Last weekend, some of the world’s most glamorous theatre stars gathered at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden for the Olivier Awards. Here, stars including Daniel Radcliffe, Damian Lewis and Kim Cattrall talk about their love of the theatre. If they’ve inspired you to see a show, check out our London theatre guide, top 10 musicals, special offers and fun theatre facts.

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 week I travelled all the way from Ancient Greece, through 19th-century France to land smack bang in the middle of Olympic London 2012 at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

The ROH’s The Olympic Journey: The Story of the Games exhibition is a nice primer on the history of the games, followed by a just-what-I-wanted-to-see display of Olympic hardware in the form of torches, medals and select athletes’ memorabilia.

Beginning with the first Olympic Games almost 3,000 years ago, the show features sportily decorated Greek amphora dating from around 500BC, which inspires a cool animation of a chariot race. Moving on to Paris in the 1890s, we meet Pierre de Coubertin, whose vision of a civilising universal sporting event drove him, via the village of Much Wenlock in Shropshire, to create the modern Olympic Games. The first games of the modern Olympiad were held in Athens in 1896.

Following the history lesson, you get to see the Olympic Torches that were used for each games from Berlin 1936 onwards, accompanied by footage and diagrams of the most interesting torch routes. I found this bit unexpectedly moving, perhaps because it’s where local heroes and communities get directly involved in what is arguably the most “universal” event that happens in our world to this day.

The final room shows a set of medals from every summer Olympics (confirming my suspicion that the London 2012 medals are huge – the biggest yet!). There’s also a display on the games throughout the years comprising personal memorabilia from 20 representative athletes, who demonstrate the values of the Olympic movement.

The Olympic Journey: The Story of the Games is a great little exhibition. It’s free to enter and only takes about 45 mins to 1 hour to see. Plus there’s the opportunity to get your picture taken with the London 2012 torch – just be sure to grip it a little more firmly than I did (see above).

The Olympic Games aren’t just about victory at the finish line – creativity and design have played a part in making the ultimate sporting event in the world happen. Make sure you celebrate the artists and engineers involved as well as the athletes by visiting one of these top Olympic exhibitions this summer. They’re all free.

Design Stories and After the Party at RIBA
The Royal Institute of British Architects is putting on two Olympic exhibitions to toast the architecture behind the Games. Design Stories: The Architecture Behind 2012 explores the ideas and complex engineering behind the brand new Olympic venues like the Aquatics Centre. It compiles drawings, images, videos and detailed models. The second exhibition, After the Party: The Legacy of Celebration, compares the UK’s Olympic buildings to efforts for previous Olympic Games and celebrations and asks what happens to monuments celebrating events after all the hoopla has passed. 
Design Stories: 25 Jun-21 Sep
After The Party: 25 Jun-5 Oct

Road to 2012 at the National Portrait Gallery
None of the glory on the track and court would be possible without all the work behind the scenes of the Olympic Games. This free series of photographs at the National Portrait Gallery features not only the athletes but people who have put the event together, such as apprentices from the Olympic Park and the team that led the bid for London to hold the Games. It’s the final part of  the BT Road to 2012 project which has commissioned leading photographers to document the build up to the event. Katherine Green’s images of sports communities in London’s East End sit alongside the display. 
19 Jul-23 Sep

The Olympic Journey at the Royal Opera House
For two weeks only, an impressive collection of Olympic artefacts will set up camp at the Royal Opera House for The Olympic Journey: The Story of the Games. The exhibition traces the evolution of the Olympic Games from the ancient Greek games 3,000 years ago. The highlight has to be seeing every single summer Olympic medal since 1896 and every summer Olympic torch since 1936. 
28 Jul-12 Aug

London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Posters at Tate Britain
The posters for the Olympic Games have always reflected the art – and the mood – of the city that hosts them. Artists like Tracey Emin and Chris Ofili are among the 12 to put their mark on the official posters for London 2012. Screen prints and lithographs of their creations will be among those on show at Tate Britain as part of the London 2012 Festival.
21 Jun-23 Sep

Olympics Through the Ages at Westfield Stratford City
Award-winning photography will showcase iconic sporting moments at this exhibition in the Getty Images Gallery. Taking place within walking distance from the Olympic Park, it looks at the Olympic Games through a camera lens – from the first modern event in Athens in 1896 through to Beijing in 2008. 
27 Jun-30 Sep

What will be the most iconic image from the London 2012 Olympic Games? Comment below and let us know.

The 2012 Olivier Awards with MasterCard will take place on 15 April with a glamorous, star-studded ceremony at the Royal Opera House. 

