Daniel Boys, Dianne Pilkington and Lauren Samuels to attend 'The In-Between' album signing at Dress Circle

A CD version of the concept album for new musical The In-Between is being released by Dress Circle on Saturday 23 June 2012.The album will be launched with an in-store signing at Dress Circle to be attended by three of West End Stars who feature on the album -  Daniel Boys,  Dianne Pilkington and Lauren Samuels. The singing will run from 11am to 12 noon.

Initially released solely online in mid February, the album has since received over 35,000 views on YouTube, despite having no commercial backing.The recording’s line-up is completed by other leading performers Sabrina Aloueche, Julie Atherton, Cassandra Compton, Hadley Fraser, Alexia Khadime and Liam Tamne.

A quirky tale of love, friendship and letting go, The In-Between is a fantasy musical telling the story of nineteen-year-old misfit, Flick Wimple, a perpetual underachiever who stumbles through the wrong doorway and finds herself trapped in between parallel worlds.Desperately searching for a way home, Flick must overcome new challenges as she finds help in unexpected places and is forced to confront her troubled past…

The In-Between has music, lyrics and book by Laura Tisdall, whose previous credits include Bill Kenwright’s UK tour of The Haunting and Kerry Ellis and Brian May’s Anthems: The Concert.

Daniel Boys was a finalist on the BBC programme Any Dream Will Do and was in the West End Cast Of Avenue Q. Diana Pilkington has had an amazing career in the West End. Her more recent credits include Master Class, The 39 Steps & Wicked. Lauren Samuels was a finalist in the BBC programme Over The Rainbow, coming third. She has since led the casts of We Will Rock You and Grease in the West End and recently came second place in our 'Best Performance Of A Song In A Musical' poll for her performance of Somebody To Love in We Will Rock You at the Dominion Theatre. Sabrina Aloueche was also meant to be present at the signing but can no longer attend due to commitments with David King's Bohemian Rhapsody which will be touring the UK this spring.

I have been listening to the music from the album and have to say I cannot get the song's out of my head!. I can't wait to write my review of the album next Month. I thoroughly you recommend you have a listen. All the details you need are as follows:

The concept album is available to pre-order from www.dresscircle.co.uk
The music can be heard online at www.theinbetweenmusical.com
Like The In-Between on Facebook www.facebook.com/theinbetweemusical
Follow The In-Between on Twitterhttp://twitter.com/TIB_Musical
All artists appear subject to professional engagements.
Update: The In-Between will also be performing at West End Live on Saturday 23 June and Sunday 24 June. Click here to find out more

Spamalot returning to the West End for a 7 weeks only!

The Monty Python musical Spamalot will return to the West End this summer for an exclusive 7 week run from 24 July until 9 September 2012 at the Harold Pinter Theatre. It will be the touring cast that will transfer with the production, including comedian Marcus Brigstocke as King Arthur, former EastEnder Todd Carty as Patsy and Bonnie Langford as The Lady of the Lake. 

Impressionist Jon Culshaw will play King Arthur from 2 August to 2 September, and then Marcus Brigstocke will return from 4-8 September. The musical has a book and lyrics by original Python Eric Idle, who also co-wrote the music with John Du Prez. The West End production, which ran at the Palace from 16 October 2006 (previews from 30 September) to 3 January 2009, reunited the Broadway creative team including director Mike Nichols and set and costume designer Tim Hatley.

The rest of the new West End Cast will also include Robin Armstrong as Sir Bedevere, Rob Delaney as Sir Robin, Adam Ellis as Prince Herbert, Kit Orton as Sir Lancelot and Jon Robyns as Sir Galahad, along with Amelia Adams Pearce, Tim Bonser, Michael Burgen, Rachel Knowles, Hannah Malekzad, James Nelson and Paul Bullion.

Visit http://www.spamalotontour.co.uk/book_now to find out more and to book tickets.

