Hick said, “Jane and I had been discussing taking Amy and Meagan to see their first West End show, and we thought Billy Elliot would be perfect. It is a real testimony to how magical this show is that so many people have been through the doors to see it.”

Elsewhere in the West End, Thriller – Live has been celebrating its success with a booking extension: you can now see the musical based on the songs of Michael Jackson at the Lyric Theatre until March 2014.

Ahead of the forthcoming Olivier Awards, there’s been another win for London theatre. Ayad Akhtar’s Disgraced, which opens at the Bush Theatre next month, has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Akhtar’s first ever stage play, Disgraced charts the story of a successful corporate lawyer who is about to land the promotion of his life. But, as the play progresses, it’s clear that this success has come at a price. Talking about his win, Akhtar said, “It’s tough to put it into words what an honour and privilege it is to receive this award. I think I might be dreaming.”

Finally, two transfers have been announced this week. The Two’s Company production of London Wall, a play about an office manager and his unsolicited advances towards his new teenage typist transfers to the St James Theatre from 7 May. And fast-paced new comedy The Play That Goes Wrong transfers to the Trafalgar Studios from 30 April. It’s presented by Mischief Theatre, a company specialising in comedy writing.

London Theatre Cast News

• Harriet Thorpe returns to Wicked next week to step into the role of Madame Morrible after Louise Plowright had to leave the show due to ill health. Thorpe takes on the role from 22 April to 16 November
• The Wire star Clarke Peters makes his Hampstead Theatre debut in May in David Mamet’s politically charged drama Race
• Broadway star Seth Numrich will make his London stage debut in Sweet Bird of Youth at the Old Vic opposite Kim Cattrall in June
• Anna-Jane Casey joins the cast of hit West End show Billy Elliot next month when the show welcomes a host of new faces including Kevin Wathen, Howard Crossley and Alexander Loxton
• Daniel Radcliffe will be joined by a strong Irish cast for the forthcoming The Cripple Of Inishmaan, including Ingrid Craigie, Pádraic Delaney, Sarah Greene, Gillian Hanna, Gary Lilburn, Conor MacNeill, Pat Shortt and June Watson
• London theatre regular John Light joins Olivier Award-winning actress Michelle Terry in the forthcoming production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe

One of my favourite London theatres, Shakespeare’s Globe has announced details of its forthcoming season. In 2013, there’ll be appearances from Roger Allam as Prospero in The Tempest, alongside Colin Morgan (from Merlin) and Jessie Buckley (from I’d Do Anything). The Tempest plays alongside A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Macbeth; plus there’ll be a new musical Gabriel, a modern play called Blue Stockings and a new take on Euipides’ The Bacchae called The Lightning Child. Three of last year’s astonishing Globe To Globe plays return too: South Africa’s Venus & Adonis, a Georgian production of As You Like It and Belarus Free Theatre’s King Lear, along with Footsbarn’s Indian Tempest. Head to their website to find out more!

Congratulations to Rupert Goold, the acclaimed Artistic Director of the Headlong Theatre Company, who is going to replace Michael Attenborough as Artistic Director of the Almeida Theatre in August. Attenborough steps down after 11 years at the venue; Goold’s first production as leader will be in January 2014. Before that, you can catch the director’s handiwork in the world premiere of the new musical based on Bret Easton Ellis’ best-selling novel American Psycho at the venue in the autumn.

Following the successful Our Country’s Good at the St James Theatre, new play The Thrill Of Love opens next month. Running from 27 March to 4 May, The Thrill Of Love tells the story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in the UK, after she is convicted of murdering her lover David Blakely, and features music by Billie Holiday. The show’s original cast (including Fate Castelow, Hilary Tones, Maya Wasovicz and Katie West) transfers with the production.

London Theatre Cast News:

• Charlie Rowe, who stars as Peter Pan in Sky’s miniseries Neverland, joins Henry Goodman in the Old Vic’s production of The Winslow Boy, opening next month
• Johnny Flynn, Simon Paisley Day and Elizabeth Berrington will feature in the forthcoming production of Bruce Norris’ The Low Road, opening at the Royal Court next month

In other news, the National Theatre’s West End transfer of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has extended its run at the Apollo Theatre by 14 weeks, following huge demand for tickets. It now runs from 1 March to 31 August.

