Theatre Interviews with Top West End Stars

Puppetry designers Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell on creating magic in 'Life of Pi'

Are there more puppets than actors on our stages at the moment? Well, perhaps not quite, but this is certainly a golden age of puppetry in British theatre — from Life of Pi, Frozen, The Ocean at the End of the Lane and The Lion King in the West End to Animal Farm on tour, and the upcoming 101 Dalmatians at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. Crucially, puppets can make the impossible seem possible. Finn Caldwell, co-puppet designer and puppetry and movement director for Life of Pi, knew the show's...

Liisi LaFontaine on introducing ‘Moulin Rouge! The Musical’ to a new generation and new audiences

Liisi LaFontaine never thought she would do musical theatre professionally. The Los Angeles native grew up in the shadow of Hollywood, where film and television rule, and she always gravitated toward pop and R&B music rather than show tunes. She also never imagined her stage career would take shape in London, but after making her West End debut as Deena in Dreamgirls in 2018, she's back across the pond, this time starring as the sultry nightclub songstress Satine in Moulin Rouge! The...

Ria Jones on ‘Habeas Corpus’s' timeliness and the joy of comedy plays

Watch the news at the moment and it's like seeing a farce unfold. There's exaggerated stories, nobody trusts each other, and everyone shakes their heads in disbelief. But what if crazy turns of events were actually meant to happen? When we spoke with Ria Jones about Habeas Corpus, Alan Bennett's 1970s comedy play being staged at the Menier Chocolate Factory this winter, it's apparent that life is imitating art. "It's quite bizarre how [the dialogue] is so current to a point where the audience...

Simon Lipkin on learning the ‘Brian & Roger’ play in eight days

Typically, performers spend weeks in rehearsals, developing scenes and memorising their lines. But what happens when that time frame is drastically reduced? Simon Lipkin found himself with limited time for preparing for his latest show, called in to play Brian in the world premiere of Brian & Roger - A Highly Offensive Play just eight days before the first preview."I had a friend meet me every night and we would work in the theatre until late," Lipkin told London Theatre. Learning 700 lines...

Dino Fetscher on the continued timeliness of ‘The Normal Heart’

As soon as Dino Fetscher went on one of his first vacations post-lockdown, he scored an audition for The Normal Heart at The National Theatre, a play he had read in drama school and is very close to him."If I really want to get a job, all I need to do is book a holiday," Fetscher jokes over Zoom. "And then without a doubt, I get a job that clashes with the dates."Fetscher ultimately landed the role of Felix Turner, a closeted reporter in 1980s New York who falls in love with Ned Weeks, inspired...

Disney Theatrical President Thomas Schumacher on updating musicals and the role of the audience in making theatre

Thomas Schumacher, the longtime president of Disney Theatrical Group, isn't scared of making big changes - whether its adding a song to a time-tested musical, testing a show in a new international city, or reopening multiple productions around the world in the wake of a global pandemic."There are real things in life to be afraid of in musical theatre isn't one of them," Schumacher says.His latest venture in London: opening Frozen in the West End at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. The beloved...

Nathaniel Parker on playing Henry VIII and working with Hilary Mantel on 'The Mirror and the Light'

Nathaniel Parker could well classify as the British theatre's leading history boy - or shall we say man. He played the onetime prime minister Gordon Brown on the West End in The Audience; was the former speaker of the House of Commons, Jack Weatherill, in James Graham's This House; and has spent the better part of a decade living on and off with the character of Henry VIII in the various stage versions of Hilary Mantel's trio of novels about Thomas Cromwell and Tudor England: Wolf Hall, Bring up...

Patsy Ferran and Luke Thallon on building chemistry and empathy in 'Camp Siegfried'

Patsy Ferran and Luke Thallon formed their own bubble while rehearsing for Camp Siegfried at The Old Vic. Although the actors had done some work on the new Bess Wohl play virtually, the nature of the story requires a fast and intimate connection between their characters and Zoom just wasn't going to work for the long term."The chemistry between these two people is pivotal," Ferran said. "If you already put on these literal physical barriers, it's just not quite going to land, because these...

Lucy St. Louis on making history in 'Phantom' and the importance of representation

You could say that Lucy St. Louis manifested playing Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera. Since she was a little girl, she trained in ballet and was taught how to sing by an opera teacher. Now, St. Louis achieves a lifelong dream as the latest actress to play Christine Daaé.However, even though she's making history in the role as the first Black actress to play the famous ingenue, she doesn't want her Christine to be defined by race."It should just be Lucy St. Louis playing Christine...

'Pretty Woman' star Rachael Wooding on bringing 'a little bit of me' to Kit

Rachael Wooding had spent 16 months away from Pretty Woman: The Musical before theatres reopened this summer. Pretty Woman played at the Piccadilly Theatre for a month from February 2020 before theatres were forced to shutdown."Everyone is so happy to be back and in a theatre," said Wooding about returning to the role of Kit in Pretty Woman now at the Savoy Theatre. "I'm still finding Kit but there's definitely a little bit of me in there as well."Based on the classic film starring Julia Roberts...