Beautiful Confirms West End Run; Evita, Scoundrels & Women On The Verge Casting News + More #WestEndUpdate
Posted on 11 September 2014
Following months of speculation it has been confirmed that Beautiful - The Carole King Musical will open at the Aldwych Theatre in February next year. The musical, which is based on the early life and career of legendary singer/songwriter Carole King, is currently one of the biggest shows on Broadway.
Beautiful begins performances on Tuesday 10th February and is currently booking until Saturday 13th June 2015. Discussing the musical’s West End transfer, King said, “I love that the next chapter of the Beautiful story is taking place in London’s West End. I have so many good friends in London and warm memories of good times there. I can’t wait to re-visit!" The Daily Mail have claimed producers are searching for an exciting all-British cast full of fresh talent. Watch this space!
There has been no shortage of exciting casting news over the past few days, with the West End productions of Evita, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown all confirming new cast members. Firstly Ben Forster – winner of ITV’s Superstar – will appear alongside Marti Pellow as Che and Madalena Alberto as Eva in Evita at the Dominion Theatre.
Opening on Tuesday 16th September 2014, Forster will play Agustin Magaldi who is Eva Peron’s first love. After winning Superstar Forster went on to play the title role in Jesus Christ Superstar’s arena tours of the UK and Australia. He was recently seen touring the UK as Brad in The Rocky Horror Show.
It has also been revealed that Bonnie Langford and Gary Wilmot are joining the cast of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the Savoy Theatre from Tuesday 16th September. They replace Samantha Bond and John Marquez as Muriel Eubanks and Andre Thibault.
Robert Lindsay, Rufus Hound and Katherine Kingsley have all extended their runs in the show which has already been seen by over 200,000 people in the West End! Langford most recently played The Lady of the Lake in Spamalot and appeared in the final series of Dancing On Ice whilst Wilmot is currently appearing in The Pajama Game. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels has one of the strongest casts in town – and the new principals have won five Olivier Awards between them!
Elsewhere it has been confirmed that Olivier nominated actress Hadyn Gwynne, international musical theatre star Jerome Pradon and screen actress Anna Skellern will join Tamsin Greig in the UK premiere of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.
David Yazbek and Jeffrey Lane’s new musical is adapted from Pedro Almodóvar’s Oscar-nominated film. Directed by Tony Award-winner Bartlett Sher, it runs for a limited 20 week season at The Playhouse Theatre from Saturday 20th December 2014.
In other news Wicked has released 500,000 new tickets for its latest booking period. You can now buy tickets for Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre up until Saturday 7th November 2015. Read the full article on the Wicked booking period extension here.
Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies has entered its extension period at the Aldwych Theatre. The plays run until Saturday 4th October 2014.
Finally, Forbidden Broadway and Great Britain have both begun previews this week at the Vaudeville Theatre and Theatre Royal Haymarket. King Charles III officially opens at the Wyndham’s tonight (Thursday 11th September 2014) whilst The Play That Goes Wrong opens its doors to press this Sunday (14th September 2014).
This weekend we bid farewell to Denise Van Outen’s Some Girl I Used To Know and Chichester’s production of The Pajama Game at the Arts and Shaftesbury Theatres. It’s all change in theatreland! Exciting times lie ahead…
