The news that has gotten theatre land talking this week includes...
Sheila Ferguson to star in Chicago UK Tour
It has been announced that the soul star Sheila Ferguson will play Mama Morton in the upcoming UK Tour Chicago joining the already announced Russell Watson (Billy Flynn), Faye Brookes (Roxie Hart), Djalenga Scott (Velma Kelly), Jamie Baughan (Amos Hart) and B.E Wong (Mary Sunshine).
The full cast includes Ishmail Aaron, Michelle Andrews, Gabby Antrobus, Delycia Belgrave, Joel Benjamin, Tanisha-Mae Brown, Daniel Clift, Callum Fitzgerald, Emily Goodenough, Billie Hardy, Aaron Jenkins, Liam Marcellino, Theo Reece, Hollie Jane Stephens and Harrison Wilde. The tour is due to begin at the Liverpool Empire on Monday 7 February.
Plethora of celebrity names to star in Park Theatre’s Whodunnit (Unrehearsed) 2
Many celebrity names have been announced to be joining the Park theatres murder mystery fundraiser, entitled Whodunnit (unrehearsed)2. Each performance will see different unrehearsed celeb joining the show in the role of the inspector. The celebrity taking part will be a secret every night.
The core cast that the celeb will be joining includes Lewis Bruniges, Mark Cameron, Caroline Deverill, Candida Gubbins, Aisha Numah, Adam Samuel-Bal, Robert Blackwood and Molly Barton.
Celebrities taking part include Marcus Brigstocke, Jim Broadbent, Simon Callow, Adrian Dunbar, Mark Gatiss, David Haig, Suranne Jones, Paterson Joseph, Maureen Lipman, Jason Manford, Tim McInnerny, Ian McKellen, Neil Morrissey, Tamzin Outhwaite, Sue Perkins, Tony Robinson, Hugo Speer, Emma Thompson, Tim Vine, Clive Anderson, Gillian Anderson, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Gyles Brandreth, Michele Collins, Harry Hill, Adam Hills, Ronan Keating, Ross Kemp, Joanna Lumley, Stephen Mangan, Lee Mack, David Mitchell, Clarke Peters, Meera Syal, Johnny Vegas.and Bradley Walsh, with Stephen Fry also lending his voice as the Captain at every presentation.
The production runs from February 9 to March 12 with each performance being followed by a q and a with the celebrity guest star.
Anyone can whistle to be revived in London
It has been announced that Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurent’s Anyone Can Whistle is set for a London revival.
The show, which famously only ran for 21 performances on broadway in the 60’s, is now considered a cult classic with this production seeing Alex Young taking on the role of Mayoress Cora Hoover Hooper. Further casting is to be announced.
Anyone Can Whistle is set to play in the larger space at Southwark Playhouse from 1 April to 7 May 2022.
Pretty Woman the musical announces new cast members
New casting has been announced for the west end production of Pretty Woman, with Patrick Barrett, Elly Jay, Annabelle Laing, Will Luckett and Cilla Silvia joining the show.
They join Aimie Atkinson as Vivian Ward and Danny Mac as Edward Lewis, Rachael Wooding as Kit De Luca, Bob Harms as Happy Man/Mr Thompson, Neil McDermott as Philip Stuckey and Mark Holden as James Morse.
The cast also includes John Addison, Jemma Alexander, Andy Barke, Patrick Barrett, Katie Bradley, Oliver Brenin, Olivia Brookes, Erin Caldwell, Alex Charles, Olly Christopher, Ben Darcy, Hannah Ducharme, Nicholas Duncan, Tom Andrew Hargreaves, Antony Hewitt, Elly Jay, Matt Jones, Annabelle Laing, Will Luckett, Serina Mathew, Cilla Silvia, Charlotte Elisabeth Yorke and Tara Young.
A further cast change is due to take place in June
Tom Hiddleston to star in broadcast performance of The Play What I Wrote
It has been confirmed the Tom Hiddleston will star in The Play What I Wrote for the performances that are being filmed for later broadcast by the BBC.
The star recently appeared as the mystery guest performer on the opening night of the 20th anniversary production in Birmingham and will be appearing again the tour launches in Bath. The guest star changes regularly throughout the shows run.
The comedy will be broadcast on the BBC with the transmission date yet to be revealed.
Images found via Google, not my own