As London slowly emerges from winter, a bevy of stars – from Hollywood luminaries to theater veterans and emerging talents – are lining up to take the West End stage. They’re ready to reinvent Shakespearean classics; surprise the audience with breathtaking musical numbers, both new and familiar; makes us cry with their takes on Arthur Miller and Eugene O’Neill; and bring to life the work of some of the most exciting young writers in the industry today. These are the 10 most popular tickets in the city.
The full title of Ryan Calais Cameron’s deeply moving, Olivier Award-nominated exploration of race, mental health and modern masculinity is For black boys who have contemplated suicide when the hue got too heavy– and while this may sound bleak, this thrillingly dynamic show is anything but. It’s lighthearted and inventive, exciting and ambitious, devastating and then utterly life-affirming – the story of six young black men who meet for group therapy and delve deep into their passions, hopes and traumas, colliding and connecting as they think it over. life’s biggest questions. After last year’s sold-out production at London’s Apollo Theatre, the play is back in the West End with a brand new cast: Tobi King Bakare, Fela Lufadeju, Albert Magashi, Mohammed Mansaray, Posi Morakinyo and Shakeel Haakim, the latter of whom is a student at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art who actually worked part-time as an usher at the Apollo during the period For black boys‘s last run. If his story and this transcendent play don’t make you shed tears of joy, nothing will.
Until May 4
Stage legend Sheridan Smith returns to the spotlight with this new musical, based on John Cassavetes’ electrifying 1977 film of the same name, about an actor at the height of her powers whose latest play heads to Broadway when her life begins to spiral out of control. Grammy nominee Rufus Wainwright has written more than twenty new songs for the occasion, Tony-winning visionary Ivo van Hove is directing and the supporting cast includes Unorthodox‘s Shira Haas, but all eyes will probably be on the leading actress. “It will be very close to the bone,” Smith told British Fashion of the experience of playing someone who struggles with anxiety and alcoholism, just as she has done in the past. Her goal? “Catharsis.”
Until July 27
Cabaret in the Playhouse Theater
Since this sweeping and lavish West End remake of the classic Kander and Ebb musical first opened in 2021, the likes of Jessie Buckley, Madeline Brewer, Aimee Lou Wood, Maude Apatow and Self Esteem have all been in Sally Bowles’ thighs stepped to embrace the belt. “Mein Herr” and “Maybe This Time.” (A Broadway version of the production opens at the August Wilson Theater in April.) The latest successor to the role will be none other than the electrifying Cara Delevingne, who will make her West End debut in the wonderfully riotous Kit Kat Club. supported by Luke Treadaway as the cheerful Emcee. Our setting is Berlin, at the waning days of the Jazz Age, as the Nazis rise to power, and the employees and patrons of a seedy cabaret navigate their ever-changing world – and have fun doing it. If you haven’t yet seen this lavish reinterpretation, which set an Olivier record as the most awarded revival in history with seven wins, now is the time.
