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Sam and Friends BookThe London fringe theatre (a sort of London equivalent to Off-Broadway or maybe Off off off off Broadway) isn't usually the sort of place to find a leading West End performer. However I have recently read that the West End actress Louise Gold will be appearing in a fringe musical (called Next Door's Baby) at The Orange Tree next month. For more information see: http://www.orangetreetheatre.co.uk/
The Orange Tree is no stranger to the unusual. A few years ago (at one of that theatre's fundraising evenings) the theatre's director Sam Walters' recounted a delightful tale involving the time he tried to persude Kander & Ebb's agent to let him stage 'The Rink' in his little theatre.
Their audience's loyalty is legendary, when their production of Flora The Red Menace was given a terrible review in the local paper, a lot of the theatregoers who had enjoyed the show wrote and complained, so many complained that the newspaper was obliged to send another critic to rereview the show (rather more favourablely), in fact that production was such a success the theatre had to put on extra performances. (not something they'd normally do).
Besides musicals, they also have a winning way with farces, particularly those by Feydeau. So far all the shows of theirs that I have seen have been jolly well acted, even though very often the actors are not all that well known.
Good and talented though their actors are, nevertheless they don't usually employ big stars/West End types (at least not according to their box-office people), they don't need to. But for once, it seems they are.
Louise Gold is of course not entirely a stranger to fringe theatre, her previous credits include 'Angry Housewives' and 'Lady Into Fox' both at the Hammersmith Lyric Studio (the latter also toured). She has also appeared at both the Donmar Warehouse, and, the Half Moon Theatre, which though in the West End are almost fringe-like in their size. And she once did a performance of Man Of La Mancha at the Colchester Mercury Studio. But all of these were some years ago (about 10 at least). These days she's usually to be found in big West End stuff, not slumming it in the fringe (even when its very good fringe theatre).
Still I thought it worth posting here, just in case anyone might be interested.
The Orange Tree is no stranger to the unusual. A few years ago (at one of that theatre's fundraising evenings) the theatre's director Sam Walters' recounted a delightful tale involving the time he tried to persude Kander & Ebb's agent to let him stage 'The Rink' in his little theatre.
Their audience's loyalty is legendary, when their production of Flora The Red Menace was given a terrible review in the local paper, a lot of the theatregoers who had enjoyed the show wrote and complained, so many complained that the newspaper was obliged to send another critic to rereview the show (rather more favourablely), in fact that production was such a success the theatre had to put on extra performances. (not something they'd normally do).
Besides musicals, they also have a winning way with farces, particularly those by Feydeau. So far all the shows of theirs that I have seen have been jolly well acted, even though very often the actors are not all that well known.
Good and talented though their actors are, nevertheless they don't usually employ big stars/West End types (at least not according to their box-office people), they don't need to. But for once, it seems they are.
Louise Gold is of course not entirely a stranger to fringe theatre, her previous credits include 'Angry Housewives' and 'Lady Into Fox' both at the Hammersmith Lyric Studio (the latter also toured). She has also appeared at both the Donmar Warehouse, and, the Half Moon Theatre, which though in the West End are almost fringe-like in their size. And she once did a performance of Man Of La Mancha at the Colchester Mercury Studio. But all of these were some years ago (about 10 at least). These days she's usually to be found in big West End stuff, not slumming it in the fringe (even when its very good fringe theatre).
Still I thought it worth posting here, just in case anyone might be interested.
