Watch out for . . .
MArK Williams (left) — star of Father Brown on TV and Arthur Weasley in the Harry Potter films — will talk to the animals when he leads a new touring production of the enduring Leslie Bricusse musical Doctor Dolittle. Christopher renshaw will direct the new production. Tom Piper, who with Paul Cummins created the marvellous Tower of London poppies installation that had queues snaking over Tower Bridge, will design the show, which will embark on a UK tour starting at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley from November 9. (See doctordolittle for details).
CAROLINE O’CONNOR, Gemma Sutton and Stewart Clarke, who are in director Adam Lenson’s superb revival of musical The Rink, written by Terrence McNally with music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb. It’s on at Southwark Playhouse and my sense is that this intimate production (complete with showstopping choreography, some of it on rollerskates, by Fabian Aloise) is not only better than previous versions, but hammers home the fact that it shouldn’t be staged in a big house. Ross Dawes, Michael Lin, Elander Moore, Ben Redfern and Jason Winter are also top notch in the show.