London Fringe Production of the Year 2014: Full Result

Epsilon's production of Chicken Shop, which ran at the Park Theatre (Park90) in September, has won West End Frame's London Fringe Production of the Year Award. Love Story at the Union Theatre finishes second whilst Damn Yankees at the Landor Theatre finishes third. Other runners up include Sweeney Todd (Tooting Arts Club) and In The Heights (Southwark Playhouse). Check out the full result below.

Thank you to everyone who has supported and voted in the 2014 West End Frame Awards! We received over 52,000 votes this year and can't wait to launch the first 2015 Award in February! We will be revealing the full 2014 winner's list, including Editor's choice awards, in due course.

WINNER

Chicken Shop 

Park Theatre (Park 90)

Photo Credit: Kim Hardy Photography

22% 

Chicken Shop wins 'London Fringe Production of the Year' Award

Epsilon's production of Chicken Shop, which ran at the Park Theatre (Park90) in September, has won West End Frame's London Fringe Production of the Year Award. 

Speaking to West End Frame, producer Angela Bull said: "Thank you West End Frame for this recognition. The buzz you get when you find a script that you know is special is so exciting, and then when the whole team come together for the first time, cast and crew, that excitement is palpable. 

"Epsilon couldn't have wished for a better team of people to be involved in a production. This award is for all of us and for the hard work that was put in. We would also like to thank the Park Theatre for housing us through the summer and believing in our season. 

"We all had such an amazing time working on Chicken Shop and so to top everything off by winning this award truly is the cherry on top. Above all, the show would have been nothing without its audience, who not only showed immense support during the run but have now gone a step further and voted us London Fringe Production of the Year. It just doesn't get any better than that! Thank you!"

Review: Damn Yankees at the Landor Theatre

Damn Yankees
Landor Theatre

Reviewed on Wednesday 8th October 2014

★★★

Damn Yankees is an odd show, not to mention that the sport of baseball makes a bizarre choice of subject matter for a musical. The addition of a Faustian pact from a devil (Jonathan D Ellis), who does a (hilarious) song and dance number in act two, results in a piece which at times feels more like a bad trip than a night at the theatre. Undeterred, the powers that be at the Landor have decided to revive this old curiosity for 4 weeks at their bijou venue. 

The show originally opened on Broadway in 1955. It's common that musicals of this era combine dialogue, song and dance in equal measure, requiring a cast full of triple-threats; that's a pretty big ask for a profit-share contract which certainly shows in this production. 

Although the dance numbers are universally slick (with dynamic choreography from Robbie O'Reilly) and singing is consistently good, the cast of twenty fare less well when it comes to the implementation of believable dialogue. Some cast members are nearly impossible to understand, some speak in such monotone as to make them totally disinteresting and the accents, in general, are all over the place. If the characters are nearly all supposed to be in Washington, you'd never guess it from the way they talk!

Full casting announced for Landor's revival of Damn Yankees

Full casting has been announced for the Landor Theatre's revival of Damn Yankees.

The production opens on Tuesday 7th October 2014 (previews from 1st October) and runs until Saturday 8th November 2014.  Damn Yankees is written by Richard Adler (music), Jerry Ross (lyrics) and George Abbott and Douglass Wallop (book). 

Jonathan D Ellis (Les Misérables, Blood Brothers) will star as the Mephistophelean Applegate. He will be joined by Poppy Tierney (The Witches of Eastwick) as Lola and Alex Lodge (Saturday Night Fever) as Joe Hardy. Tony Stansfield will play Van Buren, the role he first played in the 1990s West End run!

Damn Yankees to be staged at the Landor Theatre

It has been announced that Damn Yankees is being staged at the Landor Theatre. The production opens on Tuesday 7th October 2014 (previews from 1st October) and runs until Saturday 8th November 2014. 

The show is written by Richard Adler (music), Jerry Ross (lyrics) and George Abbott and Douglass Wallop (book). Press material suggests the show has "enduring heart".