LATEST NEWS – 5th October 2026

• São Paulo Dance Company – following its triumphant 2024 UK and Ireland debut, the company will embark on a second Dance Consortium tour in 2027. The company brings a new programme, Brazilian Perspectives, a triple bill of work by three female choreographers, Leilane Teles and Lili de Grammont, both giving UK and Ireland premieres, and Cassi Abranches, whose Agora went down a storm with audiences in 2024. The colourful and flirtatious Agora, opens the evening. Next will be dancer and choreographer Leilane Teles’ Umbó, made for São Paulo Dance Company in 2023. In a ritual of inspiration and desire, Teles takes the rhythmic textures of Afro-Brazilian traditions and blends them with evocative vocals from singer/songwriter Tiganá Santana and singer Virginia Rodrigues to create something uniquely her own. The final piece will be EST.AÇÃO (Station), Lili de Grammont’s second work for the company. Dance Consortium is a group of 23 large-scale venues based across the UK and Ireland set up in 2000 to engage audiences with the best contemporary dance from across the world. The tour will open on 5th February 2027 at BIRMINGHAM Hippodrome, before moving on to Eden Court INVERNESS, EDINBURGH King’s Theatre, ABERDEEN His Majesty’s Theatre, SALFORD Lowry, LONDON Sadler’s Wells Theatre, NEWCASTLE Theatre Royal, NORWICH Theatre Royal, BRADFORD Alhambra Theatre, CANTERBURY The Marlow Theatre, SOUTHAMPTON Mayflower Theatre and PLYMOUTH Theatre Royal.
• Side by Side by Sondheim – will be revived at Upstairs at the Gatehouse from 10 December 2026 until 17 January 2027. The musical revue, which premiered in the West End in 1976, features numbers from the likes of West Side Story, Gypsy, Company, Follies, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and A Little Night Music. The 50th anniversary production will be helmed by Amanda Noar, alongside associate director and dramaturg Isaac Bernier-Doyle, and musical director Harry Style. The creative team also includes set designer Ruby Boswell-Green, lighting designer Simon Jackson and costume designer Hannah Danson. Produced by Annlouise Butt by arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe), the cast will comprise a quartet of “all-singing, all-dancing, all piano-playing performers” and will be announced shortly.
• In Pieces – will have its fully staged world premiere at The Other Palace where it will run from 6 to 14 February 2027. The show, by Joey Contreras, was first seen in the UK in a concert run at the same venue earlier this year. Described as a love story about the people you don’t end up with, In Pieces follows the romantic journeys of six characters across three chapters of their lives. Martha Geelan is returning to direct. The creative team also comprises Sam Wilson Freeman as choreographer, Brian Russell Carey as music supervisor, and Harry Blumenau as casting director. The piece is produced by Andrew Patino and Jacob Stuckelman of Regular People and Rebecca Gwyther of RJG Productions. The production marks the next stage for the musical, following multiple sold-out performances, including appearances at New York City’s Joe’s Pub, as well as a digital live-capture and a deluxe highlights album released by Broadway Records.
• Gianni Schicchi (or Where There’s A Will) – will be a key element when OperaUpClose take up residency at London’s 2027 Park200 season from 14 April to 8 May. The 65-minute production, rewritten by Hannah Kumari and re-orchestrated by Vahan Salorian, transforms Puccini’s classic opera into a comic murder mystery. Directed by PJ Harris, the piece is designed by Anna Yates, and is co-produced with Mayflower Southampton where it premiered in March this year.
• Dinnerladies – a new stage adaptation of Victoria Wood’s sitcom is the first piece of Wood’s work to be commissioned by the Victoria Wood estate. It will be presented in association with Phil McIntyre Live and Sustainable Entertainment, having been adapted for the stage by Beth and Emma Kilcoyne, featuring a storyline inspired by episodes from the original TV sitcom, and directed by Sean Foley. Les Dennis will star as Stan, while Sue Cleaver plays Jean and Karen Henthorn plays Dolly. Amy Drake will perform as Bren. Joining them are Gemma Dobson as Twinkle and Faye Weerasinghe as Anite, with Jimmy Fairhurst as Tony, Josie Brightwell as Petula, Rachel Marwood as Jane and Rachel Pickup as Philippa. Completing the ensemble is Sarah Dearlove, Alex Frost, Matthew Gordon, Angela Heenan and Tyne Pearson. The original comedy aired between 1998 and 2000, consisting of 16 episodes in total. Winning a British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy in 2000, the sitcom was set in the canteen of fictional Manchester factory HWD Components, and followed the lives, friendships and workplace tribulations of the staff and regulars who gathered there every day. The stage adaptation will debut at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley (22 and 23 January 2027), before heading to Manchester, Llandudno, Bath, York, Birmingham, Stockton, Milton Keynes, Eastbourne, Blackpool, Cardiff, Hull, Nottingham, Wimbledon, Ipswich, Torquay, Truro, Bournemouth, Northampton, Stoke, Guildford, Canterbury, Leeds, Wolverhampton, Liverpool, Reading, Sheffield, and culminating in Southend (3 to 7 August 2027).
