Jean Chan News

Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream seems to be this season's go-to comedy and, from Nicholas Hytner's lightly immersive offering at the Bridge Theatre to the smaller productions dotted around London, it's delighting audiences young and old.

Full casting has today been announced for the landmark revival of the award-winning British musical The Hired Man, co-produced by the Queen's Theatre Hornchurch and Hull Truck Theatre in association with Oldham Coliseum Theatre. This epic heroic tale of love, betrayal and loyalty opens in Hornchurch (27 April - 18 May), transfers to Hull (23 May - 15 June) and concludes in Oldham (20 June - 6 July).

London's critically acclaimed new British musical The Grinning Man, now playing at the Trafalgar Studios, has today announced a final extended three week booking period until 5 May.

Ghostlight Records will release the Original London Cast Recording of Stephen Schwartz's WORKING on Friday, March 2. Watch below for a preview of the new show!

Ghostlight Records has announced the release of the Original London Cast Recording of Stephen Schwartz's WORKING on Friday, March 2. The album is being released following a hugely successful run at Southwark Playhouse, directed by Luke Sheppard in Summer 2017. This will be the first recording of WORKING since the Original Broadway Cast Recording in 1978 and will feature never before released tracks by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Customers that pre-order the album on iTunes and Amazon will immediately receive the track "It's An Art." To pre-order the album, please click HERE.

London's new smash hit musical The Grinning Man, now playing at the Trafalgar Studios, has today announced a new extended booking period until 14 April.

The critically acclaimed production of The Grinning Man, directed by Tony award-winning Tom Morris (War Horse) and based on the classic Victor Hugo (Les Mis rables) novel, The Man Who Laughs, has taken over Studio 1 at Trafalgar Studios from 6 December, following a hugely successful autumn 2016 premiere at Bristol Old Vic. Check out photos from the production here!

The critically acclaimed production of The Grinning Man, directed by Tony award-winning Tom Morris (War Horse) and based on the classic Victor Hugo (Les Mis rables) novel, The Man Who Laughs, will take over Studio 1 at Trafalgar Studios from 5 December, following a hugely successful autumn 2016 premiere at Bristol Old Vic.

Alfie Boe is best known for his internationally critically acclaimed performances as Jean Valjean in the musical Les Miserables, playing the role in the Queen's Theatre in London, the Les Miserables: 25th Anniversary Concert in October 2010, and in the Broadway revival. He has been playing the lead role in Finding Neverland on Broadway beginning March 29, 2016. As well, Boe shared a Tony Award with the other members of the ensemble cast of Baz Luhrmann's 2002 revival of La boheme in 2003. He has sold over one million albums in the U.K.

Todd Montesi & Richard James present awesome comics in front of a cool supportive crowd in the epicenter of hip NYC the East Village.

With Wicked going strong across the world, and Hamilton a few months away from its much anticipated West End transfer, it seems like the perfect time for the European première of a reworked musical that features compositions from the pens of both Stephen Schwartz and Lin-Manuel Miranda, as well as many others. It continues Southwark Playhouse's varied season, hot on the heels of The Cardinal.

Completing the cast of the European Premiere of WORKING at Southwark Playhouse are six young performers all making their professional debuts.

???????Gillian Bevan, Dean Chisnall, Krysten Cummings, Siubhan Harrison, Peter Polycarpou and Liam Tamne will lead the cast of the European Premiere of WORKING.

The Lyric Hammersmith has announced its new season running May 2017 to January 2018 including three major new productions: a UK premiere, a new adaptation of a classic and the return of the now traditional Lyric pantomime.

It's ironic that this first production of The Ustinov Studio's German season should be concerned with that most British of subjects- class. British theatre has a rich history of playwrights poking our sensitivities about guilt, entitlement and shame. Marius von Mayenburg's Plastic does it with wit, ingenuity…and a mud-slinging machine (no, that's not a metaphor).  

The Lyric Hammersmith today announces full casting for its Christmas show, Aladdin. The Lyric's annual panto returns when Aladdin flies into Hammersmith on his magic carpet for some festive fun in true Lyric style. Fresh for 2016, the show will be full of colourful characters, live music, lots of laughs and of course the magical Genie.

Royal & Derngate's Made in Northampton 2015 season starts in April with the sweeping epic, Cyrano de Bergerac. Directed by Lorne Campbell, Anthony Burgess' translation of Edmund Rostand's classic play is a co-production with Northern Stage, and takes to the Royal stage in Northampton from Friday 3 April, transferring to Newcastle from 29 April.

The Olivier Award-winning Complicite brings the U.S. premiere of Lionboy - the first family production in the company's 31-year history - to The New Victory Theater from January 23 - February 1, 2015. Based on Zizou Corder's bestselling fantasy trilogy for young adults, Lionboy uses inventive storytelling, shadow puppetry, physical theater and aerial acrobatics to tell this dystopian tale.