Nunn to Helm Webber's ASPECTS OF LOVE; Plays Menier Chocolate Factory

The Menier Chocolate Factory announces its Spring/Summer 2010 season - a season of firsts - the first major London revivals of Educating Rita, Shirley Valentine and Aspects of Love, plus the World Premiere of a new musical, Paradise Found. The season will feature the work of some of the West End and Broadway's leading artists including Don Black, Charles Hart, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Trevor Nunn, Mandy Patinkin, Harold Prince, Willy Russell and Susan Stroman.

Tickets for the Educating Rita, Shirley Valentine and Paradise Found go on sale at 10am tomorrow, Friday 19 February. Booking dates for Aspects of Love will be announced shortly.

The Menier Chocolate Factory will present the first major London revivals of Willy Russell's award-winning Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine, playing in repertoire from 26 March to 08 May, with the press day on 08 April.

Educating Rita, directed by Jeremy Sams, and Shirley Valentine, directed by Glen Walford, will both be designed by Peter McKintosh.

As well as Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine, both of which were made into major award-winning features films, playwright, lyricist and composer Willy Russell is the author of the long running West End hit Blood Brothers. His other work includes John, Paul, George, Ringo and Bert; Stags and Hens; One for the Road and Breezeblock Park. His writing for television includes Our Day Out and One Summer. Russell's plays have been performed in many countries across the globe, winning countless awards as well as academic honours.

Educating Rita:

Jeremy Sams will direct Larry Lamb and Laura Dos Santos in Willy Russell's Educating Rita.

Much to the dismay of her husband Denny, Rita, a young, brash hairdresser, has recently discovered a passion for English literature and enrols with the Open University. Her fresh, unschooled reaction to the classics challenges the attitudes of the University and her lecturer Frank who begins to question his own understanding of his work and himself.

Larry Lamb is best known for his roles as Archie Mitchell in EastEnders and Mick in the BBC comedy Gavin and Stacey. His other television credits include Midsomer Murders, Kavanagh QC, Casualty, Taggart, A Touch of Frost and Our Friends in the North. His theatre credits include Arthur Miller's The Price and Sam Shepard's Fool for Love at the Apollo Theatre, The Five Wives of Maurice Pinder at The National Theatre, Hamlet and The Prisoner's Dilemma for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Art at the Wyndham's Theatre, Nine at the Donmar Warehouse, Greenland at the Royal Court and The Lulu Plays at The Almeida Theatre. His film credits include Underworld and Superman 1, 2 & 3.

Laura Dos Santos has most recently starred opposite Bill Nighy in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Educating Rita, broadcast last Christmas. Her previous theatre credits include We Will Be Gone at the Camden Peoples Theatre, Look Back In Anger at the Jermyn Street Theatre, Stags and Hens at the Royal Court Liverpool, On The Middle Day at The Old Vic Theatre, In Your Hands at the New End Theatre and The Morris at the Liverpool Everyman. Her television credits include Bad Girls, Fingersmith, Innocent Party and The Bill.

Jeremy Sams' directing credits include The King and I at the Royal Albert Hall, The Sound of Music at the Palladium and on tour in the UK, Donkey's Years at the Comedy Theatre, The Little Britain live UK tour, Michael Frayn's Noises Off at The National Theatre which transferred to the West End and Broadway, Marat/Sade at The National Theatre, Two Pianos, Four Hands at the Birmingham Rep and in the West End and Spend Spend Spend at Piccadilly Theatre and on tour nationally. His many adaptations and translations include The Rehearsal, Mary Stuart, Les Parents Terribles, Figaro's Wedding, La Boheme, The Magic Flute and The Merry Widow. His composing credits include Jane Austen's Persuasion, for which he won a BAFTA and The Mother for the BBC, Arcadia for The National Theatre and The Merry Wives of Windsor for the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as the film score for Enduring Love for which he won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Film Score. He has also adapted the book of the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Educating Rita, was originally commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, transferring to the West End in 1980. In 1983 it was made into a film starring Julie Walters and Michael Caine. Educating Rita was the recipient of the Olivier Award for Best Comedy as well as receiving Academy, Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominations.

Shirley Valentine

Glen Walford will direct Meera Syal in Willy Russell's Shirley Valentine.

Meet Shirley: a middle-aged Liverpudlian housewife who talks to the wall whilst preparing her husband's egg and chips. She's in a rut. What has happened to her life? When her best friend wins an all-expenses-paid vacation for two to Greece she packs her bags, heads for the sun and starts to see the world and herself rather differently....

