Who knew that one of the smallest theatres in the UK could be such a Broadway power-house? In the next two nights, not one but two productions that began their life at Newbury’s tiny Watermill Theatre open New York, and between them they also exemplify the twin strands of work that have literally “propelled” this theatre onto a world stage. On the one hand, there is the classical home it has given to Edward Hall’s all-male Propeller Company, whose latest production – premiered in Newbury in February – of The Winter’s Tale opens at Brooklyn’s BAM tonight, where their production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream also did a season last year.
And on the other, there is the work in reclaiming old musicals that John Doyle has done that employs actors who also play all their own musical instruments in cut-down versions of their scores, that sees Sweeney Todd returned to Broadway to open there tomorrow in a production first seen at Newbury and subsequently at the West End’s Trafalgar Studios and New Ambassadors last year. (Meanwhile, news comes, too, that Doyle’s production of Jerry Herman’s Mack and Mabel, staged in Newbury this summer, launches a UK national tour in the New Year, with David Soul reprising his performance as Mack and newly joined by Janie Dee as Mabel. Could the West End and Broadway be next for this one, too?)
Meanwhile, a third production that began its life near Newbury also hits Broadway this month, too – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s latest, The Woman in White, had its first workshop staging at Lloyd Webber’s private Sydmonton estate, and now sees Maria Friedman about to make her Broadway debut in it. But amidst this silver lining, news today of a cloud: Friedman was diagnosed with breast cancer on Monday.
According to a report in the New York Post today, however, she “went on last night, and is planning to do both the matinee and evening performances today before undergoing surgery on Thursday.”
Bob Boyett, the producer of the show on Broadway, has said: “Maria is our star, our friend and the beloved anchor of this company. We wish her and her family well over the next several weeks, and we look forward to welcoming her back for her opening night.” So do we.