After a sell-out run at the Chichester Festival Theatre, Private Lives is coming to the Gielgud Theatre this summer. Starring Toby Stephens and Anna Chancellor as the divorced couple who fall in love again, this classic Noel Coward comedy is directed by Jonathan Kent and runs from 22 June. Anthony Calf and Anna-Louise Plowman reprise their roles as the pair’s newly hitched and soon-to-be-spurned other halves.

Finally, don’t miss all the excitement building around the Olivier Awards. Firstly, theatre fans are being called on to vote for their favourite long-runner. Then there’s the news that Sheridan Smith (one of my favourite actresses) is going to be hosting the event. And not only is the show being broadcast live on BBC Radio 2, there’ll be highlights on ITV following the ceremony AND a live event for theatre fans in Covent Garden on the night. Put 28 April in your diaries now for a lot of theatrical fun.

London Casting News:

• Mariah Gale, Jamie Parker, Emma Cunniffe and Matthew Marsh will star in Proof at the Menier Chocolate Factory from March
• Jennifer Ellison is donning her wellingtons to join the cast of Singin’ In The Rain next month, when it splashes into its second year at the Palace Theatre
• Olivier Award winner Henry Goodman leads the cast of Lindsay Posner’s forthcoming production of The Winslow Boy at the Old Vic, opening in March
• Singer songwriter Declan Bennett and Croatian actress Zrinka Cvitešić are going to lead the cast of the Tony Award-winning musical Once when it opens at the Phoenix Theatre from 16 March

This does mean there’s space for the excellent Abigail’s Party to transfer from the Menier Chocolate Factory, where it had a sold out run, to the larger Wyndham’s Theatre. Starring Jill Halfpenny, Joe Absolom and Natalie Casey (who’s hilarious), this is a brilliant new version of Mike Leigh’s classic comedy and should continue to make audiences cringe and chortle in equal measure now it’s in the West End.

Other new shows heading to London in the coming weeks are Six Actors In Search Of A Director, a new comedy written and directed by Steven Berkoff at the Charing Cross Theatre from 16 May; and Democracy, Sheffield Theatre’s critically acclaimed production of Michael Frayn’s 2003 hit, at the Old Vic from 15 June.

Finally, have you ever fancied yourself as one of The Beatles? New West End theatrical concert, Let It Be, is running open auditions to find actor-musicians to play the fab four. Head to the Gielgud Theatre on 8 May to show off your talents; successful applicants will join the cast of Let It Be when it opens at the Prince of Wales Theatre in September this year.

London Cast News:

Star of American hit series Smash, Raza Jaffrey is to play the sleazy lawyer Billy Flynn in Chicago from 16 May to 14 July this summer. He’ll then be replaced by Olympic gold medallist and Dancing On Ice judge Robin Cousins.

Lisa Dillon will star alongside Stephen Mangan in the Royal Court’s forthcoming production of Birthday, from 22 June. Joe Penhall’s tense new comedy is about a couple waiting for the arrival of their new baby.

You can find out all you need to know about London theatre, book tickets and read about all the shows on offer on our main website: visitlondon.com/events/theatre

Sad news to start this week: Million Dollar Quartet is closing. After nearly a year in the West End, the musical which celebrates the four greats of rock’n’roll (Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins) will close on 14 January at the Noel Coward Theatre. (The producers are planning to take the production on a tour of the UK, so this isn’t necessarily the end for this show!)

Are you a fan of The Kings Speech? The Oscar-winning film actually started life as a play by David Seidler, which is happily being produced at the Richmond Theatre next March. The Kings Speech is directed by former RSC Artistic Director Adrian Noble and stars Charles Edwards as King George VI. I think it’ll make a fantastic play; can’t wait to see it!

And now this week’s cast news:

• Ugly Betty star America Ferrera will swap her trademark poncho and braces for fishnets next month when she makes her West End debut in Chicago at the Garrick Theatre as Roxie Hart
• Joely Richardson will become the third member of her incredible family to play Ellida in Ibsen’s The Lady From The Sea, when she takes on the role at the Rose Theatre in Kingston next year
• The cast of Noises Off at the Old Vic has been announced: Celia Imrie, Janie Dee, Robert Glenister and Amy Nuttall are just some of the big names gracing the Old Vic stage this Christmas

More next week!

The draw for many seeing The Playboy of the Western World will be the chance to see Misfit star Robert Sheehan perform on stage.

