Judi Dench News

Taylor Swift and Eddie Redmayne are looking back on their screen test for the Les Misérables film, which Swift remembers as a 'nightmare.' During the audition process for the acclaimed 2012 film adaptation of the iconic Boublil and Schönberg musical, Swift was in the running for the roles of Cosette and Éponine.

Twenty one limited-edition prints of acclaimed caricature artist Al Hirschfeld – signed by the iconic stage and screen stars featured in the image – are being auctioned online to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the Al Hirschfeld Foundation, in partnership with Heritage Auctions, the largest collectibles auctioneer in the world.

Eddie Izzard will return to the New York stage this December for six weeks only playing 21 characters in Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, a classic tale of convicts, mystery, friendship, rivalry, unrequited love, revenge, and redemption for six weeks only at The Greenwich House Theater.

PS CLASSICS will release the singular new album December Songs for Voice and Orchestra – performed by Victoria Clark and composed by Maury Yeston – in digital and streaming formats on Friday, November 11.

The full company has been announced for Orlando – joining Emma Corrin, in the title role, are Deborah Findlay (Mrs Grimsditch), Jessica Alade (Virginia, Drunken Tory), Debra Baker (Virginia, Favilla, The Captain), Akuc Bol (Virginia, Euphrosyne, Prue), Lucy Briers (Virginia, Queen Elizabeth, Officer), Richard Cant (Virginia, Harriet, Kitty), Melissa Lowe (Virginia, Drunken Tory), Jodie McNee (Virginia, Marmaduke), Oliver Wickham (Virginia, Clorinda), and Millicent Wong (Virginia, Sasha, Nell).

Cahoots Theatre Company Ltd in association with Jamie Clark Theatre presents the UK premiere of William Humble's play Wodehouse in Wonderland, starring Robert Daws and directed by Robin Herford, on a UK Tour which opens at Malvern Theatres on 26 January 2023.  

Sir Ian McKellen will have a theatre named in his honour. The Ian McKellen Theatre at Saint Stephens in Edinburgh follows his acclaimed season of 'Hamlet', which was seen at the venue by a record-breaking 13,000 theatregoers at the Fringe.

A special Christmas treat: Dame Judi Dench is back in the West End - on stage - in person for three shows only celebrating her incredible career - and Christmas!

Celebrated stars of stage and screen Hayley Mills (Pollyanna, The Parent Trap, Whistle Down the Wind) Paul Nicholas and Rula Lenska star in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, opening at Theatre Royal Brighton from Tuesday 20 September to Saturday 24 September 2022. See a photo of the cast arriving in Brighton here!

The Japan Art Association and Lord Patten of Barnes, Praemium Imperiale's International Advisor in the UK, have announced the recipients of the 2022 Praemium Imperiale Awards.

Written by Hugh Whitemore and directed by Gordon Park, Pack of Lies is based on the true story surrounding the most significant spy operation in 1960s London in the middle of the Cold War, dubbed “The Portland Spy Ring”. 

Casting has been announced for the UK and Ireland tour of Bartlett Sher's critically acclaimed and multi award-winning production of Lerner & Loewe's much loved MY FAIR LADY, which comes to Birmingham Hippodrome from Wednesday 8 March – Sunday 26 March 2023.

The Michael Grandage Company announced that their production of Orlando opens at the Garrick Theatre on 5 December 2022, with previews from 25 November, and runs until 25 February 2023. 

Former lead singer of The Stranglers (1990 – 2006), songwriter and actor Paul Roberts, and renowned West End singer, actor, choreographer and resident director Miranda Wilford, alongside a swinging trio of musicians, are bringing their nostalgic and toe-tapping sell-out show back to London for the first time in over 10 years, as they feature the world's greatest music and lyrics of legendary songwriters at the Crazy Coqs in London, from August 22nd.

The full cast has been announced for Deborah Moggach's The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which opens at Richmond Theatre on Monday 5th  September 2022.

The Green Room 42 has announced their August line-up for in-person cabaret performances. L

Andy de la Tour (Plenty, Notting Hill), Marlene Sidaway (ITV’s Coronation Street, BBC 1’s Pride and Prejudice) and Rekha John-Cheriyan (Kerbs, Tomb Raider, Dream Horse) will join the cast of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel when it begins its first-ever tour this Autumn, coming to Theatre Royal Brighton from Tuesday 20 to Saturday 24 September 2022.

The Board of Trustees of Barrington Stage Company have announced that Alan Paul as the company's new Artistic Director. Paul, who is currently the Associate Artistic Director of the Tony Award-winning Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC, will succeed Julianne Boyd, BSC co-founder and Artistic Director, who is retiring at the end of the 2022 season after leading the company for 27 years.

The Michael Grandage Company has announced that Emma Corrin will return to the London stage as the title role in Orlando, from the novel by Virginia Woolf in a new version by Neil Bartlett. Michael Grandage directs, reuniting him with Corrin, following their recent collaboration on the feature film My Policeman for Amazon.

Whether you want to direct in a community theatre setting or be the next hit Broadway director, every directing student must have a strong educational foundation. While learning from experience is always beneficial, there is nothing wrong with taking direction (no pun intended!) from the directing pros. Here are the top five directing books that every directing student should read at least once in their life!