TRADGE THE THEATRE GEEK

Another week, another roundup of what news has been rocking the world of theatre, so here is your latest helping of juicy stagey gossip to go around. ----- EVERYBODY'S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE Musical to tour in celebration of 10th anniversary Official poster for " Everybody's Talking About Jamie " Following a world premiere in Sheffield, three year run in the west end, and two sold out UK and Ireland tours, the hit musical “ Everybody’s Talking About Jamie ” is hitting the road o

PREMIERED: 1998 (Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, New York) MUSIC/LYRICS: William Finn BOOK: William Finn, James Lapine ----- Official artwork for " A New Brain " at NYCC in 2015 This week we return to the world of musicals, and a lesser known exponent of William Finn and regular collaborator James Lapine . After the roaring success of " Falsettos " in 1992 (made from stitching together two prior one-act musicals), earning two Tony Awards for Finn (the second shared with Lapine

Well somehow the first month of the year is already over, so while we ponder over where on earth the time went, we may as well look back on a jam packed week of theatre news, with some big announcements having made the headlines! ----- THE TRAITORS Hit BBC show to be adapted to the stage Official artwork for " The Traitors on stage" It has been announced by Studio Lambert and Neal Street Productions that a new stage adaptation of global tv phenomenon “ The Traitors ” is in

Time once again to have a look back at the week in theatre news, and although it has been far quieter than usual, there have still been a healthy handful of announcements to keep us on our toes, including plenty of casting news... ----- SINATRA Jukebox musical to transfer to the west end Official artwork for " Sinatra " A new musical about the life, career and music of legendary crooner Frank Sinatra is due to transfer to the west end this summer, following its premiere at Bi

PREMIERED: 2017 (London) PLAYWRIGHT: Jez Butterworth Official poster for " The Ferryman " Another play this week, and arguably Jez Butterworth 's most successful stage work, yielding Tonys, Oliviers, Drama Desks and pretty much every other award going. First premiering in the spring of 2017 at the Royal Court Theatre in London, " The Ferryman " is set in Count Armagh, Northern Ireland in 1981, during a significant chapter of the IRA's history. It focusses around a multi-gene

What a week it's been, cast announcements, new trailers, and confirmation of a major Sondheim revival we all knew was happening anyway. Here are all the top stories that have been rocking the theatre world over the past seven days... ----- LES MISERABLES New faces to join London cast (L-R) Harry Hepple , Lizzie Bea , Jess Folley The latest new recruits to join the barricade have been revealed, as the west end production of Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil ’s cultur

PREMIERED: 1928 (Berlin) MUSIC: Kurt Weill BOOK/LYRICS: Bertolt Brecht Artwork from the 1976 broadway revival We're going way back this week, to feature a classic, and a foreign language piece that is soon to be celebrating its centenary. Originally premiering in German back in 1928, " The Threepenny Opera " is a play with music by Kurt Weill , and original German language book & lyrics by Bertolt Brecht . It is often considered a halfway house between a play and a musical,

It's a new year, and news roundups are back after a naturally quiet festive period, so what better way to kick off a fresh season of theatre than with a summary of the biggest news stories from the past couple of weeks! We've had cast announcements, transfers and closures to keep our interests piqued, so here's the stories we've had circulating since the start of the year... ----- LEGALLY BLONDE Full cast announced for UK tour The principal cast of " Legally Blonde " The cast

Official artwork for " Water for Elephants " It’s a new year and we’re back, and heading to the circus, as this time we dive into a musical that closed on Broadway at the tail end of 2024. Based on the Sara Gruen novel of the same name, “ Water For Elephants ” is the latest show to bring the circus to Broadway, with a score by PigPen Theatre co. jam packed with character and flair, as well as a book by Rick Elice . Originally premiering in Atlanta, Georgia in 2023, the show

Where on earth has the year gone? It barely feels like 2025 has begun, yet somehow we are already on the home stretch, heading into the uncharted waters of a new year. That doesn't, however, mean that we have been short on news announcements, or even juicy rumours to keep our appetites whetted. ----- JUST FOR ONE DAY Live Aid musical to embark on UK and Ireland tour The company of " Just For One Day " in the west end Following runs at London’s Old Vic , and subsequently the S