And he doesn’t disappoint. Sheehan plays lead Christie Mahon in J M Synge’s dark Irish comedy about a strange lad who shows up in a County Mayo village, seemingly on the run. His claim, that he’s killed his father, quickly wins him bizarre levels of respect from the bored villagers, enchanted with tales of another part of the world and “a daring deed.” Christie, a loser all his life, suddenly finds himself greeted as a hero, fighting off the attentions of various girls and given grudging respect by the men of the village.

But this Mayo village is topsy-turvy place, and when Christie’s father shows up, very much alive despite the large gash in his head, the villagers turn on their “Playboy” with brutal tragicomic consequences.

John Crowley’s production at the Old Vic is a lively one, which really milks the comic potential behind the reversal-of-fortune storytelling, and lets the wonderful, lyrical language shine.

Sheehan makes a great Christie: gorgeous, of course, but he really convinces as the shambolic shuffling nobody (reminding me, at times, of Paolo Nutini) who grows in confidence, then overreaching pride, and then vanity, with every compliment.

Niamh Cusack and Ruth Negga provide great support as the two rival women playing for Christie’s affections. The wily Widow Quin (Cusack) provides some nice comic moments; Negga’s Pegeen is superbly sexy, with a really nasty streak.

But you can’t help but pity Pegeen in the final moments of the play, when the sassiest member of this strange little community cries, plaintively, “I’ve lost him!” Negga fills the line with emotion, calling out for all the losses of the play: loss of respect for family, for human life, for truth; loss of persepective; the loss of hope. It’s perfectly pitched, and a powerful moment.

Be warned: some of the incredibly broad Irish vernacular is difficult to understand, and sitting towards the back, I did “lose” some of the lines from quieter members of the cast.

But if you relax your ears and let it wash over you, confident in Synge’s strange but strong storytelling, the brutal black comedy, and the witty characterisations, you’ll have a fun night.

The Playboy of the Western World plays at the Old Vic until 26 November. Book tickets here.

I’ve got three Christmassy announcements, the first from the Old Vic, which is reviving Michael Frayn’s hugely successful comedy Noises Off, directed by Lindsay Posner, over the festive period. Second, a new musical version of Swallows and Amazons will be produced by the National Theatre at the Vaudeville for Christmas; with music by Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy. And children’s favourite, The Gruffalo will be bringing its terrible tusks and terrible claws to the Lyric for morning and afternoon performances from November to January.

The other new shows announced this week are even further ahead. If you’re planning a theatre trip for next year, you can choose between Singin’ In The Rain at the Palace Theatre, starring Adam Cooper and Scarlett Strallen from February (a transfer of the Chichester Festival Theatre hit); or She Stoops To Conquer at the National Theatre starring Sophie Thompson, Steve Pemberton and Katherine Kelly from January.

And reaching even further into the crystal ball of theatrical future, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre has announced its plans for 2012. It’ll stage A Midsummer Night’s Dream and contemporary musical Ragtime from May to September next year. Book before the end of April 2012, and you’ll get a special ticket price of £20.12 on all performances during the Games themselves (25 July to 12 August).

This week’s casting news:

• Busted star Matt Willis and Phantom regular Gina Beck are to appear as Fiyero and Glinda in Wicked from December
• The Young Vic has released more details about its production of Hamlet this autumn. Adeel Akhtar, star of Four Lions joins musical theatre regular Sally Dexter and Sherlock actress Vinette Robinson in the show
• Laurie Metcalf will appear alongside David Suchet in the forthcoming drama Long Day’s Journey Into Night at the Apollo Theatre

More next week…

Second, a note for any Shakespeare fans out there. Theatre company Antic Disposition is planning to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the first performance of The Tempest in London this August. And they’re staging it at London’s Middle Temple Hall, an Elizabethan venue where Shakespeare’s own company once performed. What a treat.

The Royal Court has announced two extensions this week. Both current hit Chicken Soup With Barley, and forthcoming black comedy The Village Bike, have added dates to their runs.

Now to this week’s casting news:

• Robert Sheehan from E4′s Misfits will make his stage debut at the Old Vic in September, playing the lead in JM Synge’s The Playboy Of The Western World. He’ll be performing opposite Ruth Negga and Old Vic regular Niamh Cusack.
• Hustle star Marc Warren returns to the London stage at the Aldwych Theatre in October, playing iconic prisoner Cool Hand Luke in a stage adaptation of Donn Pearce’s classic novel.
• West End stars Oliver Tompsett (previously Fiyero in Wicked), Amy Pemberton (formerly in Footloose and Jersey Boys) and Simon Lipkin (best known as Nicky and Trekkie Monster in Avenue Q) are all signed up to play in new London rock musical, Rock of Ages at the Shaftesbury Theatre.
• Ellen Greene from Pushing Daisies is to play identical triplets (the Enchantress, the Princess and the Nymph Queen) in fantasy musical Betwixt! at the Trafalgar Studios in July.

