Leon Lopez

The Royal Court has confirmed the cast for Tarell Alvin McCraney’s “Wig Out!”, opening at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs on 28 November, with previews from 20 November.

The cast includes Danny Sapani, Leon Lopez, Kate Gillespie, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Kevin Harvey, Alex Lanipekun, Holly Quin-Ankrah, Craig Stein and Jessika Williams.

“Wig Out!” transforms the Royal Court into the legendary House of Light, a hyper-glamorous, über-competitive drag queen refuge where a daughter who was once a son can find a family. While the members of the House are primping and preening for a catwalk showdown with the other houses, drag queen Nina is wooing the delectable Eric under the guise of ‘Wilson’, a de-camped, make-up free ‘straight’ gay man.

Born in Birmingham in 1937, Rigby developed an interest in the acting profession from his time in the Boy Scouts and at Grammar school.  He later auditioned to study at RADA after completing national service in the RAF.

Successfully gaining a place at the esteemed acting school, Rigby trained alongside Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay and the late John Thaw. After graduating, he quickly began a career in the theatre and found success in Peter Hall’s production of Harold Pinter’s The Homecoming at the National Theatre, where he fought to be cast as the slow-witted boxer Joey. He became good friends with the playwright and earned a reputation as the leading Pinter actor of the time, playing the manservant Briggs in the first production of No Man’s Land with Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson, and Davies in The Caretaker. He also continued to work extensively with writer and director Hall, taking the role of Pozzo in Hall’s production of Waiting For Godo in 2005.

Amazônia has already featured a special Young Vic award at the Festa Junina Quadrilha dance competition in Brazil last month. The forthcoming British aspects include community project Festa! on 16 August and the Young Vic’s Christmas show, which shares the project’s name.

The high energy dance will be seen in Waterloo on 16 August, when it plays a key role in the Young Vic’s community project for 2008, Festa! A cast of 92 have been drawn from the local area, spanning a wide range of residents ranging from 14-81 years old. They will be joined by professional performers to create a Quadrilha that will start on The Cut, which will be closed off for the purposes of this performance, and take over the entirety of the Young Vic.

Some of Festa!’s community performers will return to the Young Vic as part of the cast of Christmas show Amazônia, which is written by top Brazilian comic performer and writer Pedro Cardoso. Cardoso is joined by a Brazilian cast including Wager Moura, soon to be seen in film Elite Squad, Lazaro Ramos, Renata Sorrah and a selection of as yet uncast English performers in the magical tale of an enchanted tree.

The Amazônia season follows the success of last year’s collaboration with South African company Isango/Portobello, which brought productions of A Christmas Carol and The Magic Flute to the Young Vic last Christmas. The production of The Magic Flute was so successful that it transferred for a season at the Duke of York’s and won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival.

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Opening night tickets of the new Royal Opera House season will exclusively be available to readers of the Sun newspaper.

Details on how to book these special tickets for “Don Giovanni” will be published in the paper on 30 July.  Those applying will be placed in a ballot which will then take place for tickets to the 8th September performance.

The Royal Opera announced that the show will also be screened live at UK cinemas – a first for the company.

Readers who are successful in the ballot will be allowed to buy up to four tickets – - priced from £7.50 to £30 – for the performance at London’s Covent Garden.

Kids Week, which runs between 15 and 29 August, is much more than a ticket promotion. In addition to one free child’s ticket (5-16 year olds) with every full paying adult, there is also a hugely varied collection of free activities and workshops where children can enjoy learning more about theatre and the performing arts. They have the opportunity to learn to dance and even sing with West End casts, or take part in post-show question and answer sessions.

Anyone still wishing to purchase Kids Week tickets, and get their children involved in London theatre this summer, need not fear, as, even with the initiative’s incredible popularity, there are still 14,000 tickets left for a wide range of London’s scintillating shows. The productions taking include marvellous musicals, hilarious comedies and some of the best drama theatre can offer.

Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.kidsweek.co.uk or by calling the hotline on 0844 248 5151.

This funny and touching play focuses on three subtly connected love stories that reveal in turn the roller-coaster ride of lust in its prime, the sacrifices of a life in public service and its unrequited passions. It gives us an all too recognisable portrayal of the way in which uncertainties, misunderstanding and the unsaid lead to unexpected results for three couples who seem destined never to say the right thing.

Tate’s previous theatre credits include Neil LaBute’s “Some Girls” with David Schwimmer and the “24 Hour Plays” for The Old Vic.

Alongside Catherine is Francesca Annis, playing Annie, who has most recently been seen on television as Lady Ludlow in the BBC’s award-winning “Cranford”. Lisa Dillon, whose recent stage credits include “Present Laughter” and “The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other” for the National Theatre and “Hedda Gabler” for the Almeida will play Helen, while Chris O’Dowd, best known for his performance as Roy in Channel 4′s hit comedy series “The IT Crowd” plays Nick.

Under the Blue Sky first premiered at the Royal Court in 2000, to critical acclaim. David Eldridge’s theatre credits include “Incomplete and Random Acts of Kindness” for the Royal Court and “Market Boy” for The National Theatre in 2006.

Under the Blue Sky is directed by Anna Mackmin, who most recently directed David Storey’s “In Celebration” in the West End, starring Orlando Bloom. She made her National Theatre directorial debut with “Burn, Citizenship and Chatroom”.

Organised by Westminster City Council, this year’s event will feature performances from Avenue Q, Buddy, Chicago, Dirty Dancing, Grease, Jersey Boys, Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Into The Hoods, Mamma Mia!, Never Forget, The Lord Of The Rings, The Sound Of Music, Stomp, We Will Rock You and Wicked.

Dee and Rowe will both appear in Edward Dick’s production of Twelfth Night, one of three Shakespearean plays being produced in Artistic Director Timothy Sheader’s first season at the Open Air, the others being Romeo And Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

In Twelfth Night, Dee is to play Olivia while Rowe takes on the role of Feste.  O’Hare leads the cast in the final production in the Open Air season in the title role of Gigi, joining the already announced Topol. Sheader directs the Lerner and Loewe musical which has not been seen in London for over 20 years.

In Gigi, O’Hare joins Topol – best known for playing Tevye in Fiddler On The Roof on stage and on screen – as Honore and Millicent Martin as Mamita. English actress and singer Martin has appeared on stages and screens in the UK and US during her long career, with credits including television series Millicent, the 1965 film Alfie, 1990s detective series Moon And Son and US comedy series Frasier. On Broadway she appeared in Side By Side By Sondheim, King Of Hearts and 42nd Street.

The Open Air season runs from 2 June to 13 September 2008.

American writer/director LaBute is to direct his play, which was first seen off-Broadway in 2004, when it premieres in London. Partially inspired by LaBute’s own experience on the Atkins diet, it follows a friendship turned love affair between Tom (Webb) and larger lady Helen (Ella Smith). It is only so long, though, before the insults start to fly from Tom’s colleagues Carter (Marshall) and Jeannie (Page).

Members of the new “Entry Pass” scheme are entitled to buy one £5 ticket per production to any show in the National’s three auditoria. The scheme also offers “Mates Rates”, allowing Entry Pass members to buy tickets for up to two friends to the same performance for £7.50 each.

This latest initiative by the National is a further attempt to encourage theatregoing among young people. Entry Pass was announced by the National Theatre along with details of its summer productions, which include a new Michael Frayn play, a drama about the Suffragette movement, and the London premiere of The Pitmen Painters, a new play by the writer of Billy Elliot.