Keith Barlett to take over as The Wizard in Wicked

Keith Bartlett is to take over the role of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from Monday 30 July 2012 in the London production of Wicked. He will take over from Desmond Barrit who will play his final performance as The Wonderful Wizard of Oz on Saturday 7 July. 

Christopher Howell who is currently playing Doctor Dillamond in the show while understudying The Wizard will play The Wizard for a 3 week period from Monday 9th July until Saturday 28th July. Christopher will then go back to playing Doctor Dillamond.

Wicked will mark Keith Barlett's musical debut.  He previously starred in Stephen Schwartz's musical Godspell, as John The Baptist, in Basingstoke in 1998. His many celebrated appearances with the RSC include Henry VI Parts 1, 2 & 3 and Richard III, as part of 'The Histories' season at Stratford-upon-Avon and The Roundhouse, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest and Pericles. His numerous other theatre credits include, for Headlong: Romeo & Juliet; for Shakespeare's Globe: King James Bible recital and A New World: A Life of Thomas Paine; for the Donmar Warehouse: A Lie of the Mind, The Front Page and Glengarry Glen Ross; for the National Theatre: Mary Stuart, The Crucible, Piano andMurmuring Judges, and, for Cheek By Jowl: Macbeth, Philoctetes, Twelfth Night, The Tempest and The Cid. His television and film appearances include: Silent Witness, New Tricks, The Bill and Truly Madly Deeply.

I have seen many different Wizard's in Wicked over the years, to date my favourite one was Clive Carter as he had a strong voice, unlike other Wizard's in the shows history. I wish Keith the very best of luck and I am delighted to now have another excuse to go back and see one of my favourite shows!

Michelle Ryan to join Will Young in Cabaret - another musical theatre debut

After the announcement that Will Young would be making his Musical Theatre debut in Cabaret as the Emcee it has now been revealed that ex-Eastenders actress Michelle Ryan will be joining him to play Sally Bowles! This is a big risk as Michelle has never sung professionally before, apart from some singing lessons for one of her recent films. I hope she pulls it off or it could be a bit of a disaster! Previous actresses to play Sally Bowles include the likes of Judi Dench, Samantha Barks and Siobhan Dillon.

This is what Michelle had to say  "Sally is quite delusional. She’s not the best singer, she’s not a performer, but she has this kind of spirit that takes her through it all ... I’ve been working with a voice coach for two years (on new film The Man Inside), so you could say that when Cabaret came along I was ready."

Besises Eastenders, Michelle 's TV credits include Jekyll, Bionic Woman, Merlin and Doctor Who, while her stage acting credits include Toby Young's Who's the Daddy? at the King's Head (2005) and The Talented Mr Ripley at the Royal and Derngate, Northampton (2010).

The production will start with a short UK tour before settling at The Savoy Theatre. Click here to find out more information about the production one of our previous blog posts.

On 10/08/12 further casting was announced for the production. Click here to find out more.

Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date with all the latest theatre news, reviews and interviews: @West_End_Frame

Understudy Of The Year 2012: The Top 5

1st Place

Katy Treharne

Alternate Christine 

Phantom Of The Opera

1,428 votes - 27%

Katy Treharne was the dark horse of the competition, creeping up on everybody during the last few days of voting. Listening to YouTube videos I have found how stunning Katy Treharne's voice is. I think it is very likely she will be the full time Christine in Phantom of the Opera soon. I would love to say what roles I would like to see her in soon but I have a feeling she is going to be with Phantom Of The Opera for a while yet. Whatever happens I look forward to seeing where her career takes her, I don't think she will be an understudy for much longer...

Katy normally performs on Monday and Friday evenings, subject to change. Keep up to date with her twitter: @KatyTree

2nd Place 

Jenny Gayner

Roxy Hart Understudy

Chicago

1,125 votes - 21%

First of all I would like to thank the incredibly talented Jenny Gayner for all her support over the past few weeks. She has been amazing! I did think she was going to win for a long time, she only went into 2nd place a couple of days ago. She has been at Cannes Film Festival to promote her new film this week (just check out the front page of Total Film magazine). Let's just say I don't think she will be nominated for 'Understudy Of The Year 2013'... see you at the Oscars Jenny!

