Nicole Scherzinger Dazzles In Cats, Damian Lewis Returns To The West End + More! #WestEndUpdate
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Andrew Tomlins
After months of excitement, last night the West End revival of Cats officially opened at the London Palladium. Following the footsteps of musical theatre icon Elaine Paige is Nicole Scherzinger who makes her West End debut as Grizabella.
The character famously belts out Andrew Lloyd Webber’s show stopping number ‘Memory’ and, from what I gather, Scherzinger’s rendition of ‘Memory’ went down a storm with the opening night audience. Apparently people were applauding as the song reached its tremendous climax and Lloyd Webber is said to be more than pleased with his new leading lady.
The show’s original creative team - Trevor Nunn (director), Gillian Lynne (associate director and choreographer), John Napier (designer) and Andrew Lloyd Webber (composer) - have reunited to bring Cats back to the West End. The reactions to the updates and modifications have been hugely positive. If you plan to see Cats at the London Palladium make sure you book soon as it only runs until Saturday 28th February 2015!
As the West End settles down for Christmas, we don’t have many new openings until the New Year. However, this week has seen Potted Sherlock at the Vaudeville Theatre open its doors. Following a successful run in Edinburgh, Olivier Award nominees Dan and Jeff have brought their latest show to London.
Potted Sherlock sees the duo return with their greatest challenge yet: the entire works of one of the greatest detectives in literary history, Sherlock Holmes. Along with the help of Lizzie Wort, they retell all sixty stories in eighty minutes.
Having seen Potted Potter, I know that families who go and see Potted Sherlock are in for a treat. It runs until 11th January 2015, with a special late night performance for Sherlock super-fans on Saturday 13th December.
Damian Lewis is set to return to the West End next year. The actor will star as Walter ‘Teach’ Cole in a revival of American Buffalo by David Mamet. Directed by Daniel Evans, the production runs at the Wyndham's Theatre between 17th April and 26th June 2015.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Lewis said: "I wanted to get back to the stage, but I didn’t want to do it unless it was a great play." American Buffalo will mark Lewis’ return to the West End following his performance in The Misanthrope with Keira Knightley five years ago.
The Play That Goes Wrong at the Duchess Theatre has already recouped all of its production costs and is now turning a weekly profit! Fifteen international productions are in the pipeline and talks are ongoing to transfer the UK cast to New York in July. The London run has been extended; it seems audiences can’t get enough of this outrageously funny show.
The Play That Goes Wrong originally premiered as a one-act show at the Old Red Lion in London. It then transferred to the Trafalgar Studios 2 before running in Edinburgh and winning a WhatsOnStage Award for Best New Comedy. The show then toured before opening in the West End. The Play That Goes Wrong has sold 170,000 tickets at a value of nearly £4,000,000 which is hugely impressive!
It’s back! Let it Be, a theatrical concert celebrating the music of The Beatles, will return to London next year for its fourth West End run. Let It Be reopens at the Garrick Theatre on 28th February where it is booking until Sunday 27th September 2015. Sadly this means The Scottsboro Boys will close on 21st February 2015.
In other news, Ghost Stories has extended its triumphant run at the Arts Theatre, where it has broken all box office records, until March 2015. Finally, Harriet Walter is returning to the London stage to star opposite her husband in Boa at Trafalgar Studios. This marks the first time they have appeared together on the London stage.