HELLO, DOLLY!
with
Louise English as Irene Molloy
UK National Tour
February
— August 2008
Rave Reviews for Louise
"Louise English played Irene Molloy with elegance and
panache."
— Daily Information, Oxford
"Louise English plays Irene Molloy beautifully and her
rendition of "Ribbons Down My Back" was the best singing of the evening."
— The British Theatre Guide
"Louise English is ideal as Irene
Molloy."
— Manchester Evening News
"Louise English's
voice is stunning." — What's On North East
"Louise English sang
beautifully."
— Chester Chronicle
"Louise English, as Irene
Molloy, exudes grace and charm and has a beautiful singing voice. Her rendition
of ‘Ribbons Down My Back’ was spine-tingling."
— The Public Reviews
"Louise
English plays
Mrs Molloy with...flair and a natural singing voice."
— The Stirrer
"Louise English, as Irene Molly, sang beautifully and looked
lovely too, with nice comic timing."
— Northern Echo
"Ms English is a solid all-round
performer and was well cast in this role."
— Stourbridge News
"Louise English brought all
of her West End experience to the
role of milliner Irene Molloy and was a perfect match for Cornelius. She has a
charming singing voice and 'Ribbons down My Back' was a highlight of Act 1." —
Encore Magazine
Louise was spotlight, centre stage
starring as the delightful and desirable hat shop owner Irene Molloy in a
30-week, February to August, UK tour of the smash-hit musical Hello, Dolly!
Hello, Dolly!
is a whirlwind race around New York and Yonkers at the turn of the twentieth
century, following Dolly Levi in her attempts to marry the wealthy Horace
Vandergelder and play matchmaker for Cornelius and Irene (played by Louise).
"And what do you do for a living, Mrs.
Levi?" asks Ambrose Kemper. "Some people paint, some sew...I meddle," replies
Dolly.
Winner of 10 Tony Awards including Best Musical, New York Drama Critics Circle
Award for a Musical, 2 Outer Critics Circle Awards and a Drama Desk Award,
Hello, Dolly! is the biggest show stopper in the history of musical
theatre.
With many memorable songs including:
"Ribbons Down My Back" and "It Only Takes A Moment", both sung by Louise,
Hello, Dolly! earned many great reviews.
Joining Louise on stage was
Anita Dobson as America's most-beloved
matchmaker, Dolly Levi; Darren Day as loveable Cornelius Hackl;
David McAlister as the unmarried
'half-a-millionaire' Horace Vandergelder; Christopher Marlowe as Rudolph/Judge;
Amanda Salmon as Minnie Fay; and Hamilton Sargent as Barnaby Tucker; with Carol
Ball as Ernestina, Samuel Board as Ambrose Kemper, and Sophie Wilkins as
Ermengarde.
With a magnificent company of over 40
including a talented ensemble cast of: Matt Byham, Phil Carroll,
Jaime Cox, Philip Coyle, Vicki Davids, Andrea Lynette-Young, Billy Mitchell,
Katy Osborne, Samm Price, Helen Rymer, Louise Stanton, Aaron Sweeney-Harris,
Owen Woodgate, Hannah Woolley, and a live orchestra; Hello, Dolly! proved
to be the show-stopping ‘perfect match’ for every musical fan.
Hello, Dolly! was directed by
Chris Colby with musical supervision by Mark Crossland and musical direction by
David Beer; choreography by David Kort; lighting design by Colin Wood; set
design by Alan Miller Bunford; and costumes by Anthony Wright for Chris Moreno
Ltd.
CLICK HERE FOR THE HELLO, DOLLY! GALLERY
HELLO, DOLLY! 2008 Tour Schedule:
(The Week Of: Venue)
- 1-9 February: Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton
- 11 February: Hippodrome Theatre, Birmingham
- 18 February: New Theatre Hull
- 25 February: Festival Theatre, Edinburgh
- 3 March: Lyric (Lowry) Theatre, Salford
- 10 March: Civic Theatre, Darlington
- 17 March: Off
- 24 March: New Wimbledon Theatre, London
- 31 March: Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield
- 7 April: Festival Theatre, Malvern
- 14 April: King's Theatre, Glasgow
- 21 April: Off
- 28 April: Churchill Theatre, Bromley
- 5 May: Congress Theatre, Eastbourne
- 12 May: Charter Theatre, Preston
- 19 May: Royal Theatre, Nottingham
- 26 May: New Theatre, Oxford
- 2 June: Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
- 9 June: Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
- 16 June: New Theatre, Cardiff
- 23 June: Grand Theatre, Leeds
- 30 June: Empire Theatre, Liverpool
- 7 July: Off
- 14 July: Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea
- 21 July: Opera House, Jersey
- 28 July: Opera House, Jersey
- 4 August: Hippodrome Theatre, Bristol
- 11 August: His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen
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ALL THE FUN OF THE FAIR
with LOUISE ENGLISH as Rosa
UK National Tour
September 2008 - May 2009
"Miss English is a rare
commodity and, in every way, she is the archetypal, consummate leading lady."
