What's opening in London theatres this month (July 2024)
Posted on | By Sian McBride
(Updated on Jul 1, 2024)
If the sunburnt arms and cacophony of hayfever filled sneezes didn’t already give it away, summer has officially landed in the capital!
Want to escape the pounding sun and luxuriate in an air conditioned auditorium stocked with mini tubs of ice cream, refreshing chilled fizz, and this summer's coolest shows? Then you’re in luck, as Theatreland is set to welcome a host of brand new productions for the summer. Whether you’re looking for a classic American musical or a brand new show from Down Under, you don't need to hop on a plane this July, the West End has something for everyone.
Hello, Dolly! (6 July) | Save up to 53%
London finally gets to say ‘hello!’ to Imelda Staunton’s Dolly! The latest adaptation, which reunites acclaimed theatre director Dominic Cooke and Saunton, was first announced five years ago, but something happened in 2020, and then Saunton made this little television series about the royal family, which pushed our date with the matchmaker back. Now the time is finally here, so it’s time to Put on Your Best Sunday Clothes and get ready to fall in love with Dolly!
First produced in 1963, Hello, Dolly! Follows meddlesome socialite turned matchmaker Dolly Levi, as she travels to Yonkers, New York to find a match for the miserly, unmarried ‘half-a-millionaire’ Horace Vandergelder. But everything changes when she decides that the next match she needs to make is for herself…
Fresh from his critically acclaimed role as Eddie in Sister Act, Clive Rowe has swapped handcuffs for a handheld whisk in The Baker’s Wife. He is joined by Welsh Wonder Lucie Jones, who recently starred in the anniversary concert of Pippin following her stunning reprise of Fantine in Les Misérables, as the aforementioned wife.
The cult classic musical from the legendary composer Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Pippin, Godspell…) is based on the 1930s French film, La Femme du Boulanger. A heartbroken baker refuses to carry on with his work when his young wife runs off with a handsome shepherd. The village, hungry for the couple to get back together, quickly turn ravenous. Can they return the baker's wife back to the confectioner, and regain their daily bread?
Forget the Eras Tour, there’s only one concert we want to go to this summer! After multiple sell-out runs across Australia, including the Sydney Opera House, this brand new production of the multi-award winning, pop musical phenomenon FANGIRLSis finally making it’s UK transfer.
An unmissable show that pulses with the soaring adrenaline of a first crush and feels like the best pop concert you’ve never been to. FANGIRLS follows 14 year old Edna as she prepares to meet the love of her life, world famous pop star Harry.
Don’t be fooled into thinking this is just a story about loving a boy band. FANGIRLS is a thrilling and subversive musical comedy about the danger of underestimating teenage girls.
Summer just got shrektacular as everyone's favourite ogre returns to the capital! Based on the hit animated film, join the titular swamp dwelling Scott as he teams up with an eclectic cast of fairytale characters, including a talking Donkey, to rescue a princess from a dragon and defeat the evil Lord Farquaad.
The musical premiered on Broadway in 2008, earning eight Tony Award nominations and winning for Best Costume Design. The 2012 London transfer was just as successful receiving four Olivier Award nominations, including Best New Musical. Fresh from their UK tour, the latest adaptation starring Anthony Lawrence, Todrick Hall and Joanne Clifton will be pitching up at the Eventim Apollo for six weeks only. Last one there buys the gumdrop buttons!
Fantastically Great Women Who Have Changed The World (20 July) | Save up to 46%
Following two successful UK tours and summer seasons at Theatre Royal Stratford East and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Fantastically Great Women Who Have Changed The World will be taking over the capital this summer. You go, girls!
Adapted from the award-winning book by Kate Pankhurst (yes, she’s related to that Pankhurst) Fantastically Great Women Who Have Changed The World follows inquisitive heroine Jade as she breaks away from her class at the museum to explore the, as yet unopened, Gallery of Greatness. Bumping into female icons Frida Kahlo, Rosa Parks, Amelia Earhart, Marie Curie and Emmeline Pankhurst (just to name a few) the pop-fuelled hit musical is the epitome of girl power.
Death of England (15 and 23 July) | Save up to 53%
Following acclaimed seasons at the National Theatre, Clint Dyer and Roy Williams’ extraordinary series of interconnected plays (Death of England: Michael, Death of England: Delroy, and Death of England: Closing Time) are back. This month two of the three pieces, which can be watched as a standalone or enjoyed as a combined experience, make their West End transfer to @sohoplace, with Death in England: Closing Time joining them in August.
Death of England: Michael follows a bereaved man as he deals with the loss of his father, and the anger he feels at him and himself for their unresolved relationship. Death of England: Delroy, which takes places in the same universe as Death in England: Michael, is the searing story of a Black working-class man searching for truth as his life spirals out of control.
With an Oscar nominated film adaptation and countless Tony and Olivier award-winning revivals, the musical is anything but a singular sensation - it has had multitudes of success, and the latest production is proving to follow (in gold sequined) suit.
A musical masterpiece that revolutionised Broadway, A Chorus Line celebrates the lives of theatre’s unsung heroes, as they tell searing stories of ambition, shattered hopes, and what it really costs to follow your dreams.
Directed by award winner Nikolai Foster (The Wizard of Oz), the legendary Adam Cooper (Singin’ in the Rain) and Carly Mercedes Dyer (Anything Goes) reprise their critically acclaimed roles as Zach and Cassie.