3rd Place 

Lauren Varnham

Scaramouche/Meat Understudy

We Will Rock You 

917 votes - 17%

Before I go into how incredible Lauren is I want to thank her for her regular tweets and re-tweets about the poll! She has been so supportive - so thank you Lauren! Ok... so the first time I saw Lauren I was hoping to see the principal Scaramouche and when the announcement was made before the show began I was a little disappointed that 'the understudy was on'. 10 minuets later my friend had to tell me to shut my mouth because Lauren's Somebody To Love put me into some kind of trance. When watching her perform I forgot I was in a theatre with hundreds of other people, I forgot about the original Queen version, I forgot about the other performers on the stage because every single one of my brain cells (all 2 of them) was transfixed on the performance Lauren had just given. If vocal gymnastics was an Olympic sport, Lauren would be on track to win a Gold medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games. I would love to see her take over Scaramouche full time... or was I watching a future Elphaba? This girl is one to watch.

Lauren has regular performances as Scaramouche every Wednesday matinée. Her other upcoming Scaramouche dates are 22nd eve & 30th mat may 5th 6th 19th 20th 21st eve June 27th mat June 9th 10th eve July 25th mat July. Her upcoming Meat dates are 25th eve June 27th eve July 28th mat & eve july 11th aug mat & eve. However Lauren is always on last minute, she very kindly keeps everyone informed of when she is on via twitter so make sure you follow her - @laurenvarnham.

4th Place

Samuel Edwards

Sam Wheat Understudy

Ghost The Musical 

353 views - 7%

Considering Samuel Edwards has only just finished drama school he isn't doing too badly! I haven't really heard anything negative about his Sam Wheat! The ladies love him as well which is always a bonus. Sam  Wheat seems like such a huge, draining part to play so doing short notice performances must be extremely challenging - lots of respect for what Sam does. Also we are lucky that he is an understudy to such an organised performer who goes by the name of Mark Evans! Mark has sorted out all his holiday so Samuel has all his Sam Wheat dates up until January! These include Thursday 7th June to Wednesday 13th June 2012, Monday 13th August to Saturday 18th August 2012, Monday 24th September to Saturday 29th September 2012, Thursday 15th November to Saturday 17th November 2012, Thursday 29th November to Saturday 1st December 2012 and Monday 24th January to Wednesday 26th January 2013.

5th Place

Jamie Muscato

Drew Understudy

Rock Of Ages

299 votes - 6%

Jamie gives an impressive performance as Drew! I felt exhausted just watching him belt out those massive, long notes - I cannot imagine how he felt! His characterisation of Drew is really interesting, I felt sorry for Drew throughout the show and felt a connection with him. jamie has fantastic stage presence and a memorising voice, I just wish he got more shows!

Understudy Of The Year 2012: 6th-12th Place

6th Place

Emma Housley

Dorothy Understudy

The Wizard Of Oz

229 votes - 4 %

Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to see Emma Housley play Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz... but I have heard great things! She shows a lot of emotion while singing, instead of just singing each song straight she puts more thought into how Dorothy is feeling which makes the audience care for her. Emma's next Dorothy date (love a bit of alliteration) Sunday 3rd June. I really enjoyed listening to her singing 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow'. Have a listen and make your own mind up!

7th Place

Aaron Lee Lambert

Donkey Understudy

Shrek The Musical

216 votes - 4%

There was a massive buzz around twitter after Aaron Lee Lambert made his Donkey debut a couple of weeks ago in Shrek The Musical. He was meant to be completely hilarious and brought that spark back to the character. I will be trying my hardest to see him the next time he is on.

