In The News – 08/10/2022

What a week it’s been for theatre news! From West End announcements to panto casting there has been a lot to keep up with! Here’s some of the biggest stories you might have missed this week!

Hit Me Baby One Last Time: & Juliet announces West End closing date and Tour

In news we hoped we’d never have to report, award winning jukebox musical & Juliet has announced that it will be closing the soiree for the final time on 25 March 2023. In a statement released on Thursday night, the team have confirmed that a UK Tour and European production are expected to be announced soon, whilst the productions at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre in New York and the Regent Theatre in Melbourne will continue into 2023. Will you be heading to the Shaftesbury Theatre one final time before the show closes? Tickets are on sale now at www.andjulietthemusical.co.uk

Full cast for Disney’s Newsies UK premiere revealed

Ready to seize the day this winter? The complete cast has been revealed for the long-anticipated UK premiere of hit musical Newsies, which is set to open at the Troubadour Wembley Park from 8 December. Running for a limited season, the company will be led by Michael Ahomka-Lindsay (Legally Blonde) as Jack Kelly, alongside Bronté Barbé (What’s New, Pussycat?) as Katherine Plumber.

Listed in alphabetical order, also appearing are Moya Angela as Medda Larkin, Lindsay Atherton as Ensemble, Samuel Bailey as Specs, Imogen Bailey as Swing, Josh Barnett as Race, Cameron Blakely as Joseph Pulitzer, Jack Bromage as Tommy Boy, Bobbie Chambers as Ensemble, Alex Christian as Buttons, Arcangelo Ciulla as Ike, George Crawford as Morris Delancey, Ross Dawes as Snyder, Joshua Denyer as Mush, Ross Dorrington as Splasher, Matthew Duckett as Crutchie, Kamilla Fernandes as Ensemble and Jacob Fisher as Albert.

Also cast are Jamie Golding as Wiesel, Damon Gould as Finch, Zack Guest as Swing, Jordan Isaac as Swing, Alex James-Hatton as Oscar Delancey, Clarice Julianda as Ensemble, Barry Keenan as Nunzio, Ryan Kopel as Davey, Sion Lloyd as Bunsen George Michaelides as Romeo, Mukeni Nel as Jo Jo, Joshua Nkemdilim as Elmer, Mark Samaras as Mike, Bradley Trevethan as Swing, Matt Trevorrow as Henry and Lillie-Pearl Wildman as Ensemble. Tickets are on sale now.

Collabro release new studio album Be Still My Soul

Inspired by the ever-changing world, the world’s most popular musical theatre group Collabro have this week released their brand new – and final – studio album. Recorded in early 2022, the album comes after a period in which we have all sought solace in music. Be Still My Soul allows each listener to find a moment of reflection and relaxation throughout the ten track album. Every track on the album is instantly recognisable, and was chosen by the band’s four members: Michael Auger; Jamie Lambert; Matthew Pagan; and Thomas J. Redgrave. You can listen to the album in full on all streaming services, or purchase tickets to the upcoming Collabro tour here.

Details of The Watermill Theatre’s Spring Season announced

Including a brand new adaptation of Bill Bryson’s smash hit memoir, a youth ensemble and a first major UK revival, the Spring Season at The Watermill Theatre is looking like an exciting one.

The Season begins with a brand-new adaptation of Bill Bryson’s smash-hit memoir Notes From A Small Island, affectionately celebrating the quirks and eccentricities of British life. The production is adapted by Tim Whitnall (Morecambe – West End, Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story – BBC4), directed by Paul Hart, designed by Katie Lias, and is performed in association with Simon Friend Productions.

The Watermill Youth Ensemble return with an adventurous reimagining of Lewis Carrol’s Alice Through the Looking Glass. The Watermill Youth Ensemble is a diverse group of talented local performers who take part in The Watermill’s weekly programme of activities for young people. This is followed by the first major UK revival of Barney Norris’s award-winning portrayal of learning to live and love with dementia, Visitors, set in his beloved rural Wiltshire.

Also on the billing is a brand-new adaptation of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, co-produced with acclaimed Zimbabwean theatre company Two Gents and exploring connections to New World slavery; and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, based on the best-selling novel by Kate Summerscale and adapted for the stage for the first time by playwright Alexandra Wood. Tickets for all productions are available online at watermill.org.uk or on 01635 46044 from 12 October.

