Before the final bank holiday of the month begins in the UK, here's a round-up of the last seven days in the West End.
From casting announcements and opening nights to new shows getting exciting London premieres, there's lots to catch up on!
Cast announcements in the West End
There's lots of exciting casting news this week, including a return to the stage for a popstar in an Andrew Lloyd Webber revival and a Broadway performer bringing a role he originated to the West End.
A Strange Loop
The cast of A Strange Loop in rehearsals. Photo by Marc Brenner
Opening at the Barbican Theatre next month, the complete cast list of A Strange Loop has been released. Led by Kyle Ramar Freeman, who played the role of Usher on Broadway and is now making his London stage debut, the full company are:
- Sharlene Hector (lead vocalist for Basement Jaxx) as Thought 1
- Nathan Armarkwei-Laryea (Women Beware The Devil) as Thought 2
- Yeukayi Ushe (The Lion King) as Thought 3
- Tendai Humphrey Sitima (The Play That Goes Wrong) as Thought 4
- Danny Bailey (Jesus Christ Superstar) as Thought 5
- Eddie Elliott (Blues for an Alabama Sky) as Thought 6
Jason Pennycooke is no longer attached to the production.
Don't miss this critically acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize-winning, multi Tony Award winning musical as it makes its West End debut this summer.
MJ The Musical
MJ The Musical opens in 2024
Another Broadway performer coming over to the West End is Myles Frost, who returns to the role of Michael Jackson in MJ The Musical having originated the part on Broadway. Frost was critically acclaimed in the role, and recently won Best Actor at the Tony Awards for his portrayal. Further casting is to be confirmed.
Opening at the Prince Edward Theatre on 6 March 2024, MJ The Musical tells the tale of Michael Jackson's Dangerous World Tour in 1992, and takes audiences beyond his signature sound and dance routines and into the creative mind of a music legend. Accompanying the story is some of Jackson's greatest hits including Billie Jean, Beat It, Man in the Mirror, Thriller and Smooth Criminal.
Tickets for MJ The Musical are on sale now!
Sunset Boulevard
Nicole Scherzinger will play Norma Desmond
This revival is really going to push your buttons - Sunset Boulevard is returning to London and Nicole Scherzinger will play the title role of Norma Desmond.
Running for a limited 16-week season at the Savoy Theatre, this revival will be a modern adaptation for a new audience, with direction by Jamie Lloyd who is celebrating ten years of The Jamie Lloyd Company this year.
Thirty years after the original production was initially seen at the Savoy Theatre, Sunset Boulevard is an iconic Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton.
Tickets go on general sale in June 2023.
Closing shows in the West End
You've not got long to book your tickets to these shows - they're all closing in the next seven days!
Dancing At Lughnasa
The cast of Dancing At Lughnasa. Photo by Johan Persson
Closing date: 27 May
Running at the National Theatre, Brian Friel's Olivier Award-winning play is an astonishing evocation of a family's world on the brink of change. Set during the harvest of 1936, the play follows five sisters who are battling poverty while also trying to look after their family. As the Festival of Lughnasa begins, the sisters will have to both fight and love each other, dance, yearn and try to survive.
Directed by Josie Rourke, this revival stars Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls), Ardal O’Hanlon (Father Ted) and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (Translations).
Book Dancing At Lughnasa tickets
Peaky Blinders: The Rise
Closing date: 27 May
This incredible immersive production has the first 360-degree show set in the world. Taking place at The Vanguard Theatre, just a short distance away from the setting of Solomons Yard in the TV show, audiences are thrown right into the heart of the Shelby family and their business dealings. Featuring iconic locations you're bound to recognise, this is a must-see for any Peaky Blinders fans.
Book Peaky Blinders: The Rise tickets
Eugenius!
Eugenius closes this Sunday
Closing date: 28 May
The ultimate geek-chic musical, Eugenius tells the story of Eugene, who longs to be a successful comic book creator. So when Hollywood comes knocking and his comic book creations start coming to life, can Eugene shoot higher than the stars, defeat the evil villain he created and experience a comic book kind of love? With music by Ben Adams and Chris Nelson, don't miss this mighty musical at the Turbine Theatre.
