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theatreguys.net presents:
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Fredo's Theatre Group
Welcome to our Theatre Group website - we hope you will find all the information you need. This is a not-for-profit UK theatre-going group for our friends and colleagues (see foot of page).
We do not sell tickets to the public.
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 COACH DEPARTURE TIMES
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>Latest Offers: It's time to make a booking -
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Details of all Available Bookings are shown on the Current Bookings page -
click HERE or on the ads above.
Extra Discounts for our Donmar Friends
Previously advertised shows are now sold out
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IN THE INDIVIDUAL SHOW PANELS, CLICK ON THE UNDERLINED TITLE FOR A LINK TO A REVIEW
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Tuesday 24 July
7.00pm performance
London Palladium
(Review Round-up)
"Some of the loveliest songs in musical theatre, here sung by an absolutely crack cast."
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Please note early coach departure times:
Palace Theatre 4.00 pm;
Chalkwell Schools 4:05;
Elms 4:10; West Leigh 4:12;
Thames Drive 4:15; Hadleigh 4:20; Kenneth Road 4:25
Gt Tarpots 4:30; 5 Bells 4.35.
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Monday
30 July
at the
Bridge Theatre
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Patients’ singalongs and Bennett’s stinging wit light up a state-of-the-nation play set on a geriatric ward. This is a sharp, funny, subversively political play, a play full of quiet anger under its surface charm, whose episodic structure is cleverly camouflaged by Nicholas Hytner as director, Bob Crowley as designer and Arlene Phillips as choreographer.
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>OnOurOwn:
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Updated 17/07/18 -
What we see without the Group: click HERE or on the ads below to see our comments.
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>News and Information: Please scroll down the page
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IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHERE TO FIND THE CHEAPEST AGENCIES TO BOOK THEATRE TICKETS, CLICK HERE
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THE KING AND I -
SOMETHING WONDERFUL
While the audience leaving the St James Theatre after the opening night of The King and I were whistling a happy tune, the creators of the show, Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein ll were flying on a light cloud of music. They had produced something wonderful
This was their fifth collaboration on Broadway, and following the incredible, ground-breaking successes of Oklahoma! (1943), and Carousel (1945) they’d had a stumble with Allegro (1947) - though a stumble that ran for 315 performances wasn’t a disgrace.
They had a spectacular return to form with South Pacific (1949), but needed to follow this with another hit. They’d approached The King and I with some misgivings: they weren’t keen on the novel that was the source material, and they were wary of their star, Gertrude Lawrence. They’d had difficulty finding an actor to play the King, and were unsure how the two leading players would perform together. Clearly they were problems, and Rodgers and Hammerstein resolved to turn them to their advantage – and in doing so, created one of their most emotional and erotic musicals.
This wasn’t obvious to producer Leland Hayward when....
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IN HER PRIME
We’d enjoyed the Donmar’s production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie when we took our group to see it, and I was somewhat puzzled by a couple of less than generous comments on the Comments page. I was pleased that my enthusiasm was matched by others in our group, but I was eager to see the play again, to see if it lived up to my initial enjoyment.
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And it did. As often happens with a very good production, a second viewing reveals the detailed work that goes into character development by the director and actors. In this play, with its changes of location and time-switches, it’s very important for the actors to focus on the point that they are at in the narrative, otherwise the audience gets lost entirely. The cast achieved that triumphantly.
Following the Director’s Forum performance, the Literary Manager of the Donmar, Clare Slater, introduced members of the cast for a Q & A. She was joined by Sylvestra Le Touzel, Rona Morrison, Nicola Coughlan, Kit Young, Emma Hindle, Edward McLiam and the vivid personification of Miss Brodie in person, Lia Williams.
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Clare mischievously asked the cast how many of them had read Muriel Spark’s novel before becoming involved in the play. Only Sylvestra had (and among the audience members, I was one of only a few who proudly raised their hand). Even Clare herself hadn’t read it before, though she is now a confirmed fan. Rona reported that it had been on syllabuses in Scotland, but had recently been taken off (and replaced with what? I wondered).
Had the cast dug into the book, in that case? Sylvestra pointed out that this was a new adaptation by David Harrower, who was working closely with the Muriel Spark estate to make sure that he respected Dame Muriel’s intentions. Their original script was a draft that was in development, so they had referred to the novel to help trace the timeline of events.
Lia drew our attention to the fact that it is a “memory play” based on Sandie’s recollections, which could make it feel slippery for the actors. She herself had been absent.../continued HERE
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There's just been further news on the casting for Company: Jonathan Bailey, who stole our hearts in The York Realist, is going to be Jamie – that’s right, as in “Today is for Jamie, Jamie I give you the rest of my life”, and the Paul whom he’s not going to marry, will be Alex Gaumond from many shows including Legally Blonde. In the original Company, as any Sondheimites will know, Paul sings Today is for Amy who then declares she's Not Getting Married Today. This time around Paul and Jamie are, appropriately enough for this century, a same gender couple about to tie the knot. And why not? Sondheim approves and has given his blessing for the change.
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Alex & Jonathan
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There are other gender changes too, announced last week. We all know Bobby will now be Bobbi played by Rossalie Craig, but her three ex-boyfriends, instead of girlfriends, will be George Blagdon, Richard Fleeshman and Matthew Seadon-Young, all theatre well-knowns.
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George Richard Matthew
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I look forward to George Blagdon (Versailles, and currently in Tartuffe) singing Another Hundred People, and Richard Fleeshman (Ghost, tv's Call The Midwife) telling that sad story about the butterfly.
Mike 12/07/18
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THEATRE NEWS HEADLINES
Theatre News Headlines are automatically updated throughout the day.
You will find articles, reviews, interviews - just click HERE to go to the WhatsOnStage.com website page, or click on the Headlines below for News from OfficialLondonTheatre.com
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OUR PREVIOUS NEWS ITEMS FROM THIS WEBSITE CAN BE SEEN HERE.
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This is a not-for-profit UK theatre-going group for our friends and colleagues and their own extended group of friends. It costs nothing to join us but must be by personal introduction from another member of the group. We provide tickets at group discounts for London theatres (and coach transport from Southend, if required).
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Bookings (Currently on offer)
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Venice Footnotes
+ photos
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Click on the ear (above) to read about
Hearing Devices
now available in many theatres. They may be of help to YOU.
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theatreCat
Libby Purves
reviews
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Click on the Cat
to read Libby's reviews
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Ticket Price Watch:
For updates on higher prices and what the producers want you to pay. We also give you occasional news on any Discount offers -
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Updated 24/05/18
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Ask us about
Theatre Tokens:
They make ideal gifts for theatre-going friends. They are available in denominations of £20, £10 and £5 and can be used to buy theatre tickets at all West End theatres and the half-price tkts booth in Leicester Square. You can buy them from us and we accept them too.
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This website is now hosted by 1&1.co.uk
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