He’s behind you! Ian McKellen joins tour of Mother Goose pantomime

That’s right! Ian McKellen is heading back panto. The Lord of the Rings and X-Men star, with previous stage credits including King Lear and No Man’s Land, will take Mother Goose out on tour, with a number of weeks in the West End. Previously playing Widow Twankey in Aladdin at the Old Vic, McKellen is no stranger to the pantomime world, and will be joined in Mother Goose by John Bishop and Mel Giedroyc.

The show will run at Theatre Royal Brighton from 3 December to 11 December, before moving to London’s Duke of York’s Theatre (15 December to 29 January 2023), Chichester Festival Theatre (7 to 11 February), Sheffield Lyceum (14 to 18 February), Wolverhampton Grand (22 to 26 February), Liverpool Empire (28 February to 3 March), New Theatre in Oxford (7 to 11 March), Dublin Bord Gáis Energy Theatre (22 to 26 March) and Cardiff Millennium Centre (28 March to 1 April). Further venues are to be revealed, with tickets on sale now at mothergooseshow.co.uk.

Michael Ball to star in Aspects of Love West End revival

Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black and Charles Hart’s Aspects of Love is to be revived in the West End. Michael Ball, who has previously starred in both Chess and Les Misérables, will be returning to the new production which is to be directed by Jonathan Kent (Gypsy, Singin’ in the Rain) and produced by Nica Burns (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie).

Ball previously appeared in the production when the show first ran in 1989 and is set to play the character of Alex’s uncle George in a new re-imagining of the show.

Set for a 26-week run from 12 May 2023, the revival will play at the Lyric Theatre until 11 November 2023. Based on David Garnett’s 1955 novella, Lloyd Webber, Black and Hart’s show explores a series of romantic entanglements that span countries and generations. It was last seen in London at the Southwark Playhouse, with a hit production transferring from the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester. Further cast and creatives are to be announced soon. Tickets are on sale now.

My Fair Lady reveals additional tour dates

My Fair Lady has revealed a number of additional tour stops during its 2023 run. On top of previously announced dates at the Alhambra Theatre Bradford, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin, Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, Edinburgh’s Playhouse Theatre, Edinburgh and the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton, the show will now also visit Sunderland Empire (1 to 11 February 2023), Bristol Hippodrome (14 to 25 February 2023), Birmingham Hippodrome (8 to 19 March 2023) and finally Manchester Palace (22 to 1 April 2023). Tickets are on sale now for all dates at myfairladymusical.co.uk

Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol announces London cast

What do you get when you combine Dolly Parton with Charles Dickens? A Christmas treat it seems! Coming to Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall from 8 December, the show relocates the Charles Dickens Christmas classic to the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee in the 1930s. Leading the company will be Robert Bathurst (Cold Feet, Downton Abbey) as Scrooge, alongside (in alphabetical order) Halle Brown, Iona Fraser, Richard J Hunt, Vicki Lee Taylor, George Maguire, Ediz Mahmut, Sarah O’Connor, Christopher Parkinson, Minal Patel, Annie Southall, Carole Stennett, Danny Whitehead and Mitchell Zhangazha. Sharing the role of Tiny Tim will be Daniel Lee, Alexander Quinlan and Samuel Sturge, with Elliot Marsden, George Menezes Cutts and Dereke Oladele completing the children’s cast. Tickets are on sale now.

Cast for Sylvia musical world premiere at Old Vic revealed

Opening in January 2023, the long anticipated run of Sylvia has announced its cast for the world premiere. Leading the musical will be the legendary Beverley Knight (Sister Act, The Drifters Girl) as Emmeline Pankhurst, who is returning to the show after its preview run in 2018. She will be joined by Sharon Rose (Hamilton, Jingle Jangle) as the titular character, Sylvia Pankhurst.

