A Gift from Rachel

So guys, we've been holding our breath waiting for Rachel to share a special something with us from her gig & it's finally ready.

Rachel wanted us to exclusively share a special video with you all from her St James Concerts: Back From Broadway & well here it is.. with a wee message from the lady herself.

If you hadn't already guessed (or skipped ahead to click play) the song is 'Anyway' by Kerrigan & Lowdermilk. As far as we know the first time Rachel performed it was back in February of 2014, when she performed at the St James Studio for their 'Words & Music' concert & it blew us away completely then & now well over a year on, she found new depth & took it to a whole other level. It's a heart wrenching song, telling a very meaningful story & Rachel tells it with pure heart & soul.

From what we can remember of the gigs, we're pretty sure this video was recorded at the matinee. Before the song Rachel spoke briefly about how 

"We all have a person in our lives, a best friend, someone you love, someone you trust & admire & their talented & beautiful....... ...... you've got them sitting beside you, they're always there, they never let you down & it's a lovely thing & then they're taken from you.. gone.." 

I remember being at the gig when she spoke those words & knowing exactly what song she was going to sing & being completely overcome when the first few notes were played. It's a song that is extremely close to my heart (as for anyone interested who doesn't already know, can read in my blog about the Kerrigan & Lowdermilk gig) & those words before, set the tone. Then  of course Rachel gave such a passionate & committed performance of it & how lucky are we to now have a video of this? I remember I wrote in that blog about how I had to have video of this song, well good things come to those who wait.. we've now got video of Rachel performing 'Anyway' by Kerrigan & Lowdermilk Thank you Rachel for sharing this gift with us.

While we have you here, you've got 3 chances left to see Rachel in Communicating Doors - 

Friday 26th June - 8pm 

Saturday 27th June - 3:30pm

Saturday 27th June - 8pm

So book now or miss out. Not going to lie we've seen it 4 times already & may have to squeeze two more visits in. It's that good & Rachel is a genius in it. Go go go!!! Click the banner above to book tickets. Don't forget to wish Rachel & her cast all the best for the last few shows.

Also get booking for Rachel Tucker: Belfast To Broadway - Saturday 18th July in Belfast. Currently only 7 seats left in the stalls & some circle seats left, do NOT miss out on this gig, it's going to be the best bits of the previous St James gigs & who knows what else. So book it up.

Reviews - Communicating Doors

Last Thursday (7th May) saw the first preview of Alan Ayckbourn's 'Communicating Doors' at The Menier Chocolate Factory. This week saw the official opening/press night for the run. We thought you'd like to see what the press & others have been saying about Rachel's performance & the show. So here is a round up of some of the comments with links to the full articles for you to read. If you haven't booked yet, we suggest you swing by the Menier Chocolate Factory website today & sort yourself out, as after these reviews, it's sure to sell out.

Photo: Tristram Kenton

The Stage - ****

"It is performed to perfection by a brilliant ensemble cast that features Rachel Tucker – best known for musicals such as Wicked and seen recently on Broadway in The Last Ship – who is a comic revelation as Poopay, the prostitute who rewrites history for the wonderful Lucy Briggs-Owen and Imogen Stubbs, who play Reece’s wives."               Mark Shenton for The Stage 

The Guardian - ****

"This comes through strongly in Lindsay Posner’s production where the three women are sharply defined and wittily played. Rachel Tucker’s self-styled sexual consultant goes through a total transformation while Imogen Stubbs’s Ruella is a model of middle-class grit and Lucy Briggs-Owen’s Jessica is a genteel toff on whom the light slowly dawns."

Michael Billington for The Guardian 

Photo: Tristram Kenton

LondonTheatre - ****

"A stupendous cast that includes Ayckbourn regulars David Bamber and Matthew Cottle are joined by the wonderful Rachel Tucker -swapping musical roles she is best known for to be a very brilliant play actor - as the tart with more than a heart, Robert Portal as her client and Lucy Briggs-Owen and Imogen Stubbs as the two wives."

Mark Shenton for LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo: Alastair Muir

Daily Mail - ****

"Lindsay Posner extracts top performances from a cast which has Rachel Tucker as the tart with a heart, Imogen Stubbs as the bossy second wife and Lucy Briggs-Owen as daffy wife number one."

The Daily Mail

Westend Frame - ****

"Both Tucker and Stubbs bring feistiness and charm; their characters are from different worlds but form a strong alliance. The duo are joined by Lucy Briggs-Owen (who delights as Jessica, stealing some of the biggest laughs) for the evening's funniest scene which takes place on a balcony in the second act. It is comic perfection."