Meera Syal is best known for her television work including Goodness Gracious Me, The Kumars at Number 42 (for which she received a BAFTA nomination for Best Comedy Performance), Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee, My Sister Wife and Beautiful People. Later this year she will be seen in the new series of Dr Who playing geologist Nasreen Chowdhury opposite Matt Smith. Her theatre work includes Rafta Rafta, The Vagina Monologues and Serious Money. Syal is currently filming My First Love for Sky Arts Documentaries in which she returns to a past love, jazz singing. Following her mentoring sessions with Jacqui Dankworth, she will be performing at Ronnie Scott's in March.

Glen Walford was Artistic Director of Liverpool Everyman Theatre where she commissioned and directed the world premiere of Shirley Valentine. During her time as Artistic Director of Ludlow Festival her productions included The Comedy of Errors, Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Walford was the founding Artistic Director of London Bubble Theatre. She has directed extensively on tour and in London she has directed productions for the Royal Court, Bush, Tricycle and Hampstead Theatres.

Shirley Valentine received its world stage premiere in Liverpool in 1986 before the play opened in the West End two years later with Pauline Collins playing the title role, directed by Simon Callow. Shirley Valentine was the recipient of the Olivier Award for Best Comedy and as well as being BAFTA nominated. The film also won the Evening Standard Best Screenplay Award.

Paradise Found:

Harold Prince and Susan Stroman will direct an all-American cast including Kate Baldwin, John Cullum, Shuler Hensley, Judy Kaye and Mandy Patinkin, in the world premiere of Paradise Found.

Based on the novel The Tale of the 1002nd Night by Viennese author Joseph Roth, Paradise Found previews from 19 May with press night on 26 May. With music by Johann Strauss II, adapted and arranged by Jonathan Tunick, Paradise Found has book by Richard Nelson and lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh. The production will run until 26 June. Set design is by Beowulf Boritt, with costumes designed by Judy Dolan, lighting by Howell Binkley and sound by Gareth Owen. Further casting for Paradise Found will be announced shortly.

The Shah of Persia is feeling low. So to lift his spirits he's off to Vienna with his Eunuch in tow for some new adventures. He promptly falls in love with the Empress of the Empire, much

to the dismay of her husband, so a resident of the local brothel - who is a double for the Empress - is substituted for a night of passion. But she's in love with a Baron, who's having an affair with the Soap Manufacturer's Wife....

Mandy Patinkin will play the Eunuch. Patinkin was last on stage in London at the Duke of York's Theatre in 2009 with his one-man show, Mandy Patinkin in Concert. He made his Broadway debut as Che in Evita, winning a Tony Award. His other Broadway credits include Sunday in the Park with George, Mandy Patinkin in Concert, The Secret Garden, The Wild Party, Hamlet and Mamaloshen. He is currently starring in the Yale Repertory Theatre's production of Compulsion. For his role in the television series Chicago Hope he won an Emmy Award. His other television credits include The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Broken Glass and Criminal Minds. His many film credits include Ragtime, Yentl, The Princess Bride, Dick Tracy, Alien Nation and The House on Carroll Street. His extensive recording credits include Follies, South Pacific, Mandy Patinkin, Oscar & Steve, Leonard Bernstein's New York and Mandy Patinkin Sings Sondheim.

Theatre Director and Producer Harold Prince directed the original productions of the musicals Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, The Phantom of the Opera, She Loves Me, Company, Follies, Pacific Overtures, Evita, Parade and Bounce. Before becoming a Director, Prince's productions as a Producer included The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, Fiorello! and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Among the plays he has directed are Hollywood Arms, The Visit, The Great God Brown, End of the World, Play Memory and his own play, Grandchild of Kings. His opera productions have been seen at Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, Vienna Staatsoper and the Theater Colon in Buenos Aires. He is the recipient of a record-breaking 21 Tony Awards.

Director and choreographer Susan Stroman is the winner of two Olivier Awards for her work in The National Theatre's production of Oklahoma! and the West End production of Crazy for You. Her other West End productions include Contact (which she originally co-created, directed and choreographed for Lincoln Center Theater, winning the Tony and Emmy awards) and Show Boat as well as The Producers, which won a record 12 Tony Awards including Best Direction and Best Choreography. Her other Broadway credits include Crazy for You, Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Young Frankenstein, The Frogs, The Music Man, Thou Shalt Not, Steel Pier, Big and Picnic. Stroman created Double Feature, a full-length ballet for New York City Ballet featuring the music of Irving Berlin and Walter Donaldson, as well as ballets Blossom Got Kissed for New York City Ballet's 50th Anniversary season, But Not for Me for the Martha Graham Company and Take Five...More or Less. Her choreography received an Emmy nomination for the HBO presentation Liza - Live at Radio City Music Hall, starring Liza Minnelli. Other TV credits include co-conceiver/ choreographer for PBS's Sondheim - a Celebration at Carnegie Hall, An Evening with the Boston Pops - a Tribute to Leonard Bernstein, and the 2009 Kennedy Center Honors. She received the American Choreography Award for her work in the Columbia Pictures feature film Center Stage and she directed and choreographed The Producers: The Movie Musical. Most recently Stroman directed and choreographed the new musical The Scottsboro Boys for the Vineyard Theater. She is the recipient of the George Abbott Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Theatre.

