Marianka Swain - Page 17

Everybody's Talking About Jamie is now in previews at the Apollo Theatre in London's West End, following a hit run at Sheffield Crucible. It's directed by Jonathan Butterell and written by Dan Gillespie Sells and Tom MacRae, and stars John McCrea as Jamie and Josie Walker as his mother Margaret.

Josie Walker's work ranges from Matilda the Musical to Husband & Sons and War Horse. She's now starring in a new musical based on the real story of 16-year-old Jamie Campbell, who wanted to become a drag queen, and his supportive mother Margaret. Following a hit Sheffield run, it's currently in previews at the Apollo Theatre.

David Mamet's Pulitzer-winning play, which premiered at the National in 1983, in back in London in a star-studded, pugilistic revival from Sam Yates. Though kept firmly in period, it's not hard to find skin-crawling contemporary parallels in Mamet's exposure of a toxic capitalist culture ruled by the art of the deal.

Based on Daniel Wallace's novel and Tim Burton's 2003 film adaptation, this musical is quite the oddity. Screenwriter John August has tinkered with the book since its brief Broadway run in 2013, but it remains an unfathomable mixture of magical and mawkish, whimsy and desolation.

Actors Daniel Boys and Simon Lipkin lead the new stage musical version of hit family film Nativity!, which is touring the UK this Christmas season.

London is never short of temptations, whether splashy West End shows, epic dramas or bold fringe offerings. From a new British musical to starry Mamet and cheeky burlesque, here are some of this month's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld's reviews

David Oakes's past roles range from The Borgias and Victoria to Shakespeare in Love. He's currently playing opposite Natalie Dormer in dark comedy Venus in Fur at Theatre Royal Haymarket.

We're back in the world of ration books, blackouts and spam fritters, as Nicholas Wright delves into the home front via his adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's 1947 novel. Though there's a certain period chintz about Jonathan Kent's production, darker undercurrents make this a more complex proposition than it first appears.

Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr's enterprise is certainly an historic one: The Bridge is London's first new wholly commercial theatre in 80 years. If its opening play isn't the same landmark work, it's nevertheless an auspicious start to a promising enterprise.

Actress Fenella Woolgar's work ranges from Handbagged and Circle Mirror Transformation to Home Fires and Doctor Who. She's currently starring in the stage adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's The Slaves of Solitude, about a boarding house in 1943 Henley-on-Thames, where Miss Roach, who endures daily torment from a fellow occupant, becomes involved with an American serviceman. The play is now in previews at Hampstead Theatre.

The words 'an intimate evening with' may seem at odds with the cavernous Palladium. But leave it to the pint-sized Broadway legend with the huge voice to work her magic on the space. Somehow, with just a mic and a piano, Kristin Chenoweth put on a spectacular show and simultaneously formed a heartfelt connection with fans.

Marking the 15th anniversary of pioneering company Deafinitely Theatre, Artistic Director Paula Garfield is directing a new production of Mike Bartlett's Contractions. It runs at New Diorama Theatre 1-29 November.

The urge to present state-of-the-nation plays following the Brexit vote is understandable, even vital, but has produced decidedly mixed results. Thankfully, Mike Bartlett's empathetic Chekhovian response is a real winner: rich in loamy metaphor, yes, but also a gripping family drama crackling with humour.

Dominic Dromgoole's new company Classic Spring kicks off its year-long celebration of Oscar Wilde with lesser-known 1893 work A Woman of No Importance. A starry cast, led by the incandescent Eve Best, makes a strong case for the play, though Dromgoole's reclaiming of Wilde in the proscenium arch theatre space for which he originally wrote is more of a mixed affair.

It seems to be the week for notable romcom two-handers. Joining Simon Stephens' Heisenberg and David Ireland's The End of Hope is David Eldridge's meditation on the loneliness and halting longing of modern relationships.

Actress Emma Fielding's work ranges from Arcadia, Private Lives and The King's Speech to Terror and The School for Scandal. She's now playing Mrs Allonby in Oscar Wilde's A Woman of No Importance at the Vaudeville Theatre, currently in previews.

For the premiere work of new company Elliott & Harper Productions, director Marianne Elliott got the Curious Incident band back together, from playwright Simon Stephens to her acclaimed creative team. But it's in service of a much more intimate piece that while strikingly staged at times feels like an odd fit for a West End house.

Multi-award-winning director and choreographer Susan Stroman is helming the West End premiere of Young Frankenstein, the stage musical version of Mel Brooks's beloved movie. It's currently in previews at London's Garrick Theatre.

With This House enjoying an acclaimed revival last year, and Almeida hit Ink now situated just metres away from new offering Labour of Love on St Martin's Lane, the West End currently belongs to the fantastically prolific playwright James Graham.

Three years after its Bristol Old Vic debut, Sally Cookson's fervently theatrical reimagining of Charlotte Bront 's novel returns to the National Theatre as part of a UK tour with a new cast, but with its collective spirit intact.