Blog / Openings
Check here for the latest musical news with links to all your #StageFaves performers, shows and theatres. Also look out for our regular #GetSocial features and contributions from our syndicate media partners including MyTheatreMates.com and the Musical Theatre Appreciation Society.
First it was exciting that London audiences were going to finally get a chance to see a full staging of Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza, starring Renée Fleming and Dove Cameron, no less. Now the anticipation has intensified with the news that Rob Houchen, Celinde Schoenmaker, Liam Tamne, Malcolm Sinclair and Olivier-nominated international soprano Marie McLaughlin have also been cast in the production which runs for just 20 performances from 14 June to 5 July 2019.
Perhaps best known to UK theatre-goers for her roles in The Grinning Man and La Strada, French-Canadian actress Audrey Brisson has been cast as the iconic Amélie Poulain in the musical stage adaptation of Amélie The Musical, beginning a UK tour in April 2019 at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury. Are you feeling romantic?
There’s something old and something new when it comes to the musicals lined up for Chichester Festival Theatre’s Festival 2019 and just look at the casting. There’s the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic Oklahoma! starring Josie Lawrence as Aunt Eller alongside Hyoie O’Grady and Amara Okereke (Les Misérables) as Curly and Laurey. Plus Tim Firth’s first original solo musical This Is My Family features the talents of James Nesbitt, Sheila Hancock and Clare Burt. Bring on the summer…
2019
Playing at London’s The Other Palace from 11 to 23 February 2019, the Taster Menu series – as part of the inaugural MT Fest UK – will showcase eight new musicals via 45-minute semi-staged stagings. So which performers are bringing these new works to life? Read on…
In the same week that queues of hopefuls lined up for the Dear Evan Hansen open auditions, dates have been confirmed for the Tony Award-winning Broadway show’s West End transfer, with previews at the Noël Coward Theatre set to begin on 29 October 2019 followed by an opening night on 19 November. Now it’s all about what the casting will be!
We knew the West End production of Les Misérables was moving to the Gielgud Theatre while the Queen’s was being refurbished but we couldn’t have predicted that the venue would be hosting the concert version of the ever-popualr musical and that the cast would feature Michael Ball (Javert), Alfie Boe (Jean Valjean), Carrie Hope Fletcher (Fantine) and Matt Lucas (Thénardier). Could it be one of the biggest musical theatre events of 2019? It just might be…
2019
It’s had a successful Off-Broadway run and now London audiences are going to get a chance to see young up-and-coming artist Max Vernon’s new LGBTQ+ musical The View Upstairs from 18 July to 31 August 2019 at Soho Theatre. Are you ready to go on ‘an exhilarating journey of seduction and self-exploration’?
2019
It’s the first West End production of much-loved musical Man of La Mancha in over 50 years and it’s turning into quite a cast line-up. Nicholas Lyndhurst and Cassidy Janson have joined Kelsey Grammer and Danielle de Niese for the limited season which runs at the London Coliseum from 26 April to 8 June 2019. Will you be living the dream?
Hey big spender, have you seen that Josie Rourke is going to sign off as the Donmar Warehouse’s artistic director with a revival of Sweet Charity and Anne-Marie Duff is going to play the lead opposite Ratty Burvil as Oscar? Well, it’s really happening from 6 April to 8 June 2019. Are you ready for the rhythm of life?
It’s a family affair for Laura Pitt-Pulford as she takes on the role of Sheryl, the matriarch of the eccentric Hoover family, in Little Miss Sunshine, running at the Arcola Theatre from 21 March to 11 May 2019 before heading off on a UK tour. Among the other Hoovers she will be attempting to keep in check will be Gary Wilmot, Gabriel Vick, Paul Keating and Sev Keoshgerian. Happy travels…
There will be high expectations for the RSC’s world premiere musical production of The Boy in the Dress, adapted from David Walliams’ first children’s novel. But if anyone can pull it off, Mark Ravenhill, Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers surely have a pretty good chance. Will it be the next Matilda? Time will tell…
What would have happened if Shakespeare’s Juliet had chosen her own fate? Audiences might be able to find out when new musical & Juliet – featuring the hits of songwriter Max Martin and starring acclaimed actress Miriam-Teak Lee – plays briefly at Manchester Opera House from 10 September to 12 October 2019 before transferring to the West End’s Shaftesbury Theatre on 2 November.
2019
If you are counting the days until the West End production of Sara Bareilles’ musical Waitress opens for previews at the Adelphi Theatre on 8 February, here is a double dollop of video delight for you. There’s a chance to step inside the rehearsal room to see the cast, including Katharine McPhee as Jenna, perform a selection of numbers from the show, plus we also have access to a fun video of David Hunter and Laura Baldwin offering US actor Jack McBrayer a taste of the best of British pies. Yummy…
2019
There’s already a big treat on its way at the Adelphi Theatre when Sara Bareilles’ musical Waitress opens for previews from 8 February 2019, but that’s not all on the menu. In the perfect pie partnership, The Theatre Café has teamed up with the show and will be making and selling delicious fresh pies each evening. Does a night out get any better than that?
2019
Could there be a better time for Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s new production of Mary Poppins to return to the West End, with the movie sequel starring Emily Blunt having been such a hit? Now you can put the confirmed dates in your diary with news that the production starring Zizi Strallen and Charlie Stemp will open for previews at the Prince Edward Theatre from 23 October 2019 with opening night on 13 November. Are you booking your flight?
2019
There will be many a musical theatre fan secretly listening to the National Theatre cast recording of Stephen Sondheim’s legendary musical Follies at work today. Plus, it’s not long before the production returns to the venue on 12 February 2019. Here they come, those beautiful girls…
There’s 13 days to go until Dolly Parton’s 9 To 5 The Musical opens for previews at London’s Savoy Theatre & actress Caroline Sheen has roughly that same amount of time to learn the role of Violet Newstead following injured Louise Redknapp’s break from the show. Redknapp will re-join the show from the end of March. That’s showbiz…
If it isn’t exciting enough that the Fats Waller musical Ain’t Misbehavin’ is being revived at Southwark Playhouse from 19 April to 1 June 2019, following its premiere at Mercury Theatre Colchester from 15-30 March, just look which artists are making their debuts as director and theatre choreographer. It’s only Tyrone Huntley and Strictly’s Oti Mabuse. We think the joint is going to be jumpin!
Rehearsals are now underway for the West End production of Waitress ahead of performances beginning at the Adelphi Theatre on 8 February. Joining new addition Shaun Prendergast and US stars Katharine McPhee and Jack McBrayer are Laura Baldwin, Peter Hannah, David Hunter and Marisha Wallace. Pie anyone?
2019
Open Air Theatre Regent’s Park’s awesome staging of Jesus Christ Superstar was a sell-out in 2016 and 2017. Now the iconic musical (Pope Francis is a fan) is on its way back, transferring to the Barbican Theatre for 60 performances from 4 July to 24 August 2019. So what do you think of the new trailer?