Theatre News: Clybourne Park wins Pulitzer and some London Theatre Casting News

Hurrah for Clybourne Park. It's won another award: a Pulitzer, which sounds super-impressive. I loved this show when I saw it; you can read my review here on my work blog.

In other news, Samantha Womack (who's really famous due to EastEnders, but will always be Samantha Janus or Mandy from Game On to me) is going to lead the cast as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific when it comes to the Barbican later in the summer. Guiltly secret: I've still never seen a musical at the Barbican. I don't know; that venue is so perfect for the Things Zoe Should Love about London category, but always teeters off into Slightly Exhausting Things about London alongside similarly perplexing institutions like the Southbank Centre's website, and the Proms.

Anyway, here's the rest of this week's Theatre News from the Visit London Blog

Theatre News: Jude Law, Ruth Wilson, Niamh Cusack et al

This week's theatre news from the Visit London Blog:

Michael Grandage is clearly hoping to leave his post as Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse with a bang. For his final season, he’s secured Jude Law and Ruth Wilson to star in Eugene O’Neill’s play Anna Christie this summer.

(I'm a big fan of Ruth Wilson. I think she's great. Jude, I've never seen live, so I'm not sure what he'd be like on stage!)

In addition, you can see Douglas Hodge in John Osborne’s Inadmissible Evidence and Eddie Redmayne as Richard II. These three new productions follow the already announced The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Moonlight and Luise Miller.

Other cast news this week includes:

• Actress Joanna Riding and cabaret star Meow Meow are appearing in Kneehigh Theatre’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg at the Gielgud Theatre from 5 March
• Niamh Cusack will star alongside Anne-Marie Duff  in Terence Rattigan’s Cause Célèbre at the Old Vic from 17 March
• And Les Dennis will appear in the London premiere of Alan Ayckbourn’s comedy about fame, Drowning On Dry Land, at the Jermyn Street Theatre from 22 February

Read more London theatre news on the Visit London Blog

Theatre News: Oliver! Frankenstein and the Rat Pack

It's kind of sad when musicals you think are going to be around forever close. First Avenue Q, now Oliver! are leaving the West End. I just hope everyone that wanted to see it has got around to getting tickets, otherwise, you'll be disappointed! I've seen Avenue Q a healthy two times, Oliver! just the once, but I loved both.

In other theatre news this week, this amazing cast update from the National: Benedict Cumberbatch (that’s Sherlock to you and me) and super sexy Jonny Lee Miller have been announced as Dr Frankenstein and the monster he creates. Which is which? They're going to be alternating parts. My, my. Gonna have to get tickets to more than one show, methinks...

Read the rest of this week's theatre news on the Visit London Blog

In Which I Tentatively Mention Christmas for the First Time This Year

We have to be careful with our first mention of the C word at work.

People can get very upset if you start talking about the festive period too soon.

And I have to say, I'm fairly sure mid-late September *is* too soon.

But if you're a theatre show, and you've been in negotiations and rehearsals for a while, and are now looking to start selling tickets for your big seasonal show, there comes a point when you need to start shouting about it. Otherwise, no one's going to know you're putting on a panto!

So here's this week's Theatre News, with references to London's Little Opera House, an exciting new musical, and those Christmassy shows

I'm loving the news about the Pet Shop Boys working on My Dad's A Birdman at the Young Vic. It sounds brilliant, and I can imagine it'll be a show that can, ahem, fly for many years to come.

Theatre News: James Corden, Ruthie Henshall, Denise Van Outen and more

Lots of nice celebs in the news for Londony theatrey things this week.

Of course, I can't say I know any of them personally, but I get the impression that this lot are just a nice bunch.

So we get:

• James Corden back at the National Theatre
• Denise Van Outen back in musicals
• Ruthie Henshall back in the West End

All these sound great.

Read the rest of this week's theatre news on the Visit London Blog.

Theatre News: Our Kev does Dicky III

There's loads of long-range theatre news about this week.

My favourite being the annoucement that Kevin Spacey's going to do Richard III at the Old Vic for 2012. And it'll be directed by none other than that chap Judi Dench described as "My dear boy" when he was about 16 and starting out, Sam Mendes.

Now there's something to get excited about in the Olympic year. There's a show I'd sign up for ticketing alerts and endure endless near-irrelevant emails in the meantime...

In my head it's all modern and twitchy, and Our Kev's grown a moustache to signify that he's a bit evil, and all the women are played by total stars. But that's just in my head.