— The Public Reviews
"Louise English delivers the performance of a
lifetime; phenomenal isn’t adequate enough a word to describe it." — UK Theatre Network
"Louise English is the excellent narrator as fortunetelling
Rosa."
— The Northern Echo
"Louise English's sultry singing voice excels in ‘A Winter’s
Tale’."
— Sale and Altrincham Messenger
"The velvet tones of West End star Louise English
open the production."
— The Weston Mercury
'Roll on up, see the main
attraction, get your money ready, let's take a ride.'
Set against the backdrop of a travelling funfair and
packed with dazzling stunt sequences, hilarious crafty cons and plenty of rock
‘n’ roll, All The Fun Of The Fair is a brand new action-packed
musical from legendary singer and songwriter David Essex and the creator of
Boogie Nights, Jon Conway.
Widower and funfair owner Levi Lee (David Essex)
is struggling to fend off the unwelcome attentions of an alluring and attractive
divorcee whilst trying to keep up with the ins and outs of his son’s tangled
love life and lofty ambitions. And what is he to make of the dangerous
predictions of the fair’s mysterious gypsy fortune teller, Rosa (played by
Louise), warning him about what the future has in store?
Louise says of her role, "I'm very excited about it. It's a
musical play that's been written by Jon Conway and it's got David Essex's music
in it. I've got the lovely chance to sing that beautiful song,
A Winter's Tale, which was one of
his big hits."
"I play a gypsy called Rosa, who's desperately in love with Levi Lee (David Essex),
and who has a daughter (Emma Thornett). She's a
tough woman, she knows what she wants and she doesn't get messed around by
people and she's nobody's fool. It's a fabulous role - completely different from
Irene Molloy, who's very soft and feminine. This woman is sexy, she's voluptuous
and she knows what she wants and goes and gets it. And I get to sing with David
Essex which is one of my dreams, so I'm over the moon!" [Louise's quotes are
from her interview with Steve Burbridge. Click here for the complete interview.]
Inspired by David’s debut album, this roller-coaster
ride is underscored by a helter-skelter of hits such as
Winter’s Tale, Hold Me Close, Gonna Make You A Star, Me and
My Girl Nightclubbing, Silver Dream Machine and Rock On.
Joining Louise and David onstage were David Burrows as Harvey; Paul-Ryan Carberry
as Jack; Stefan Butler as Slow Jonny; Tanya Robb as Alice; Emma Thornett as Mary; Barry Bloxham as Druid; Chris Crosby as Scott; Sue
Hallam Wright as Sally; Phil Lawton as Bruno; Nicola Bryan as Rita; Carl Patrick as Terry the Twister; and Lara Denning as Abigail.
All The Fun Of The Fair was co-produced by Alan Darlow Productions and the Churchill Theatre, Bromley.
The show was directed by Nikolai Foster with music and orchestrations by Ian Wherry, set design by Colin Richmond, choreography by Sophie Lawrence, and sound
and effects by Steve Jonas.
And take a look at the
All The Fun Of The Fair gallery.
All The Fun Of The Fair 2008 National Tour
Schedule: (The Week Of: Venue)
- 8 September: Churchill Theatre, Bromley
- 15 September: Churchill Theatre, Bromley
- 22 September: Civic Theatre, Darlington
- 29 September: Regent Theatre, Stoke
- 6 October: Theatre Royal, Brighton
- 13 October: Cliffs Pavilion, Southend-on-Sea
- 20 October: Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton
- 27 October: Palace Theatre, Manchester
- 3 November: King's Theatre, Glasgow
- 10 November: Alhambra Theatre, Bradford
- 17 November: New Victoria Theatre, Woking
- 24 November: Orchard Theatre, Dartford
- 1 December: New Theatre, Cardiff
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