Marianka Swain - Page 43

The Olivier Awards 2017 with Mastercard - the most prestigious event in the UK's theatrical calendar - takes place today, Sunday 9 April, at London's Royal Albert Hall.

The late, great Edward Albee is certainly having a West End 'moment', but it rather places this particular revival at a disadvantage, comparing unfavourably as it does with the shattering, unforgettable Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? a few streets away.

Amidst the middle-class small talk between two couples, one reeling from the arrival of a new baby, comes a shocking confession: 'I've been raping pensioners.' What kind of monsters are we dealing with here? Well, legal ones - it's barrister speak. Having tackled the NHS in Tiger Country, Nina Raine now has the judicial system in her sights: its eccentricities, seeming unfairness, and the effect it has on those caught in its truth-bending web.

The curtain rises just high enough to reveal a long line of tapping feet: a thoroughly appropriate intro, as those feet are the real stars of the show. The plot might centre around a leading lady battle, but this loving backstage fairy tale is really a paean to the chorus - the hard-working, unceasingly toe-tapping foundation upon which musical comedy ('the two most glorious words in the English language,' per the show) is built.

When Laura Wade's Posh premiered at the Royal Court in 2010, its dark promise that these destructive student toffs - members of the Riot Club, a loosely fictional version of Oxford's Bullington - would one day run the country had a timely frisson: former club members David Cameron, George Osborne and Boris Johnson occupied Downing Street and the mayoral office respectively.

London is never short of theatre temptations, whether splashy West End shows, epic dramas or bold fringe offerings. From a mammoth Tony Kushner revival to an unusual Romeo and Juliet and tap-happy musicals, here are some of this month's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld's reviews…

Alongside a lauded acting career - he will reprise his Prospero when the RSC's The Tempest comes to the Barbican this summer - Simon Russell Beale has retained his passion for classical music, through projects like BBC series Sacred Music. This Wednesday, he performs as the narrator for City of London Sinfonia's Closer: The Soldier's Tale - an intimate version of Stravinsky's parable, directed by Dame Janet Suzman at Shoreditch's Village Underground.

The bad boy is back. Marber's Moliere update, which first appeared at the Donmar Warehouse in 2006, has been revived by the playwright for a West End run - David Tennant succeeding Rhys Ifans as the titular seducer.

Tonight, the West End revival of Patrick Marber's Don Juan in Soho opened at Wyndham's Theatre. The production stars David Tennant, Adrian Scarborough and Gawn Grainger, and plays until 10 June. See production pictures here

Actor and musician David Hunter's previous work includes Once, Tommy and One Man, Two Guvnors. He's currently starring as Charlie in the West End production of Kinky Boots.

While An American in Paris captures the dreamy glamour of old Hollywood, Simon McBurney rivetingly evokes its seedy, cynical underbelly, from backroom deals to drug busts and mobsters. Yet it is, in its own way, just as dazzling - a paean to Tinseltown myth-making as well as a blackly comic deconstruction.

Maria Friedman directs a brand new staging of Richard Harris's award-winning play STEPPING OUT, which which toured UK venues last year and now plays at the West End's Vaudeville Theatre. Book tickets here from £20

The critically acclaimed and multi award-winning new musical AN AMERICAN IN PARIS had its official London premiere tonight, Tuesday 21 March, at the beautifully restored Dominion Theatre. Christopher Wheeldon's stunning reinvention of the Oscar-winning film (that starred Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron) features the sublime music and lyrics of George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin and a new book by Craig Lucas. 

It's 1945, and Paris is shakily emerging from Nazi occupation - celebrating, yes, with soldiers returning and families reuniting, but also confronting collaborators in their midst and post-war deprivation. Amidst this turmoil, two future lovers meet: an encounter of seismic power.

Michael Blakemore's stellar directing career encompasses everything from landmark productions at the National, where he was associate director, to West End and Broadway hits. He was the first director to win a Tony Award for both Best Director of a Play and a Musical in the same year (for Michael Frayn's Copenhagen and Kiss, Me Kate). Now, he's helming the long-awaited UK premiere of Cy Coleman musical The Life - a gritty exploration of 1980s New York's underbelly - which he first directed on Broadway in 1997. The show begins previews at Southwark Playhouse on 25 March.

In 1944, Terence Rattigan substantially revised Less Than Kind at the behest of star theatrical couple the Lunts; the result was the less political, more overtly comic Love in Idleness. Now, Trevor Nunn – inspired by Dan Rebellato's introduction in a Nick Hern Books edition of the two versions – has synthesised them, to intriguing and largely successful effect.

Archie Madekwe's screen credits include Fresh Meat and films Legacy and Second Coming. He's now making his professional stage debut in The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia, Edward Albee's darkly comic masterpiece about a successful family man who embarks on a shocking love affair. Ian Rickson's revival also features Damian Lewis, Sophie Okonedo and Jason Hughes, and begins previews at Theatre Royal Haymarket on 24 March.

Rajiv Joseph's plays include Gruesome Playground Injuries, All This Intimacy and the Pulitzer Prize-nominated Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. On screen, he's written for TV series Nurse Jackie and feature film Draft Day, starring Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner. His 2015 play Guards at the Taj, about two imperial guards in 17th-century India handed a gruesome decree, has its European premiere at the Bush Theatre, directed by Jamie Lloyd, beginning previews on 7 April.

Actor Tom Lister is best known for playing Carl King on Emmerdale, but he's also amassed a number of stage credits, including Legally Blonde, Calamity Jane and Water Babies. He's currently starring in the West End revival of 42nd Street, alongside Sheena Easton, Clare Halse and Stuart Neal. The show begins previews on 20 March.

Last night, STEPPING OUT opened at the Vaudeville Theatre (read our review here). The production stars Amanda Holden, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Nicola Stephenson, Judith Barker, Jessica-Alice McCluskey, Sandra Marvin and Dominic Rowan, directed by Maria Friedman. For the first part of the West End run, Anna-Jane Casey steps in for the injured Tamzin Outhwaite.