The cream of British theatre will enjoy a spectacular night of awards and unique entertainment. It might feel like a long wait until April, but you can get involved now by voting for your favourite show in the BBC Radio 2 Olivier Audience Award. On the night, you’ll be able to watch on a giant screen in Covent Garden, listen live on Radio 2, or watch on the BBC’s red button service.

For more information about the Oliviers, visit www.olivierawards.com

Firstly, sad news for a musical lover like me. Legally Blonde and Crazy for You are both leaving London in the near future. After three years at the Savoy Theatre, Legally Blonde will close on 7 April. And Crazy For You, which was booking until 28 July, is now going to tap dance off into the sunset on 17 March. If you love musicals, you’ll love these shows, so book your tickets now before it’s too late!

Next up, two shows that have extended their London runs. Green Day’s award-winning rock musical American Idiot is running for an extra week at the Hammersmith Apollo in December this year, due to an overwhelming demand for tickets. And The Leisure Society has also extended its run in London by a week: the cause for such high interest in this toxic comedy is surely the casting of model Agyness Deyn (alongside the lovely Ed Stoppard!)

It’s awards season in Theatreland, and the first of the bunch have already been given out. Congratulations to the National Theatre which scooped more than half the Critics Circle awards on offer, including gongs for Frankenstein (and its stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller) and One Man, Two Guvnors. Other awards went to Sheridan Smith for her performances in Flare Path and Mike Leigh, for his direction for Grief. And there’s more awards coming: this week, it was announced that the Olivier Awards will be taking place in the Royal Opera House on 15 April: if you want to watch the action as it unfolds (with Imelda Staunton and Michael Ball hosting!), you can, as there’ll be a live stream of the ceremony on a big screen in Covent Garden. (Or you can listen on Radio 2; or watch on the BBC’s Red Button.)

London Cast News:

• Strictly Come Dancing star Russell Grant is going to take over from Michael Crawford as the new Wizard in The Wizard of Oz from 14 February
• Jodie Prenger (winner of I’d Do Anything and star of Oliver!) and Hannah Spearritt (former S Club 7 singer) are to appear in One Man, Two Guvnors with Owain Arthur at the Theatre Royal Haymarket from March

More next week.

There are so many opera masterpieces on in London this month. The English National Opera (ENO) is performing La Boheme by Puccini (my favourite opera composer) and The Royal Opera House (ROH) is currently showing Rigoletto by the magnificent Verdi (a composer who many argue is superior to all who came before or after him).

Both theatres have tempting ticket offers, La Boheme tickets are available for as little as £21, and the ROH have Rigoletto tickets for a staggering £8; there are also other student and young person discounts.

The ENO always has a diverse programme. This season they are offering up some real classics including Handel’s Radamisto Mozart’s Don Giovanni and of course Puccini’s La Boheme.

Unlike some operas La Boheme is not difficult to follow, the narrative told through many familiar melodies. Above all it is a great love story and a great opera for beginners!

There is nothing quite like sitting in London’s Royal Opera House, it is one of the great wonders of our city. Rigoletto features Israeli-born conductor Dan Ettinger, making his debut at The ROH. The production is quite dark and moody, and takes place in the shadows of a giant reversible set. The singing is the highlight for me, and I left thinking it perhaps the most impressive display of vocal talent I have ever seen on this stage.

If these grand operas don’t appeal to you, there are plenty of other wonderful, smaller-scale productions happening all over the city. One to look out for is at The King’s Head Theatre in Islington, where Rossini’s The Barber of Seville is currently being performed. And in North London the Hampstead Garden Opera are putting on a production of Mozart’s ever-popular Magic Flute.

Experience something different this month and book tickets to an opera, you are spoilt for choice.

• La Boheme (ENO) continues until 27 Jan. Book here
• Rigoletto (ROH) continues until 6 Nov. Book here
• Don Giovani (ENO) runs 6 Nov- 3 Dec. Book here
• Radamisto (ENO) continues until 4 Nov. Book here
• Barber of Seville (King’s Head Theatre) continues until 14 Nov. Book here
• The Magic Flute (Hamstead Garden Opera) runs 4-14 Nov. Book here

As the summer weather continues to hold, we at VL Towers are pondering all the lovely things we can do outdoors of an evening. And, following the fun times at the Starlite Urban Drive-In, we can think of nothing better than a visiting one of London’s outdoor or pop-up cinemas.

