NEWS ROUNDUP: 31 March - 6 April
- James Tradgett
- Apr 6
- 6 min read
Another quiet week for me, however a rather jam packed one in the world of theatre news, with tours, transfers and awards triumphs being reported; here are the top stories that have been making waves over the past week.
2:22 A GHOST STORY
Initial casting announced
Initial casting for the upcoming UK tour of “2:22 A Ghost Story” has been revealed, with Stacey Dooley reprising her role from the west end as Jenny, joined by real life partner Kevin Clifton (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie) who will be playing Jenny’s partner Sam. Dooley and Clifton will appear in the tour up until Peterborough, with further dates and casting to be revealed at a later date.
The tour will commence at Manchester Opera House on the 4th of August, before playing Bristol, Glasgow, Sunderland, Milton Keynes, Malvern, Stoke, Brighton, Birmingham, Cheltenham, Guildford, Southampton, and Peterborough, then into 2026 will play at Northampton, Norwich, Richmond, Plymouth, Cardiff, Oxford, Woking, and York. Full tour dates can be found on the Official 2:22 site.
INSIDE NO. 9 STAGE/FRIGHT
West end production to tour the UK
Following a hugely successful sold out run at Wyndham's Theatre in the west end, “Inside No. 9 Stage / Fright” is set to hit the road and tour the UK, opening at the Milton Keynes Theatre in September 2025 before travelling to Sunderland, Canterbury, Birmingham, Manchester, Woking, Hull, Oxford, Stoke, Liverpool and Edinburgh, concluding at the end of November 2025.
The show is the brainchild of Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, both of whom starred in the show on the west end, and is based on the black comedy anthology series “Inside No. 9”, which aired on the BBC for ten years. The stage show is currently nominated for best entertainment play at the 2025 Olivier awards. Tickets are currently on sale, details of which can be found on the ATG Website for all venues except Canterbury and Hull.
HOT MESS
New musical by Jack Godfrey to premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe
Jack Godfrey and Ellie Coote, writers of 2024 spring success “42 Balloons”, have revealed their new musical entitled “Hot Mess” will have its world premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe, after having been developed in Birmingham over the past few years. Godfrey also wrote the music and lyrics for the 2024 summer success "Babies The Musical" at the Other Palace, along with book writer Martha Geelan.
“Hot Mess” is a musical about the climate crisis, reimagining the relationship between Earth and humanity as a romantic comedy, and will span over 200,000 years of the earth’s history. The show will premiere at the Pleasance Courtyard during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August, with two preview performances on the 30th and 31st of July. Tickets can be purchased from the Pleasance Courtyard website.
PUNCH
James Graham play to transfer to the west end
Following critically acclaimed sold out runs at both the Nottingham Playhouse and the Young Vic, James Graham’s play “Punch” is set to open in the west end this autumn, playing at the Apollo Theatre from the 22nd of September until the 29th of November, in a strictly limited 10-week run.
The creative team will comprise Anna Fleischle (sets and costumes), Robbie Butler (lighting), Alexandra Faye Braithwaite, Leanne Pinder (movement direction), Lynne Page (movement consultation), and Kev McCurdy (fight direction). The cast will comprise returning David Shields, Alec Boaden, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Tony Hirst, Shalisha James-Davis and Emma Pallant. Visit Nimax Theatres for more info and to purchase tickets.
HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME
Extra date added for musical concert production
Due to overwhelming demand for tickets that led to the initial performances selling out in hours, Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" have added an extra performance date for their west end concert production, to be performed this summer at the Prince Edward Theatre. The musical was an unlikely joint effort by Alan Menken (music) and Stephen Schwartz (lyrics), with book originally by James Lapine for the 1999 world premiere in Berlin, but rewritten by Peter Parnell for the 2014 La Jolla Playhouse/Paper Mill Playhouse production featuring Michael Arden and Patrick Page.
Originally scheduled to perform twice on Sunday the 17th of August (3pm & 7:30pm), a third show will now perform the following weekend, at 6pm on Sunday the 24th of August. Tickets for this performance are now on sale, and selling fast; more infoon the show and how to book can be found on the Delfont Mackintosh website.
SCOUTS! THE MUSICAL
Full cast announced for UK tour
The full cast for the final run of Gigglemug’s “Scouts! The Musical” has been revealed, with Eleanor Fransch (You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown) as Eliza and Burhan Kathawala (Sleeping Beauty) as Joe joining the company. Returning to the production are Kemi Clarke (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) as Scout Leader Dylan, Katie Pritchard (A Jaffa Cake Musical) as Rosie, Emily Kitchingham (pro debut) as Charlotte, and Rob Gathercole (Faking Bad) as Luke/Linus Lionheart. Heather Gourdie (We’ll Have Nun Of It) completed the cast as narrator/swing.
Scouts! The Musical will play The Crescent Theatre, Birmingham (3 - 7 June) Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester (10 - 15 June), Upstairs at the Gatehouse, London (18 - 22 June) and The Egg Theatre, Bath (26 - 29 June). More info, including where to buy tickets, can be found on the Gigglemug’s page.
SINGIN' IN THE RAIN
New revival planned by Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre
The Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester have announced that their winter period production will be Betty Comden and Adolph Green's stage adaptation of the classic 1952 movie musical "Singin' in the Rain". After a series of, arguably, fairly underwhelming festive productions, this feels like a potential return to form for the unique in-the-round theatre that first opened its doors in 1976.
The last time the Manchester theatre opted for a better known musical production for its festive show was in 2019-20, when they staged Stephen Sondheim and Jule Styne's musical "Gypsy", the last in a series of popular, critically revered winter productions that also included Into The Woods, The Producers and Little Shop of Horrors. Singin' in the Rain will open on the 29th of November, and play until the 18th of January 2026, tickets are now on sale from the Royal Exchange Theatre website.
OLIVIER AWARDS
Full list of winners announced
It was another stellar year at the biggest night in the UK's theatrical calendar, as another round of Olivier award winners were announced at the Royal Albert Hall, hosted by Beverly Knight and Billy Porter. There were surprises, fantastic performances, and a poignant tribute to those we lost, and surprisingly, yet perhaps most fittingly, no production dominated the others like in other recent years. Three productions walked away with three awards, these were The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fiddler on the Roof and Giant, with several other productions winning two awards, including The Years, Titanique, and Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812.
Acting categories were perhaps the most varied, with 7 different productions represented across the 8 categories, with 5 out of 8 winners picking up their first Olivier award. Perhaps the biggest upset though was the underperformance of the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Starlight Express", which mustered only a single award, for costume designer Gabriella Slade. The night was rounded off with a celebration of 40 years of Les Miserables on the west end, during which Shan Ako, Rachelle Ann Go, Lucie Jones and Nathania Ong performed a mashup of "I Dreamed a Dream" and "On My Own", followed by Bradley Jaden performing Javert's act one anthem "Stars".
For all the right reasons it was a night to remember, and the full list of winners and nominees can be found on the Official London Theatre website.
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