Regent's Park Open Air Theatre

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Regent's Park Open Air Theatre
OAT Logo.png
OATAuditorium.jpg
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
AddressInner Circle
London, NW1
United Kingdom
Coordinates51°31′44″N 0°09′18″W / 51.529°N 0.155°W / 51.529; -0.155Coordinates: 51°31′44″N 0°09′18″W / 51.529°N 0.155°W / 51.529; -0.155
Public transitLondon Underground Baker Street
OwnerRegent's Park Theatre Ltd.
TypeOpen-air theatre, with resident company
Capacity1,200+ seats
ProductionSummer repertory
Construction
Opened1932; 89 years ago (1932)
Rebuilt1999
Website
openairtheatre.com

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre is an open-air theatre in Regent's Park in central London.

The theatre[]

Open Air Theatre Bar, at night

The theatre is located in Queen Mary's Gardens, on the Inner Circle of Regent's Park and consequently is surrounded entirely by parkland. It was founded in 1932 by and Robert Atkins.[1] The theatre is completely uncovered; the only sheltered area being underneath the tiered auditorium, which houses one of the longest bars of any theatre in London – stretching the entire length of the seating.

The theatre houses an extensive backstage area complete with green room for the company and technical team, a full wardrobe, makeup and wigs department, a workshop for the maintenance of stage sets and numerous offices for stage management, sound, LX and other crew.

The theatre is a registered charity, run by an Artistic Director Timothy Sheader and Executive Director William Village. The charity's Board of Trustees is chaired by Robert Davis DL, and includes Sir Peter Rogers, Stuart Griffiths OBE, Toni Racklin, Jim Reed, Samantha Spiro, Martin Wilkinson and William Village, alongside Dame Judi Dench, the theatre's Patron. The theatre has also been the inspiration for other open-air theatres around the world, such as the Maynardville Open-Air Theatre in Cape Town and Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, Chester.

Quality colour footage of the theatre in 1950 was included towards the end of reel 1, in a Pathe News short of that year narrated by Rex Harrison.[2]

Recent productions[]

Ian Talbot[]

2007 saw the 25th and final year of artistic director, Ian Talbot. The Season included productions of Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Lady, Be Good, Fantastic Mr Fox and The Boy Friend. The choice to perform Lady, Be Good was in reflection of his final year, being the first musical he directed at the park.

Timothy Sheader[]

Timothy Sheader became Artistic Director of the theatre in November 2007. His first season, produced in 2008, consisted of productions of Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Lerner and Loewe's Gigi[3] – starring Millicent Martin as Mamita and Topol as Honore – and an especially adapted production of A Midsummer Night's Dream for family audiences.

2009 saw Timothy Sheader's second season as Artistic Director of the theatre. Productions included Much Ado About Nothing, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Tempest (adapted for family audiences) and Hello, Dolly!. Dolly! won several awards, including the Olivier Award for Best Revival of a Musical and Best Actress in a Musical for its star Samantha Spiro.[4]

In 2010, the theatre presented new productions of The Crucible, The Comedy of Errors and Macbeth, which was adapted for younger audiences. The Season musical was Into the Woods, by Stephen Sondheim. The production starred Hannah Waddingham as the Witch, Jenna Russell as the Baker's Wife, and Helen Dallimore as Cinderella. It was the first time that Into the Woods had been performed outside and won the Olivier Award for "Best Musical Revival". The production subsequently transferred to the Public Theater's Delacorte Theater in New York City in 2012 starring a completely American cast which included Academy Award nominee Amy Adams.

The 2011 season included productions of Lord of the Flies, The Beggar's Opera, Shakespeare's Pericles (re-imagined for everyone aged six and over)[5] and the Musical Crazy for You. Crazy for You received the highest number of five star reviews of any musical opening in 2011 and became the first Open Air Theatre production to transfer directly into the West End, where it played at the Novello Theatre.[6]

For the 2012 season, two productions ran across the entire season in repertoire: The Tony Award-winning Ragtime the Musical directed by Timothy Sheader and Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream directed by Matthew Dunster.

Directed by Timothy Sheader and adapted for the stage by Christopher Sergel, Harper Lee's American classic To Kill a Mockingbird opened the 2013 season with Robert Sean Leonard as Atticus Finch, his first London appearance in 22 years. The show returned in 2014.

Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the novel, a stage adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice starring Jane Asher as Lady Catherine de Bourgh, followed To Kill a Mockingbird. A production of William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, tailored specifically for children aged six and over, ran alongside.

Returning to close the 2013 season, Rachel Kavanaugh directed a sell-out and extended run of The Sound of Music starring Charlotte Wakefield as Maria. With over 188,000 visitors, the 2013 season broke all records.

The 2014 season began with Arthur Miller's All My Sons, directed by Timothy Sheader, followed by Harold Brighouse's Hobson's Choice, and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night re-imagined for aged six and over. Timothy Sheader also directed The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess with a cast drawn from Broadway and the West End.

