Interview: Anna-Jane Casey, star of Forbidden Broadway

Anna-Jane Casey is currently starring in Forbidden Broadway which has transferred to the West End’s Vaudeville Theatre following a sell-out run at the Menier Chocolate Factory.

Forbidden Broadway is a comical musical sketch show which takes the mick of current West End shows as well as legendary West End and Broadway stars. Anna-Jane previously starred in the show’s 2009 run at the Chocolate Factory.

This updated version of the show feature special ‘tributes’ to the likes of The Book of Mormon, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Once, Matilda, Wicked and Miss Saigon as well as Idina Menzel, Robert Lindsay, Kristen Chenoweth and Elaine Paige. 

Anna-Jane recently finished starring as Mrs Wilkinson in Billy Elliot (Victoria Palace). Her other recent roles include The Lady of the Lake in Spamalot (Playhouse) and Jenny in Company (Sheffield Crucible). Just a few of Anna-Jane’s countless West End credits include: Cats, Children of Eden, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Out of the Blue, Grease, Starlight Express, West Side Story, Chicago, My One and Only and On Your Toes. 

Anna-Jane famously played the title role in Sweet Charity (Sheffield Crucible) whilst her other off-West End and regional credits include: Piaf (Sheffield Crucible), Sunday in the Park with George (Menier Chocolate Factory), Hobson’s Choice, Mack and Mabel and Radio Times (all Watermill in Newbury), Aladdin (Hackney Empire), Comedy of Errors (Regent’s Park), Bells Are Ringing (Union) and Guys and Dolls (Cadogan Hall).

I recently caught up with Anna-Jane to discuss why working with Christina Bianco makes her feel like Elle Macpherson, who taught her to swear in Czech, turning into an old stagey cow and why she’s having a fun but exhausting time in Forbidden Broadway…

You starred in Forbidden Broadway last time around so did you need any persuading to come back and do it at the Chocolate Factory again?

Well I was working at Billy Elliot and my agent said to me, “I think they’re going to do Forbidden Broadway again” and I just said, “Oh my god please let me be able to do that again!” Sophie Louise Dann and I had done the show five years previously and we were both just thrilled to be able to do it again because it is such a laugh! It is knackering, but hilarious! There’s nothing better than having people point and laugh at you and getting paid for it… well it’s better than falling over in the street and having people pointing and laughing at you [laughs].

Review: Forbidden Broadway at the Vaudeville Theatre

Forbidden Broadway

Vaudeville Theatre

Reviewed on Monday 15th September 2014

★★★★

Do you have a passion for theatre? Have you seen your fair share of musicals? Are you up for a good laugh? If so, have you booked tickets to see Forbidden Broadway?!

Following its successful run at the Menier Chocolate Factory - London's leading off-West End venue - Forbidden Broadway has once again found its way into the West End. Making fun out of London's biggest musicals, the show has been updated to ensure it is as relevant and current as possible. 

Forbidden Broadway features musical sketches based upon the likes of Miss Saigon, Book of Mormon, Once, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Les Mis, Wicked, Phantom, Jersey Boys and Mamma Mia. Shows which have been added to the line-up include Evita, Cats and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Phillip George's production is broken up with nods to some of theatre’s biggest stars including Liza Minnelli, Idina Menzel, Elaine Paige and Angela Lansbury. As Christina Bianco has also joined the cast, it would have been silly not to add a special Kristin Chenoweth section. Bianco's impression is tremendously spot on and provided my personal highlight of the evening.

Editor's Blog: New openings, career defining performances & a trip to Chichester

Michael Flatley, Christina Bianco, Jacqueline Hughes, Cynthia Erivo, Drew McOnie & Sophie Thompson take centre stage...

August is always a strange month in theatreland. As the focus moved to Edinburgh, few shows opened in London, but suddenly September has crept up on us and the West End is kicking into action. Two of this month's biggest openings include the West End transfers of Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games and Forbidden Broadway.

Forbidden Broadway transfers to West End; Christina Bianco joins cast

It has been announced that Forbidden Broadway will transfer to the West End following its successful run at the Menier Chocolate Factory.

The production will open at the Vaudeville Theatre on Tuesday 9th September for a limited eleven week run ending on Saturday 22nd November 2014.

Current cast members Damian Humbley, Anna-Jane Casey and Ben Lewis will star in the transfer alongside Christina Bianco. As well as being a YouTube sensation, Bianco has appeared in the New York production of Forbidden Broadway.

