Everyone loves a good Broadway transfer, and that’s just one of the exciting news tidbits we’ve got for you this week! Game of Thrones stars on the West End stage, new Chicago and Company casting, creepy outdoor productions, oh my!
Come From Away is coming to you! The Tony Award-winning musical about 7,000 passengers who found themselves stranded in Newfoundland, Canada following 9/11 will debut at the Phoenix Theatre starting 30 January 2019. Prior to making its London debut, Come From Away will play the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Christopher Ashley will direct, with casting yet to be announced.
Mazz Murray joins the West End cast of Chicago as Mama Morton! Her previous roles include Killer Queen (We Will Rock You), Tanya (Mamma Mia!), Mabel (Fame), and Grandma Bertha (Pippin). Sounds like she’s well qualified! Murray will play Mama Morton from 2 July, joining current cast members Sarah Soetaert and Josefina Gabrielle. You have until 11 August to see these lovely ladies (oops, wrong show).
As previously announced, Cuba Gooding, Jr. will hand over the role of Billy Flynn to Martin Kemp, who starts 2 July. He’ll play the role until 2 September. Paul Rider, in the current cast, will also remain as Amos Hart.
Plus, Chicago just opened a new booking period, so you can now snag your tickets through 5 January 2019!
Further casting announced for Company! Joining Patti LuPone, Mel Giedroyc, and Rosalie Craig in the new gender-swapped production will be Richard Fleeshman (Andy/April), George Blagden (PJ/Marta), Matthew Seadon-Young (Theo/Kathy), Ben Lewis (Larry), Richard Henders (David), Jennifer Saayeng (Jenny), Gavin Spokes (Harry), and Ashley Campbell (Peter). Sounds like an all-star cast! We can’t wait to see them in action.
Meanwhile, Game of Thrones is slowly conquering the London theatre world. You may have heard about Kit Harington’s upcoming star turn in True West, but did you know Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams will soon be making her stage debut at the Hampstead Theatre? She’ll star in Lauren Gunderson’s I and You, directed by Edward Hall, from 18 October. Also upcoming at the Hampstead Theatre are three new plays and the U.K. premiere of Stephen Karam’s Tony-winning The Humans, starring the original New York cast.
ENO’s open air production of The Turn of the Screw (Benjamin Britten’s opera based on Henry James’s story) just opened and is getting solid reviews. Critics are calling it an assortment of spine-tingling names that include “sinister,” “chilling,” and even “crepuscular.”
Anyone ever wonder what happened to Bloomsbury Theatre? Wonder no longer! After three and a half years of downtime, Bloomsbury is reopening 12 December with an adaptation of David Walliams’ best-selling children’s book Awful Auntie. Welcome back, Bloomsbury!
