David Ian News

One of the longest-running shows in West End and Broadway history, CATS will come to The King's Theatre from Monday 16th - Saturday 28th September 2013.

Major cast changes will take place in the smash hit Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA" at Her Majesty's Theatre in the West End from Monday 2 September 2013. Fresh from his success as Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables" at the Queen's Theatre Geronimo Rauch will join the cast as 'The Phantom'. At the same time Broadway leading man Sean Palmer will join as 'Raoul'. They will be joined by Andy Hockley as 'Monsieur Firmin', Martin Ball as 'Monsieur Andre', Claire Moore as 'Carlotta', Jacinta Mulcahy as 'Madame Giry', Cat Lane as 'Meg Giry' and Olivia Brereton and Harriet Jones who will both play 'Christine' at certain performances.

According to the Daily Mail, a new musical based on the life of Dusty Springfield is being developed for a 2014 opening in the West End. Writer and broadcaster Sandi Toksvig, Springfield's former manager and friend Vicki Wickham and THE BODYGUARD's David Ian are part of the creative and producing team.

The Theatrical Management Association (TMA), the UK's largest and longest established theatre trade association, announced today that the results of the elections to its ruling council mean that for the first time it will be governed by a female majority. The organisation President Rachel Tackley begins a second three-year term as President. Anna Williams succeeds John Stalker as elected Vice President.

Swarovski is the jewellery and crystal partner for The Bodyguard. The costumes for the show feature over 100,000 Swarovski Elements and were worked on by a team of experts led by award-winning set and costume designer Tim Hatley. Check out the photos below!

Swarovski is the jewellery and crystal partner for The Bodyguard. The costumes for the show feature over 100,000Swarovski Elements and were worked on by a team of experts led by award-winning set and costume designer Tim Hatley. Describing the process of making a show come to life through his work, Tim Hatley said 'As a Theatre Designer, it's always a challenge to design a stage show that is based on a well-known book or film. Theatre has a visual language that is very different to film, and it's my job to create and develop visual ideas, make them specific and take advantage of a live theatrical environment.' He added: 'As a designer for both stage and screen, I have come to depend on the brilliance of Swarovski. There is simply no other crystal range giving choice of size, colour and sheer sparkle. The moment a stage light hits a Swarovski Element, there is magic. For The Bodyguard the Musical I have embellished leading lady Heather Headley's costumes with thousands of crystals.'

West End Eurovision 2013 will take place at The Dominion Theatre on Thursday, 23 May. This late night show pays tribute to the Eurovision Song Contest and sees West End shows competing against each other singing past Eurovision songs, aiming to win the votes of the audience, the competing entries judging panels and the celebrity judging panel. Click below to watch Wicked spoof The Hunger Games in a promo for the event!

David Ian Productions and the Ambassador Theatre Group have announced JASON DONOVAN in the role of Tick for the Glasgow dates (except Monday 24th June) of the international smash hit musical PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT.

13 year-old Joshua-James Thomas from Harrow and 12 year-old Michael Matias from Leystonstone this month join the cast of the West End hit musical The Bodyguard as the show enters its new booking period. Performing alongside Tony and Grammy Award winner Heather Headley and Lloyd Owen who lead the cast as Rachel Marron and Frank Farmer respectively, Thomas and Matias take on the role of Fletcher, Rachel's young son. They will alternate the role with original cast members 11 year-old Taylor Lockhart and 10 year-old Malaki Paul.

The Bodyguard has been nominated for Best New Musical at the Oliviers this year, with leading ladies Heather Headley and Debbie Kurup also up for awards for their performances and designer Tim Hatley also recognised for his work.

Full casting has been announced for the UK Tour of GHOST THE MUSICAL, beginning at the Wales Millennium Center, Cardiff, in April.

Tonight, Friday 15 February, The Bodyguard's Heather Headley performs in a Romantic Classics edition of the beloved BBC Radio 2 programme, Friday Night Is Music Night in celebration of St. Valentine's Day. Recorded at London's Mermaid Theatre on 16 January, Ken Bruce presents a night of romantic classics with Tony and Grammy award-winning Heather Headley who performs two numbers including the iconic hit song from The Bodyguard, I Will Always Love You. Headley will be accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by their principal conductor Keith Lockhart.

From Kristin Chenoweth to Deborah Cox to Idina Menzel to Barbra Streisand to Michael Crawford to the Ladies of THE VIEW to Adam Pascal, Patti LuPone, Raul Esparza, Alan Menken, Lea Salonga, Bernadette Peters, Laura Osnes, Victoria Clark, GLEE and Everything in Between - It's the BroadwayWorld.com 2013 Valentine's Day Special - It's the Biggest Ever!

On Friday 15 February, The Bodyguard's Heather Headley performs in a Romantic Classics edition of the beloved BBC Radio 2 programme, Friday Night Is Music Night in celebration of St. Valentine's Day. Recorded at London's Mermaid Theatre on 16 January, Ken Bruce presents a night of romantic classics with Tony and Grammy award-winning Heather Headley who performs two numbers including the iconic hit song from The Bodyguard, I Will Always Love You. Headley will be accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by their principal conductor Keith Lockhart.

Leading Australian theatre producer John Frost and London theatre impresario David Ian today announced that the ever popular musical GREASE will return to Australian stages later this year. Auditions will commence shortly for this new multi-million dollar production, and tour details will be announced in coming months.

Thea Sharrock's hit production of The Bodyguard, which opened in December last year, today announces the release of over 250,000 tickets for sale, taking booking at the Adelphi Theatre to 28 September 2013. Starring Heather Headley (to 10 August 2013) as Rachel Marron and Lloyd Owen (to 7 September 2013) as Frank Farmer and based on Lawrence Kasdan's 1992 Oscar nominated Warner Bros. film, Sharrock's production of this new musical has book by Alex Dinelaris.

According to the Daily Mail, The Bodyguard, currently playing at the Adelphi Theatre starring Heather Headley and Lloyd Owen, now boasts an advance of more than £4 million.

Thea Sharrock's production of new musical The Bodyguard, opened on 5 December 2012 at the Adelphi Theatre in London to great reviews and is aiming for Broadway in spring of 2014. The musical's official theatrical trailer has just been released. Check it out below!

The smash hit West End musical GHOST the Musical, based on the Academy Award winning film, is to tour throughout the UK opening at the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff in April 2013. GHOST the Musical is directed by the Tony award winning Matthew Warchus (Matilda, Art) and has music and lyrics by Grammy® award winning Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) and Glen Ballard and features the iconic song Unchained Melody. Set and costume designs are by Rob Howell, musical supervision and arrangements by Christopher Nightingale, illusions are by Paul Kieve, choreography is by Ashley Wallen, video and projection designs by Jon Driscoll, lighting by Hugh Vanstone and sound by Bobby Aitken. The UK tour is being produced by David Ian Productions, The Ambassador Theatre Group, Colin Ingram, and Hello Entertainment/David Garfinkle. Full casting for the tour will be announced later this year.

Today, in the New York Post, Michael Riedel reports that the show, whose producers include the Nederlander Organization, is aiming for Broadway in the Spring of 2014.