UK Roundup - Wicked, Movin' Out, Showboat, Donmar

The smash hit Broadway production of Wicked is to open in London on September 27th 2006. As was previously expected, the show will open at the Apollo Victoria, currently home to Saturday Night Fever and soon to be home to Movin' Out (see below). The Stephen Schwartz musical, a prequel to the Wizard of Oz based on the book by Gregory Maguire, is still one of Broadway's hottest tickets with a weekly attendance of 100%. Despite its success in the States, the producers are keen to adapt the production for British audiences. According to the Daily Mail lead producer Marc Platt will travel to London next year to find British talent to match that of leading ladies Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, who created the roles on Broadway.

Preceding Wicked at the Apollo Victoria is another Broadway hit. Movin' Out, the dance musical based on the songs of Billy Joel, will play from March to July following the closure of Saturday Night Fever in February. Taking the songs of Joel for its inspiration, the show is a choreographed story with no dialogue but a constant stream of live-performed songs including Uptown Girl and Captain Jack. Show conceiver/director/choreographer Twyla Tharp won the 2003 Tony Award for Best Choreography and was also nominated for her direction. It recently closed on Broadway after a run of 1303 performances. London is the first date on Movin' Out's European tour, with tickets priced from £20-55.

The Albert Hall is to present its first fully-staged musical production next year. Showboat, the classic Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein musical, opens in June 2006 for 18 performances only. Featuring a cast of 100, plus orchestra of 65, the musical marks a first for the venue as it has only previously staged concerts. The musical, which premiered on Broadway in 1927, was last seen in the West End when Hal Prince's Tony award winning production transferred for a limited run in 1998. The Albert Hall production, directed by Francesca Zambello and produced by Raymond Gubbay, will be staged in-the-round with a set including real water and decks. It runs from June 10th – June 25th 2006.

The Donmar Warehouse's spring/summer programme has been announced, featuring many of the theatre industry's leading artists. Claire Higgins (Olivier winner for Hecuba - currently in Night of the Iguana at the Lyric) plays the title role in Phaedra, a new play by Frank McGuinness based on Racine's classic about a woman who falls in love with her stepson, artistic director Michael Grandage (recently an Evening Standard Award winner) directs Sir Ian McKellen and Deborah Findlay in The Cut, a new play by Mark Ravenhill, and Thea Sharrock, a young director very much in high demand right now, directs Derek Jacobi in A Voyage Round My Father. Full details at www.donmarwarehouse.com.

Speaking of Mark Ravenhill, he's swapping sex, strong language and violence for dames, children and slapstick. Yep, Ravenhill is the latest 'legit' theatre name turning to pantomime. With Ian McKellen treading the boards in Aladdin, Ravenhill is now the next big name to fulfil his 'long held love of panto' by writing Dick Whittington for the Barbican Theatre next Christmas. His plays include Shopping and F**king, Some Explicit Polaroids and Mother Clap's Molly House. Interestingly, the announcement came at the same time as Michael Coveney wrote an article in The Guardian about making panto 'posh' – an interesting read that can be found online here.