April 2013

Matilda the Musical on Broadway has earned itself a whopping TWELVE nominations for this year’s Tony Awards!

Best Musical
Best Book of a Musical – Dennis Kelly
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre – Tim Minchin (Music & Lyrics)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical – Bertie Carvel (Miss Trunchbull)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical – Gabriel Ebert (Mr Wormwood)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical – Lauren Ward (Miss Honey)
Best Direction of a Musical – Matthew Warchus
Best Choreography – Peter Darling
Best Orchestrations – Chris Nightingale
Best Scenic Design of a Musical – Rob Howell
Best Costume Design of a Musical – Rob Howell
Best Lighting Design of a Musical – Hugh Vanstone

Tony Honours for Excellence in the Theatre – The four actresses who created the title role of Matilda The Musical on Broadway: Sophia Gennusa, Oona Laurence, Bailey Ryon and Milly Shapiro.

For the full list of nominations in each category visit the Tony Awards website. The 67th Annual Tony Awards ceremony will take place on the 9th June, 2013, at Radio City Music Hall. There will be a CBS telecast and outdoor Times Square simulcast.

Congratulations to Tim and everyone at Matilda The Musical Broadway on this amazing news!

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Please note: Voting closes this Thursday 2nd May at 12pm for the 2013 Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards for which Matilda The Musical received SEVEN nominations across FIVE categories. These are the only major US theatrical awards voted for completely by Broadway theatre goers and fans so if that’s you and you’d like to vote click here. More details in our original announcement here.

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As if that wasn’t enough Matilda The Musical on Broadway also received SEVEN Drama Desk Award nominations yesterday!

Outstanding Musical!
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical – Bertie Carvel
Outstanding Director of a Musical – Matthew Warchus
Outstanding Choreography – Peter Darling
Outstanding Lyrics – Tim Minchin
Outstanding Book of a Musical – Dennis Kelly
Outstanding Set Design – Rob Howell

The full list of categories and nominations can be found here.

The Drama Desk, an organization of theatre journalists and critics, are the only major New York theatre honours for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway compete against each other in the same category. The 58th Annual Drama Desk Awards will be presented at the Town Hall on May 19th, 2013.

It’s the Olivier Awards 2013 ceremony at the Royal Opera House, in London, tonight! The glamorous and star-studded event, which honours the very best in British theatre, will be hosted by Sheridan Smith and Hugh Bonneville.

Tim’ll be there, looking spiffing and twinkly, presenting the award for Best New Musical and he’ll be performing a song from the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Matilda The Musical, for which he wrote the music and lyrics.

In April, last year, having received the maximum possible ten nominations, Matilda The Musical skipped away with a Guinness World Record breaking SEVEN 2012 Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical!

This year Matilda The Musical is up for yet another: The BBC Radio 2 Audience Award, which is a chance for theatre audiences to bestow this accolade on their favourite long-running London show. You can see who Matilda is up against and the full list of 2013 nominees here.

The Awards run from 6:30pm to 9.30pm and ITV is showing 90 minutes of highlights 10:15pm to 11:45pm. This will be on the ITV Player next week.

If you’re in London you can watch the arrivals and ceremony on screens in Covent Garden from 4pm, otherwise you can listen live on BBC Radio 2 from 6pm.

There’s more detail and razzmatazz on the Olivier Awards website and for behind-the-scenes Oliviers’ photos you can head to their Instagram page here.

Tomorrow evening, Thursday 18th April 2013, 9:30pm – 10:30pm, The South Bank Show on Sky Arts 1 profiles Tim!

Melvyn Bragg talks to Tim about his career, his love of language, rhymes, satire and exploring taboos. There will be live footage of Tim performing at the Royal Albert Hall with the fabulous Heritage Orchestra and from the Coronet gig in London last year.

The programme traces quite a bit of Tim’s early life in Australia, his childhood, education, early career and eventual decision to move to the UK. Tim’s brother Dan gets to spill some Minchin beans and you’ll even see some family photos.

In the studio Tim performs ‘When I Grow Up’ from Matilda The Musical and talks about writing the music and lyrics for the show. Director Matthew Warchus and writer Dennis Kelly are interviewed about working with him on the project.

You’ll find more details about the show and three taster clips, including one with Tim talking about controversy and another about Matilda The Musical on the Sky Arts website here.

The programme will be repeated on Thursday 18th April at 12:45am, Sky Arts 1 and on Sunday 21st April at 1:05am, Sky Arts 1.

Matilda The Musical pops up seven times in the 2013 Broadway.com Audience Choice Award nominations! The nominees are chosen by readers of Broadway.com and they are the only major US theatrical awards voted for completely by Broadway theater goers and fans.

There are 16 categories and Matilda The Musical has been nominated in five of them, including Favorite Musical. Three of Tim’s songs are up for Favorite song and Bertie Carvel is listed in three categories for reprising his role as the hilarious and formidable Miss Trunchbull.

