The West End Frame Show: Theatre News, Reviews & Chat

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The West End Frame Show: Theatre News, Reviews & Chat episodes

March 19, 2024 S10 Ep5 (ft. Jenny Fitzpatrick): Olivier Award nominations, Guys & Dolls, Pippin, The Wizard of Oz, Ghost The Musical + more!
Jenny Fitzpatrick (Nancy in Oliver!) co-hosts The West End Frame Show!

Andrew and Jenny discuss Guys & Dolls (Bridge Theatre) and The Wizard of Oz (New Wimbledon Theatre, UK & Ireland Tour) as well as the latest news about the Olivier Award nominations, Pippin In Concert, Dolly Parton's Here You Come Again, West End Does: Country plus lots more.

Jenny recently received huge acclaim for her performance as Nancy in Oliver! at the Leeds Playhouse, having previously played the Rose Seller in the West End production.

Jenny made her professional debut in Henry IV Part I, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Camelot at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. Her credits also include Nala in Legend Of The Lion King (Disneyland Paris), Ronnette in Little Shop of Horros (Menier Chocolate Factory/West End), Billie in Our House (UK Tour), Louise & understudy Oda Mae Brown in Ghost The Musical (Manchester/West End), Delores in Sister Act (Aberystwyth), A Pacificst’s Guide To The War On Cancer (National Theatre), Muzzy in Thoroughly Modern Millie (UK Tour), Lucius/Centurion in Boudica (Globe), Fish/Sonny’s mum in Wonderboy (Bristol Old Vic), Ghost of Christmas Present in A Christmas Carol (Old Vic), Fama in Berlusconi (Southwark Playhouse) and multiple runs as Justice in Rock Of Ages (UK Tour).

Having played Tina Turner in the 2013 UK tour of the musical Soul Sister, Jenny was the alternate Tina Turner in the original West End cast of Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. Jenny recorded an episode of our interviews podcast In The Frame whilst starring in The World Goes Round (Barn Theatre). On screen, she has been seen in The Alienist, Mi High V ‘Patient’ and EastEnders.

Follow Jenny on Instagram: @jennytfitz

Hosted by Andrew Tomlins.
@AndrewTomlins32

Thanks for listening!

Email: [email protected]
Visit westendframe.co.uk for more info about our podcasts.
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49 min
March 12, 2024 S10 Ep4 (ft. Benjamin Yates): Mary Poppins, Marisha Wallace on Celebrity Big Brother, The Drifters Girl, Bradley Jaden, & Juliet + more
Benjamin Yates (Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz) returns to co-host The West End Frame Show!

Andrew and Benjamin discuss The Drifters Girl (New Oxford Theatre, UK Tour) and An Officer and a Gentleman(Glasgow Kings Theatre, UK Tour) as well as the latest news about Marisha Wallace entering the Celebrity Big Brother House, Mary Poppins, & Juliet, MJ and lots more.

Some of Benjamin's theatre credits include understudy Fiyero in Wicked (UK & Ireland tour), understudy Tony in West Side Story (Kilworth House), Mungojerrie in Cats (London Palladium), Sonny in Grease (Slovenia), School of Rock (West End), Wonderland (UK Tour), Tommy The Musical (Blackpool Winter Garden) and Jesus Christ Superstar (World Arena Tour). On screen, he starred in several episodes of Emmerdale (ITV).

Benjamin played Tommy DeVito in the West End revival of Jersey Boys at the Trafalgar Theatre and is currently starring as the Scarecrow in the UK & Ireland Tour of The Wizard Of Oz.

Hosted by Andrew Tomlins.
@AndrewTomlins32

Thanks for listening!

Email: [email protected]
Visit westendframe.co.uk for more info about our podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
52 min
March 05, 2024 S10 Ep3 (ft. Ryan Carter): Black Out Performances, Slave Play, Standing At The Sky's Edge, Cable Street, Side Show + more!
Ryan Carter (Ain't Too Proud / Choir Of Man) returns to The West End Frame Show!

Andrew & Ryan have a conversation about the reaction to the Black Out Performances announced for Slave Play. They also discuss Standing At The Sky's Edge (Gillian Lynne Theatre), Cable Street (Southwark Playhouse), Side Show In Concert (London Palladium) and Before After (Southwark Playhouse) as well as the latest news about Cabaret, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Closer To Heaven and lots more.

Ryan is an actor and all-round creative. On stage he has been in Motown The Musical (Shaftesbury Theatre), Choir Of Man (Edinburgh Fringe Festival), The Boyfriend (Menier Chocolate Factory) and The World Goes Round (Barn Theatre). Most recently Ryan played Smokey Robinson and covered Eddie Kendricks in the West End production of Ain’t Too Proud (Prince Edward Theatre).

As the creative producer of RyCa Productions, Ryan produced the acclaimed Refresh concerts as well as a series of shows at Jack Solomons. Ryan was one of the Creative Directors for Turn Up London, he was Creative Director of Digital Projects for The Barn Theatre where he made the interactive concert The Secret Society of Leading Ladies and worked on Now Or Never by Matthew Harvey. He was the Casting Director for The Wiz at the Hope Mill Theatre, has worked with Urdang and is currently working on the Spring Awakening concert (Victoria Palace Theatre).

