Stuck for a half term activity? Well look no further than a London Theatre Break, it’s the perfect mini getaway for all the family.
Show and Stay have a range of shows to suit everyone, if you want action and adventure why not book to see Lord of the Rings - a powerful tale of good verses evil. If you loved the Wizard of Oz, then book the sensational Wicked and see how the good witch of the north and the wicked witch of the west came to be.
Family favorites Grease and Joseph are ideal for a half term theatre break, watch Susan McFadden, Danny Bayne and Lee Mead live on stage in the West End. The Sound of Music, Hairspray and The Lion King are just some more examples of great shows which will have your family smiling all half term.
Why not team your theatre break with a London Attraction, from as little as £12.50 per person you could be visiting celebrity wax works in Madame Tussauds or soaring above the clouds on the iconic London Eye.
If you book a family theatre break before the 14th March 2008 you will get one nights stay in a top London hotel for FREE - that’s right absolutely nothing! So get your skates on and book your family on a Show and Stay theatre break this half term.
Louise Henderson from Newcastle Upon Tyne has fought off the other hopeful witches and wizards to win the Wannabe WICKED competition. In an X-Factor style audition at the Apollo Victoria Theatre finalists were voted off through a series of knockout sing-offs leaving Louise to scoop the prize.
Louise has won the chance to play a walk on part in the hit West End show WICKED during the station scene, she will join the cast backstage, have a make-up and costume fitting, and take her bow at the final curtain.
Louise is due to appear in WICKED on the 8th or 15th December 2007.
Stuck for gift ideas? Well look no further than Show and Stay! Whether you want to treat a loved one or just fancy treating yourself, we have THE Christmas gift package to suit any stocking.
Step one: choose a show
From the shining colours of Joseph’s coat to the wild plains of Africa in the Lion King, we have all the TOP West End shows for you to choose from. Dads, mums, daughters and sons - we have something for everyone.
Step two: choose your hotel and pre-theatre dinner.
We have a delightful range of two star to five star hotels in London and a mouthwatering selection of pre-theatre restaurants to sample.
Step Three: Adding an attraction.
Whether you want to see iconic London attractions or get in the festive spirit we have something for you. As Christmas is nearly upon us we have a great selection of festive attractions to add on to your package, including ice skating at the Tower of London and festive fun at Winter Wonderland Hyde Park.
Christmas in London is simply magical and chock-a-block with festive attractions, from Spitalfields Winter Festival to Trafalgar Square Tree Lighting - check out our Christmas events in London page for more information on these activities.
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s protégés scooped the top awards at this years People’s Choice Theatre Awards, Lee Mead (unsurprisingly) received ‘Favorite Theatre Actor’ and Connie Fisher won the ‘Favorite Theatre Actress Award’. Both Mead and Fisher were shocked that they’d won but were grateful to the public for appreciating their talents - ahem I’m sure women everywhere appreciate Lee’s talents in more ways than one!
Daniel Radcliff’s nude scenes helped score Equus the ‘Favorite Play Award’ and the spellbinding show Wicked conjured up ‘Favorite Musical’ and ‘Favorite Theatre Moment’.
However the most shocking award of the night had to be ‘The Favorite Pre-theatre Dinner Award’, in my opinion the public had pretty much hit the nail on the head when dishing out these awards but when ‘The Favorite Pre-theatre Dinner Award’ was announced I was left slightly confused! Drum roll please………….The Pizza Express Haymarket, now don’t get me wrong - I do love Pizza Express, I just think that the pre-theatre restaurant should be as divine as the theatre and as delectable as the show. There are hundreds of delicious restaurants to choose from in this area that serve mouthwatering dishes for reasonable prices in luxurious settings, maybe I’m bias as we sell some amazing restaurants in our packages but they are definitely worth a try before a theatre show.
Nevertheless the awards went to deserving winners and a good night was had by one and all!
