Ian McKellen News

Papatango has announced that their 2024 New Writing Prize will open for submissions at noon on Wednesday 17 January, until noon on Monday 11 March. Plus, this year's winning play, Some Demon by Laura Waldren, will transfer to Bristol Old Vic from 9 to 13 July.

Newly appointed Co-Artistic Directors of the RSC, Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey have announced their inaugural season for the Company.

Although it may be a new year, a few classics are returning to streaming services, giving Broadway fans the perfect throwback binge list. A new month also wouldn't be complete without some theatre faces popping up in new streaming releases, including the new Mean Girls soundtrack and a star-studded animated series.

It would be interesting to see the show free from all the fancy listening gear so we can bask in the thrill of seeing Tennant and Jumbo grapple with their actions without a middleman. After all, isn’t part of the beauty of theatre that the audience isn’t separated from the story by a screen of any kind? The run is sold out (as it should be!) and they’re probably already in talks for a transfer (as they should!), but one wonders if this is actually what the future of drama is: a Shakespearean ASMR experience that will be dubbed as immersive. Fair is foul, and foul is fair.

Ian McKellen is reprising the title role in William Shakespeare's Hamlet in a film adaptation of Sean Mathias' acclaimed 2021 production at Theatre Royal Windsor. Watch the trailer!

Audiences are invited to join the stars of today to support the talent of tomorrow as National Youth Theatre (NYT) announce the 2024 First Days Gala, taking place at The Roundhouse, London on Wednesday 7 February 2024.

Get a first look at soul legend Mica Paris and Maiya Quansah-Breed singing 'MUSEUM OF LOSS' from Rehab the Musical. Watch the video ahead of its transfer to a new West End venue.

With pantomime season now in full swing, delighting audiences young and old (with many experiencing it for a magical first time), The UK Pantomime Association (UKPA)'s team of anonymous judges is busy secretly sat amongst them, ready to shortlist the very best performers, creatives and producers that the artform has to offer, for The Pantomime Awards 2024.

Full cast and creative team have been revealed for the world premiere of Exhibitionists by Shaun McKenna and Andrew Van Sickle, a dazzling new gay romantic comedy about love, sex, happiness and freedom set in the San Francisco art world.

BAFTA Award winner Dominic West (The Wire, The Crown) will star in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge, directed by Lindsay Posner at Theatre Royal Bath’s intimate Ustinov Studio. Learn how to purchase tickets!

Bringing together Shakespeare's two great history plays (Henry IV, parts 1 and 2) into the theatrical event of the season, Player Kings will reign over London’s West End for twelve weeks only – playing at the Noël Coward Theatre from April 2024.

Ian McKellen’s return to New Wimbledon Theatre in 2024 feels like déjà vu and, that’s because it is. The 1964 pre-West End run of A Scent of Flowers previewed at Wimbledon Theatre, prior to a memorable run at the Duke of York’s Theatre that same year. The exact same trajectory that Robert Icke’s Player Kings will do.

Robert Icke will direct Ian McKellen as John Falstaff in Player Kings, adapted by Icke from William Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2. Further casting to be announced.

The Gilded Age has returned for season two with a fresh lineup of Broadway stars! The first season of Julian Fellowes' series featured over 60 Broadway alums, including Audra McDonald, Nathan Lane, Cynthia Nixon, and more. Check out which faces you recognize from the theatre, including new additions like Laura Benanti and Jeremy Shamos.

Arizona Theatre Company has announced it is kicking off the holiday season with Scrooge!, the company's new holiday musical adaptation of the Oscar-nominated film of the same name created by Oscar-winning, Grammy-winning and Tony-nominated composer Leslie Bricusse and directed by Broadway director and ATC's own Matt August.

As BroadwayWorld first reported in September, The Heart of Rock and Roll is coming to Broadway! Producers Hunter Arnold, Tyler Mitchell and Kayla Greenspan announced that the new musical inspired by the iconic songs of Huey Lewis and The News, will open on Broadway at The James Earl Jones Theatre.

Alarm bells ring when a director stars in the play they are also directing. Even if that director is Sir Kenneth Branagh. Nine times out of ten the production falls flat and the audience are left wondering if ego is to blame. Branagh’s hotly anticipated stab at King Lear is, sadly, no exception.

Park Theatre has announced a plethora of new shows for 2024, including the third installment of their hugely popular Whodunnit [Unrehearsed] series and a two-part adaptation of The Forsyte Saga. 

London performances of true crime punk rock musical LIZZIE the Musical start tonight at Southwark Playhouse Elephant. Check out the gory new photo of Lauren Drew as infamous Lizzie Borden. Rage! Sex! Betrayal & BLOODY MURDER!

Tributes from the theatre industry have been pouring in for Bill Kenwright, who passed away at the age of 78.