Second, there’s a new musical on the horizon. A Chorus Line opens at the London Palladium next year: the first London revival of the show ever. Featuring the iconic songs One (Singular Sensations), What I Did For Love, I Can Do That and Hope I Get It, the Olivier Award-winning musical is the story of 17 dancers auditioning for a Broadway show. It’ll play a limited season from 2 February (press night 19 February) to 29 June.

London Cast News

• Janie Dee will lead the cast of NSFW at the Royal Court, Lucy Kirkwood’s debut play opening in late October
• Tricycle season regular Simon Chandler and Charlotte Lucas (last seen in Posh) are among the cast joining Adrian Lester in Red Velvet at the Tricycle theatre
• West End star Oliver Tompsett is swapping one rocking West End musical for another as he’s leaving Rock Of Ages to join We Will Rock You in October
• Conleth Hill, Will Keen, Felicity Montagu and Malcolm Sinclair will join the previously announced Rowan Atkinson in Quartermaine’s Terms at Wyndham’s Theatre
• Damian Humbley, Jenna Russell and Mark Umbers return to the Menier Chocolate Factory this winter to star in Maria Friedman’s forthcoming production of Merrily We Roll Along

London Shows Extending

• Chariots of Fire has extended its West End run at the Gielgud Theatre until 2 February 2013
• Top Hat has extended its booking period at the Aldwych Theatre until 28 September 2013
• Matilda is now booking at the Cambridge theatre until 22 December 2013

Christmas is not Christmas without a family trip to the theatre. And this year there’s only one show in town.  Well… that’s not strictly true, but you catch my drift. It’s hard not to gush about Matilda The Musical, which has just opened at the Cambridge Theatre and will hopefully become a permanent fixture in London’s West End.

The Royal Shakespeare Company has dusted down Roald Dahl’s much-loved children’s classic and given it an all-singing, all-dancing makeover.

The play opens with a chorus of children boasting that “My mummy says I’m a miracle”. A million miles from those proud parents is ballroom dancer Mrs Wormwood, who, to her dismay, has just discovered she is pregnant – and nine months gone at that.

Her husband, a brash wheeler dealer (played by comedian Paul Kaye), is rather more upbeat about Matilda’s arrival, until he discovers she’s a girl. The uncouth pair adopt a peculiar style of parenting; ignoring and teasing their daughter in equal measure.

But despite their best efforts to get her to stop reading and watch more telly, Matilda turns out to be a bookworm extraordinaire. The little girl, played by one of four very talented young actresses, seeks solace in a kindly librarian and her sensitive teacher, Miss Honey. There is no doubt that Matilda (ours was played by 11-year-old Cleo Demetriou) is the star of the show. Her powerful voice and fine acting suggest a lengthy career lies ahead.

That said, it is the humour that makes this such a success and that is thanks to writer Dennis Kelly and musical comedian Tim Minchin, who wrote the score and lyrics for the play.  There’s a laugh a minute when Matilda’s crude, uncaring parents are on stage, but it is actor Bertie Carvel who steals the show as the evil headmistress, Miss Trunchbull.

Carvel’s hilarious depiction of the one-time Olympic hammer thrower is comedy genius. With her high-pitched voice and uber-padded outfits, Miss Trunchbull is like an extreme kickass pantomime dame. Though a little fearsome at first, she soon becomes the villain we love to hate, which explains why Carvel recently won the award for Best Performance in a Musical at the 2011 Theatre Awards UK.

I’m not sure who loved Matilda more – me or my kids. There were a few loud bangs and a couple of split-second scary moments, but otherwise their little faces were plastered with huge grins throughout. Whether or not you have children, Matilda is a wonderful show with catchy tunes and a brilliant script so be sure to catch it while you can.

Matilda at the Cambridge Theatre until 12 February 2012. Book tickets

Do you have tickets for Matilda previews? Then you may be contacted by the RSC to rearrange your dates: the first five previews have been cancelled, and opening night has been rescheduled for 24 November. Executive Producer Andre Ptaszynski explains the delay:

“Matilda has a cast made up of three different teams of young actors and four young actresses in the title role. This means that, unlike other shows, we cannot extend everyone’s working hours, take shortcuts and reduce the number of dress rehearsals to meet the date of the first preview.”