Alright, so you’ve seen the show and maybe you’ve sung along to the tunes too? But it’s a big leap from singing along to making the step up to actually getting on stage with the cast of Wicked. Still think you’ve got the minerals to do it? Then take a look at the WannabeWicked offer with Orange and see if you can win this amazing opportunity…
Why not let me know how you get on, whether you hit the wrong key or were note-perfect… i want to hear how it went. So i know whether anyone is going to be competition for me - i can’t see it happening!
You can choose from five Wicked tunes written by Stephen Schwartz to impress the voting public - so will it be a ‘Popular’ song choice or will the customers of Orange want you to stop singing ‘For Good’? Have a go for your chance to win this fantastic prize including a walk-on appearance with full costume, backstage tour, hotel stay as well as much more fun and frolics to be had. I would say it’s a wicked prize but how clichéd would that be…
Take a look at this video to get yourself in the mood and maybe have a bit of a reality check if you’re not quite up to the standards of the professionals but then again with the public voting who knows what’s going to happen!!
Working at Show and Stay has it’s perks - I recently took advantage of our wicked Wicked offer and went to see, yep you guessed it, ‘Wicked’. And it’s pretty darn good. I wasn’t sure if it was going to live up to all the hype, but it does. The effects are truly spectacular and the cast are faultless. I was really looking forward to seeing Corrie’s Susie Blake as Madame Morrible and she didn’t disappoint. It’s a pretty big jump from soap to stage but she manages it well.
Just in case you’ve been living in a cave for the the last year, ‘Wicked’ is based on Gregory Maguire’s novel and provides a backstory to ‘The Wizard of Oz’. The story focusses on unlikely friendship between Glinda and Elphaba and how one becomes the Good Witch of the North and one grows up into the Wicked Witch of the West. Add fantastic music and mind-boggling special effects to that and that’s ‘Wicked’ in a nutshell…
Take a look at this YouTube vid of the London premiere to get a taste of the show
Dianne Pilkington is set to join the cast as ‘Glinda’ at London’s Apollo Theatre in ‘Wicked’ from 16th July 2007. She is replacing Helen Dallimore, who is set to star as ‘Glinda’ in the Australian premiere in 2008. Dallimore will complete her run on the 14th July 2007 and return to Oztralia to reprise her role.
The beautiful Pilkington recently finished a year long engagement as ‘Grizabella’ in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s national tour of ‘Cats’. She has starred in a wide range of productions including Boy George’s ‘Taboo’, Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and the legendary ‘Les Miserables’.
Based on a novel by Gregory Maguire tells the untold story of a difficult friendship between two contrasting girls. Glinda is a pretty blond and Elphaba the green girl, who is destined to become the Wicked Witch of the West, as in the Wizard of Oz. Watch a clip below from Wicked’s performance at the Royal Variety Performance.
Susie Blake is set to step into Miriam Margoyles witchy shoes as Madame Morrible in the West End production of Wicked at the Apollo Victoria. Susie is best known for her role as Bev Unwin in Corrie, but she’s had a number of theatre roles since leaving the soap, including ‘Noises Off’ and ‘High Society’. She also did a star turn as the Fairy Godmother in ITV’s 2005 Christmas Pantomine, a version of Cinderella set on the street - check it out for festive feel good factor!
Susie will be performing in Wicked from 2nd April, but she’ll be no fairy godmother this time!
Wicked, the spellbinding new London show, has taken the West End by storm. You could say it’s painting the town green! Wicked is the tale of the witches of Oz, ‘Glinda the Good’ and ‘the wicked witch of the West.
Wicked boasts an incredible cast of actors and performers from all over the world. The lead role of Elphaba has recently been taken over from Idina Menzel by talented British actress Kerry Ellis. Kerry stars alongside Australian heartthrob Adam Garcia, the beautiful Helen Dallimore and comedy legend, Nigel Planer.
Did you ever stop to wonder how Glinda became ‘Glinda the Good’ or why ‘the wicked witch of the West’ was so wicked…and so green? Which witch are you - are you a good witch or a wicked witch? Catch the show and get in touch with your wicked side…
For a wicked sneak peek at the show, check out this video clip. It’s wickedly good!
