Our Top 10 Facts About Wicked

It’s hard to believe that Stephen Schwartz’s Broadway musical Wicked has been staged worldwide for over 15 years now. This enchanting, alternative telling of the 1939 film seems to have the Midas touch, turning every theatre it touches into theatrical gold. Despite the show’s unprecedented success, it wasn’t always so ‘popular’ amongst the critics. Did you know that this Ozian musical was actually off to a rocky start during its previews on Broadway and had to be revamped for three whole months? That’s not the only fact that may come as a surprise. Check out our list for the top 10 facts that you may not have known about Wicked.

Everything you need to know about the Inheritance

What happens when the giving tree gives too much to the new generation? What, then, does the future hold for them? Will the inheritance of their forebears rule their lives? What does the current generation owe to their successors? These are among the many questions that Matthew Lopez’s brilliant play The Inheritance seeks to answer. Fresh from its sell-out run at the Young Vic, this two-part epic directed by Tony Award-winning Stephen Daldry is heading to the Noel Coward Theatre next month! Read our guide for everything you need to know about The Inheritance below!

Rapid Fire Q&A Session with Marianne Oldham from A Monster Calls

Marianne Oldham is a highly prolific and talented stage and television actress currently starring in the Old Vic production of A Monster Calls, which is adapted by Sally Cookson from Patrick Ness’s gut-wrenching novel of the same name. Oldham is perhaps best known for starring as Rosalie Berwick in the BBC television series The Crimson Field, a British drama set during World War I at a fictional field hospital in France. She has also starred as Mary in The Living and the Dead and Stella Levy in A Very English Scandal.  As far as theatre is concerned, she enjoys the classics, having played in Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya just to name a few. With less than one month left for A Monster Calls, we were happy to check in with Marianne Oldham to see how everything is going. See below for our rapid-fire Q&A session.

Bat Out of Hell invites audiences to sing along for certain performance

‘You took the words right out of my mouth!’ The producers of Jim Steinman’s Bat Out of Hell – The Musical have announced five special performances during which audiences are invited to sing along with the cast! Don’t know the words? A surtitle screen will be provided!

One Love of Your Life, Selfless & True, Lasting Forever

At first glance, on paper, this show shouldn’t work. It Happened In Key West is based on a controversial topic, and add to the mixture singing and dancing, humour and farce, it has all the ingredients for an interesting night at Charing Cross Theatre. There is an element of Tim Burton-esque macabre and I was interested to see how this show would unfold. What makes this piece and this company all the more special is that they have not ventured too far from the original. It is worth noting this is a true story, with a touching tenderness which translates from the stage to the audience very well.

Tip Top Tommy

The London Coliseum is a delightful venue with plush seats and amazing views from basically every seat. Put a live orchestra into the mix and you have the best evening possible ahead of you. Enter The Glenn Miller Story, starring Tommy Steele in the role of the conductor. It has a strong feeling of nostalgia, harking back to the big swing bands of the 30s and 40s.

Club Swizzle

A bonkers night out with something for everyone – if you’re feeling brave.

Everything you need to know about The Book of Mormon

‘The Bible is really a trilogy.’ Are you thinking about seeing The Book of Mormon? Did you know that the show’s co-creator, Matt Stone, once called it ‘an atheist’s love letter to religion?’ Read below for an everything-you-need-to-know-guide about ‘God’s favourite musical’ from the creators of South Park.

Q&A with Wade McCollum from It Happened In Key West

Undying love is taken to a whole new level in this summer's surprise hit, which stars American actor Wade McCollum. In addition to stage and film acting, McCollum is also a musician and composer. His ear for music certainly brings a bit of zest in It Happened In Key West, with many critics and audiences praising his strong performance as eccentric scientist Carl Tanzler, whose desperation to love and be loved is taken to necrophilic extremes. We were lucky enough to sit down and have a chat with the star of the show himself, Wade McCollum. Read our exclusive Q&A session below.  

Tim Howar cast as the new Phantom in Phantom of the Opera

Canadian-born actor and singer Tim Howar is set to portray the new Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre. The show has been running in the West End for an astonishing 33 years.