8th Place

Scott Garnham

Enjolras/Marius Understudy 

Les Miserables

180 votes - 3%

Scott Garnham will be leaving the cast of Les Miserables next month. He has no official dates left as Enjolras or Marius but keep your eyes pealed on his twitter (@scottgarnham) in case he gets and last minute shows. He won Broadway World's understudy of the year in 2011.

9th Place

Scott Monello

Galileo Understudy

We Will Rock You 

174 votes - 3%

Upon graduation, he joined the cast of Jerry Springer - the Opera at the Cambridge Theatre where he understudied and played the role of Tremont. He then joined the cast of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the New London Theatre and also took part in the workshop of Dancing With Shadows, directed by Frank Dunlop. Following that, he appeared in We Will Rock You at the Dominion Theatre. Scott's most recent appearance was playing the role of Frankie Valli in the original London cast of Jersey Boys. His upcoming Galileo dates are: Monday 28th May - Evening, Tuesday 29th May - Evening, Wednesday 30th May - 2 shows, Monday 4th Jun - Evening, Monday 25th Jun - Evening, Tuesday 26th Jun - Evening, Wednesday 27th Jun - 2 shows, Friday 29th Jun - Evening, Saturday 30th Jun - 2 shows, Monday 23rd Jul - Evening, Monday 30th Jul - Evening, Monday 6th Aug - Evening, Monday 13th Aug - Evening, Monday 20th Aug - Evening, Monday 27th Aug - Evening, Monday 24th Sep - Evening

10th Place

Alice Fearn

Princess Fiona Understudy

Shrek The Musical

129 votes - 2%

Alice Fearn is amazing as Princess Fiona in Shrek. I could not take my eyes off of her. She really led the cast. Her voice is so strong! To me she just was Princess Fiona. It is rumoured that Shrek is going on tour - if this is true Alice Fearn should be Fiona! She only has 4 scheduled shows coming up, hopefully more will be announced soon. Her dates are Saturday 2nd June 2012 (2 shows) and Saturday 7th July 2012 (2 shows).

11th Place

Nikki Davis-Jones

Elphaba Standby 
Wicked

92 votes - 2%

Nikki Davis-Jones is an incredible Elphaba! Her voice is different to any other Elphaba I have seen live. She just makes Defying Gravity seem effortless. I really would not be surprised if she takes over from Rachel Tucker when she eventually leaves. I would love that as she would get more time to explore the character. Her upcomings shows include Monday 28th May to Wednesday 30th May 2012 and from Thursday 23rd August to Wednesday 29th August 2012 as Rachel Tucker will be away

12th Place

Rebecca Trehearn

Molly Jensen Understudy

Ghost The Musical 

54 votes - 1%

Rebecca Trehearn didn't have long to rehearse for the role of Molly in Ghost as she had to go on last minute quite early on in her run. However Mark Evans said how much he loved perfoming opposite another person from Wales and everyone said how amazing she was. People have commented on this blog saying how her voice is similar to Caissie Levy's. Her upcoming Molly performances are Saturday 26th May 2012, Monday 23rd July to Saturday 4th August 2012, Wednesday 3rd October to Saturday 6th October 2012 and Monday 3rd December to Saturday 15th December 2012. Listen to her stunning 'With You' below.

Understudy Of The Year 2012: 13th - 20th place

13th Place

Luke Jerdy

Albert Narracott Understudy

War Horse

49 votes - 1%

Luke jerdy is currently understuding Albert Narracott in War Horse at the New London Theatre in Dury Lane. You can follow Luke on twitter @LukeJerdy.

14th Place

Sherrie Pennington

Kathy Selden Understudy

Singin’ In The Rain

20 votes - 0%

Sherrie Pennington is currently understuding Kathy Selden. You can see her playing the role bewteen Monday 28th May and Wednesday 30th May 2012 at the Palace Theatre. I saw Sherrie a couple of times in Legally Blonde and she has massive stage presence. It is great to now see her understudying a lead role!

