Letters of the week

Jesus, what was I thinking?

I read in the Stage (July 21, p36) that the excellent Tyrone Huntley, currently playing Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar, and the show’s musical director Tom Deering “spent hours going through the score to really gauge” what Andrew Lloyd Webber and I had intended when we penned it. If they found out, could they please let me know?

Tim Rice
Email address supplied

Peterborough Broadway a loss

I was sad to read the Broadway Peterborough may be turned into apartments (July 21, p4). I visited the theatre in January to see The Glenn Miller Story, from the Bill Kenwright season.

The theatre is lovely, with comfy seats and lovely staff. Halfway through the performance, an audience member was taken ill and paramedics were called. The manager dealt with the situation very well and the show was stopped while the person was taken to hospital. The interval was shortened, which no one minded.

It would be a real shame if this theatre closed. As an out-of-town visitor, I would go back and I hope community groups and possibly schools, colleges or a local university  could club together to save it. Derby Theatre was saved by the University of Derby and is thriving. I hope the same can happen to this lovely asset to Peterborough.

Heather Moore
Nottingham

Help Yorkshire children’s gala

As patron of a new children literacy charity in Yorkshire, I’m staging a gala performance on September 10 at Barnsley Civic theatre to raise money and the profile of the charity Grimm and Co.

We will be using plays and stories written by children as the content for the night and I’m looking for Yorkshire-based professional actors up for helping out, playing in a 10-minute play written by one of our child authors.

I’m also looking for prop makers, costume makers, stage mangers and production managers, amateur or professional, who may want to help on the project. You’d need a certain amount of time in the week leading up the the performance on September 10. You can mail me c/o volunteer@grimmandco.co.uk to express you interest and I will get back to you.

Hope you can help.

Paul Clayton
Email address supplied

Half a Sixpence is not ignored

It is great that Cameron Mackintosh has created a new version of Half a Sixpence, but Al Senter’s history of the show (July 21, p42) omits Bill Kenwright’s major revival of David Heneker’s classic less than 10 years ago.

Warner Brown’s skilfully “rebooted” version starred the wonderful Gary Wilmot and toured to theatres throughout the UK in 2007-2008. It is thus incorrect to say that Half a Sixpence has been “consistently ignored down the years”.

Julius Green
Cambridge

Robert Briggs deserves credit

Any article about Frank Matcham (‘Preserving the master theatre builder’s work’, July 14, p42) ought to mention his engineer Robert Briggs, as well as excellent sight lines and acoustics.

Peter J Sutton
Myrtle Street, Nottingham

Theatre should not be disrupted

Regarding theatre behaviour (Editor’s View: ‘Theatre etiquette is confusing’, July 14, p8), surely it’s a question of being able to hear and see the production without interruption or distraction. Eating, talking, filming and using your phone all create interruption or disruption.

I went to see a very dark play, and when our neighbour loudly crunched her popcorn in a deliberate pause in the narrative, it ruined the moment for me and my husband.

Maddie Cordes
Email address supplied