See you at West End Live!

With the incredible variety of theatre shows available each and every year in London, it’s pretty near impossible to select just five to get excited about for 2011! So I’ve gone for five big shows with big star names for this year’s recommendations.

Autograph books ready: London’s stages are going to be even more star-studded than usual in the coming year!

• The Children’s Hour, from 22 Jan
  Keira Knightley returns to the West End alongside Elisabeth Moss from Mad Men (making her West End debut) in a stunning 1930s drama about the power of lies.
• Frankenstein, from 5 Feb
  The National Theatre welcomes BOTH Benedict Cumberbatch AND Jonny Lee Miller (swoon!), directed by Danny Boyle in a trio of big-name talent. This has to be my pick of the spring plays in London…
• Blithe Spirit, from 2 Mar
  With Alison Steadman, Hermione Norris, Robert Bathhurst and Ruthie Henshall, this Noel Coward comedy at the Apollo is dripping with stars.
• Richard III, from 29 Jun
  Artistic director Kevin Spacey takes to the Old Vic stage this summer as Shakespeare’s nastiest villain, Richard III. It’s part of the Bridge Project for 2011, and is directed by acclaimed American Beauty director Sam Mendes. And we can’t wait
• Hamlet, winter 2011
  With no more details than that, Michael Sheen fans are going to have keep their ears to the ground around the Young Vic for more news of when this fantastic actor is going to take on Shakespeare’s finest role, with top director Jez Butterworth at the helm. Excited doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about this show…

Which theatre shows are you looking forward to in 2011? Let us know in the comments below.

Noel Coward’s 1932 play Design For Living was initially banned in the UK until 1939 because its risque subject matter was thought unacceptable to the official censor.

The provocative play has now returned to London for the first time in 15 years, to the Old Vic Theatre.

Design for Living’s racy plot centres on a love triangle between interior designer Gilda (Lisa Dillon), playwright Leo (Andrew Scott), and artist Otto (Tom Burke).

We asked what some audience members thought of the show.

Jess, 29, Herne Hill
This is a fabulous play – I enjoyed it immensely. I’ve never seen a Noel Coward play before and I thought the script was superb – but because it was brought alive and injected with a wonderful humour by three such strong leading actors. I thought Lisa Dillon made a charming Gilda – it was a real pleasure to watch her. And I just loved the scene when Otto and Leo got drunk – it was so well executed and achingly funny. Despite the comic lines, I believed in the characters and their love triangle scenario. The play had a very sweet ending and was an absolute tonic.

Linnie, 34, Croydon
I would describe it as a perfectly cast Coward that sparkled darkly – it was delightful and deliciously naughty.

Marlon, 26, Seven Sisters
I was blown away by Design for Living. The dialogue was superbly sharp, the sets were fantastic and the storyline really impressed me. And it was so refreshing not to have the typical “Hollywood ending”. Five stars!

Abby, 30, Tower Bridge
Thought the play was very entertaining and funny, though I thought some of the scenes were heading into the farcical (shouting scene at the end). Overall a thoroughly entertaining evening.

Nic, 31, Bethnal Green
Best thing I’ve seen in a long time, wonderful acting and just hilarious! Gave it a standing ovation.

Ricci, 29, Herne Hill
Great script, delivered supremely. Gripping from the start. The glamorous costumes and sets transported us back to another age. And yet the play’s content – and all the issues and emotions the characters have to deal with – still have relevance today. I loved it!

Barry, 45, South Woodford
Although the storyline is very thin the brilliant acting more than makes up for it. Tom Burke and Andrew Scott are like a well-oiled machine. They bounce off of each other like they have been doing the play for years. The drunken scene towards the end of act two is excellent. Lisa Dillon is also brilliant and is on stage for most of the production. The set is also very good and far more than you normally see in a play. The play lasts for 3 hours including two intervals, but you will be laughing for large parts of that.

Design for Living is on at the Old Vic until 27 November. Get your Design for Living Tickets here. Have you seen the show? Add your views to the mix in the comments below.