Bet you didn’t know Daniel Radcliffe was in Endgame! Oops, not that Endgame. We’re talking about Samuel Beckett’s play, soon to get a revival at the Old Vic! Find out more details on this, plus the return of Hairspray to London and all the other news in the world of London theatre this week.
Hairspray returns to the London Coliseum next year, with Michael Ball as Edna Turnblad. Ball will be reprising the role he played in London in 2007. Further casting for the production, directed by Jack O’Brien, will be revealed later. Helmed by the show’s original creative team, Hairspray runs from 23 April to 19 July 2020, with tickets on sale today! Plus, Hairspray is going on tour again in 2020.
Daniel Radcliffe and Alan Cumming will star in a new production of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame at the Old Vic. Opening 27 January 2020, the production will feature a double bill: Endgame + Beckett’s one-act play Rough For Theatre II–rarely performed. Tickets go on sale 9 May.
Claire Foy and Matt Smith will make their West End debuts in Lungs at the Old Vic. The play, which premiered in New York in 2011 and made its UK premiere in 2013, examines what it means to give birth in today’s society. Dates have yet to be announced, and tickets are not yet on sale.
The Old Vic’s upcoming season will also feature Lucy Prebble’s A Very Expensive Poison, Jack Thorne’s A Christmas Carol, and the musical Local Hero. The latter, based on the film by Bill Forsyth, will run at the Old Vic from 18 June after receiving its world premiere in Edinburgh.
Starting 10 June, Mazz Murray will play Donna in Mamma Mia!. Murray previously played Tanya from 2015 to 2017. She’s also starred in Chicago, We Will Rock You and Rent. Joining her will be Taylor Bradshaw as Eddie, Cameron Burt as Sky, Kirsty Hoiles as Tanya, Sophie Matthew as Lisa, Danny Nattrass as Pepper and Melissa Nettleford as Ali. Cast members Lucy May Barker (as Sophie Sheridan), Ricky Butt, Stephen Beckett, Neil Moor and Richard Trinder will remain in the cast.
Rob Houchen and Bradley Jaden join the cast of Les Misérables: The All-Star Staged Concert. Houchen will reprise his role as Marius, which he first played in 2013; while Bradley Jaden, currently playing Javert at the Queen’s Theatre, will play Enjolras–a role he performed in London in 2015. The concert will run at the Gielgud Theatre from 10 August to 30 November, while the Queen’s Theatre undergoes renovation. In the meantime, you can still catch the original production at the Queen’s Theatre–but your window is closing!
It’s official: The Prince of Egypt musical will receive its West End premiere in February 2020. Based on the DreamWorks animated film and featuring 10 new songs, the musical will run at the Dominion Theatre from 5 February to 12 September 2020, with tickets on sale 3 June.
Dame Patricia Routledge joins the concert production of Carousel at Cadogan Hall. In the role of Narrator, she joins the previously announced Chizzy Akudola, Stewart Clarke, Janie Dee, Hadley Fraser, Joanna Riding, Lucy Schaufer and Gavin Spokes.
Lea Salonga is going on tour! The singer, actress and Disney princess will embark on a solo UK tour, with two performances at the London Palladium on 21 July. An Olivier and Tony Award winner known for creating the role of Kim in Miss Saigon and for playing Eponine and Fantine in Les Miserables, Salonga also sang as Jasmine and Fa Mulan in the Disney films Aladdin and Mulan. Tickets are now on sale.
Emilia at the Vaudeville Theatre will close 1 June 2019. The transfer of the acclaimed production from Shakespeare’s Globe tells the story of Emilia Bassano: Shakespeare’s alleged “Dark Lady.”
Stephen Fry will perform a stage adaptation of his book Mythos at the London Palladium. Returning to the stage after almost 40 years, Fry will be touring the UK, with three performances in London on the 13th and 14th of September. Tickets are on sale starting today.
Pheobe Waller-Bridge will appear in her play Fleabag in the West End. After its previews at Soho Theatre and its run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Fleabag will play at Wyndham’s Theatre from 20 August to 14 September. Waller-Bridge recently starred in the show Off-Broadway.
BalletBoyz is bringing their production Them/Us to the Vaudeville Theatre in June, in the group’s West End debut. The dance show looks at how humans define themselves through their relationships with the ‘other.’ Them/Us premiered at Sadler’s Wells in March. Tickets are on sale now.
Brainiac Live will run in the West End this summer. Based on the TV series Brainiac, the show chronicles scientific exploration in all its weirdness and wackiness–with live experiments and explosions. Brainiac Live plays in London from 31 July to 1 September.
Maria Friedman and Anita Dobson join the cast of Trevor Nunn’s Fiddler on the Roof at the Playhouse Theatre. Starting 18 June, Friedman will play Golde and Dobson will play Yente.
Audible announces a new London production of Radio: a one-man play about memory, love and spaceships. Starring Adam Gillen and directed by Josh Roche, the play runs at Arcola Theatre from 19 June to 13 July. Audible will also release a studio recording of the play.
The Royal Court Theatre announces its 2019-2020 season. Titled “A Year of Work” the season will feature Is God Is, three new plays by Caryl Churchill, and A History of Water in the Middle East, among other productions.
Courtney Reed, the original Jasmine in Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway, is currently starring in Aladdin at the Prince Edward Theatre. Meanwhile, Aladdin is closing at the end of the summer, so you’re running out of chances to see it!