15th Place

Chloe Taylor

Glinda Standby

Wicked

18 votes - 0%

Chloe was originally in the ensemble of Wicked and understudied Glinda but recently returned to the show as Standby Glinda. Glinda is such a massive role and from what I have heard Chloe plays a very different Glinda, less over the top and more natural. Her upcoming dates include fom Thursday 9th August to Saturday 11th August 2012 and Saturday 1st September 2012 .

16th Place

Jon Lee

Alternate Frankie Valli

Jersey Boys 

 15 votes - 0%

Check out http://www.jonleeofficial.com/ to find out when Jon will be playing Frankie Valli. While Jon is know mainly for being a member of pop group S Club 7 he has had a great career in Theatre. His credits include Oliver in Oliver (London Palladium), Aladdin in Aladdin (Mayflower Southampton), John in Tomorrow Morning (Landor Theatre London), Marius in Les Misérables (Palace and Queens Theatre's London), Teen Scream (Edinburgh Festival), Love Shack (UK Tour),

17th Place

Sabrina Carter

Pamela/Margaret/Annabella Understudy

The 39 Steps

9 votes - 0%

Sabrina has had a varied theatre career in both musicals and plays. Her credits include Lucy Harris in JEKYLL AND HYDE (national No 1 tour); understudying and playing Nancy in OLIVER! (Theatre Royal Drury Lane); understudying and playing Elphaba in WICKED (Apollo Victoria); the title role in CLARINDA (scottish tour); Tiger lily and Mrs Darling in PETER PAN (Eden Court); Charity in GUILT (Upstairs at the Gatehouse); the title role of Meg in MARRYING MEG (Highland Quest for a new musical in association with Cameron Mackintosh); and Kate Keller in ALL MY SONS (New Athenaeum).

18th Place (Joint)

David Bardsley

Alternate Dad

Billy Elliot

7 votes - 0%

I have seen David Bardsley who has been part of the cast of Billy Elliot for a long time as the Dad. He gives such a strong performance taking you through all the highs and lows. He has fantastic comic timing however what I love most is you can see how much he enjoys playing the role.

18th Place (Joint)

Matthew Woodyatt

Francis Henshall Understudy

One Man, Two Governors

7 Votes - 0%

20th Place

Helen French

Alternate Mrs Wilkinson

Billy Elliot

4 votes - 0%

Katy Treharne is named 'West End Frame's Understudy Of The Year 2012'

Over the last 3 weeks you have been voting in your thousands and have crowned Katy Treharne 'West End Frame's Understudy Of The Year 2012'. Katy, who is from Wales, has been understudying the role  of Christine Daaé in Phantom Of The Opera for some time now at Her Majesty's Theatre and is now the alternate for the role, performing regularly. She has proven hugely popular with fans of the show and we have received numerous  glowing comments about her portrayal of Christine. Katy received 27% of the final vote.

Also, massive congratulations the runners up - Jenny Gayner, Lauren Varnham, Samuel Edwards, Jamie Muscato, Emma Housley, Aaron Lee Lambert, Scott Garnham, Scott Monello and Alice Fearn who are all also incredibly popular and are beyond talented. All the nominees give breath taking performances when given the opportunity. It has been amazing to see the people who hold the West End together get some recognition. Understudies are truly wonderful and when going to a show we should be excited when we hear they are on! 

'West End Frame's Understudy Of The Year 2013' will be back in May 2013 with an extended voting period so keep you're eyes pealed! Also we are launching out new poll on Friday 8th June 2012 for 'Best West End Debut 2012'. The nominees have not yet been finalised so we would love to hear any suggestions you may have. You can contact us via our Twitter (@West_End_Frame) and Facebook Pages. Alternately you can email us at WestEndFrame@Hotmail.co.uk 

Thank you to everyone who has voted and supported the poll! We value your support so much and we hope you continue to support West End Frame in the future. Now that we have some time back we look forward to writing more articles and reviews for the blog. Coming soon we have reviews of Travelling Light at The National Theatre and Louise Dearman's new album. We are also going to look into what is going on with the Coronation Street: Street Of Dreams tour which seems to be turning into a nightmare!