We'll have to wait and see.

Read the rest of this week's theatre news here

In Which I Mention Starlight Express in the Context of Work

And my birthday.

I can't help it.

If I'm to bring theatre news to the Visit London Blog every Thursday, in order to increase inbound links to theatre pages, and talk about shows we'd never have the time to write about normally, I'm going to have to, as my first-ever Italian student Franciso would say, "put a piece of my heart in the pan."

Here it is. Wrapped up in sensible updates about what's happening this week in the merry-go-round of theatrical press releases, is my birthday, my first (and probably still best) West End musical experience, my fave nearly-Dorothy and a two references to actors who I happen to find quite sexy.

Be honest: it's less messy than what Francisco was suggesting, isn't it?

Thursday Theatre News: More Henry IV, Birdsong News & the Apollo Victoria's 80th

Theatre News: Get Ready for the Legally Blonde Obession to Start!

GREAT news this week.

Legally Blonde are finally doing what A and I have wanted for AAAAges. Bringing out a cast recording.

Finally! Instead of the four songs I've had going around my laptop from the promotional CD I got at the launch, I can now start obessing over each nuanced line, each tricky-to-decipher lyric, each swell of orchestral brilliance. OMYGOD and so on...

I can dance home imagining my life is a musical once more. And I haven't done that since I finally cured myself of the odd Wicked! obession that struck after my Roman Holiday... ("Happy is what happens when all your dreams come true", etc.)

Shame we have to wait until 16 August. It'll be worth it.

Read the rest of this week's theatre news on the Visit London Blog

Avenue Q's Closing!! (And Other, More Upbeat Theatre News)

What a sad, sad day. Avenue Q is closing.

There are so many people I've imagined taking to see this show, and getting them to love it, and fall in love with musicals and theatre and all the rest of it. And now that's not going to happen. (Although there was very little likelihood it'd happen anyway, but that's not the point. Now it definitely won't.)

Ho hum. There's always the soundtrack, which I once listened to exclusively for months on end, until it made me feel a little bit seasick. (Other soundtracks I've done this with include Wicked. My sister told me she did it with Sweeney Todd. I blame our parents letting us listen to the same Joseph tape for several years' worth of car journeys. Altogether now: "Way, way back, many centuries ago", etc.)

And here's the rest of this week's theatre news from the Visit London Blog

Theatre News: Shrek, Les Mis, Sister Act, and the Young Vic

Here (a day late) is Thursday's Theatre News from the Visit London blog.

Hopefully, I'll be able to write more fully about yesterday's Young Vic 40th Anniversary Season launch over the weekend.

As with most things at the Young Vic, I found it really inspiring and interesting. I do love listening to David Lan talk, even when he's in front of a reasonably big audience, as he was yesterday morning.

Anyhoo, here's the rest of this week in theatre terms:

It's a long way off, but everyone's favourite green ogre will make his West End debut next summer.

Shrek The Musical opens at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in June 2011, and is a stage version of the familiar film, with an original score by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire. You could pair this show with a matinee of Wicked, and have a green-themed day in the West End!

Read more from me on the Visit London Blog

Image: Brian Darcy James as Shrek, from the Broadway production

Theatre News: Gemma Arterton, William Shakespeare and More

Here's my week's theatre news, courtesy of the Visit London Blog.

I've seen Gemma Arterton on stage in London before.

She was in The Little Dog Laughed earlier in the year, playing a fairly mundane, flaky, 20-something girl (no stretch, to be sure), but she made a pretty good job of it.

And I read an interview with her in Stylist, which painted her as a pretty down-to-earth actress with a bit of a brain. I was kind of drawn to her, which makes a change for a Stylist interviewee.

So I'm pleased to see she's scored another acting role, this time alongside Stephen Dillane, in what sounds like a pretty interesting Ibsen play, The Master Builder, at an interesting theatre, the Almeida.

Other news to make me giddy comes in the form of the RSC's announcement about the 8-plays-in-10-weeks thingamyjig at the Roundhouse. What a company. What a venue. What an idea. What a delight.

Whenever I think about A and I getting numb bums and possible DVT and slightly delirious during a day of Shakespeare during The Histories at the Roundhouse, I feel like I have to remind myself we actually did it. And it was wonderful.

Happily, I've been offered the chance to see the two parts of Henry IV back-to-back again this summer, this time at The Globe, so looking forward to that one.

Read the rest of this week's theatre news here