Follow Ryan on Instagram: @ryanjesse95

Hosted by Andrew Tomlins.
@AndrewTomlins32

Thanks for listening!

Email: [email protected]
Visit westendframe.co.uk for more info about our podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
51 min
February 28, 2024 SHOW TALK: The Big Life, I Should Be So Lucky, Bronco Billy, Redcliffe, Frozen, Mamma Mia! & West End Sessions
West End Frame Editor, Andrew Tomlins, is back for some bonus show talk!

The shows covered in this episode include The Big Life (Stratford East), I Should Be So Lucky (New Wimbledon Theatre, UK Tour), Bronco Billy (Charing Cross Theatre), Redcliffe (MT Fest, Turbine Theatre), Frozen (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Mamma Mia! (Novello Theatre) and Daniel Koek's West End Sessions (Brooks Mews Wine Bar).

Andrew also discusses West End Frame's 12th birthday and the sad Broadway postponement of My Son'a A Queer (But What Can You Do).

Hosted by Andrew Tomlins.
@AndrewTomlins32

Thanks for listening!

Email: [email protected]
Visit westendframe.co.uk for more info about our podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
24 min
February 27, 2024 S10 Ep2 (ft. Amy Thornton): Hadestown, Donny Osmond, Hamilton, Todrick Hall, Miriam Margolyes, Jamie Muscato + more!
Amy Thornton (Moulin Rouge / Evita) co-hosts The West End Frame Show!

Andrew and Amy discuss Hadestown (Lyric Theatre) and Hamilton (Victoria Palace Theatre) as well as the latest news about Donny Osmond, Wild About You, Claudia Kariuki, Miriam Margolyes and more.

Amy recently completed her run as Nini in the West End production of Moulin Rogue (Piccadilly Theatre) and played Tess in the workshop of Burlesque The Musical.

Amy’s West End credits include: Palladium Panto (London Palladium), Matilda (Cambridge), Rock of Ages & Flashdance (Shaftesbury), Never Forget (Savoy) and Grease (Piccadilly).

Her credits also include: Evita (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Fame (UK Tour & Monte Carlo), Cats (Jersey & Guernsey) and Starlight Express (UK & Scandinavian Tour). Amy was in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (Universal).

Alongside her performing career, Amy works as an assistant, associate and resident choreographer with the likes of Ellen Kane, Karen Bruce and Fabian Aloise. She was resident choreographer for the West End production of Matilda, assistant choreographer for the US, Australian, German, Chinese, Paris and UK touring productions of The Bodyguard and associate choreographer for Regent Park’s Evita. Amy was Ellen Kane’s assistant choreographer for the film adaptation of Matilda.

Follow Amy on Instagram: @itsamythornton

Hosted by Andrew Tomlins.
@AndrewTomlins32

Thanks for listening!

Email: [email protected]
Visit westendframe.co.uk for more info about our podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
54 min
February 20, 2024 S10 Ep1 (ft. Blair Gibson): Wicked Trailer, Vanessa Williams, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Just For One Day, Why Am I So Single + more!
We're back for a brand new season of The West End Frame Show - join us for your weekly stagey catchup!

This week, Blair Gibson (Elder Price in The Book of Mormon) co-hosts The West End Frame Show.

Andrew and Blair discuss the Wicked trailer, Everybody's Talking About Jamie (Peacock Theatre) and Just For One Day (The Old Vic) as well as the latest news about The Devil Wears Prada, Oliver!, Why Am I So Single? and more.

Blair's early theatre credits include Erik in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (London workshop), Shane in Game Night (Drayton Arms Theatre), The Beast in Beauty & the Beast (Corn Exchange Newbury), Prince Charming in Cinderella (Bristol Hippodrome) and Mike Singer in Zanna, Don’t! (The Edinburgh Festival Fringe).

Blair played Bob Gaudio in Jersey Boys for Norwegian Cruise Lines before reprising his performance for the musical's UK & Ireland tour during which he appeared on our interviews podcast In The Frame.

Last year Blair took over as Elder Price in the West End production of The Book of Mormon at the Prince Of Wales Theatre, becoming the first British actor to debut as the principal Elder Price in London.

Follow Blair on Instagram: @blairgibson__

The Book of Mormon runs at the Prince Of Wales Theatre. Visit www.thebookofmormonmusical.com for info and tickets.

Hosted by Andrew Tomlins.
@AndrewTomlins32

Thanks for listening!

Email: [email protected]
Visit westendframe.co.uk for more info about our podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
47 min
February 07, 2024 The Catchup Episode: Six, Two Strangers, You're A Good Man Charlie Brown, The Book of Mormon, The Witches + more (ft. Lisa Martland) - Part 2
We're back for a catchup about everything all the shows we've seen over the past couple of months!

