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

This week, there’s news of another extension: My Perfect Mind is actor Edward Petherbridge’s tale about suffering a stroke, and will now run at the Young Vic until 4 May. The Told By An Idiot show features Petherbridge playing himself and Paul Hunter playing all the other characters. The play was inspired by Petherbridge who suffered a stroke as he was rehearsing to play King Lear. At the start of his recovery, he could hardly move his thumb and index finger together, but he could still remember every word of Shakespeare’s complex role.

Derren Brown fans will be pleased to hear the illusionist is returning to the West End in June, bringing a new one-man show called Infamous to the Palace Theatre. Infamous is described as one of Brown’s most personal works and sees the master of mind control reunite with his close collaborator, actor, director and magician Andy Nyman.

More Oliviers news this week: an influx of American stars are bringing a touch of US glamour to the Royal Albert Hall ceremony, with Broadway stars and Glee co-actors Matthew Morrison and Idina Menzel both performing solo. Other stars whose attendance is confirmed include Kim Cattrall, Daniel Radcliffe, Damian Lewis, Petula Clark, Will Young and Heather Headley.

If you’re able to get to the free public Oliviers event stage in Covent Garden, you’ll be treated to special live performances from shows including Billy Elliot, Matilda, The Phantom Of The Opera, Wicked, Burn The Floor, Potted Potter and Some Like It Hip Hop, before seeing the ceremony on the live big screen relay.

London Theatre Cast News

• One of my favourite actors, Stephen Campbell Moore is to lead the cast in Lucy Kirkwood’s Chimerica at the Almeida Theatre from 20 May. He’ll be joined by Sean Gilder, Trevor Cooper and Claudie Blakley
• Game of Thrones star Joe Dempsie will appear in the upcoming production of Even Stillness Breathes Softly Against A Brick Wall at the Soho Theatre from 28 May
• Good news for Bonnie Langford fans! She’s returning to the role of the Lady of the Lake in Monty Python’s Spamalot from 6 May
• The ever-brilliant Clive Rowe and John Heffernan are to join the previously announced Simon Russell Beale and John Simm in Jamie Lloyd’s production of The Hothouse at the Trafalgar Studios from 4 May

This year’s Olivier Award nominations have been announced, with the National Theatre’s hit show The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time leading the way with eight possible prizes, including Best New Play.

Simon Stephens’ adaptation is also in the running for Best Actor for Luke Treadaway, Nicola Walker for Best Supporting Actress, as well as its creative team, with nominations for director Marianne Elliott, sound designer Ian Dickinson, lighting designer Paule Constable and set designers Bunny Christie and Finn Ross.

Two other productions scoring highly in the nominations are Top Hat and The Bodyguard with seven and four nominations each. Both have received nods in the coveted Best New Musical accolade alongside Loserville and Soul Sister. The lovely Tom Chambers, star of Top Hat, fights for the Best Actor in a Musical against six-time nominated Sweeney Todd star Michael Ball; Kiss Me, Kate’s Alex Bourne; and musical theatre newcomer and star of Cabaret, Will Young. For full details, go to the Official London Theatre website. The winners will be announced at a star-studded ceremony, hosted by double Olivier Award-winner Sheridan Smith and Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville, on 28 April at the Royal Opera House.

The Young Vic has announced three new productions for their Maria theatre later this year. The venue’s smaller auditorium will host Trash Cuisine, a co-production with Belarus Free Theatre; The Secret Agent co-produced with theatre O; and new David Greig play The Events between May and November this year. The three shows are linked by dark themes of political violence and terror. As if in contrast, Fevered Sleep’s acclaimed show for 3 to 5-year-olds, Brilliant, returns to the venue from 3 to 13 July, with its dreamlike world made of light.

In addition, the Soho Theatre has news of two new dramas with an international flavour as part of its summer programme. Kathrine Kressmann Taylor’s classic pre-war drama Address Unknown will be performed in a new French-and-English version in June with Belgian theatremaker Valentijn Dhaenens’ look at the manipulative nature of rhetoric, Bigmouth, following in July. The new pieces join a spring/summer line-up that includes The Life And Sort Of Death Of Eric Argyle, Verity Bargate Award winner Pastoral, and tale of returning soldiers developed with former servicemen, Glory Dazed.

