NEWS ROUNDUP: 21 - 27 July
- James Tradgett
- Jul 27
- 5 min read
A comparatively quiet this week, however that doesn't mean we haven't had some enormously exciting news announcements come our way, here are the highlights from the past week.
CLARKSTON
Further details revealed for west end run
Further to its initial announcement, the upcoming production of Samuel D Hunter’s play “Clarkston” has revealed where and when it will be staged. Starring Joe Locke (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet street), alongside Ruaridh Mollica (professional debut) and Sophie Melville (Cowbois); the play will open at the Trafalgar Theatre on the 25th of September, and run until the 22nd of November in a strictly limited 9-week engagement.
Clarkston will be directed by Jack Serio, and tickets for all performances can be purchased now from the ATG website, with both Thursday and Saturday matinee performances at 3pm.
BE MORE CHILL
New music video released ahead of regional revival
The Old Joint Stock Theatre have released a video preview ahead of their upcoming production of Joe Iconis and Joe Tracz’s musical “Be More Chill”, with a performance of the song "Two Player Game" having been filmed in a video arcade, performed by Tom Dickerson and Jack Carr, who will play Jeremy and Michael respectively. Be More Chill premiered ten years ago this year, first performing in New Jersey before performing off-broadway and subsequently at the Lyceum Theatre on broadway,. where it ran for six months.
The show had two separate London runs, first at the Other Palace in early 2020, followed by a run at the Shaftesbury Theatre the following year in a strictly limited 10-week engagement. The new music video can be viewed on YouTube (tap photo above for the video), and the production open at the Old Joint Stock Theatre from the 6th to the 31st of August 2025, with tickets now on sale from the venue's website.
DEAR ENGLAND
Lead cast announced for UK tour
Following a return to the National Theatre, and subsequent run at the Lowry in Salford, James Graham's Olivier winning play "Dear England" is now set to hit the road on a UK tour, and the lead cast have now been revealed. Set to take on the role of England manager Gareth Southgate is David Sturzaker (Journey's End), alongside Samantha Womack (The Girl On The Train) who will assume the role of team psychologist Pippa Grange; further casting for the production will be revealed at a later date.
The pair take over from the departing Gwilym Lee and Liz White, who portrayed the roles in London and Salford respectively. Dear England first premiered at the National Theatre in 2023, and won the Olivier awards for best new play, as well as best supporting actor for Will Close, alongside 8 other nominations, making it the play with the most wins and nominations that season. The UK tour will begin in September at Plymouth theatre Royal, before performing in Nottingham, Canterbury, Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle, Chichester, Southampton, Milton Keynes, Oxford, Norwich, Woking, Bradford, Wimbledon, Liverpool and Birmingham; full details can be found on the official production website.
BRIGADOON
Georgina Onuorah to join Regent's Park production
Regent's Park Open Air Theatre have revealed that, following her appearance in Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally and Robert Horn musical "Shucked", west end favourite Georgina Onuorah is set to make a return to the venue for their production of Lerner and Loewe's musical "Brigadoon", during which she will perform the role of Fiona, sharing performances with previously announced Danielle Fiamanya. They are joined by Louis Gaunt as Tommy, Jasmine Jules Andrews as Jean MacLaren, and Gilli Jones as Charlie Dalrymple.
The Lerner and Loewe classic is the latest in Drew McOnie's inaugural season at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre as artistic director, following on from productions of Shucked, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Dream Ballets, and Mallorie Blackman's play Noughts & Crosses. Brigadoon will run at Regent's Park from the 2nd of August until the 20th of September, with tickets now on sale from the venue's website.
SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD
Staged concerts to be performed at Eventim Apollo
It has been announced by Lambert Jackson Productions that a concert staging is set to be performed of Jason Robert Brown’s song cycle “Songs For A New World”, with the composer himself set to conduct. The show had its world premiere off-broadway in 1995, and was Brown's first ever produced work; it has since had multiple other iterations, including several different productions in London, most recently being performed at off-west end fringe venue Upstairs at the Gatehouse in 2024, with a cast comprising Lizzy Parker, Eleanore Frances, Christopher Cameron and Luke Walsh.
The London concert, celebrating the show’s 30th anniversary, will feature an all star lineup, that will feature Shoshana Bean (Hell’s Kitchen), reprising her role from the 2018 New York City Center Encores! production, and. sherwill be joined by Tituss Burgess (Oh, Mary!), Jordan Fisher (Hadestown) and Joy Woods (Gypsy). The show will perform twice at the Eventim Apollo, at 3pm and 7:30pm, on the 21st of September, and tickets are now on sale from the Eventim Apollo website.
MJ: THE MUSICAL
West end closure and international tour announced
The London production of “MJ: The Musical” has announced its final extension at the Prince Edward Theatre, and it will close on the 28th of February 2026, ahead of an international tour. The show first opened in London in March 2024, in a direct transfer from broadway, with Tony-winner Myles Frost reprising the role he originated at the Nederlander Theatre on broadway in 2021; the west end production's closure comes just short of two years after it opened.
An international tour, which will include dates in Asia, will kick off in October 2026, running alongside the UK tour which is set to commence in 2027, further details of which will be revealed at a later date. MJ continues to run at the Prince Edward Theatre, with a cast starring Jamaal Fields Green, and tickets for all remaining performances can be booked through the Delfont Mackintosh website.
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