Closer - 2022 - West End Articles Page 2

For me, the message of this play is that family is the most important thing. Having, keeping, and surviving those family ties and those memories.

What’s more satisfying than watching six wronged women reclaim their power? Watching them do it in rhinestone corsets, backed by a thunderous girl band and enough LED lighting to short-circuit Times Square. SIX, the British import that’s barreled from university revue to Broadway headliner like a sugar-rushed Spice Girls revival, is a history class... if the lessons were taught in stilettos and unapologetic girl-group glory.

Performances are now underway for  CATS: The Jellicle Ball, which begins preview performances Wednesday, March 18 at the Broadhurst Theatre ahead of a Wednesday, April 7 opening night. Meet the cast here!

GRAMMY Award-winning organist Paul Jacobs will join the Cleveland Orchestra for a series of performances featuring POULENC’S ORGAN CONCERTO. Scheduled for April 2026, these concerts mark a notable return of Jacobs, who is renowned for his mastery in organ music. The event promises to showcase his exceptional skills alongside one of the most respected orchestras in the world, offering audiences a profound musical experience.

Running from 7-30 August 2026, this year's Edinburgh International Festival will present 24 days of world-class performances selected for their artistic and cultural resonance across opera, theatre, music and dance.  

City Lit Theater has revealed programming for the 2026–27 season. The four-play season will include one world premiere adaptation, two world premieres of new plays, and a new staging of August Wilson’s King Hedley II.

Three talented high school seniors from Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach have received Palm Beach Symphony's 2026 Lisa Bruna B-Major Award. Violinist Michael Li was awarded first place, pianist Josefina Ezcurra placed second and violinist Elias Cohen placed third.

Next month, 54 Below will present some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond for Women's History Month, including Linda Eder, Kate Baldwin, Jenn Colella and more. 

New casting has been announced for the stage adaptation of Studio Ghibli's My Neighbour Totoro. This March the multi-award winning show also celebrates one year at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in the West End.

It’s… Hairspray! BroadwayWorld is taking a look back at what the cast of this beloved musical has been up to since the show first graced the Broadway stage!

The Young Vic Theatre has announced the casting for CARE, written and directed by internationally-acclaimed writer and director Alexander Zeldin in his Young Vic debut. Learn more here!

Shriver Hall Concert Series will continue its 60th anniversary and 2025-26 concert season this March with performances by the Isidore String Quartet with pianist Jeremy Denk and soprano Golda Schultz with pianist Jonathan Ware.

Mad Horse Theatre presents the Maine premiere of The Minutes by Tracy Letts. The production runs from late February through March and is directed by company member Christopher Price.

Complete casting has been announced for CATS: The Jellicle Ball at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 West 44th Street) coming to Broadway this Spring. Learn more about the full cast here!

FROM EAST, LIKE THE SUN is a multi-generational drama, a mystery, a comedy, a coming-of-age story, a social commentary and a completely captivating experience. It explores themes of stability, opportunity, other-ness, connection and growth in a fresh way that feels completely natural and heart-wrenchingly honest. The real-people characters navigate emotional and physical obstacles that they often aren’t able to completely articulate, even to themselves.

In a non-verbal mime show combining hand puppetry, physical comedy, and a simple blackboard, Double Take weaves together eight short stories that invite audiences to look closer, think again, and delight in the unexpected at Adelaide Fringe.

One of the most effective things the musical gains by moving from page to screen to stage is permission to reframe the story without betraying it. By leaning harder into the Curtis brothers as the emotional spine, the musical clarifies a distinction that’s always been present in the text but rarely foregrounded this explicitly: Darry, Soda, and Ponyboy are family by blood, bound by obligation and grief; while the Greasers are family by choice, bound by loyalty and survival.

The biggest issues with the musical adaptation of 'Water for Elephants' is that it doesn’t seem to know what it’s trying to be, and the choreographic and performance talent in this tour would be better served by stronger material.

“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” took on a new meaning in Vancouver this week as MJ THE MUSICAL debuted at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Tuesday for its opening night. The touring production arrived with sharp focus on the making of the 1992 Dangerous World Tour, showing how Michael Jackson (or MJ) shaped every beat and detail.

The Actors' Gang is presenting the World Premiere of Children of the Winter Kingdom – The Bonkers Adventures of Holly and Spruce, an original family-friendly fantasy fairy tale for the theater written by Adam Dugas and Mary Eileen O’Donnell and directed by Dugas for a limited three-week engagement from December 4 to 20 at the Actors’ Gang in Culver City.

On November 4, ahead of its Competition screening at the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival, the stage greeting for the film “Blonde” (scheduled for release on November 21) was held with lead actor Takanori Iwata, co-stars Tamaki Shiratori, Maho Yamada, Kentaro Tamura, Chika Uchida, and director Yuichiro Sakashita in attendance.

The Fall 2025 season is in full swing, and with it, comes new plays for theatre lovers of all kinds. Whether you live for intense dramas or would rather escape with zaney comedies, there's something for everyone both on and off-Broadway in Winter 2025/26.

The new cast members for the 2026 UK tour of the critically acclaimed, smash hit, supernatural thriller 2:22 A GHOST STORY have been announced, coming to Wolverhampton Grand Theatre in 2026.

Joining Emmy and Tony Award-winner Billy Crudup and Olivier Award-winner Denise Gough are Billy Howle, Rosa Salazar, Simon Chandler, James Doherty, Misha Handley, Joshua Hill, Jonah Russell, Rebecca Lee and Tim Steed.

Lost love is revisited when Helen and Mark reunite to catch up on old times. Is there still a spark? Have their separate paths finally aligned? Are the things that drove them apart still an obstacle? A charming, thoughtful, and outright funny new play that just may help us find common ground in a divided world.