NEWS ROUNDUP: 27 July - 2 August

Summer is in full swing, as is festival fringe season, with Brighton and Manchester now behind us, and Camden and Edinburgh both just round the corner. That certainly doesn't mean that theatre news has shown any sign of letting up, so we should probably go right ahead and round off another week of news announcements, as there is plenty to discuss from the week just gone...

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KING LEAR

Royal Exchange production announces full cast

The full cast for the upcoming production of William Shakespeare’s mid-period tragedy “King Lear”, adapted and directed by Matthew Dunster, has been revealed. Leading the production as the titular royal is David Threlfall (The Enfield Haunting), with singer-songwriter Nadine Shah (A Midsummer Night's Dream) as Goneril. Also featuring will be Isobel Akuwudike, Harry Clarke, Ed Coleman, Lisa Diveney, Jason Done, Rupert Hill, Grace Jabbari, Nicholas Karimi, Gabin Kongolo, Jessica Mannion, Ryan Pope, Anwar Russell, Jonathan Slinger, Paddy Stafford and Tom Varey.

This will be the first Shakespeare production of new artistic director Selina Cartmell’s tenure at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, set to open on the 2nd of October, and run until the 15th of November, with tickets on sale from the venue’s website, as well as through their box office.

AARON TVEIT

Tony-winning star to perform solo concert in London

It has been revealed that Tony Award winning actor Aaron Tveit, star of broadway musicals such as “Next to Normal”, “Catch Me If You Can”, and “Moulin Rouge”, is set to give a further solo concert this autumn, as produced by Lambert Jackson Productions. Tveit made his Londo

n stage debut in the Menier Chocolate Factory production of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's musical “Assassins” back in 2014, and gave two concerts last year at the London Palladium, in both his solo London and west end debut.

Tveit’s new one-night only concert will be staged at the Royal Albert Hall at 7:30pm on the 6th of October, with tickets now on sale from the venue. Head on over to the Royal Albert Hall website to find out more, as well as to book tickets.

THE PIANIST

Full cast announced for Southampton and London

The complete casting for the upcoming premiere of “The Pianist”, adapted by Thom Southerland from the fil by Roman Polanski, has been revealed. Joining previously announced Daniel Krikler as Władyszław Szpilman will be Rosalind Ford (Coven) as Mother, Oliver Grant (Cyrano de Bergerac) as Hosenfeld, TJ Holmes (The BFG) as Father, Mischa Jardine (The Lion, The Witch & the Wardrobe) as Janina, Elżbieta Kalicka (The Mozart Question) as Regina, Nitai Levi (The Band's Visit) as Henryk, Melania Maggiore (Sister Act) as Halina, and Max Roll (The Hills of California) as Gimpel/Majorek, with an ensemble featuring Oliver Magor and Erin Rowlatt.

The show has original compositions by Szpilman himself, with arrangements by musical supervisor Simon Lee, and direction by Southerland. Following a preview run from the 9th - 12th of September at the Mayflower Studios, it will open at the Park Theatre on the 15th of October, where it will run until the 28th of November. You can find out more, as well as book tickets, via the production website.

JANE EYRE

Selections from show to be released on new EP

Ahead of its London premiere this month, the producers of “Jane Eyre: A Musical” have released a three track demo recording from the show, currently available to stream or download online. Written by John Caird and Paul Gordon, the EP features the songs “Sweet Liberty”, “Secret Soul” and “Sirens”, as sung by lead pair Charlie Burn and Ashley Gilmour, performing as Jane and Rochester respectively. The cast for the show also features Claire Greenway, Melad Hamidi, Jonathan Andrew Hume, Izzi Levine, Hannah Lindsey, Isabelle Methven, Gemma Page, Eve Shanu-Wilson and Connor Wood, with a young company comprising Poppy Jason and Emily-Rose Samuel.

The musical is set to open at Southwark Playhouse Elephant on the 28th of August, and run until the 24th of October, with tickets on sale from the venue’s website and box office, where you can also find information about the cast and creatives.

UNDERBELLY BOULEVARD SOHO

Off-west end theatre announces plans to close

It has been arevealed that, following a tenure of just over 3 years, the Underbelly Boulevard Soho is set to close its doors for the last time, due to major financial constraints that have made it impossible for the venue to remain open. The theatre has hosted over 1,700 performances over the past few years, with stars such as John Cleese, Michael McIntyre, Self Esteem, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Keifer Sutherland and David Letterman all having staged events at the venue. It will play its final performance in January 2027, following its September transfer of Edinburgh Fringe shows, and runs of "Heated Rivalry" and "Sophie’s Surprise Christmas Party" to close out.

Underbelly continues to operate its temporary festival spaces, including at the annual Edinburgh Fringe spaces in Bristo Square, Cowgate, George Square, and Circus Hub, as well as at London's Underbelly Festival. To find out more about the event's company, including their plans for the upcoming Edinburgh Fringe, head on over to the official Underbelly website.

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

Boy George pulls out of west end revival, Armitage to replace

On the back of a major controversy surrounding the release of a pro-Israel song, which voices support for the IDF action against Palestine, Boy George has made the decision to withdraw from the current west end revival of "Jesus Christ Superstar", his manager confirmed earlier this week. The Culture Club front man was originally due to perform in the role of Herod between the 3rd and 15th of August, with these dates now to be taken over by Richard Armitage, extending his run in the show by an extra two weeks. The other three actors portraying Herod are Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Layton Williams and Julian Clary, with a further seven performers taking on the role when the show transfers to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

"Jesus Christ Superstar" opened at the London Palladium on the 20th of June, and will run until the 5th of September, the second consecutive summer for the venue to feature a major revival of a Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, following last year's production of "Evita". Subsequent to this, the show will transfer to Drury Lane, where it will run from the 16th of October until the 2nd of January, before embarking on a UK tour in February 2027. You can find out more about the show via it's official website.

CATS: THE JELLICLE BALL

Original cast recording to be released this month

After much speculation and a lot of pressure on the producers from fans of the show, it has been announced that the Andrew Lloyd Webber, Trevor Nunn and Richard Stilgoe musical "Cats: The Jellicle Ball", currently running on broadway, is to release a full original cast recording later this year; the production had only recently revealed that they would be closing early, and the announcement of the cast album comes just one week prior to its final performance at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York. The show first opened off-broadway in 2024, at the Perelman Performing Arts Center, before transferring to broadway in April 2026, the second ever broadway revival of the show after it was revived back in 2016.

The cast features Andre De Shields as Old Deutoronomy, "Tempress" Chasity Moore as Grizabella, Junior LaBeija as Gus, Sydney James Harcourt as Rum Tum Tugger, Jonathan Burke as Mungojerrie, Baby Byrne as Victoria, Dava Huesca as Rumpleteazer, Robert “Silk” Mason as Magical Mister Mistoffelees, Primo Thee Ballerino as Tumblebrutus, Sofia as Cassandra and Skimbleshanks, Garnet Williams as Bombalurina, and Teddy Wilson, Jr. as Sillabub, among others. You can find the full cast list, as well as how to book tickets for the final week, via the official Cats: The Jellicle Ball website.