Following its sell-out run in 2013,[7] To Kill a Mockingbird returned to conclude the 2014 season, before embarking on a UK tour.[8] To Kill a Mockingbird returned to London in June 2015, when Robert Sean Leonard reprised his role of Atticus Finch at the Barbican Centre.[9]

The 2015 season was announced in late October. J.M. Barrie's original stage play of Peter Pan opened the season, and was followed by Anton Chekhov's The Seagull in a new version by Torben Betts. Rachel Kavanaugh returned to the park to direct the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Their 2011 acclaimed production of William Golding's Lord of the Flies returned for 14 performances ahead of a major UK tour.[10]

A new adaptation of Running Wild by Michael Morpurgo opened the 2016 season as a co-production with Chichester Festival Theatre. Henry V followed in celebration of the life and legacy of William Shakespeare. Artistic Director, Timothy Sheader directed the 2016 musical, a revival of Jesus Christ Superstar by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, which played to sold-out audiences and won a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival. Following a sell-out run in 2013, Pride and Prejudice returned to the Park at the end of the season ahead of a UK tour.

In November 2016 it was announced that On the Town would open the 2017 season, followed by Dickens Uncovered, a new adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, and Oliver Twist adapted for younger audiences by Anya Reiss, Oliver Twist created for everyone aged six and over. Jesus Christ Superstar returned to conclude the season. In January 2017 it was announced that the theatre had won London Theatre of the Year at The Stage Awards.[11]

The 2018 season welcomed the return of Peter Pan, a revival of their 2015 Olivier Award-nominated production. For a limited run, in a co-production with the English National Opera, Artistic Director Timothy Sheader rediscovered Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw, receiving acclaimed reviews.[12] Max Webster directed William Shakespeare's As You Like It. For families, Dinosaur World Live, a new interactive show played daytime performances. The season concluded with the mean green monster musical Little Shop of Horrors, which played to critical acclaim.[13] 2018 also saw Regent's Park Open Air Theatre's production of Jesus Christ Superstar play at Chicago's Lyric Opera.[14]

The 2019 season opened with Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Our Town (16 May – 8 June), directed by Ellen McDougall, Artistic Director of the Gate Theatre. Continuing their collaboration with English National Opera, they present Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera Hansel and Gretel (14 June – 22 June) - members of the ENO Orchestra and was conducted by Ben Glassberg, with direction by Open Air Theatre’s Artistic Director, Timothy Sheader. Dominic Hill, Artistic Director of the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, then directed a new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (28 June – 27 July). To conclude the season, Jamie Lloyd directed Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita (2 August – 21 September). The theatre's multi award-winning[15] production of Jesus Christ Superstar also transferred to the Barbican Centre for just 60 performances from 4 July - 24 August 2019, prior to a 50th anniversary tour of the US.[16] In November 2019, Regent's Park's production of Evita won Best Musical at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards.[17]

The theatre postponed the entirety of the planned 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The theatre presented a concert version of their award winning production of Jesus Christ Superstar for 6 weeks from 14 August as well as a limited series of MOREoutdoor comedy events. From 19 August performances of Jesus Christ Superstar: The Concert and selected MOREoutdoor comedy events were also relayed ‘live’ via a giant screen on the venue’s lawn.[18]

The 2021 season will open with William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet directed by Kimberley Sykes (17 June to 24 July). This will be followed by Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel directed by Timothy Sheader (31 July to 25 September), who reunites with Jesus Christ Superstar Choreographer Drew McOnie. Finally, Dragons and Mythical Beasts runs from 13 August to 5 September. These productions were all postponed from 2020.[19] A planned production of a new musical 101 Dalmatians was cancelled.[20]

References[]

  1. ^ "Touchstone: Online Exhibition". Touchstone. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  2. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co54X683Ob8[bare URL]
  3. ^ "Gigi, Open Air Theatre Regent's Park, London". The Independent. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  4. ^ "Olivier Awards: the winners". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 29 March 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
  5. ^ "Pericles reimagined for everyone aged six and over". Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  6. ^ "Open Air's Crazy for You Transfers to Novello, 8 Oct". What's On Stage. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  7. ^ "To Kill a Mockingbird Regent's Park Open Air Theatre Review". Evening Standard. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  8. ^ "To Kill A Mockingbird UK Tour". British Theatre. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  9. ^ "To Kill a Mockingbird, Barbican". CultureWhisper. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  10. ^ "Lord of the Flies". Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  11. ^ "Regent's Park Open Air Theatre (London Theatre of the Year) - The Stage Award". YouTube. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
  12. ^ "The Turn of the Screw review". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  13. ^ "Theatre review: Little Shop of Horrors at the Open Air Theatre". The Times. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Jesus Christ Superstar, Lyric". Lyric Opera of Chicago. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  15. ^ "Evening Standard Award-winning Jesus Christ Superstar Returns". Evening Standard. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  16. ^ "Jesus Christ Superstar Barbican". Barbican Centre. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  17. ^ "Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2019 Winners". Evening Standard. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  18. ^ "Regent's Park Open Air Theatre What's On". www.openairtheatre.com. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  19. ^ "Regent's Park Open Air Theatre moves Carousel revival to 2021 | WhatsOnStage". www.whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  20. ^ "Regent's Park Open Air Theatre cancels new 101 Dalmatians musical 2021 run | WhatsOnStage". www.whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  • Guide to British Theatres 1750–1950, John Earl and Michael Sell, pp. 129–130 (Theatres Trust, 2000). ISBN 0-7136-5688-3.

External links[]

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