Aspects of Love:

Trevor Nunn will direct the first major London revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black and Charles Hart's Aspects of Love, previewing from 3 July with press night on 15 July and running until 11 September. Designs are by David Farley with choreography by Lynne Page, lighting by Paul Pyant and sound by Gareth Owen. Trevor Nunn previously directed the world premiere of Aspects of Love and returns to the piece to direct this new intimate version. Casting and booking dates for Aspects of Love will be announced shortly.

Based on David Garnett's novel of the same name, Aspects of Love tells the story of passion, love and loss across three generations of a family and their companions set against the background of 1940's France and Italy. Alex Dillingham, a young student travelling through France, falls in love with the alluring actress Rose Vibert. As the pair embark on a passionate affair, the unexpected arrival of Alex's uncle changes their lives forever. A love story spanning twenty years binding six people and three generations as they come to appreciate that love changes everything.

Most recently at the Menier Chocolate Factory Trevor Nunn has directed A Little Night Music as well as the subsequent West End and Broadway transfers. He was Artistic Director and Chief Executive at the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1968 to 1986. During that time he directed most of the Shakespeare canon, as well as Nicholas Nickleby and Les Misérables. He returned to the RSC recently to direct King Lear and The Seagull. From 1997 to 2003 he was Artistic Director of The National Theatre, where his productions included award-winning revivals of Troilus and Cressida, The Merchant of Venice, Summerfolk and The Cherry Orchard as well as Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady and Anything Goes. He has directed the world premieres of Arcadia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, The Coast of Utopia and Rock ‘n' Roll by Tom Stoppard and Cats, Starlight Express, Sunset Boulevard and The Woman in White by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Other theatre work includes Skellig for the Young Vic, The Lady from the Sea for the Almeida, Cyrano de Bergerac for Chichester Festival Theatre, Hamlet, Richard II and Inherit the Wind for The Old Vic Theatre.

As well as Aspects of Love, Andrew Lloyd Webber is the composer of The Likes of Us, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, By Jeeves, Evita, Variations and Tell Me On A Sunday (later combined as Song and Dance), Cats, Starlight Express, The Phantom of the Opera, Sunset Boulevard, Whistle Down the Wind, The Beautiful Game and The Woman in White. His new musical Love Never Dies opens at the Adelphi Theatre next month. He composed the film scores of Gumshoe and The Odessa File, and a setting of the Latin requiem mass Requiem. In 2004 he produced a film version of The Phantom of the Opera directed by Joel Schumacher. He pioneered television casting for musical theatre with the Emmy award-winning BBC series How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? He repeated his success with Any Dream Will Do which cast the title role of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and in 2008 he cast Nancy and the title role for the current West End production of Oliver! in I'd Do Anything for the BBC. This year he will work with the BBC to find Dorothy and Toto for a new theatrical production of The Wizard of Oz.

Don Black OBE made his West End debut as a theatre lyricist with composer John Barry on the musical Billy at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He has collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber on Tell Me on a Sunday, forming the basis of the stage show Song and Dance, and Sunset Boulevard for which he won two Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Lyrics of a

Musical. Black has also provided additional lyrics to Lloyd Webber's stage shows Starlight Express and Whistle Down the Wind and wrote the lyrics for the Lloyd Webber produced musical Bombay Dreams. His film credits include the songs for many James Bond films, including Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever, The Man with the Golden Gun, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough. In collaboration with composer John Barry, he wrote the title song for the 1966 film Born Free, which won him the Oscar for Best Song. He also collaborated with Barry on Out of Africa and Dances with Wolves. In 2007 he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Charles Hart wrote the lyrics for Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and Aspects of Love and for the opera The Vampyr for the BBC. He is the recipient of two Ivor Novello awards and has been twice nominated for a Tony award.

The Menier is currently represented on Broadway by Nunn's A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury at the Walter Kerr Theatre. Their production of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES is set to open at the Longacre Theatre with Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge in April. It is expected that the Menier's production of SWEET CHARITY will make a West End transfer, with an official announcement coming soon. For more information, visit www.menierchocolatefactory.com.