Joining Knight and Rose in the cast are Kelly Agbowu as Mrs Drummond/Mrs Savoy, Verity Blyth as Clementine Churchill/Mrs Scurr, Kimmy Edwards as Emily Davison/Lillie Hardie/Mrs Watkins, Alex Gaumond as Keir Hardie, Jade Hackett as Lady Jennie Churchill/Mrs Payne, Todd Holdsworth as Silvio Corio, Stevie Hutchinson as Lloyd George/Lord Curzon, Kate Ivory Jordan as Mrs Parsons, Hannah Khemoh as Understudy Emmeline Pankhurst, Jaye Marshall as Ensemble, Razak Osman as Harry Pankhurst/Sir Almroth Wright, Jay Perry as Winston Churchill/George Lansbury, Sharon Rose as Sylvia Pankhurst, Kirstie Skivington as Adela Pankhurst and Ellena Vincent as Christabel Pankhurst.

Rebecca Wickes to join Six UK and Ireland tour

Switching blue for pink, Rebecca Wickes is set to join the Six UK and Ireland tour, taking over the role of Katherine Howard from 14 October in York. Famously, Wickes previously played the role in the second Bliss Breakaway Cruise production for just two days, before the Covid restrictions of 2020.

Retelling the lives of the wives of Henry VIII, Six is heading out to Swindon, Swansea, Malvern, Bradford, Inverness, Stoke, Chichester, Milton Keynes, Liverpool, Plymouth, Dartford, Woking, Stockton, Cambridge, Birmingham, Belfast, Wycombe, Tunbridge Wells, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Norwich, Peterborough, Newcastle, Blackpool, Manchester, Southampton, Leeds, Cardiff, Glasgow and Nottingham. Tickets are on sale for tour dates now.

Pride musical in development, Matthew Warchus announces

That’s right: the much-loved 2014 film is set for the stage. Matthew Warchus, who recently directed the adaptation of hit musical Matilda for the screen, has announced that a stage adaptation of his film Pride is in the works.

The film follows a group of protestors during the mining strikes, who come from an LGBTQ+ background. On screen it starred the likes of Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West and Andrew Scott. Premiere dates, creatives and more are all to be revealed in due course.

Barbican announces 2023 Spring Season

Have you ever heard of a play powered completely by bicycles? Well, you can find it at the Barbican this spring! The season will feature the return of the much-loved London International Mime Festival as well as the UK premiere of a new version of Miranda Rose Hall’s A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction. The production explores how we can create sustainable stage shows in a time of climate crisis, combining performance, pedalling and pertinence throughout the piece. Find out more about the full spring 2023 season here.

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical announces extension and welcomes Kristina Love to cast

Now running until September 2023, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical has announced that Kristina Love is also set to join the cast in the titular role. Love previously played the role in the first non-English version of the musical in Hamburg, Germany. She will be sharing the role with current cast member Elesha Paul Moses and will begin performances on 12 October 2022. Tickets are on sale now.

Standing at the Sky’s Edge musical announces cast for Sheffield and London runs

The love letter to Sheffield and ode to the iconic Park Hill Estate is coming to London in 2023. Co-produced with Sheffield Theatres in association with Various Productions, the musical has this week revealed the company for the production running at the Olivier theatre from February 2023. Appearing on stage will be Darragh Cowley, Ahmed Hamad, Samuel Jordan, Bobbie Little, Robert Lonsdale, David McKechnie, Maimuna Memon, Baker Mukasa, Alastair Natkiel, Faith Omole, Adam Price, Nicola Sloane, Jake Small, Deborah Tracey, Rachael Wooding and Alex Young. The show will also be returning to the Crucible Theatre this winter with tickets on sale now. London tickets can also be found at nationaltheatre.org.uk

Saving Grace musical to premiere in London

Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter KT Tunstall’s adaptation of 2000 British comedy film Saving Grace is heading to Riverside Studios for 12 performances in November. Opening on 22 November through to 4 December, the intimate first run of the show is set to be directed by Laurence Connor (Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella/Bad Cinderella) with a book by April de Angelis (Extinct). Tickets are on sale now with further casting to be announced.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella to transfer to Broadway with new name

The plans were already in discussion, but it has now been confirmed that the divisive show that closed in the West End earlier this year is heading to Broadway with a brand new name and look. Set to begin previews on 17 February 2023 at the Imperial Theatre, the show has been renamed as Bad Cinderella. Leading the production is Linedy Genao (On Your Feet!) with further casting and creatives to be announced. It seems like the name change isn’t the only tweak being made for Broadway, with the newly recorded title track having already been released with reworked lyrics. It’s one we’ll be keeping an eye on…