Forbidden Broadway extends run at the Menier Chocolate Factory

It has been announced that Forbidden Broadway has extended its run at the Menier Chocolate Factory. The production, which runs for an extra two weeks, will now close on Saturday 30th August 2014.

This updated version of the show, from Broadway director Phillip George, showcases (and makes fun of) some of the best productions from both Broadway and the West End including The Book of Mormon, Once, Matilda, Wicked and Miss Saigon.

Review: Forbidden Broadway at the Menier Chocolate Factory

Forbidden Broadway
Menier Chocolate Factory
Reviewed on Thursday 3rd July 2014

Have you ever wondered what the stagiest person on earth dreams about when they fall asleep? If so, Forbidden Broadway is the show with all the answers!

Big Interview: Sophie-Louise Dann

Known as one of the West End’s most talented divas, Sophie-Louise Dann is currently starring in the London revival of ​Maltby and Shire’s Closer Than Ever at the Jermyn Street Theatre. Later this year she is set to, once again, return to the cast of Forbidden Broadway at the Menier Chocolate Factory.

​The original version of Closer Than Ever premiered at the Off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre in 1989 where it became an instant hit, running for over 300 performances. New songs have been added into this revised production, directed by Maltby.

Sophie-Louise Dann recently starred as Velma in Hairspray (Curve). Last year she starred as Dot/Marie in the Théâtre du Châtelet production of Sunday in the Park with George and in 2012 she received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Role in a Musical for her portrayal of Diana Divane in Lend me a Tenor (Gielgud).

Her West End credits include: title role in Iolanthe, Pitti-Sing in The Mikado, Edith in Pirates Of Penzance (Carl Rosa Opera/ Gielgud), 42nd St (Dominion), Jolson (Victoria Palace), Forbidden Broadway! (Albery) and, for D’Oyly Carte Opera, Cousin Hebe in HMS Pinafore, Leila in Iolanthe, Kate in The Yeomen Of The Guard and Peep-Bo in The Mikado (Savoy).

Sophie-Louise’s theatre credits also include: Gay Daventry in Gay’s the Word (Finborough/Jermyn Street), Fairy Godmother in Cinderella (Hackney Empire), Liz Imbrie in High Society (UK Tour), Hannah in A Chorus of Disapproval (Theatr Clwyd) and Alma Hix in The Music Man, Smitty in How To Succeed… Marya Artonova in The Government Inspector, Venus in Out Of This World (Chichester Festival Theatre).

I recently spoke to Sophie-Louise about what makes Closer Than Ever such a special show, how much fun she had in Hairspray at the Curve and why she loves belting her tits off for 2,000 people...

How familiar were you with Closer Than Ever prior to your casting in this production?

It’s one of those scores which I’ve known since I was a student at Arts Ed in… I’m not going to say the date – but it was a long time ago [laughs]! ​Maltby and Shire’s work was the stuff to sing, of course we were twenty years too young to sing it. Now, all these years later, it’s thrilling to be singing it and to be directed by ​Richard ​​​​Maltby​, Jr. 

Anna Jane-Casey, Sophie-Louise Dann, Damian Humbley & Ben Lewis to star in Forbidden Broadway at the Menier

It has been announced that Anna Jane-Casey, Sophie-Louise Dann, Damian Humbley and Ben Lewis to star in Forbidden Broadway at the Menier Chocolate Factory.

Forbidden Broadway return to the Menier from Thursday 19th June, running until Saturday 16th August 2014. It is claimed New York's longest running comedy revue will return to London "bursting with brand new material."

A theatrical institution, Forbidden Broadway has received national and international notoriety, racking up over 9,000 performances in more than 200 US cities as well as engagements in London (including the Chocolate Factory in 2009), Tokyo, Singapore and Sydney.

Forbidden Broadway returns to Menier Chocolate Factory

It has been announced that Forbidden Broadway will return to the Menier Chocolate Factory later this year. The production will open on Thursday 19th June, running until Saturday 16th August 2014. It is claimed New York's longest running comedy revue will return to London "bursting with brand new material."

Forbidden Broadway has been an unstoppable force in theatre since 1982, when Gerard Alessandrini created the first edition that lampooned the Broadway shows and stars of the day. It has been a favourite among theatre lovers, as well as the Broadway stars themselves (Angela Lansbury, Whoopi Goldberg, Kathleen Turner, Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, Carol Channing, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Elaine Paige, Stephen Sondheim, Cameron Mackintosh and Hal Prince, among others), who often stop by to laugh at themselves alongside the public.