YESTERDAY…From The Archives
PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT is 20
Presenter:Rob Morrison 6th Oct 2026
Musical Theatre Melodies broadcast on Tuesday, 6th October will feature a 20th anniversary tribute to the “jukebox musical” Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (based on the motion picture screenplay by Stephan Elliott), from the 2006 original Australian cast recording starring Tony Sheldon, Jeremy Stanford, Daniel Scott and Michael Caton, with Sophie Carter, Amelia Cormack, Christina O’Neill, Genevieve Lemon, Marney McQueen, Lena Cruz, Trevor Ashley and Joshua Arkey.
This will be preceded by an interview with the Tony and Olivier ………..Read More……..
In 2018 Aaron Tveit talked of his path to Boston and premiere of Moulin Rouge
The Hollywood Reporter 6/30/2018 by Overture’s Patrick Hayward
Aaron next month you open at the Colonial Theater in Boston in the brand new stage musical “Moulin Rouge”, the theater where so many of musical theater’s global hits have debuted; this must be an exciting time for you.
I’ve been involved with “Moulin Rouge” for some time now, it’s sort of taken over my life – but I’ve yet to perform it in front of a paying audience – so, yeah, it is exciting. I’m back in rehearsals on Monday and our first show is the 10th July. The role of Christian is so different from other roles I’ve played in musicals – the story is set at the dawning of the twentieth century and Christian ……Read More…..
MOULIN ROUGE! The Musical –
Its voyage from the Boston Premiere to Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre
The current UK production at Southampton is best understood not as a radically reimagined version of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, but as the polished descendant of the Boston production that introduced the show to the world in 2018. The Boston engagement at the Emerson Colonial Theatre was the musical’s world premiere, running from July 2018 before the show moved to Broadway. Its principal cast included Aaron Tveit as Christian, Karen Olivo as Satine, Danny Burstein as Harold Zidler, Sahr Ngaujah as Toulouse- Lautrec and Tam Mutu as the Duke. The production now ….Read More.….
THE RED MILL – 120th Anniversary
Presenter:Rob Morrison 29th Sept ’26
Musical Theatre Melodies broadcast on Tuesday, 29th September will feature a 120th anniversary tribute to the Victor Herbert and Henry Blossom musical The Red Mill, from the 2001 Ohio Light Opera revival cast recording starring Cassidy King, Anthony Maida, Lucas Meachem, Nancy Maria Balach, Brian Woods, Megan Loomis, Ann Marie Wilcox and Wade Woodward, complete with dialogue. The musical premiered on Broadway on September 24, 1906, at the Knickerbocker Theatre and ran for 274 performances, starring comedians Fred Stone and David C. Montgomery. It …….Read More...
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TODAY……… In The Moment
MOULIN ROUGE! The Musical – Mayflower Theatre until 24 Oct 2026
Review: Pat Hayward 29 Sep 2026
Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! was never a story of restraint, and this lavish production wastes no time in proving it. From the moment the curtain rises, Mayflower Theatre is transformed into a glittering, red-lit world of bohemians, boulevardiers and backstage intrigue. It is loud, flamboyant and unapologetically excessive – exactly as it should be.
The story remains familiar. Christian, a young American writer, arrives in Paris and falls for Satine, the dazzling star of the Moulin Rouge. Their romance is threatened by the ….Read More.…
An interview with SAM HARRISON
Interviewer:Pat Hayward 23rd Sept ’26
Ahead of Jeeves Takes Charge opening in Southampton at Mayflower Studios prior to its West End opening, Overture’s Pat Hayward had the opportunity to spend time with the star of the show Sam Harrison to find out about the show and Sam’s career. Hi there Sam. I’m really interested in the new production of Jeeves Takes Charge. And I know a lot of my readers are going to be fascinated by it, because Jeeves has been a part of their lives and PG Wodehouse is probably one of the most respected people in the whole business. Now with this new production which you’re bringing to the Mayflower Studios next week …………Read More.……
MATTHEW BOURNE’S THE CAR MAN – Mayflower Theatre
Review: Pat Hayward 16 Sep 2026
It was 26 years ago that Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man first opened at the Old Vic in London. Its initial UK tour was in 2007, but Southampton has had to wait until this week for it to visit Mayflower Theatre. But it has been worth the wait. If you are one of the many that expect a straightforward dance interpretation of Bizet’s classic opera, put those ideas behind you – the nearest you will get is the music – and by nearest I mean that working with composer Terry Davies as a starting-point they used the 40-minute Bolshoi Ballet version Carmen Ballet and then Davies composed additional music based ………Read More.…..
DANNY REUBENS talks about THE CAR MAN
Interview: P Hayward 20th August 2026
Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man is visiting Mayflower Theatre in Southampton on 16th to 19th September 2026. Ahead of the visit, Overture’s Patrick Hayward had the chance to sit down with one of the star peformers Danny Reubens. PH: Hi Danny, thanks for agreeing to meet up today and to have a chat. Let’s start by talking about Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man and your role in the show. DR: The Car Man is set in a town called Harmony. The period is roughly the late 1950s or early 1960s, and it’s a story about a town and a guy called Luca, who is a drifter. He sort of ……Read More ……
TOMORROW…..The Week’s News
LATEST NEWS 5th October 2026
São Paulo Dance Company – following its triumphant 2024 UK and Ireland debut, the company will embark on a second Dance Consortium tour in 2027. The company brings a new programme, Brazilian Perspectives, a triple bill of work by three female choreographers, Leilane Teles and Lili de Grammont, both giving UK and Ireland premieres, and Cassi Abranches, whose Agora went down a storm with audiences in 2024. The colourful and flirtatious Agora, opens the evening. Next will be dancer and choreographer Leilane ……….Read More…….
LATEST NEWS 28th September 2026
Waking Ned Devine – a musical adaptation of will have its world premiere at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast in February 2027. Based on the 1998 film by Kirk Jones, the new musical features music and lyrics by Markéta Irglová and Glen Hansard, is directed by Tony Award-winner John Doyle and written by David Hein. The creative team has been developing the musical with Hansard and Irglová over the past year. It marks their first full-scale musical since Once, which premiered in New York in 2011 before transferring to the West End and Broadway. It tells the story of Ned Devine, who has won a fortune on the lottery, and his fellow ……Resd More…..
LATEST NEWS – 21st September 2026
Phantom of the Opera – to mark the musical’s 40th anniversary Andrew Lloyd Webber has remixed and remastered the original London cast recording. The Andrew Lloyd Webber 2026 Mix – will be released digitally on 9 October, with a 3LP vinyl and 2CD edition following on 6 November. A limited-edition six-LP box set, Phantom of the Opera – A Collector’s Piece Indeed, will be released on 20 November. The title song, recorded by Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford, is released as a digital single today, 18 September. Lloyd Webber returned to the original analogue master tapes recorded at Abbey Road Studios ……Read More.….
LATEST NEWS – 14th September 2026
PH: 14th September 2026
West Side Story – the National Theatre will produce a revival of the musical in 2027 which will make the 70th anniversary of its Broadway premiere at the Winter Garden Theatre on 26th September 1957. The production will be co-directed by Marianne Elliott and Miranda Cromwell, who previously collaborated on Death of a Salesman at the Young Vic, in the West End and on Broadway. Jerome Robbins’ choreography for the musical will be reproduced and adapted for the stage by performer and choreographer Julio Monge, who has a longstanding relationship with the show after working on the choreography for the film. Casting and dates will be….Read More.…