Shirley Valentine
Sheridan Smith has been dazzling audiences in this one-woman show
Closing date: 3 June
Performing to regular sold-out audiences since it opened back in February, Sheridan Smith's return to the West End in Shirley Valentine has been praised since its opening night.
A life-affirming story of a woman lost in marriage and motherhood, this one-woman play is all about fulfilling your dreams. Shirley is getting bored of cooking her husband's eggs every day, and secretly hidden in her handbag is a single plane ticket to Greece. But will she actually leave the note 'Gone to Greece' like she dreams of? Find out for yourself and book your tickets.
Book Shirley Valentine tickets
Leaves of Glass
Joseph Potter in Leaves of Glass at Park Theatre
Closing date: 3 June
Philip Ridley's four-hander play about memory, manipulation and power is regarded as a modern classic. Following a critically acclaimed run at Soho Theatre in 2007, Leaves of Glass returns to London for the first time in 16 years in a new production.
The Year of Magical Thinking
Closing date: 4 June
A stage adaptation of Joan Didion's award-winning and bestselling memoir, The Year Of Magical Thinking is a one-woman play that's not to be missed. Running at The Other Palace Studio, it tells Joan's story of the sudden and unexpected loss of her husband and their only daughter.
Book The Year of Magical Thinking tickets
New shows in the West End
Get your diaries out and add these upcoming productions to your diary!
Aspects of Love
The lead cast of Aspects of Love
Opening officially this week, this new production of Aspects of Love takes the legendary Andrew Lloyd Webber musical and re-imagines it with modern staging and effects.
Michael Ball, who originated the role of Alex when Aspects of Love first premiered, returns to the production, but this time in the role of George, Alex's uncle. Alex is played by Jamie Bogyo (Moulin Rouge), Laura Pitt-Pulford takes on the role of Rose, and Danielle de Niese is Giulietta.
A sung-through production, Aspects of Love has lyrics by Don Black (Bonnie and Clyde) and Charles Hart, with direction by Jonathan Kent. Inspired by a 1955 novella by David Garnett, the story follows a group of friends and family over the course of 15 years. During this time, they all experience the sensation of falling in love, the losing of love, meeting new partners and returning to old lovers. A sweeping story of the heart's follies, it features iconic songs including Love Changes Everything and Anything But Lonely.
Death Note
The best-selling manga series will get a series of concerts this summer
The best-selling Japanese manga series is coming to the stage in a series of concerts this summer. Running for two nights at the London Palladium on 21 and 22 August 2023, this will mark Death Note's European debut.
Death Note centres on Light Yagami, a bright but dissatisfied student who finds a discarded notebook previously owned by Ryuk, a mythical god of death. When Light discovers that writing names in this supernatural notebook can kill people, he starts to fill the book with the names of wanted criminals. But unbeknownst to him, a detective called L is close to tracking him down.
With full cast and creatives still to be announced, the show will feature music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Jack Murphy and a book by Ivan Menchell.
Love Never Dies
Returning in a concert production at Theatre Royal Drury Lane this summer, Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to The Phantom of the Opera has a star-studded lead cast.
Leading the company are Tony Award nominee Norm Lewis as The Phantom, who was the first African-American performer to play the role in The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. He is joined by Celinde Schoenmaker (Guys & Dolls) as Christine Daaé, following her appearance in the West End for the 30th anniversary of The Phantom of the Opera.
Set ten years after the fateful events between The Phantom, Christine and Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera, the musical sees The Phantom follow the couple and their son Gustave to their new home in New York, as he makes one final attempt to win Christine over.
Directed by Shaun Kerrison (My Fair Lady), and featuring a 27-piece orchestra, further cast and creatives will be announced over the coming weeks.
What are you seeing in the West End this week? Tag us on social media in your theatre trips and share your memories with us!
As Eurovision celebrations get underway, the West End has been busy confirming much anticipated revivals, brand new productions and casting announcements!