Nicky Sweetland

After a run at the London Coliseum last year and a subsequent tenure in Toronto, Jim Steinman's Bat Out of Hell is back in town - and it puts rock well and truly back into the West End.

There's been a real buzz of anticipation around the West End with the impending opening of Everybody's Talking About Jamie. In fact, it has felt like everybody really has been talking about it! So much so that for theatre fans, trying to watch the show without any preconceived ideas is almost impossible, such has been the positive press surrounding the new musical.

Following a hugely successful UK tour and an engagement at the acclaimed Feinstein's/54 Below in New York, West End star Rachel Tucker has become a celebrated solo performer.

Patrick Marber was inspired to write The Red Lion following his own experiences in non-league football club ownership. And the play - which was first performed in 2015 at the National Theatre has been revised (by Marber) to make it a much slicker and darker insight into male relationships and the tricky juxtaposition between the roles of big business and community spirit in our grassroots game.

There's been a bit of a resurgence of the comedy horror musical format over the past few months. With The Toxic Avenger returning to London after a successful run at Southwark Playhouse (and in Edinburgh), Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein about to open at the Garrick Theatre and even the full-throttle fright-fest The Exorcist promising to scare the bejesus out of audiences next month, there seems to be a real appetite for the macabre.

I once had the honour of interviewing the legendary Tommy Steele at the New Wimbledon Theatre. It was the venue where Half A Sixpence was first performed, and the show - which acted as a star vehicle for the talented young performer - became a classic piece of British musical theatre.

There's such a rich history of musical theatre in London. World renowned, the West End has become a place of pilgrimage for the stagey community. But if you would like to understand better the heritage of the theatrical community and find out the origins of some of the biggest and most famous shows in the world, the new Lost West End Vintage album is a good starting point.

Director Paul Jepson expressed in an interview in the show's programme that he was not at all daunted by the technical challenges of staging an adaptation of E. Nesbit's The Railway Children.

It's been over 10 years since the comedy musical Blondel was last seen on stage in London and with a new production about to open at the Union Theatre, Stage Door Records has released the Original London Cast album as a timely reminder of the wonderfully wacky show.

Seen by many as one of the greatest plays of the 20th century, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman has been performed in many guises since its first production in 1949.

From humble beginnings in a pub in Islington, when a group of LAMDA graduates first conceived Mischief Theatre, the company has gone from strength to strength and following an award winning run in the West End, their first commercially successful comedy offering, The Play That Goes Wrong has recently received a critically acclaimed Broadway Transfer.

When we enter the theatrical world, we must suspend disbelief. That's why many of us go: in the hope that for a couple of hours we'll forget all of our real-life trials and simply immerse ourselves in a story for entertainment's sake.

It was recently announced that Federico Fellini's film masterpiece La Strada has been restored and is set to receive a nationwide reissue, but it's also being given a new life on the stage in this touring production, which captures both the charm and grittiness of the original.

The English National Opera (ENO) have been criticised in recent years for their staging of musicals. The last two years have seen the company-whose home is the London Coliseum-score huge success with their adaptations of Sweeney Todd and Sunset Boulevard (which starred Hollywood icon Glen Close) and in a recent interview with The Stage, Producer Michael Linnit claimed the ENO 'would not survive' were it not for the revenue generated by putting on more commercial musicals in the venue.

Exeter based Le Navet Bete have teamed up with the Exeter Northcott Theatre to present a unique play about the world's most famous vampire. Entitled Dracula: The Bloody Truth the company, which specialises in physical theatre, has stumbled upon a surefire hit with their adaptation, coupling some ghoulish goings on with hilarious horseplay to make a comedy show worthy of the highest plaudits.

The complexities of the mother and son relationship are not easy to depict. The unwavering unconditional love and a mother's need to defend her boy against all foes can become creepily like the ancient Greek story of Oedipus if not handled correctly and Kay Mellor's A Passionate Woman, which is currently touring the country, doesn't quite get it right.

The classic Charles Dickens' fable, A Christmas Carol, can be seen in many guises over the festive period, but Simon Callow's one-man presentation of the epic saga at the Arts Theatre, is an excellent illustration of how a well-written traditional tale needs no frills and can stand alone when told with gusto by an accomplished stage maestro.

J.M. Barrie's classic story about the boy who never grows up is always a popular production at Christmas, with its magical plot, engaging characters and depiction of the melancholic journey through adolescence, certain to ensure a warm and magical sentiment in readiness for the festive season.

Stephen Mallatratt's ghoulish adaptation of Susan Hill's infamous ghost story has been frightening London audiences for over twenty-five years and embarked on a UK tour in September. Whilst on its travels the classic play has taken up residence for a spell of haunting at Exeter's Northcott Theatre this week, allowing Devon audiences the opportunity to see the hit show within their locale. Unlike some of the West End's other long running stage offerings, it's easy to see why The Woman in Black has enjoyed such longevity, as the timeless tale remains an utterly thrilling theatrical white-knuckle ride.

It's almost 20 years since THE WEIR had its premiere at the Royal Court and Conor McPherson's heart-warming tale about a close knit community feels just as relevant today. Director, Rachel O'Riordan has managed to establish a time warp, with her imagination of Brendan's Bar and provides a window into the world of provincial living, with all of the history and folk law, which holds such importance within these enclaves of society.