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…

Romola Garai, who was so fantastic in the BBC’s recent adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, is appearing at the Lyric Hammersmith from January next year. She’ll be playing Masha in a new production of Chekhov’s Three Sisters, alongside an exciting-sounding cast including Jim Bywater, Nigel Cooke and Clare Dunne.

If, like me, you’re currently enjoying the BBC’s adaptation of Small Island, you can see the gorgeous Ashley Walters (who plays David in the show) at the Royal Court next year. Walters, who used to be in So Solid Crew, is appearing in Off The Endz, Bola Agbaje’s new play about three 20-somethings growing up on a London estate.

And Toby Stephens, who’s played many memorable characters on TV (Mr Rochester in the 2006 Jane Eyre for one!) is headed to the Old Vic from April next year. Stephens is appearing in a new production of Tom Stoppard’s 1982 play, The Real Thing.

Lastly, one other TV star heading for the London stage is Griff Rhys Jones, who takes over from Omid Djalili as Fagin in Oliver! from Monday night. Break a leg, Griff!

That’s not Oliver’s! only cast change: I’m excited to hear Kerry Ellis is taking over from Jodie Prenger as Nancy next March. Ellis is best known for playing Elphaba in Wicked, for which she won the 2008 Whatsonstage.com Award for Best Takeover in a Role. I think she’s rather ace.

And talking of the Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers’ Choice Awards – have you voted yet? Make sure you have your say before the winners are announced on 14 February next year.

Excited about seeing any of these stars? Do you know about something I’ve missed?! Add your thoughts to the comments below…