It’s time again for Everything Changes! This is the weekly feature that keeps you informed of shows that are opening and closing in the West End and Off-West End.
This week features Scary Bikers, which is opening at Trafalgar Studios 2, Nigel Slater’s Toast, which starts its run at The Other Palace, and the Donmar Warehouse revival of Sweet Charity.
Opening Up!
Scary Bikers – Trafalgar Studios 2 (from 2nd April)
Scary Bikers by John Godber opens at Trafalgar Studios 2 on 2nd April.
- Location: Trafalgar Studios 2
- Dates: 2nd Apr to 27th Apr 2019
- Cast: John Godber & Jane Thornton
- Creatives: John Godber (Author & Director), John Godber Company & Theatre Royal Wakefield
A new comedy about life, love and staying on your bike!
When retired miner Don and former private school teacher Carol meet by chance after both suffering a loss, they thought they’d found a new beginning. But a bike ride through Europe would test their budding romance, and the road to love is rocky when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.
Join them on their hilarious and heartfelt journey, as they reconcile the past, debate the present and worry about the future. Whether they’re saddle sore in Southampton, blistered in Bordeaux or frazzled in Florence, one thing is for sure – it takes two to tandem!
Starring the double BAFTA and Olivier Award-winning partnership of John Godber and Jane Thornton, whose feature film Last Laugh was released October 2017.
Nigel Slater’s Toast – The Other Palace (from 4th April)
- Location: The Other Palace
- Dates: 4th Apr to 3rd Aug 2019
- Cast: Giles Cooper (Nigel Slater), Lizzie Muncey (Mum), Stephen Ventura (Dad), Marie Lawrence (Joan) & Jake Ferretti (Josh).
- Creatives: Nigel Slater (Book), Henry Filloux-Bennett (Adaptation), PW Productions (The Lowry production) & Jonnie Riordan (Director)
Based on the British Book Awards Biography of the Year, Toast is the story of Nigel Slater’s childhood, told through the tastes and smells he grew up with.
From making the perfect sherry trifle to waging a war over cakes and from the pressured playground politics of sweets to the rigid rules of restaurant dining, this is a story of love, loss and… toast.
Sweet Charity – Donmar Warehouse (from 6th April)
- Location: Donmar Warehouse
- Dates: 6th Apr to 8th Jun 2019
- Cast:
- Arthur Darvill (Oscar Lindquist), Anne-Marie Duff (Charity Hope Valentine), Lizzy Connolly (Nickie), Lauren Drew, Jo Eaton-Kent, Will Haswell, Charlotte Jaconelli, Stephen Kennedy (Herman), Debbie Kurup (Helene), Martin Marquez (Vittorio Vidal), Ryan Reid, Amy Ellen Richardson (Ursula March), Danielle Steers (Carmen) & Shaq Taylor
- Creatives:
- Neil Simon (Book), Cy Coleman (Music), Dorothy Fields (Lyrics), Bob Fosse (Original Choreographer), Donmar Warehouse (Producer), Josie Rourke (Director), Wayne McGregor (Choreographer), Robert Jones (Design), Gareth Valentine (Musical Supervisor), Mark Henderson (Lighting), Nick Lidster (for Autograph) (Sound), Larry Blank (Orchestration), Mark Cumberland (Orchestration), Ralph Burns (Original Orchestration), Finn Ross (Video Design) & David Grindrod (CDG – Casting Director).
“The minute you walked in the joint, I could see you were a man of distinction, a real Big Spender…”
New York, 1967. Charity Hope Valentine is a dance hall hostess who “runs her a heart like a hotel – you’ve got men checking in and out all the time.” At the raw end of a long line of users and losers, she meets Oscar, a mild-mannered tax accountant, and Charity Hope Valentine once again puts her faith into love.
Josie Rourke returns to the work of Cy Coleman, who wrote the music for City of Angels, with the Broadway classic Sweet Charity. With choreography from the world-renowned Wayne McGregor, Rourke reunites with Anne-Marie Duff as Charity, and Arthur Darvill makes his Donmar debut as Oscar, for her farewell production as Donmar Artistic Director.