In part two, Andrew and theatre journalist Lisa Martland discuss Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) (Kiln Theatre), The Witches (National Theatre), You're A Good Man Charlie Brown (Upstairs at the Gatehouse), Peter Pan (London Palladium), Six (West End & Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, UK & Ireland Tour), Sunset Boulevard (Savoy Theatre) and The Book of Mormon starring Blair Gibson and Paige Peddie (Prince Of Wales Theatre).

Having spent many years at The Stage – including five years as Deputy Editor – Lisa is the Founding Editor of one of the UK’s top theatre websites, Musical Theatre Review which recently celebrated its tenth anniversary. Lisa is also Sub-Editor for Musicals Magazine.

Part One of this episode was released yesterday (Tuesday 6th February).

Hosted by Andrew Tomlins.
@AndrewTomlins32

Thanks for listening!

Email: [email protected]
Visit westendframe.co.uk for more info about our podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
39 min
February 06, 2024 The Catchup Episode: Wicked Tour, Rehab, Cruel Intentions, The Motive and the Cue & Alan Cumming (ft. Lisa Martland) - Part 1
We're back for a catchup about everything all the shows we've seen over the past couple of months!

In part one, Andrew and theatre journalist Lisa Martland discuss Wicked (Edinburgh Playhouse, UK Tour) starring Casey Al-Shaqsy and Megan Gardiner, The Motive & The Cue (Noël Coward Theatre), Rehab The Musical (Neon 194), Alan Cumming is Not Acting His Age (Theatre Royal Drury Lane) and Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical (The Other Palace).

Having spent many years at The Stage – including five years as Deputy Editor – Lisa is the Founding Editor of one of the UK’s top theatre websites, Musical Theatre Review which recently celebrated its tenth anniversary. Lisa is also Sub-Editor for Musicals Magazine.

Part Two drops tomorrow (Wednesday 7th February).

Hosted by Andrew Tomlins.
@AndrewTomlins32

Thanks for listening!

Email: [email protected]
Visit westendframe.co.uk for more info about our podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
48 min
January 26, 2024 The Color Purple Episode (ft. Emmie from Theatre & Tonic)
To mark the UK release of The Color Purple movie, we're delving into the the new movie musical.

Directed by Blitz Bazawule, The Color Purple has screenplay by Marcus Gardley. The cast is led by Fantasia Barrino as Celie, Danielle Brooks as Sofia and Taraji P. Henson as Shug.

Alice Walker wrote the original Color Purple novel in 1982, three years later the original film was released and in 2005 the musical adaptation - with a score by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray - opened on Broadway.
This episode is co-hosted by Emmie from Theatre & Tonic. Emmie started the theatre blog back in 2014 and hasn’t looked back, growing Theatre & Tonic to a content filled theatre website with lots of contributors.

As well as popping up on various BBC radio stations, Emmie has hosted many episodes of The Stagey Place podcast. Alongside all of that, she is the Editor and Social Media Manager for London Box Office Limited.

In this episode, Andrew and Emmie discuss their thoughts about the new Color Purple movie and Emmie reflects on ten years of theatre blogging.

The Color Purple is in cinemas now.

Check out Theatre & Tonic at www.theatreandtonic.co.uk.

Hosted by Andrew Tomlins
@AndrewTomlins32

Thanks for listening!

Email: [email protected]
Visit westendframe.co.uk for more info about our podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
54 min
January 23, 2024 The Mean Girls Episode (ft. Jenna Fincken)
We're back with a totally fetch episode about the brand new Mean Girls movie!

Ahead of Mean Girls opening in the West End in June, the stage musical has been adapted into a brand new film. Directed by Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr, Tina Fey has once again written the movie's script.

The cast includes Angourie Rice as Cady Heron, Reneé Rapp as Regina George, Auliʻi Cravalho as Janis, Jaquel Spivey as Damian, Avantika as Karen and Bebe Wood as Gretchen.

This episode is co-hosted by writer and actor Jenna Fincken.

Jenna wrote and starred in her one-person play Ruckus which had a sold-out, highly acclaimed run at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Later that year, the show transferred to London for a run at the Southwark Playhouse.

Jenna was nominated for an Offie Award for Best Lead Performance in a Play and Ruckus was nominated for Best Off-West End production at the WhatsOnStage Awards. She’s about return to the show for a tour.

In this episode, Andrew and Jenna delve into their thoughts about the new Mean Girls movie and Jenna discusses why she's so excited to take Ruckus on tour.

You can see Ruckus at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester 9th - 10th February, North Wall, Oxford 20th - 21st February, Harlow Playhouse 15th March and MAST Mayflower Studios, Southampton 19th March. For info and tickets, visit www.jennafincken.com.

Mean Girls is in cinemas now.

Hosted by Andrew Tomlins
@AndrewTomlins32

Thanks for listening!

Email: [email protected]
Visit westendframe.co.uk for more info about our podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
46 min

About The West End Frame Show: Theatre News, Reviews & Chat

From the publisher's feed

Your weekly stagey catchup! Join West End Frame Editor, Andrew Tomlins, and industry co-hosts for a round-up of the latest theatre news and reviews. Special guests include West End performers,…