Who knew there was more than one musical about a blackout, following in the footsteps of Lin-Manuel Miranda, we have this 2014 off-broadway hidden gem, described as a "darkly comic rock-fable", that centres around the 1965 northeast blackout in New York City, with much of the story focuses on a love triangle between music-loving sandwich maker Harold, and two sisters: Daphne who's an actress with aspirations to perform on broadway, and Miriam who's a waitress with a love for

Though we are into the period where the volume of festive shows and pantomimes is at its peak, don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about the rest of the year, so here’s a helping of stagey news tidbits from the last week! ----- OPERATION MINCEMEAT Cast announced for first world tour dates The original west end cast of " Operation Mincemeat " The full cast for the upcoming world tour of SpitLip ’s Olivier and Tony winning musical “ Operation Mincemeat ” has been revealed, with

Another show that started as a concept album this week, this time it’s the work of Tony nominee and star of the “ Wicked ” films Ethan Slater , in his professional writing debut alongside fellow actor Nick Blaemire . After the album's release in 2021, " Edge of the World " had its first ever public performance in 2024, in a stage concert that featured Slater alongside Lilli Cooper and Norbert Leo Butz , both of whom also performed on the original concept album alongside th

December has arrived, decorations are appearing all around the country, and we have an abundance of holiday themed hot drinks wherever you go. How else are we going to welcome. in advent than by rounding up the most noteworthy of stagey stories from the past week! ----- AMERICAN PSYCHO Full cast revealed for Almeida return The full cast for " American Psycho " The full cast of the Almeida Theatre revival of “American Psycho” has been revealed, the already sold out run will pl

Official artwork/photography for " Leopoldstadt " We are back after a brief hiatus, and to celebrate the life of the recently departed Tom Stoppard , I thought there was no better way than to showcase his final work in this series of "shows I've not seen but hope I do at some point". The final masterpiece of the late, great playwright and screenwriter, " Leopoldstadt " follows a Jewish family in Vienna from the turn of the 20th century until the mid 1950s, chronicling their t

With the festive season now in full flow, and that unique entity named pantomime having descended upon us once again, we're nearing the end of this quite remarkable year of theatre, so here's your final news roundup for November. ----- BACK TO THE FUTURE Musical to close in the west end ahead of UK tour Official artwork for “ Back To The Future: The Musical ” After over 5 years in the west end, Bob Gale , Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard musical “ Back To The Future ”, bas

The temperature has dipped, and we're all feeling the nip of impending winter, so surely the best way to combat this is to get the blood flowing, heart pumping, and dance our chills away with this latest list, as today we are counting down the top 10 iconic dance routines or moments in musical theatre. There may well be plot details discussed in this, so here is your customary SPOILER ALERT just in case... ----- 10. "DREAM BALLET" - OKLAHOMA! The 2019 broadway revival of " O

The holidays are fast approaching, panto season is rearing its head once more, and we have a right healthy heap of theatrical news to look back over, here are the biggest stories from the past seven days that have been keeping us intrigued and engaged! ----- THE GUY WHO DIDN'T LIKE MUSICALS StarKid productions to have full west end debut Official artwork for “ The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals ” StarKid Productions are coming to the west end, where they will perform their firs

Well as temperatures have dipped this week, so too has the volume of stagey news announcements coming out, as it has been rather a quiet week on the news front, but that doesn't mean it's been completely silent, so here's a handful of recent stories making headlines... ----- PIPPIN Full cast announced for London revival (clockwise from top left) Lewis Edgar , Emily Friberg , Clare Brice , Mia Quimpo , Oliver Wood , Helena Caldas It's opening in just no time at all, so it'

Official artwork from the 2002 broadway revival We’re back again, and returning to the classics, with an enduring piece of musical theatre that this year celebrates sixty years since it first premiered, and has since been revived on broadway a further four times, making it one of the most revived broadway shows in history. The musical is based on the telling of the story of " Don Quixote " by Miguel de Cervantes , adapting the dialogue from the subsequent non-musical work " I