Here are some of the coolest spots to watch film in London this summer:

• Film 4 Summer Screen at Somerset House – London’s most beautiful outdoor cinema. I’m looking forward to seeing Master and Commander! 29 Jul-8 Aug
• Greenwich Film Festival – top films in unexpected locations around Greenwich 15-18 July
• Thursday Film Nights at the Grand Union, Brixton – see Amelie, Austin Powers and Bridget Jones this month
• The Scoop Summer Film season- free films next to City Hall 15 Sep-1 Oct
• BP Summer Screens – opera and ballet streamed live from the Royal Opera House until 13 Jul
• Syon Park House – lends its histroric backdrop to Dirty Dancing, Top Gun, Pretty Woman and more 18-22 Aug
• Drive-in-movies at Alexandra Palace – including Transformers and The Italian Job 12-14 Aug
• Portobello Pop Up Cinema -  forgotten classics and cutting-edge new works under the Westway 10-31 Jul

Have you spotted any more open air cinema events happening in our fair city? Let us know in the comments below!

You can always expect a fantastic spectacle at one of London’s finest theatres, the Royal Opera House. And their current production of Carmen only enhances that reputation.

Bizet’s Carmen is definitely a crowd pleaser, with many singable songs. This production, by Francesca Zambello was first seen at Covent Garden in 2006 and continues to impress four years later, with Duncan Macfarland as the revival director.

Maija Kovalevska is stunning as the timid Michaela, her soprano voice soars on the expansive stage. Her efforts were rewarded at the curtain call when she received the most “bravos” and, for me, she stole the show. Carmen, played by British mezzo-soprano Christine Rice is suitably tempestuous. Rice definitely looks the part and vocally is passionate and alluring. Bryan Hymel is disappointing as Don Jose; he seemed to struggle, particularly in the earlier arias. The orchestra is conducted sublimely by Greek conductor Constantinos Carydis, although at times I was enjoying the music so much I felt it could have been louder.

Costumes and set are lavish and grand, aspects that I always expect and love at the Royal Opera House. Tall burnt-orange coloured walls surround the stage, particularly inspired for the final bullfight. The cast is large and often on stage. At the start children, donkeys, horses, chickens all run about, whether this authentically evokes Seville is debatable but it’s certainly fun to watch.

For those willing to stand at the back, there are great cheap deals.

Carmen finishes on 26 June, but with a fabulous summer programme coming up of Manon, Simon Boccanegra, Salome and La Traviata, it’s worth treating yourself.

Some opera news is sneaking its way into Thursday’s theatre slot: the co-creator of Jerry Springer the Opera is writing a new opera based on the life of American glamour model Anna Nicole Smith for the Royal Opera House. It sounds rather crazy, doesn’t it? You’ll have to wait until February next year to see the show, but the lead has already been cast: Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek will take on the role.

There’s also news of a transfer this week: Peter Hall’s production of Alan Ayckbourne’s Bedroom Farce opens at the Duke of York’s Theatre on 24 March. It comes to the West End following a successful run at the Rose Theare, Kingston last year. Sadly, it’s lost some of its top names: but Nicholas Le Provost, Jane Asher and Lucy Briers are replaced by the just as fantastic David Horovitch, Jenny Seagrove and Sara (“Philadelphia. Lovely.”) Crowe.

Two well-known faces from TV are joining the previously announced David Suchet and Zoe Wannamaker in All My Sons at the Apollo Theatre from May. Stephen Campbell Moore and Jemima Rooper will play the son and bereaved fiancée in Arthur Miller’s tragedy. You’ve probably seen Campbell Moore in The History Boys, doing stuff with the RSC, or in Ashes to Ashes or Wallis and Edward. And while Londoner Jemima Rooper will always be cool Nicki Sutton in As If for me; you might know her from Lost in Austen, Silent Witness or Hex.

You probably last saw Roger Allam dragged up, playing Zaza / Albin in the wonderful La Cage Aux Folles. This summer, he’s back on the London stage, playing a very different role. Allam is making his debut at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre as Falstaff in the Dominic Dromgoole-directed productions, Henry IV Part I and Henry IV Part II. He’ll be playing alongside the hugely watchable Jamie Parker as Hal.

Of course, all the gossip this week has been about Love Never Dies. From five stars in the Independent to just two in the Times, plus a mauling among Phantom-loving bloggers, it’s certainly got people talking. It’s even divided people here at VL towers. I didn’t hate it, (Andrew Lloyd Webber’s tunes are lovely, some of the staging and design is fantastic, and the stars certainly give their all) but I must admit I was a little disappointed with the plot and the lyrics, and I definitely prefer the first Phantom!

Have you see Love Never Dies yet? Let us know what you thought in the comments below!