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

There’s Anthony Head (from Buffy to Merlin to the Old Vic) leading the cast in Six Degrees of Separation from January next year; and a winning team in Kim Cattrall and Matthew MacFadyen, starring in Noel Coward’s Private Lives at the Vaudeville from February. It suddenly seems a long time until the start of 2010; we can’t wait!

Another West End show which has benefitted from its fab celeb casting has announced closing dates this week. The wonderfully camp La Cage Aux Folles has featured star turns from Graham Norton and John Barrowman, but it’ll be shaking its feather-boas for the last time at the Playhouse Theatre on 2 January. Book now, if you haven’t seen it yet! Fittingly, like a well-made transvestite’s glove, the actor who opened this revival in London back in 2007, Douglas Hodge will be back wearing the diamonds and dresses for the final curtain. It’s sad news for London, but we should be proud that this award-winning, sequin-filled show is headed to Broadway for 2010.

And we move from award-winners to awards season in Theatreland! The Evening Standard Theatre Awards shortlist was announced this week. Dominated by the Royal Court (well done Jerusalem, Enron, Mark Rylance, Samuel West, and my favourite, Rupert Goold), there’s also shows from the National (August: Osage County) and the Lyric (Punk Rock). The prize for best musical will be fought out between two revivals, A Little Night Music and Hello, Dolly!, and two new productions, Been So Long and Spring Awakening. Read the complete shortlist here.

The ES awards will be announced at the Royal Opera House on 23 November. After that, we’ve got the Theatregoers’ Choice Awards and the Critics’ Circle Awards. We’ll bring you news on those when we have it!

Do the Evening Standard Theatre Awards sound a bit too passive for you, waiting to find out who the critics have chosen to reward for their talents? Would you prefer to have your say in who wins what? Then you should sign up to be an Olivier Awards judge! The lucky panel get to see about 80 shows in a year, before helping pick the best of the bunch. Sound like a dream come true? Sign up here.

Finally for this week, we’re thrilled to hit your silliness buttons again with news about SILENCE! The Musical, an unauthorised parody of the cult classic, The Silence of the Lambs, coming to London next year. The show features Olivier award-winner Miles Western as Hannibal Lecter, and opens on 19 January at The Above the Stag Theatre in Victoria. Expect singing serial killers, songs with titles we just can’t publish here, and a chorus of tap dancing lambs…