Favorite New Musical – Matilda
Favorite Actor in a Musical – Bertie Carvel, Matilda
Favorite Diva Performance – Bertie Carvel, Matilda
Favorite Breakthrough Performance – Bertie Carvel, Matilda
Favorite New Song – ‘Revolting Children’, Matilda; ‘The Smell of Rebellion’, Matilda and ‘When I Grow Up’, Matilda.

You can see the full list of nominations and cast your votes here.

Voting closes on Thursday 2nd May at 12pm and the awards will be presented at a VIP ceremony on Sunday 5th May.

Last night the New York production of Matilda The Musical, for which Tim wrote the music and lyrics, opened at the Shubert Theatre on Broadway to delighted cheers and a full standing ovation. The show, which has been in previews since the 4th March 2013, is today swinging high, feet kicking up to the sky at the marvellously glowing reviews across the board:

The New York Times
Ben Brantley describes Matilda as “the most satisfying and subversive musical ever to come out of Britain, where it was nurtured into life by the Royal Shakespeare Company… even more glorious than we were promised… truly revolutionary.”

The Washington Post
Peter Marks says “‘Matilda’ [is] by some large and tickling measure the most splendiferous new musical of the year…
With a delectably clever score by Tim Minchin and a slyly evocative book by Dennis Kelly, the musical, is distinguished by its wonderful look and a caliber of choreography for young people you rarely ever experience.”

Chicago Tribune
Chris Jones hails the production as “far and away the best new musical of the Broadway season, indeed one of the best family-oriented shows of any season” and describes Tim’s score as “remarkably rich, occasionally anthemic” singling out “a simple, gorgeous Tim Minchin song, ‘When I Grow Up.’ “

The New York Post
Elisabeth Vincentelli says “Once in a blue moon, a show comes out blazing and restores your faith in Broadway. A treat for ears and eyes, brain and heart, the glorious ‘Matilda’ has it all.”

Time Magazine
Richard Zoglin proclaims Matilda “the wondrous new musical from London that has just arrived on Broadway. It would be easy to call it the best British musical since ‘Billy Elliot’, but that, I’m afraid, would be underselling it. You have to go back to ‘The Lion King’ to find a show with as much invention, spirit and genre-redefining verve.” and says “[Tim Minchin] has written a score that seems all but woven into the scenery—simple but distinctive tunes, intricate lyrics, a touch of jazz here, or wailing rock there, but all of a piece, integral to the show and like nothing else.”

Matthew Warchus, Dennis Kelly and Tim joined the cast on stage for bows. Photographer: Ellie Kurttz

Matilda The Musical continues to play to packed houses at London’s Cambridge Theatre, inspiring and delighting adults and children alike. 250,000 tickets will go on sale on Monday 15th April here for the London production which is now booking until May 2014.

The original cast recording of Matilda the Musical, is available from iTunes and on CD from the RSC Shop. For more information about the show and for tickets to shows in London and New York head to the Matilda The Musical website.

Tim is to present a three part documentary on Absolute Radio about the life and career of David Bowie this month.

The first part of the series will focus on Bowie’s early life in post-war Brixton and career up to Ziggy (1947-1973), the second on the golden era of the Thin White Duke to Scary Monsters (1973-1980), while the last part will range from Let’s Dance to the new album The Next Day (1980 to 2013) and the V&A’s current David Bowie Is exhibition.

The story will be told by the friends and musicians who have played a part in Bowie’s life over six decades and it includes contributions from Bowie’s childhood friend and artist George Underwood, touring guitarist John “Hutch” Hutchinson and his guitarist Mick Ronson’s widow Suzi.

BOWIE will be broadcast, in three hour-long episodes, on Absolute Radio here, at 7pm on consecutive Sundays: the 7th, 14th and 21st April 2013. There will be also be a series of short online films featuring additional material and interviews. It will air again and be available on the website during the term of the exhibition at the V&A (until 11th August).

So if your inner Bowie nerd is crying out for your rock ‘n’ roll nerd to tell you all about that amazingly colourful career then this is the programme for you.

UPDATE: If you’ve missed any of these episodes then you can listen again here.

Hosanna! Yet more dates have been added to the Jesus Christ Superstar arena tour in Australia. Melbourne and Sydney will now have five shows apiece:

Sunday 9th June 2013
Sydney Entertainment Centre (Matinee)
Sydney Entertainment Centre (Evening)

Sunday 16th June 2013
Melbourne Rod Laver Arena (Matinee)
Melbourne Rod Laver Arena (Evening)

Pre-sale tickets will be available via www.frontiertouring.com/jesuschristsuperstar from Wednesday 10 April noon AEST.

Tickets go on general sale from 9am local time, Monday 15th April 2013.  The full list of dates can be found at jesuschristsuperstar.com.

Just in case you’ve missed our earlier announcements: Tim’s reprising his award-winning performance as Judas Iscariot for the Australian arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, while Melanie C and Ben Forster will also be returning in their roles from the UK production as Mary Magdalene and Jesus.

Deal or No Deal host Andrew O’Keefe will play King Herod and Jon Stevens, who appeared as Judas Iscariot in the 1992 Australian arena tour of the show is taking on the role of Pontius Pilate.