Lights, music, action ….

As the music scene springs back to life, it is wonderful to see the talent and flair of Alleyn’s alumni coming to the fore once again.

Musical theatre actress Georgina Castle (Dutton's 2004-11) joins the cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella. Following on from her success in Nine to Five and Mamma Mia she is starring as a step-sister in the new musical, a modern take on the traditional fairytale, which premieres on 14 July.  Performances are from 25 June at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, London.

Continuing the theme of musicals and alumni, Florence Welch (Spurgeon's 1998-2005), Grammy-nominated Florence + the Machine lead singer-songwriter, is writing a new musical based on F Scott Fitzgerald’s acclaimed, The Great Gatsby. ‘This book has haunted me for a large part of my life,’ Florence said in a statement. ‘It contains some of my favourite lines in literature. Musicals were my first love, and I feel a deep connection to Fitzgerald’s broken romanticism. It is an honour to have been offered the chance to recreate this book in song.’ Watch this space for news on the show’s timeline. It is rumoured that a Broadway slot is in the offing…

Back on the dance scene meanwhile, Jessie Ware (Brading’s, 1996-2003) has just released a new track called Please, her first new music since the release of her 2020 disco-pop record, What's Your Pleasure?  Jessie has been nominated for a 2021 BRIT award for Album of the Year as well as Female Solo Artist of the Year. Support her on the big night on 11 May - you'll be able to watch the show at 8pm on ITV, ITV Hub and YouTube.com/BRITs  We’re all wishing her the very best of luck!

And Jessie is in good company as far as releasing new singles goes. The Chemical Brothers (of whom Ed Simons (Dutton’s 1986-88) is one half) are back, having launched their first new track in two years. After their 2019 Album No Geography, the iconic musical duo have finally released The Darkness That You Fear. According to one music critic, ‘The balance of dark basslines and warm synths complement each other beautifully, weaving together atop industrial drum programming that turns back the clock to The Chemical Brothers of old’. You may also have been lucky enough to catch the Design Museum’s exhibition Electronic: From Kraftwerk to The Chemical Brothers before it closed. If not, you can get a taste here