It's been another massive week in the world of theatre with even more new shows being announced and some unexpected venues re-opening . Here is what you might have missed over the last 7 days:
NEW SHOWS AND VENUE RE-OPENINGS
One of the biggest theatres in the West End announced it will be re-opening in time for Christmas. The Dominion Theatre is currently home to The Prince of Egypt but that will be moving out temporarily to make way for a version of a musical concert of A Christmas Carol starring Brian Conley as Scrooge. The show plays a limited season at the theatre from December 7th until January 2nd with social distancing in place. Tickets are on sale from https://www.nederlander.co.uk/whats-on/christmas-carol
This isn't the only version of A Christmas Carol you can see this year. As well as the previously announced stream from the Old Vic, the Bridge Theatre will be staging a version as will Liverpool Playhouse.
Another major West End theatre announced it is re-opening its doors this week. The Noel Coward Theatre has been home to Dear Evan Hansen for the last year but will be re-opening on December 8th for new comedy The Comeback. Tickets are on sale from https://www.delfontmackintosh.co.uk/tickets/the-comeback/
Nimax Theatres continued to bring as much theatre back as possible this side of Christmas with two major announcements this week. First up is the news of a series of concerts at the Palace Theatre. Wes tEnd Musical Christmas will star Sophie Evans, Alice Fearn, Ben Forster, Rachel John, Jamie Muscato, Trevor Dion Nicholas and Layton Williams and will be hosted by Shanay Holmes. Tickets are on sale from https://www.nimaxtheatres.com/
The other big Nimax announcement this week comes from brand new show Death Drop starring RuPaul's Drag Race royalty Courtney Act and Monet X Change. The murder mystery takes place on Tuck island in 1991 and will play a limited season at the Garrick Theatre from December 3rd until January 17th. Tickets can be purchased from nimaxtheatres.com
Following a successful run in London that wrapped up earlier this month, immersive ourdoor experience C-o-n-t-a-c-t will head up North in the New Year to play at Salford and Manchester. Tickets are through https://thelowry.com/whats-on/ with performances starting on January 19th 2021.
Following sold out runs of Fanny & Stella and Pippin, the next show to take place at the brand new Garden Theatre in Vauxhall has been announced. Next Thing You Know has been hailed as the Rent for this generation” and follows four New Yorkers. It stars Anelia Atherton, Bessy Ewa, Calum Henderson and Nathan Shaw. Performances begin on Tuesday 20th October with tickets on sale from gardentheatre.co.uk
The Curve in Leicester has announced re-opening plans with not one, not two but THREE amazing productions in the next three months. First up is The Color Purple in concert featurin cast members from the original Curve production including Danielle Fiamanya and T'Shan Williams. The concert runs from November 23rd until December 5th.
The second of the three productions at Curve will be the return of Ria Jones and Danny Mac in Sunset Boulevard for a special concert production from December 14th until January 3rd. The third show is Memoirs of an Asian Football Casual from January 25th until February 6th.
Tickets for all three shows are on sale next week from https://www.curveonline.co.uk/
Peter Polycarpou will star in a new show he has written entitled Falling Stars. Teaming up with Sally Ann Triplett, the show will play at the Union Theatre on November 22nd and 29th. It tells the story of a lost songbook hidden away in an antique shop unlocking the beautiful refrains of a bygone era. Tickets are on sale from uniontheatre.biz
ONLINE STREAMS
Lambert Jackson Productions have teamed up with the London Coliseum for a virtual production of Tony nominated musical [title of show]. Starring Marc Elliot, Lucie Jones, Tyrone Huntley and Jenna Russell, the show will stream from November 12th - 14th. Tickets cost £14.75 and are available from https://londoncoliseum.org/whats-on/title-of-show/
Brand new musical Catfish recently had its first concert production completely sell out the Turbine at the Jetty. If you missed it, the good news is it will be streamed online on 31 October and 1 November. A collaboration between Willy Mukendi and Joseph Purdue, the show explores the ideas of social media and online dating. Tickets can be purchased through https://www.stream.theatre/home
An archived recording of Emilia will be streamed online next month. Last seen at the Vaudeville theatre last year, the show will be available through a pay-what-you-can model with prices starting at £1. You can stream it from November 10th to 24th from https://www.emilialive.com/
AND THE REST
It was revealed this week that Death of A Salesman will return to the West End in Autumn 2021 in a yet to be confirmed theatre. The Young Vic production enjoyed a transfer to the Piccadilly Theatre last year. Wendell Pierce will return to the show but no word yet on whether or not Sharon D. Clarke will be back as she is tied to the Broadway transfer of Caroline or Change.
Pantoland at the Palladium was announced with an all star line up last week, and is just got even starrier with the news that Elaine Paige will be returning to her role of Queen Rat from December 12th. .
Some sad news came out this week as on the same week the new concert production of Les Miserables sold out its entire run, added more dates on and sold that out too, the original lyricist for the show Herbert Kretzmer passed away at the age of 95. Tributes for the legendary lyricist were paid from Cameron Mackintosh and the shows original French songwriters Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg.
That's it for this week but what will the next 7 days have in store? Let's hope for some equally exciting show announcements and even more venue re-openings.