Another Opening Of Another Show
- Where is Peter Rabbit? (Theatre Royal Haymarket, 3 Apr to 28 Apr)
- Michael Starring Ben (London Palladium, 6 Apr)
- Sunday Encounters – Anne Reid interviews Sir Derek Jacobi (Theatre Royal Haymarket, 7 Apr)
- Ivan Putrov – Against The Stream (London Coliseum, 7 Apr)
- Jekyll and Hyde (Bridewell Theatre, 2 Apr to 6 Apr)
- Rumours of Fleetwood Mac – 40 Years of Rumours (Cadogan Hall, 2 Apr to 3 Apr)
- Mouthpiece (Soho Theatre, 2 Apr to 4 May)
- Seven and Half Years – The Musical (Bridewell Theatre, 2 Apr to 12 Apr)
- Hush Now (Barons Court Theatre, 2 Apr to 6 Apr)
- The Noises (Old Red Lion, 2 Apr to 20 Apr)
- Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story (The Hope Theatre, 2 Apr to 20 Apr)
- She Stoops to Conquer (LAMDA, 2 Apr to 11 Apr)
- Keep Watching (The New Diorama Theatre, 2 Apr to 4 May)
- Herstoric – The Year Without a Summer/A Mother’s War: Two New Hour-Long Musicals (Drayton Arms Theatre, 2 Apr to 6 Apr)
- Elephant in the Room (Camden People’s Theatre, 2 Apr to 20 Apr)
- Among Angels (Courtyard Theatre, 3 Apr to 27 Apr)
- Deposit (Tower Theatre, 3 Apr to 13 Apr)
- Intra Muros (Park Theatre, 3 Apr to 4 May)
- The Cherry Orchard (LAMDA, 3 Apr to 11 Apr)
- Pah-La (Royal Court – Jerwood Theatre, 3 Apr to 27 Apr)
- Alleyne Dance – The Other Side of Me (The Place Theatre, 3 Apr)
- A Land Without Jasmine (BAC – Battersea Arts Centre, 4 Apr to 6 Apr)
- Too Many Men (Tristan Bates Theatre, 4 Apr)
- Albert Quesada & Zoltán Vakulya – OneTwoThreeOneTwo (The Lilian Baylis Theatre, 4 Apr to 5 Apr)
- Wow Everything is Amazing (BAC – Battersea Arts Centre, 4 Apr to 12 Apr)
- Pomona (LAMDA, 4 Apr to 11 Apr)
- So Here We Are (LAMDA, 5 Apr to 11 Apr)
- The Magic of Motown – Reach Out (Cadogan Hall, 5 Apr)
- A German Life (Bridge Theatre, 6 Apr to 11 May)
- Dismantle This Room (Royal Court – Jerwood Theatre, 6 Apr to 27 Apr)
- Oral (Camden People’s Theatre, 6 Apr to 7 Apr)
- Maz Jobrani (Cadogan Hall, 6 Apr)
- Home (Southwark Playhouse, 7 Apr)
- Little Potatoes (Old Red Lion, 7 Apr to 8 Apr)
- Hancock’s Half Hour (Leicester Square Theatre, 7 Apr)
Happy Trails!
3 Apr
- Rumours of Fleetwood Mac – 40 Years of Rumours (Cadogan Hall)
- Alleyne Dance – The Other Side of Me (The Place Theatre)
4 Apr
- Too Many Men (Tristan Bates Theatre)
5 Apr
- Albert Quesada & Zoltán Vakulya – OneTwoThreeOneTwoOlivier de Sagazan – Transfiguration (The Lilian Baylis Theatre)
- The Magic of Motown – Reach Out (Cadogan Hall)
6 Apr
- Michael Starring Ben (London Palladium)
- VIOLET (Charing Cross Theatre)
- The Crown Dual (The King’s Head Theatre)
- Undetectable (The King’s Head Theatre)
- After Edward (Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre)
- Jekyll and Hyde (Bridewell Theatre)
- Hush Now (Barons Court Theatre)
- Oranges & Ink (Tristan Bates Theatre)
- Romance Romance (Above The Stag Theatre)
- Herstoric – The Year Without a Summer/A Mother’s War: Two New Hour-Long Musicals (Drayton Arms Theatre)
- A Land Without Jasmine (BAC – Battersea Arts Centre)
- Half Me, Half You (Tristan Bates Theatre)
- The Son (The Kiln)
- Maz Jobrani (Cadogan Hall)
- The Mission: Occupy Mars (BAC – Battersea Arts Centre)
- Othello (Union Theatre)
- Billy Bishop Goes to War (Southwark Playhouse)
7 Apr
- Sunday Encounters – Anne Reid interviews Sir Derek Jacobi (Theatre Royal Haymarket)
- Ivan Putrov – Against The Stream (London Coliseum)
- Goodbye Norma Jeane (Above the Stag Theatre)
- Home (Southwark Playhouse)
- Oral (Camden People’s Theatre)
- Hancock’s Half Hour (Leicester Square Theatre)
- Little Potatoes (Old Red Lion)
This week isn’t necessarily a big week of changes, especially not in the West End. There is an exciting addition, however, in the form of the Donmar Warehouse revival of Sweet Charity. It will be interesting to see whether this production will get the same fortune as Donmar’s Sweat, and get a transfer after its run.
This week we we will sadly say goodbye to Violet at the Charing Cross Theatre as it will soon be making its journey to Japan, as it was a co-production between the UK and Japan. It seems unlikely that the production will be making a return to the UK so make sure you book your tickets before it leaves the Off-West End venue.