Andrew Tomlins for Westend Frame

Theatre Cat - ****

"Rachel Tucker is the prostitute Poopay, condemned at first to be merely stroppy, baffled, horrified and nearly throttled. Not enough to work on at first, but when she meets wife no. 2, twenty years back from her own time, the glorious female interaction around which the play rotates can really begin. "

Libby Purves for Theatre Cat 

 The Westend Whingers - ***

"Imogen Stubbs and Lucy Briggs-Owen play Reece’s ex wives with splendidly archetypal Ayckbourn no-nonsenseness and dimwittedness respectively. The latter is particularly hilarious as an older version of herself. Tucker plays the confused tart-with-a-heart-and-bag-full-of-“toys” splendidly and Matthew Cottle is a similarly discombobulated security man. The wonderful David Bamber, as Julian, Reece’s psychopathic best friend, puts on a fantastically Pinteresque display of menace "  

The Westend Whingers

Van City Gal- ****

"Everyone was brilliant and Rachel was wonderful to watch. Her role of Poopay was so compelling and absolutely hysterical; with a cockney English accent sounding quite natural aside her real Northern Irish accent. All of the actors left me laughing to tears, feeling goosebumps and chills the next. " 

Van City Gal

Westend Wilma ** 1/2

"The idea of seeing Rachel Tucker trade in her broomstick for a bag of sex toys and play a leather clad dominatrix from the future certainly got my attention. Having seen her in Farragut North at the Southwark Playhouse, a serious political play, I knew there was more to her than just defying gravity and once again she showed another layer of her acting abilities as the London sex worker Poopay. Brilliantly played and with a convincing London accent although her being a sex worker had no relevance on the play."

Westend Wilma

Broadway World

"All three leading ladies produce loud laughs and one scene in particular, which takes place with the trio on the hotel's balcony, garners howls of laughter from the audience - the comedic timing of all three actresses is fantastic."

Broadway World 

 This one is not a review but an article written by Mark Shenton (again) about crossing over (from plays to musicals, or musicals to plays, such as Rachel has done), and how it really shouldn't be as hard as people seem to think, when the talent is there & given a chance to shine.

The Stage - Further Proof that you can't confine actors to musicals (or plays).

"This time it was the turn of Rachel Tucker, a vibrant plum-haired Irish singing actress who is perhaps best known in London for her long stint as Elphaba in Wicked. More recently I saw her make a stunning Broadway debut in Sting's regrettably short-lived musical The Last Ship. She should have still been there right now, and should have been nominated for a Tony award, but in the event the show closed in January and was promptly all but forgotten (save for Sting's score) in the Tony nominations.

Yet it was one of the best performances I saw all year on Broadway: passionate, heartfelt and heartbreaking, as she was forced to make a choice between her current partner and the returning love of her life.

"Now she's turned up, not in a musical, but in Alan Ayckbourn's Communicating Doors at the Menier Chocolate Factory, turning heads (of both varieties) as a ‘specialist sexual consultant’ (as she dubs her dominatrix services). It's a fabulous performance – sexy, funny and heartbreaking all at once – and she is also technically amazing, as she delivers it in a faultless London working woman's accent, a million miles (well, several hundred at any rate) from her native Irish brogue." 

Mark Shenton for The Stage 

Other Reviews for you to read if you're interested...

TheArtsDesk.com, TimeOut, The Telegraph, WhatsOnStage, British Theatre Guide, The Independent, London Grip.

If you spot any other reviews we've missed, please tweet us @RTFB1981 or leave a comment. Thanks guys.






There's also some wonderful photos by Dan Wooller from Press Night that you should check out too.

Dan Wooller

To summarise, you need to book for Communicating Doors at The Menier Chocolate Factory as soon as your pay day comes. Rachel's performance in this is not to be missed.

Ayckbourn's 'Communicating Doors' @ The Menier

Rachel Tucker is starring in Alan Ayckbourn's 'Communicating Doors' at the Menier Chocolate Factory. Which starts previews tonight. They open officially on May 13th for their 'Sold Out' press night & will run through till June 27th. If you haven't already booked, we suggest you get on to it quickly, as not only do we think it's going to be a sell out, (many shows already have limited availability) but the prices increase the longer you wait, so snap up some tickets today.

From the Menier Chocolate Factory website

While we have you here, we'd like to direct you to a recent interview Rachel has done with Broadway.com

Source: Broadway.com

Continue reading at the Source: Broadway.com 

We haven't found any official footage/images yet but while we wait, we've found a trailer from a past production of this show & it's fair to say we think it'll give you a wee taster of what we should be in for & it looks like it's going to be a cracker, so don't delay, book today!

Wishing all the cast and crew all the very best of luck for tonight & the entire run! Bring it on!!