We thought we would leave you with some of the lovely comments people have posted over the last few weeks about our amazing understudies.

"Katy Treharne is out of this world. If you've heard her sing you'll know, she blows you away with her performances. Best Christine ever." 

"Jenny Gayner plays Roxie with passion ,what an outstanding performance raising the audience from their seats with a standing ovation. Well deserved"

"Seen We will Rock You many many times Lauren Varnham played Scaramouche with real attitude and passion, not sure why an understudy out shines and out performs time and time again."

"Samuel Edwards is such a fantastic understudy and his singing, acting and amazing body do NOT leave you disapointed... So amazing"

"Awaiting Katy Treharne's headlining..."

Click here to read some more of the comments that stood out for us about the nominees.

Click here to find out more about who came 1st - 5th place

Click here to find out more about who came 6th - 12th place 

Click here to find out more about who came 13th - 20th place 

Understudy Of The Year 2012: Top Comments

It has been great to read your comments and to see how passionate people are about their favourite understudies while voting for 'Understudy Of The Year 2012'. Here are a few of our favourite comments that we picked out.

"Katy Treharne is out of this world. If you've heard her sing you'll know, she blows you away with her performances. Best Christine ever." 

"Jenny Gayner plays Roxie with passion ,what an outstanding performance raising the audience from their seats with a standing ovation. Well deserved"

"Seen We will Rock You many many times Lauren Varnham played Scaramouche with real attitude and passion, Meat with carasima and stage presesce even ensamble sticks out a mile, the face those doey brown eyes and a smile that lights up the stage even if you are at the back of the theatre. A small petite person with such strong booming voice. Trust Me totally awesome a must see. not sure why an understudy out shines and out performs time and time again."

"Samuel Edwards is such a fantastic understudy and his singing, acting and amazing body do NOT leave you disapointed... So amazing"

"Deej (Nikki D Jones) is the BEST standby I have ever seen in the whole WOOOOOORLD!! I cried....alot during that performance and I have her autograph *faints*"

"Katy Treharne unbelievable takes the roof off with those big notes she is amazing" 

"Samuel Edwards is just amazing. If he doesn't get the role full time soon west end theatre would have made a grave mistake. Best understudy I have ever seen and I have seen many"

"Emma Housley is amazing!"

"Aaron Lee Lambert!!! Just saw him as Donkey and he was INCREDIBLE!!"

"Performance or a name? what would you like to see and hear? a totally superior voice with cant take your eyes of her stage presents or somebody that came in the top 10 of xfactor or an imported name. Well we want to be Rocked off our seats and Entertained all performance long for our money. Dont take my word for it go see for yourself, go see WE WILL ROCK YOU after you have voted for LAUREN VARNHAM of course who should be leading lady Scaramouche. Come on Mr Elton what are you doing. Lauren Rocks our socks off"

"You've clearly not seen Jenny Gayner as Roxie Hart in Chicago at the Garrick - there can be no other winner of this poll than her! Amazing star quality performance that deserves to be recognised by top billing."

"Rebecca Trehearn is such a good understudy! She has the same magic Caissie Levy did!"

"Voted for Lauren Varnham she is awesome as Scaramouche and just as good when playing Meat.....when she sang only the good die young you could hear a pin drop any every single person transfixed on the stage. amazing talent and deserves to be Lead role in the show with out a doubt."

"ALICE FEARN - It's awkward how she's the understudy yet so much better..."

"Katy Treharne has an amazing voice, heart and soul."

"Scott Garnham is brilliant as Enjolras."

"Awaiting Katy Treharne's headlining..."