carmichael in T by Mark Shenton

Uzo Aduba, the double Emmy Award winning star of "Orange is the New Black," is to play opposite "Downton Abbey" star Laura Carmichael and Zawe Ashton in a new contemporar…

SOURCE: Playbill at 04:48AM[SHARE]

Mark Shenton's top venues: Southwark Playhouse by Mark Shenton

Earlier this week, I was one of the judges of the Empty Space Peter Brook awards, that every year acknowledges fringe and

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, November 5, 2015

What's Hot in London: Awards Season Already? And Some Controversy to Go With It! by Mark Shenton

The Menier Chocolate Factory's 2013 production of The Color Purple re-appears on Broadway, beginning performances Nov. 10 at Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. It is the latest in a line of …

SOURCE: Playbill at 03:30PM[SHARE]

Mark Shenton's theatre picks: November 5 by Mark Shenton

It’s a week of big prices and big stars, the return of the Royal Shakespeare Company to the Barbican, and yet another

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM[SHARE]

Elf Opens at London's Dominion Theatre by Mark Shenton

The West End premiere of Elf takes place at London's Dominion Theatre Nov. 5, following previews that began Oct. 24, for a 10-week season through Jan. 2, 2016, following the show'…

SOURCE: Playbill at 12:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Mark Shenton: Reselling complimentary tickets breaches the covenant of trust by Mark Shenton

I suppose it was inevitable, but in a world where theatre critics (and lots of other journalists) now work for free, some

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, November 3, 2015

U.K. Regional Theatres See Rise in Attendance But at Overall Cost by Mark Shenton

U.K.'s regional theatres have seen an increase in both attendance and revenue in the last year, according to a new report published by UK Theatre, the trade body that represents major th…

SOURCE: Playbill at 11:16AM[SHARE]

Exclusive: Rodgers and Hammerstein VP Appointed New Chief Creative Officer for MTI Europe by Mark Shenton

Longtime Rodgers & Hammerstein vice president Bert Fink is leaving to join Musical Theatre International, the largest musical theatre licensing agency in America, as Chief Creative O…

SOURCE: Playbill at 10:13AM[SHARE]

Exclusive: Rodgers & Hammerstein VP Appointed New Chief Creative Officer for MTI Europe by Mark Shenton

Longtime Rodgers & Hammerstein senior vice president Bert Fink is leaving to join Music Theatre International, the largest musical theatre licensing agency in America, as Chief Creat…

SOURCE: Playbill at 09:14AM[SHARE]

Mark Shenton: Should actors use their celebrity to set the agenda? by Mark Shenton

Fame has long been a passport to power: one-time B-movie actor Ronald Reagan managed to become president of the United States, the

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM[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