Following the successful performances of State Fair at Cadogan Hall and A Christmas Carol at the Lyceum Theatre, the London Musical Theatre Orchestra has announced its first shows for 2017. 

Today, the orchestra confirmed that in March they will be taking to the London Palladium stage to perform the stylish score of Honeymoon in Vegas, conducted by the orchestra’s first guest conductor Jason Robert Brown.

Honeymoon in Vegas is based on the 1992 film that starred  Sarah Jessica Parker and Nicholas Cage. The musical has a book by Andrew Bergman and score by Tony-Award winning Jason Robert Brown (Parade, Songs For A New World, The Last Five Years and The Bridges of Madison County) and originally ran on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre. This is the very first time the musical will be performed in London.

The musical tells the story of  mild-mannered Brooklynite, Jack, who haunted by the fear of a promise to his dying mother never to get married, avoids proposing to his new girlfriend Betsy. He finally summons the nerve and takes Betsy to Las Vegas only to have his plans compromised by a dashing gambler with an eye for luxury and Jack’s new fiancée.

Talking about the news Jason Robert Brown said: “Honeymoon in Vegas is the show I always aspired to write. All of these sounds – the swing, the samba, the disco, the boogie, the rock’n’roll – make up what I hear in my head when I think of what a ‘Broadway musical’ should be. I’m so gratified to have actually written it, and thrilled to get a chance – finally! – to present it in London.”

This concert performance will then be followed in July by the London Musical Theatre’s performance of Leonard Bernstein’s  Candide, which also features lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Hugh Wheeler.

Candide will see the London Musical Theatre Orchestra return to the Cadogan Hall, where they last appeared performing State Fair for audiences in their first public performance. This show will be conducted by founder and principal conductor Freddie Tapner.

First seen on Broadway in 1956 and  most recently in a critically acclaimed production in 2013 at The Menier Chocolate Factory, Candide tells the story of Candide, the bastard cousin of Baron Thunder-Ten-Tonck, who is expelled from home, dragged into the Bulgarian army, brought before the Spanish Inquisition, swindled out of a fortune, shipwrecked on a desert isle, and separated time and again from his true love Cunegonde.

Casting for both productions will be announced in coming weeks, as will a further three shows in the LMTO’s 2017 programme.

To find out more about the London Musical Theatre Orchestra visit: http://www.lmto.org/. 

To book tickets for Honeymoon in Vegas at the London Palladium on the 12th March visit: http://rutlive.co.uk/event/honeymoon-in-vegas/

To book tickets for Candide at the Cadogan Hall on the 21st July visit: http://www.cadoganhall.com/event/candide-in-concert-170721/