Twelve Days of Christmas: Day #7

On the eve of 2011 it seems fitting to take a sneak peek at some of the theatre there is to look forward to in the next twelve months. This year has offered us yet more Hamlets in the form of John Simm and Rory Kinnear, the 25^th anniversary celebrations of the seemingly immortal Les Miserables, Judi Dench’s hotly anticipated return to the role of Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the shaggy, psychedelic Broadway import of Hair, and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s long awaited Phantom sequel, Love Never Dies – or Paint Never Dries as the West End Whingers famously dubbed it.

So a New Year brings new theatre. Or perhaps, as it happens, not so new. In the musical theatre world there is a noticeable lack of originality, with the main feature of the 2011 openings being the film adaptation. Firstly we have the musical version of Shrek, transferring from Broadway and starring Nigel Lindsay, Nigel Harman and Amanda Holden. Another major opening is Betty Blue Eyes, touted as Cameron Mackintosh’s first original musical in over ten years, yet this is based on the Alan Bennett scripted film A Private Function.  To complete the movie triumvirate, Ghost the Musical opens at the Piccadilly Theatre next summer.

This last show is my 2011 musical to watch. Ghost looks set to be a theatrical extravaganza with technical ambitions to rival the infamous logistics of Phantom, with plans for what should be some truly breathtaking visual illusions from expert illusionist Paul Kieve. Meeting the expectations of scores of devoted fans – and staging that clay sculpting scene – will prove a challenge but it is one that the creative team seem to be rising to. Unlike the unsatisfying carbon copy of Dirty Dancing, the theatrical Ghost experience will be a new and different take on the film according to writer Bruce Joel Rubin.

With the song writing team of Glen Ballard and The Eurythmics' Dave Stewart on board, the score promises to be fresh and exciting and the tunes previewed at the press launch have certainly whetted the appetite. What’s more, the beautifully soulful Caissie Levy, fresh out of Hair, has been cast in the lead role of Molly. For those who remember her heartbreaking rendition of ‘Easy to be Hard’, Levy’s voice alone should make the show worth a visit. Here is a little snippet from the launch to tide you over until Ghost opens in June:

Elsewhere, the plays coming up in the next few months look promising. The Donmar Warehouse brings us the first major London revival of Harold Pinter's 1993 play Moonlight, opening in April, and in the summer Felicity Jones will star in a new version of Schiller's Luise Miller, directed by Michael Grandage. Simon Stephens will be returning to the Royal Court with a new three-parter entitled Wastwater, which is to be directed by Katie Mitchell. My only experience of Stephens' work is Punk Rock, which appeared at the Lyric Hammersmith in 2009 and recently returned for a brief run preceding a national tour, but if this exciting, edge-of-your-seat play was anything to go by then Wastwater could be one to look out for.

There has been considerable buzz surrounding Keira Knightley's return to the stage in Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour, following her West End debut last year in The Misanthrope. The starry production at the Comedy Theatre has a cast including Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss and American stars Ellen Burstyn and Carol Kane and is set to open in February. Other big names grace the stage at the Old Vic, with Anne-Marie Duff starring in Thea Sharrock's revival of Terrence Rattigan's Cause Célèbre and artistic director Kevin Spacey taking on the title role in Richard III for the final season of the Bridge Project, reuniting him with American Beauty director Sam Mendes. Big names do not necessarily mean brilliant productions, but the lure of famous actors can only be good for London's theatre and such plays may prove to be rare chances to see these stars tread the boards.

Eclipsing all of this, however (at least in my opinion), is the National Theatre's production of a new stage adaptation of Mary Shelley's Gothic novel Frankenstein. The new adaptation by Nick Dear comes to the Olivier Theatre in February, with a mouth-watering cast and creative team. Director Danny Boyle, of Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire fame, returns to the theatre for this exciting project and Jonny Lee Miller and the wonderful Benedict Cumberbatch will take on the two leads of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature, but with an enticing twist. Miller and Cumberbatch are set to alternate roles in what looks to be an intriguing move - and possibly an extremely clever marketing ploy. Here is Cumberbatch speaking about the play at the Evening Standard Awards:



This is of course only a very limited selection of the theatrical treats on offer in 2011. There is also a promising season coming up from the Royal Shakespeare Company, a star-studded revival of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit at the Apollo Theatre, the UK premiere of Broadway hit The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (some refreshing originality on the musical theatre scene) and Andrew Lloyd Webber's revival of The Wizard of Oz with Over the Rainbow winner Danielle Hope. For those feeling the strain on the purse strings with all this theatre on the way, Get Into London Theatre are offering discounted tickets to all major productions throughout January and February, and under 26s can continue to get £5 tickets to all National Theatre productions through the Entry Pass scheme.

What are you looking forward to in the next twelve months? Leave a comment with what you think will be the theatre highlights of 2011. A very happy New Year to you all!