The 20th annual WhatsOnStage Awards take place on 1 March at the Prince of Wales Theatre, hosted by Jodie Prenger and Tom Read Wilson, and for the first time this year will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 2 hosted by Elaine Paige and Ken Bruce. Additional award presenters will be announce shortly.
In 2019, I reviewed 30 shows for BroadwayWorld, but I actually wrote more interviews - around 50 articles on my count. Here's my attempt to pick out some highlights alongside the other pieces of theatre I saw this year.
We're feeling the Christmas cheer, so we wanted to bring you some amazing deals for London's top shows. All of these productions start at just £20 in our Unbeatable Boxing Day Sale. Great shows at great prices: it's your ticket to the best of London theatre. Merry Christmas, and happy theatregoing!
Gemma Dobson is currently making her West End debut in A Taste of Honey alongside Jodie Prenger at the Trafalgar Studios. We caught up with Gemma to chat about her career so far and her role in the play.
Shelagh Delaney's A Taste of Honey has returned to the West End for the first time in 60 years following a successful 2014 run at the National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre and a UK tour.
Last night' was the opening night of A Taste of Honey at Trafalgar Studios, followed by a party at Jack Solomons. Celebrities including Dame Vivienne Westwood, Alison Steadman, Neil Morrisey, Dame Kelly Holmes, Bruno Tonioli and John Partridge joined actor Jodie Prenger (who plays Helen) and the cast to celebrate the opening of Shelagh Delaney's era-defining play, which returns to the West End after 60 years.
Bijan Sheibani's (Barber Shop Chronicles, The Arrival) production of A Taste of Honey returns to the West End for the first time in 60 years this week, opening on Thursday at Trafalgar Studios. The remarkable taboo-breaking 1950s play written by Shelagh Delaney when she was just 19 will play a limited 12-week run in a co-production with Trafalgar Theatre Productions, with a press night on Monday 9 December.
London is never short of temptations, whether splashy West End shows, epic dramas or bold fringe offerings. From a starry revival to musical comedies and an incendiary Pulitzer winner, here are some of this month's most eye-catching openings. Don't forget to check back for BroadwayWorld's reviews, interviews and features!
Jodie Prenger will host this year's UK Theatre Awards, which take place on Sunday 27 October at London's Guildhall. The Blackpool-born actor has spent 2019 touring the UK in a succession of hit productions including Abigail's Party and Annie, and is currently starring in the tour of the National Theatre's production of A Taste Of Honey, which transfers to the West End in December.
Shelagh Delaney was known for putting working class women centre-stage. It is remarkable to think that she was only 19 when she penned A Taste Of Honey, a bleak depiction of working class life in post-war Britain where people did not live, but simply tried to exist.
It is even more significant that she was a young, uneducated, Northern woman succeeding in a theatrical world that was run for and by an educated elite of men. The National Theatre's excellent 2014 version now returns for a national tour before transferring to the Trafalgar Studios next year.
When her mother Helen runs off with a car salesman, feisty teenager Jo takes up with Jimmy, a sailor who promises to marry her, before he heads for the seas. Art student Geoff moves in and assumes the role of surrogate parent until, misguidedly, he sends for Helen and their unconventional setup unravels.
The National Theatre today announced that Bijan Sheibani's (Barber Shop Chronicles, Dance Nation) production of A Taste of Honey, the remarkable taboo-breaking 1950s play written by Shelagh Delaney when she was just 19, will transfer to the West End immediately following a nine-week UK tour. A Taste of Honey will play a limited 12-week run at Trafalgar Studios from 5 December in a co-production with Trafalgar Theatre Productions, with an opening night on Monday 9 December. Tickets will go on sale to the general public from 11 October.