Hair The Musical will now close on the 4th September, when the Broadway cast finishes its contract.

Despite a lot of positive press and numerous awards for the Broadway production, it seems that the show is unable to sustain a long run in London.

Hair is such a great musical and this production is definitely worth seeing. However, I think the £65 face value on top price seats was overly ambitious. Yes, relocating the entire cast of a musical is an expensive business and consequently funds need to be raised, but Wicked, Les Miserables, The Lion King, Phantom Of the Opera and Chicago all have top price tickets with a face value hovering around the £60 mark.

Not that the above shows are worth any more or less than Hair, art is a very subjective business. But I do ask the question: is it a little strange that the ‘hippie musical’ is more expensive than most of the other West End shows?

Thankfully, you can buy a ticket for Hair at a discount price, before it is swept away in September. Discount Theatre has upper circle tickets midweek reduced to £22.99 and top price tickets for matinees reduced to £45.99, as well as some dinner and show packages from £42.50 per person.

It really is a superb show and would be a shame to miss it. Buy your Hair tickets here. 

It was bound to cause controversy, especially amongst diehard Phantom Phans.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies officially opened last week, and the popular press finally had their say. There seems to be a bit of a love it or hate it consensus. The good reviews were positively glowing, with many 5 star ratings, something not seen for a new musical in many years.

The not so favourable reviews picked apart the story, the music and pretty much the motivation for doing a sequel at all.

However, I have yet to come across a mediocre review. And I think that is a good thing, I certainly don’t like walking out of a show indifferent. I want to feel passionate about what I saw and have critique or praise depending on my feeling. That’s what good art should do.

Asking some of my colleagues what they thought, I pretty much got the same result. Some loved it and some hated it. I also asked them about The Phantom Of The Opera, once again some loved it and some hated it.

I haven’t seen Love Never Dies yet, but I am due to go in a few weeks. I wonder which camp I will fall into?

Love Never Dies is now booking until the 23rd October. Book your Love Never Dies Tickets here.

If you are home tonight, check out Jonathan Ross – Andrew Lloyd Webber is set to appear as a guest and Sierra Boggess will perform the title song from new musical Love Never Dies. I wonder if the BBC will roll out the throne from the props department or if the Lord will sit on the sofa like the rest of the guests?

Lloyd Webber is going to be a pretty busy guy in the next couple of months. First off, Love Never Dies has started previewing at the Adelphi Theatre and will have its press night on the 9th March. Even though the composer has asserted that Love Never Dies is not a sequel to The Phantom Of the Opera and is a standalone piece, most theatregoers are still referring to the new musical as Phantom 2. There’s no doubt that the show is going to sell out, but will it be any good? The popular press will express their views in a few weeks’ time.

In addition to launching a brand new show, the classic story, The Wizard Of Oz is about to be resurrected, thanks to the Lord and BBC reality TV. Over The Rainbow is set to start in a few weeks time; the aim is to choose a feisty unknown actress to play the role of Dorothy. This will be the fourth incarnation of the BBC reality show, having previously broadcast the competition to cast leads in The Sound Of Music, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, and Oliver!

The sing off format for Over The Rainbow will be the same, but I was shocked to hear that the judges panel will look very different. Denise Van Outen will not be back, having gone off and married Lee Mead (a previous contestant and eventual winner, soon to star in Wicked) and is soon to give birth to their first child. More shocking is the absence of John Barrowman. What will we do without his constant shouting of ‘fantastic, fantastic, fantastic!’ whilst jumping up out of his seat?

Instead, the judges panel will consist of Sheila Hancock, currently starring as Mother Superior in Sister Act, Charlotte Church, who will probably provide some boisterous comedic moments, and John Partridge (Christian from Eastenders) who has starred in many West End productions over the last 20 years.

My money is on John Partridge to steal the show.

If history repeats, The Wizard of Oz will follow in the success of earlier shows promoted by the reality contest and become the highest grossing musical of 2010. Keep a close eye out for when the production goes on sale; I can guarantee that the first booking period will sell out instantaneously.

Love Never Dies is now previewing and is booking until 23rd October 2010. Over The Rainbow will soon be shown on Saturday nights on BBC1.

After many months of speculation, gossip and rumours, Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to his iconic The Phantom Of The Opera has gone on sale at the Adelphi Theatre in London.

We’re told that the story picks up 10 years after the mysterious disappearance of the Phantom from the Paris Opera House; famous opera singer Christine Daae and her husband Raoul have travelled to New York’s Coney Island, where Christine has accepted an offer to perform. Consequently Christine finds out that the anonymous person who has lured her to New York is someone she is well acquainted with!

Ramin Karimloo will create the role of the Phantom in Love Never Dies, having already performed the role in The Phantom of the Opera in London. American Sierra Boggess (who created the role of Ariel in Broadway’s The Little Mermaid) will play Christine, and home grown talent Summer Stallen (The Sound Of Music, The Drowsy Chaperone) will play Meg Giry. Tony award winning Jack O’Brien (Hairspray) directs.

Love Never Dies will preview from the 20th February 2010, officially opening on the 9th March 2010. The initial run is booking until the 23rd October 2010. If you are a Phantom Phan, buy your tickets asap. This show will sell out.

And if you haven’t seen the original Phantom Of the Opera and need to catch up on the story, it’s still playing at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London; it’s Phantastic 23 year run is a testament to the popularity of the original show.

Ok, I’m probably annoying you now with the Phantom puns. Book your Love Never Dies tickets here.

Back when I first came to London and I was living in an antipodean house share, where someone was inhabiting the broom closet (and paying £300 a month for the privilege), I was also working in a box office selling tickets for West End shows. One day a delightful middle age couple came in and asked for my opinion of what they should go and see. We went through the list, and being completely indecisive, they decided to hold up the queue while they pondered how to spend their hard earned holiday money. They eventually asked about The Rat Pack, which I had recently seen and was quite impressed with; it was great entertainment and I had a good time listening to all of the old songs performed on stage.

I told them that it was very good and they should definitely go and see it, especially if they liked music from that era. They then asked a puzzling question: was it a film?

I was quite confused at this point, especially since the face value for top price tickets was about £40 at the time, which is a little steep for the cinema. My reply seemed to confuse them as well. I said that it was a live show, and all of the songs were performed live on stage. This was a booth for West End tickets after all, not the Odeon Cinema Leicester Square.

Their response: “Well it can’t be a live show. Sammy, Frank and Dean are all dead”

I swear to you, there was no sarcastic tone in their statement whatsoever.

I think I underestimate people sometimes. We started again, and I explained that it was a tribute show and the performers were actors, but very good actors, and it was a great night out and they should really go and see it.

They booked tickets to see Phantom Of the Opera.

Anyways, now that I have shared this little anecdote, and now that The Rat Pack is on its way back into the West End, I must say that it is a great show, performed by actors that look and sound remarkably like Frank, Dean and Sammy, and contains well known songs such as “Fly Me to The Moon”, “Mr. Bojangles”, and “My Way”. It is an extremely fun and entertaining night out. And the best part is, they do a special Christmas version in December which is fantastic, especially for work parties or to incorporate into a shopping trip to London.

Some words of advice to anyone who needs to provide a description of The Rat Pack….use the words Live Tribute Show. It will save you a lot of trouble.

The Rat Pack-Live From Las Vegas is booking from 24th September until the 21st November and the Christmas version will be running from the 24th November to 3rd January. Book your Rat Pack tickets here.