The other big news this week comes from Shakespeare’s Globe. I was lucky enough to head down there this week to find out all about their incredible Globe to Globe season. Artistic Director Dominic Dromgoole was as inspiring as ever with his tales of far-off places desperate to perform at what’s become the world’s “temple to Shakespeare”. There’s not enough space to tell you about all of it here, but check out their incredible website to whet your appetites. Tickets go on general sale on 17 October. See you there!

This Week’s Cast News:

• American actor Kyle Soller is joining David Suchet and Laurie Metcalf in Long Day’s Journey Into Night at the Apollo Theatre from April next year
• Lauren Samuels who you’ll recognise as one of the Over The Rainbow runners-up and more recently as Sandy in Grease, is transferring to the cast of We Will Rock You from 10 October, alongside Alasdair Harvey and Wayne Robinson
• Tom Bateman, Sonya Cassidyke, Rory Fleck-Byrne and James Norton are all joining the cast of The Lion in Winter at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Previously announced stars include Robert Lindsay and Joanna Lumley.
• Olivier Award-winner Antony Sher will star in two National Theatre productions next year: Travelling Light by Nicholas Wright and The Captain of Köpenick by Carl Zuckmayer.

Firstly: we knew it was coming… we just didn’t know when! But now, it’s finally been announced: the London transfer of the hit musical Matilda is coming to the Cambridge Theatre on 22 November (previews from 18 October).

That means the record-breaking Chicago (14 years and counting!) will be booted out of the venue, but I’ve got every confidence they’ll find another home for their fishnets and jazz-hands soon.

Matilda, meanwhile, will retain much of its cast from the award-winning Stratford run, including London stage regular Bertie Carvel as child-hating headmistress Miss Trunchbull, and Paul Kaye and Josie Walker as Matilda’s parents Mr and Mrs Wormwood. Tickets go on sale this weekend for performances up until 12 February – get booking now!

I’ve got great casting news for you this week: so many great names are stepping up to put on a show in London, it’s a really exciting time.

• Miranda Raison is returning to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in July. She’ll play the lead in Anne Boleyn a new play by Howard Brenton  which sold out last year. (I saw the show, and thoroughly recommend it.)
• EastEnder Phil Daniels is joining the cast of The Beggar’s Opera at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. If you’re not a soap fan, you might know Daniels from the film Quadrophenia, TV series Holding On and Rock & Chips, and as the famous voice in Blur’s 1994 hit Parklife.
• Romola Garai, who’s been all over our TV screens in period adaptations recently (Emma, The Crimson Petal and The White) is to appear at the Royal Court this summer. She’ll star alongside Alexandra Gilbreath and Nicholas Burns (Nathan Barley to you and me) in The Village Bike, a darkly comic, provocative new play by Penelope Skinner.
• It’s a case of “Here I Go Again” for West End regular, Sally Ann Triplett. She’s heading back to Mamma Mia! after a two-year absence to play leading lady Donna Sheridan.
• Finally, star of stage and screen Michael Feast is joining the cast of Pygmalion on Monday, replacing Simon Ward, who’s contracted a viral infection. Feast joins Rupert Everett, Kara Tointon and Diana Rigg in the hotly-anticipated new production of George Bernard Shaw’s classic.

Let us know in the comments what you’ve seen and enjoyed in London’s theatres this week…

Spooks and Shakespeare fans will be pleased to hear the gorgeous Miranda Raison is going to be onstage in London this summer. Miranda, who played Jo Portman in the long-running spy drama, takes on the role of Anne Boleyn in two different productions at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. She’ll be playing the doomed queen in both Shakespeare’s rarely performed Henry VIII and a new play called Anne Boleyn by Howard Brenton.

Another TV star headed for the London stage is Emma Barton (Honey Mitchell in EastEnders to you and me), who’s appearing as Roxie Hart in Chicago at the end of the month. The former EastEnder moves to the West End’s Cambridge Theatre from 26 April, and she’s joined by Vivien Carter as Velma Kelly.

And there’s news from the lovely Riverside Studios in Hammersmith: a Howard Barker Festival celebrates the “theatre of catastrophe” writer later this month. Hurts Given and Received and Slowly are playing from 29 April and 1 May respectively: you can see both on one evening for £22. Then, on 2 May, there’ll be a rehearsed reading of Barker’s newest play Wonder and Worship in the Dying Ward. It’ll probably be tough viewing, but compelling nonetheless!

On a lighter note, the team here are off to see London’s new production of Hair! tonight. We’ll drop you a line about it very soon…