Watch out for...
HARVEY FIERSTEIN, the writer and actor, who said that the musical Newsies, for which he wrote the book, will come to the UK . . . but not for at least two years. With music by Alan Menken, it’s based on a Disney film about a news vendors’ strike in New York in 1899. It became a surprise hit on Broadway and I’m always being asked about when it will open in London. Fierstein said the right theatre hadn’t come along yet, ‘but hopefully it will in the next couple of years’. He also revealed his play Casa Valentina will run at a London fringe venue in the autumn. Another of his musicals, Kinky Boots, is heading to the Adelphi in August.
CYNTHIA ERIVO (below), who will be performing a special concert called Hear My Soul on Monday at Kings Place in King’s Cross, London. Ms Erivo has a voice made in heaven — and she writes her own material, too. She’ll sing three of her own compositions, including Fly Before You Fall, a track from the film Beyond The Lights, plus a brand new number called Thankful. Amanda Holland, who is producing the show with Erivo, said that she won’t be singing just musical theatre classics. ‘There will be soulful tunes — some Aretha Franklin and John Legend,’ Holland said. ‘Cynthianthia picked the songs she loves to listen n to on her iPod.’ She will perform two numbers from the musical Dreamgirls, including And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going. I re-watched the movie Dreamgirls recently and thought it’s about time a brave producer had the guts to put on the whole show.
DANIEL EVANS, who will be directing the great Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein musical Show Boat at the Crucible, Sheffield, from December 10 through January 16. The show’s based on Edna Ferber’s novel about life along the Mississippi around the turn of the last century. Or as Evans put it: ‘The black folk busting their backs picking cotton, while the white folks work on the Cotton Blossom show boat.’ It’s a depiction of an America that was rapidly changing, and it dealt with stark home truths about bigotry — and love — that are as relevant now as they were when it was first staged in 1927. It’s a serious work with great songs, including Ol’ Man River. ‘If ever there was a song about the need to be free, this is it,’ Evans said. Other classic standards include my favourite, Gallivantin’ Around. Early discussions on casting will begin soon.
SIENNA MILLER (below), who inhabits the role of Sally Bowles in Cabaret in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s production at New York’s Studio 54. Ms Miller stepped into the role for a short run following on from Michelle Williams and Emma Stone. I thought she cracked it. For starters, she didn’t have to worry about an English accent — and she handled the singing and dancing with aplomb. I hope she gets some plum theatre gigs off the back of it. But she has two films to shoot first: Live By Night, which she’ll film with Ben Affleck in July; and then she’ll work with Charlie Hunnam in The Lost City Of Z.