As we prepare to say goodbye to a host of long running shows from the West End, we can console ourselves with the fact that so many new productions will be arriving in London in 2019, and a good few of them coming straight from Broadway. Here we take a look at the shows we don’t think you’ll want to miss as we run down our Top Ten New London Theatre Shows to See in 2019.
Coming Clean at Trafalgar Studios
In 2017, Adam Spreadbury-Maher directed the 35th anniversary production and the first London revival of Coming Clean, Kevin Elyot’s first play. The play premiered at the Bush Theatre on 3 November 1982. Coming Clean looks at the breakdown of a gay couple’s relationship and examines complex questions of fidelity and love. The play will transfer to the West End in 2019, featuring Lee Knight, Stanton Plummer-Cambridge, Tom Lambert and Elliot Hadley.
Twilight Zone at Ambassador’s Theatre
After a sell-out Almeida run, The Twilight Zone will transfer to the West End, and will run at the Ambassadors Theatre from 4 March 2019. Adapted by Anne Washburn (Mr Burns) and directed by the multi award-winning director (winner of 7 Olivier Awards), Richard Jones, this production of the acclaimed classic CBS television series The Twilight Zone is an ingenious mixture of morality tales, fables and fantasy that are as relevant today as when audiences first encountered them.
All About Eve at Noel Coward Theatre
The world premiere of Ivo van Hove’s highly anticipated stage production of the 1950 Twentieth Century Fox film All About Eve. The much-acclaimed film, based on Mary Orr’s original play “The Wisdom of Eve”, remains the only film to receive four female acting nominations. The Emmy Award-winning Gillian Anderson will return to the stage alongside Lily James. BAFTA Award-winner Monica Dolan will join the cast in the role of Karen, alongside Sheila Reid as Birdie and Rhashan Stone as Lloyd.
Dark Sublime at Trafalgar Studios
Making her West End debut, Star Trek: The Next Generation star Marina Sirtis will take the lead in the world premiere of Dark Sublime. Directed by Andrew Keates (As Is and Dessa Rose – Trafalgar Studios), Dark Sublime, the debut play by Michael Dennis, is a love-letter to British sci-fi television – both those that make it and those that adore it. A tribute to the community of fandom, Dark Sublime examines the feeling of belonging that comes with finding your place among the outcasts. Exploring the complexities of relationships especially in the LGBTQ community, and the contrast in lived experiences across generations
Betrayal at Harold Pinter Theatre
A thrilling climax to the Pinter at the Pinter season. Tom Hiddleston returns to the London stage following his acclaimed Hamlet directed by Kenneth Branagh and his Evening Standard Award-winning performance in Coriolanus at the Donmar Warehouse in 2014.
With poetic precision, rich humour and an extraordinary emotional force, Betrayal charts a compelling seven-year romance, thrillingly captured in reverse chronological order.
Only Fools and Horses The Musical at Theatre Royal Haymarket
The landmark, record-breaking and top-rated television series Only Fools and Horses, written by the late, great John Sullivan, undoubtedly holds a special place in the hearts of the British public. Now John’s son Jim Sullivan has teamed up with comedy giant Paul Whitehouse to write and produce a script and score to honour his father’s legacy; recreating the iconic series into a brand-new, home-grown British Musical spectacular
Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at The London Palladium
In an energetic and vibrant new staging of the record breaking 1990s London Palladium production, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s family classic is set to entertain a whole new generation.
This colourful retelling of the biblical story about dreamboat Joseph, his uncanny abilities and his designer coat sings out to young and old alike with a score which is wall to wall hits – including Close Every Door and Any Dream Will Do – and is now booking until 8 September 2019.
Come From Away at Phoenix Theatre
The Tony Award-winning new musical Come From Away tells the remarkable true story of 7,000 stranded air passengers during the wake of 9/11, and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them.
Earning widespread critical and audience acclaim, the multi award-winning musical continues sold-out, record-breaking engagements on Broadway, and in Canada, with a 60-city North American Tour which launched in October in Seattle, an Australian production confirmed for summer 2019, and a feature film adaptation in the works.
Waitress at The Adelphi Theatre
Katharine McPhee joins the Waitress London cast to play Jenna, a waitress and expert pie-maker who dreams of a way out of her small town and rocky marriage. Pouring her heart into her pies, she crafts desserts that mirror her topsy-turvy life such as “The Key (Lime) to Happiness Pie” and “Betrayed By My Eggs Pie.” When a baking contest in a nearby county — and a satisfying run-in with someone new — show Jenna a chance at a fresh start, she must find the courage to seize it. Change is on the menu, as long as Jenna can write her own perfectly personal recipe for happiness.
Brought to life by a ground-breaking, all-female creative team, this Tony Award®-nominated hit features original music and lyrics by 6-time Grammy®nominee Sara Bareilles.
Dear Evan Hansen at Noel Coward Theatre
The Tony Award winning smash hit, Dear Evan Hansen will open at London’s Noel Coward Theatre in the Autumn. A letter that was never meant to be seen, a lie that was never meant to be told, a life he never dreamed he could have. Evan Hansen is about to get the one thing he’s always wanted: a chance to finally fit in. With a book by Steven Levenson and music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, anyone who has seen Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway knows that 2019 is going to be a great year for London Theatre.