• Cats – the new touring production which opens this week at Theatre Royal, Plymouth has announced the performers who will play Grizabella – Louise Dearman, Alice Fearn and Rachael Wooding will share the role of Grizabella. Wooding played the role during the show’s Regent’s Park run. The production, presented by Michael Harrison for Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals, follows the record-breaking run of the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre revival, directed and choreographed by Drew McOnie. Dearman is scheduled to appear in Plymouth, Birmingham, Bristol, Norwich, and Edinburgh. Fearn will play Grizabella in Llandudno, Glasgow, Nottingham, Canterbury, Sunderland, Aberdeen, Belfast, Dublin, Oxford, Southampton, Bradford, Liverpool, Woking, Cardiff, Milton Keynes, and Newcastle. Wooding reprises the role in Hull and Manchester.
• Little Dancer – following concert presentations at Theatre Royal Drury Lane last year, the new musical is set to receive its fully staged West End premiere in 2027 at Theatre Royal Haymarket from 15 February until 27 March 2027. Based on the story of the young ballerina who posed for Edgar Degas’ sculpture, the piece is written by the Olivier and Tony Award-winning team of Lynn Ahrens (book and lyrics) and Stephen Flaherty (music), whose previous works include the likes of Ragtime, Anastasia, and Once on This Island. Five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (Crazy for You) will once again direct and choreograph the musical, having helmed the concert production last year, and returning cast members include Emmy Award winner and Olivier Award nominee Tiler Peck (Tiny Pretty Things) as Young Marie van Goethem, Julian Ovenden as Edgar Degas, Laura Pitt-Pulford as Adult Marie, and Josefina Gabrielle as Martine. The creative team also includes set designer Beowulf Boritt, lighting designer Ken Billington, costume designer William Ivey Long, sound designer Kai Harada and casting director Jill Green. Orchestrations are by Doug Besterman and Larry Hochman, while music supervision and dance arrangements are provided by Sam Davis. The show is produced by Anita Waxman, alongside Jana Shea, Patricia R Klausner, Sharon A Carr, Iwan Lewis (UK executive producer), Emily Blavatnik, and Danny Cohen, with general management by Short Street Productions Ltd.
• Dirty Dancing – will return to the West End early next year at the Prince Edward Theatre from 19 January 2027 for a limited season, until 24 April. Dirty Dancing received its West End premiere at the Aldwych Theatre in 2006, where it ran for five years. It has since gone on to tour the world and returned to the West End in 2013, playing at the Piccadilly Theatre. It then returned again to the Phoenix Theatre in 2016, and had runs at the Dominion Theatre in 2022 and 2023. Michael O’Reilly returns as Johnny Castle. He will lead the company alongside Pippa Jackson as Baby Houseman and Emily Layden-Fritz as Penny Johnson. Produced by Karl Sydow, in association with Lionsgate and Magic Hour Productions, the stage production is written by Eleanor Bergstein, screenwriter of the 1987 film. The creative team features director and set designer Federico Bellone, choreographer Austin Wilks, music supervisor Richard John, lighting designer Valerio Tiberi, sound designer Chris Whybrow, associate director Juliet Gough, costume designer Jennifer Irwin, casting director Harry Blumenau, and production manager Pete Kramer. The associate producer is Russ Spencer, the co-producer is Ivan Mactaggart with general management by New Road Theatricals.
• The Radium Girls – a new musical, will receive its world premiere at Southwark Playhouse Borough where it will run from 20 March to 8 May 2027. Inspired by the real-life experiences of women on the factory frontlines in the 1920s, it follows ambitious teenager Olive and her friends as they land jobs painting glowing watch dials at New Jersey’s United States Radium Corporation. The show has music and book by Amanda D’Archangelis, and lyrics and book by Sami Horneff and Lisa Mongillo. It is described as a “horror-laced” musical comedy. Marissa Jaret Winokur, best known perhaps as Broadway’s original Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray, will direct. Chadd McMillan serves as associate director and Jonathan Bauerfeld is the orchestrator, whilst Rebecca Reaney choreographs the show. The team is completed by casting director Harry Blumenau, executive producer RJG Productions and general manager HFH Productions. The show is produced by High Octave Productions and supported by co-producers Stubbs and Saul Productions.
• Grease – the new tour will feature Debbie McGee in the cast in the role of Miss Lynch in the musical. McGee, who trained at the Royal Ballet School and rose to fame as the assistant of popular magician Paul Daniels in the 1980s. She became one of the first female magician members of The Magic Circle. Nikolai Foster once again directs the teen musical, penned by Jim Jacobs and Warrey Casey, alongside Arlene Phillips who once again choreographs the production. The creative team also includes designer Colin Richmond, orchestrator and musical supervisor Sarah Travis, lighting designer Ben Cracknell, sound designers Tom Marshall and Richard Brooker and casting director David Grindrod.
• Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard – will form the first part of The Octagon Theatre in Bolton’s 60th anniversary season. The theatre was conceived by five students and their drama lecturer Robin Pemberton-Billing. The Octagon opened to the public in November 1967 as a producing theatre with a fully flexible performance space. Artistic director Lotte Wakeham directs a new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical which will be performed by a company of actor-musicians. The production is a co-production between the Octagon Theatre Bolton, Royal and Derngate Northampton and York Theatre Royal, and runs from 2 April to 1 May 2027