If you feel like Oscar Wilde when he said: “I love acting. It is so much more real than life…” then you’re in the right place! With industry news, the latest castings, and upcoming projects, we’ll make sure stay updated on the ever-changing theatrical world. Whether it’s West End, fringe or regional theatre, we have your back.
A West End transfer? No sweat.
Sweat has announced it will transfer to the West End from the Donmar Warehouse, with a limited run starting in June at the Gielgud Theatre. The play, written by Lynn Nottage and directed by Lynette Linton, follows the citizens of a struggling Pennsylvanian city as the local industry collapses. The show has received critical acclaim, prompting the transfer, and received the Pulitzer Prize in 2017.
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French musical says bonjour to a UK premiere.
Tony-nominated French musical Amour, with music by Michel Legrand and English book by Jeremy Sams, will make its UK premiere at the Charing Cross Theatre this summer. With direction from Hannah Chissick, the “fantasy musical” is set in Paris in the 1950s and follows a man who finds he’s able to walk through walls as he pursues the woman he loves. The story is based on Le Passe-Muraille, a 1943 short story by Marcel Aymé. The musical debuted on Broadway in 2002.
Give us another piece of that pie.
Unsurprisingly, the hit musical Waitress is already extending its West End run. The show, which has yet to start previews, has announced it will run until October 2019. With direction by Diane Paulus and choreography by Lorin Latarro, the show boasts two American stars making their UK debut: American Idol’s Katharine McPhee in the lead role and 30 Rock Emmy nominee Jack McBrayer as Ogie. Alongside the newbies, American West End veteran Marisha Wallace will play Becky. The show opens 7 March at the Adelphi Theatre.
READ: So You Want to Act in the West End?
More details on Dear Evan Hansen.
Though we are still waiting for the all-important casting announcement, more logistical news about the hit Broadway musical’s West End opening has been released. Playing at the Noël Coward Theatre, previews will begin 29 October and the show will officially open 19 November. Tickets go on sale for the public 8 April, while those who have already signed up for priority booking can purchase theirs beginning 28 February. The show is directed by Michael Greif and follows young Evan Hansen, a teenager with social anxiety who gets wrapped up in a lie that goes too far. The production was nominated for nine Tony Awards and took home six when it opened on Broadway.
Further casting announced for & Juliet.
The new contemporary pop musical & Juliet, which will star Hamilton’s Miriam Teak-Lee, has announced further casting. Running at Shaftesbury Theatre this November, Melanie La Barrie (currently delighting audiences as Madame Morrible in Wicked) will play the Nurse opposite Oliver Tompsett (Kinky Boots) and Cassidy Janson (Man of La Mancha) as Mr and Mrs Shakespeare. The musical follows the events after the Shakespeare play had Juliet not killed herself after Romeo’s suicide. Juliet moves to Paris in search of a new start with her friends alongside her. The show will feature Max Martin-penned hits by Britney Spears and Ellie Goulding alongside many others.
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Clive Owen in the West End.
Tennessee Williams’ play The Night of the Iguana will star Clive Owen this summer at the Noël Coward Theatre. Directed by James Macdonald, the production will also star Lia Williams (Mary Stuart and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie) and Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad). The show follows a clergyman, a spinster, and a widow as they are caught in an old hotel in Mexico during a storm. The production opens 16 July and tickets are on sale now.
She’d do anything!
Jodie Prenger, known for her appearances on The Biggest Loser and I’d Do Anything, will be on the stage again in the National Theatre’s (NT) tour of A Taste of Honey. The play, a study of English working-class life by Shelagh Delaney, was adapted for film in 1961. The NT production originally opened in 2014 with direction by Bijan Sheibani and design by Hildegard Bechtler. Opening at the Lowry Theatre in Salford, the production will tour Scotland and England with Prenger starring as Helen a woman who runs off with a car salesman.
Check out Backstage’s UK audition listings!