The National Theatre News

Due to popular demand, The Story Theatre has announced one additional week of performances for its new production of At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen.

Phillip Boykin will rejoin the cast of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical as ‘Hades’ and current ensemble member KC Dela Cruz will take over the role of ‘Eurydice,’ in Hadestown on Broadway. Learn more about the cast here!

This week we look at potential shifts in arts funding on a national level, exciting leadership changes at Queens Theatre and Kansas City Rep, and a look at both the celebratory reopening of a beloved New York venue and the charitable spirit of the Broadway community. We also examine efforts towards accessibility in regional theatre and confront the challenges of rising costs impacting the UK theatre scene, alongside a rather unusual incident of theatrical theft in Scotland.

Rise and shine, BroadwayWorld! It is April 18, 2025 and it's time to catch up on all of the theatrical happenings you may have missed in the last 24 hours.

Audiences are invited to step into a story of epic proportions with “The Odyssey Experience.” After touring across the Southeast, Children's Theatre of Charlotte's Resident Touring Company returns home to present a bold retelling of Homer's “The Odyssey”—where the audience plays a starring role.

The National Theatre in London has cancelled the first two preview performances of Stephen Sondheim's Here We Are. The theatre's website notes the cancellation but no reason is cited.

Dundee audiences can look forward to seeing Brian Cox make a return to the city in an epic new production at the Dundee Rep Theatre, with tickets now on-sale for the show's limited summer run. 

Photographer and performer Benji Reid's Find Your Eyes will come to London's new cultural heart in the Olympic Park at Sadler's Wells East in June. Learn more here!

The number of new productions staged by the UK’s top subsidised theatre companies has dropped by nearly a third over the past decade. In 2024, the 40 best-funded producing theatres—including the National Theatre and Colchester Mercury—opened 229 new shows, down from 332 in 2014.

West End stars Rosalie Craig, Natalie May Paris, & Maiya Quansah-Breed will join Hadley Fraser at his first ever solo concert at Cadogan Hall this June.

Anthology Theatre has announced the full cast for the London premiere of Tim Firth's Award-winning musical This Is My Family. Learn more about the upcoming production here.

It's an age-old showbiz adage—never work with children or animals. But here that advice is thrown out as the luminaries of the show are a plucky pixie adorned with bright red hair accompanied by a lovable shaggy labradoodle. Hey, in a season of uncertainty, a little schmaltz is appreciated.

The Lyric Hammersmith Theatre has released production images for their upcoming production of Ghosts, which runs at the venue until 10 May 2025. Take a look at them here!

The National Theatre is launching a new partnership with Bank of America for skills training in the creative industries. Learn more about the development training here!

This week's newsletter examines key trends shaping the theatre world, beginning with an Actors' Equity report revealing increased contracts for actors of color alongside a decline for women. We then explore how social media is transforming dance, impacting both individual artists and established companies. Regionally, we celebrate the Pasadena Playhouse's regained control of its building and address community concerns over cuts to San Francisco's Dream Keeper Initiative, while also highlighting the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards. Internationally, we compare West End and Broadway attendance figures and address the UK's growing need for backstage professionals due to declining school drama programs.

The HBO Harry Potter series has confirmed the casting of John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, and Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid.

Miss Myrtle's Garden will open at the Bush Theatre, London next month.  This world premiere production, written by Danny James King, is directed by Bush Theatre's Artistic Director, Taio Lawson.

In Burnt Toast, experimental Norwegian theatre collective Susie Wang blend reality and surreal horror in an 85-minute-long theatrical production that is set to make its UK premiere in Battersea Arts Centre's Grand Hall.

Looking at the rise and fall of two powerful Chinese women through the vague lens of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House probably sounded good on paper. It’s a shame then that Shanghai Dolls fails to deliver on almost every front.

Hypnotic show transports even Boomers like me to happier times