Welcome to your weekly London theatre news round-up! Get the scoop on Waitress, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Les Misérables and more!
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie announces a new cast. Joining Layton Williams (Jamie) and Shane Richie (Hugo/Loco Chanelle) will be Sejal Keshwala (Ray), Sabrina Sandhu (Pritti Pasha) and Hayley Tamaddon (Miss Hedge). Tamaddon is best known for her role as Andrea Beckett in Coronation Street and Del Dingle in Emmerdale. Other new cast members include Marlon G. Day (Dad), Momar Diagne, Zahra Jones, Luke Latchman, Rachel Price, Biancha Szynal, Adam Taylor and Ziggy Tyler Taylor. The new cast steps in on 28 January.
Waitress has started rehearsals! And judging from this tweet, it looks like the cast is pretty pumped.
https://twitter.com/WaitressLondon/status/1082304529041969152/photo/1
We also have full casting for Waitress‘ London premiere. As previously announced, Katharine McPhee will star as the musical’s pie-making heroine, Jenna Hunterson, alongside Marisha Wallace, David Hunter, Jack McBrayer and Laura Baldwin. Shaun Predergast will also join the cast as Old Joe, owner of the diner. He’s known for his roles as D.S. Holt in EastEnders and Robert Bain in Waterloo Road. Rounding out the cast are Kelly Agbowu, Piers Bate, Nicole Raquel Dennis, Michael Hamway, Peter Hannah, Stephen Leask, Chris McGuigan, Olivia Moore, Nathaniel Morrison, Sarah O’Connor, Leanne Pinder and Charlotte Riby. Waitress starts previews on 8 February.
Les Misérables will temporarily transfer to a new theatre while the Queen’s Theatre undergoes restoration. While the Queen’s closes for four months of restoration work (including the adding of new lavatories and restoring of the theatre’s original boxes and loges), Les Misérables will play at the Gielgud Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue, starting at the end of July. In December 2019, the Queen’s Theatre will reopen with the new 2009 production of Les Misérables featuring a new company.
Alex Kingston will star in Joshua Harmon’s new play Admissions. Best known for her roles in ER and Doctor Who, Kingston will appear in Admissions–a play about the admissions department of a U.S. school trying to obtain Ivy League status–which runs from 28th February at Trafalgar Studios One.
Monica Dolan, Sheila Reid, and Rhashan Stone join the cast of All About Eve. Based on the 1950 movie, All About Eve will star Gillian Anderson and Lily James. Additional cast members include Stanley Townsend, Tsion Ian Drysdale, Tsion Habte, Charles Hagerty, Grace Stone and Philip Voyzey. Ivo Van Hove (Network, Lazarus, Obsession) directs. All About Eve starts previews on 10 May at the Noël Coward Theatre.
Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train at the Young Vic announces full casting. The production will star Matthew Douglas, Dervla Kirwan, Joplin Sibtain, Oberon K. A. Adjepong and Ukweli Roach. Kate Hewitt (Yerma, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) will direct this production of Pulitzer Prize winner Adly Gurgis’ drama, which plays at the Young Vic starting 14 February.
Full casting is announced for The Twilight Zone. Oliver Alvin-Wilson, Adrianna Bertola and Neil Haigh will reprise their roles from the show’s original Almeida run. Joining them will be Alisha Bailey, Natasha J. Barnes, Dan Crossley, Dyfan Dwyfor, Nicholas Karimi, Lauren O’Neill and Matthew Steer. Written by Anne Washburn and directed by Richard Jones, The Twilight Zone‘s West End runs at the Ambassadors Theatre from 4 March.
Katherine Parkinson, Sara Gregory and Richard Harrington will lead the West End transfer of Home, I’m Darling. Directed by Tamara Harvey, Laura Wade’s critically acclaimed comedy comes to the Duke of York’s Theatre starting 26 January. Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd, Humans) will reprise her role as Judy, with Sara Gregory as Alex and Richard Harrington as Johnny. The cast also includes Charlie Allen, Susan Brown, Ellie Burrow, Siubhan Harrison, Jane MacFarlane and Hywel Morgan.
Zawe Ashton and Charlie Cox will join Tom Hiddleston in the London revival of Betrayal. Cox is best known for playing the title role in Marvel’s Daredevil, while Ashton has appeared in TV shows like Fresh Meat, Not Safe for Work and Wanderlust.
Due to an injury, Louise Redknapp will delay her performance in 9 to 5. No news yet on her replacement, but we’ll keep you posted.
Call Me Vicky, a debut play by sisters Nicola and Stacey Bland, comes to the Pleasance Theatre. Based on a true story, the play follows Vicky’s transition from male to female back in 1980. Starring Wendi Peters (Coronation Street), and directed by Victoria Gimby, Call Me Vicky comes to London’s Pleasance Theatre starting 19 February. The cast includes Nicola Bland, Victoria Bland, Matt Greenwood, Ben Welch and Adam Young.
Shakespeare’s Globe announces its summer 2019 season. The lineup includes Henry IV, Henry V, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merry Wives of Windsor, As You Like It and Ben Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair.