Finally, Northern Broadsides critically acclaimed production of Rutherford & Son will transfer to the St James Theatre this summer. Directed by Jonathan Miller, Rutherford & Son will play at the Victoria-based theatre from 4 to 29 June with the Northern Broadsides Artistic Director Barrie Rutter in the lead role of John Rutherford.

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

Firstly: Wicked fans can rejoicify! The show has reached its 6th birthday today. One of my favourite West End shows, Wicked seems like such a fantastic fixture in the West End, I thought it might’ve been around for longer. If you haven’t seen this great musical yet, you should book now! Here’s to the next six years…

The second piece of exciting news is from the Gielgud Theatre, looking ahead to next year. From 15 February, Helen Mirren will be starring in Peter Morgan’s new play The Audience at the venue. The play examines one of the most fascinating meetings in British public life; the weekly discussion between the Queen and the Prime Minister. From Winston Churchill to David Cameron, The Audience imagines what might have been said in those pivotal meetings over the years, the confessions and questions from Prime Ministers, and the advice, suggestions and occasional teasing offered by the Queen. This will be Mirren’s second time playing the monarch; she won an Oscar, Golden Globe and a BAFTA for her portrayal of Elizabeth II in Morgan’s silver screen offering The Queen.

Finally, if you’re thinking ahead to Christmas, there’s an exciting-sounding new Punchdrunk show coming to East London’s Discover Children’s Story Centre from 29 November. Called The House Where Winter Lives, the show will transform the Stratford venue’s basement into a “magical frozen forest” for the delight of three to six year-olds.

London Theatre Cast News:

• Downton Abbey’s Matt Milne joins the cast of Tennessee Williams’ The Hotel Plays in a unique staging at the Grange Holborn Hotel from 4 October
• Actor and comedian Julian Barratt, best known for appearing opposite Noel Fielding in The Mighty Boosh, is appearing in the Royal Court’s NSFW from 25 October.

Enter day 20 of our Christmas advent competition to win a night’s stay at a luxury hotel and tickets to see smash-hit musical Wicked in London.

Wicked has been a mainstay of London’s musical scene since 2006, and smashed the 2,000 performance milestone in July 2011. The award-winning musical tells the untold story of the witches of Oz and has entertained audiences across the world.

After the show, the lucky winners will stay at the four-star Flemings Mayfair Hotel, along with a full breakfast in the morning. Not a bad way to start the new year!

Enter now for your chance to win this fantastic London theatre break.

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…

• Long runners extending their booking periods include:
  Wicked, Jersey Boys, Les Mis, Phantom, and We Will Rock You
• New blockbusters getting in on the forward planning include:
  The Wizard of Oz, Shrek, Ghost

For a full list of shows that have extended their booking into 2012, check out the Official London Theatre website.

Edward Hall’s all-male theatre company Propeller have also announced their 2012 plans. They’ll perform their Shakespearean pairing of Henry V and The Winter’s Tale at the Hampstead Theatre from 4 to 21 July.

Before we get to that all-important Olympic year, there’s still exciting casting news to think about. This week’s announcements include:

• Hollywood star Thandie Newton, who’ll appear in Ariel Dorfman’s Death And The Maiden at the Comedy Theatre from October
• Doctor Who star Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) is making her professional stage debut in Inadmissible Evidence at the Donmar, also in October
• Another debut, this time from Hannah Spearritt (who you’ll know from Primeval, or if you’re my age, S Club 7!) in The Belle’s Stratagem at the Southwark Playhouse from September
• And finally, a real favourite of mine, David Suchet’s going to be back on the London stage in Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, at the Apollo Theatre. You’ll have to wait til next April for that one, I’m afraid.

Last of all if you’re a fan of London theatre: don’t forget Kids Week, next month!

Here’s a great little video from our friends at Urban Telly, all about Halloween in London.

Attractions and key places to visit in the video include:

• The Blind Beggar in Whitechapel
• The London Bridge Experience
• Wicked Day at St Pancras International
• Ghost Stories at the Duke of York’s Theatre
• London Canal Museum

The Woman in Black is currently celebrating its 21st year in London’s West End; the rather dingy building and dangerously intimate Fortune Theatre has become its home. The performance combines theatrical illusion and trickery with a disturbing narrative, scaring even the coolest of hearts.

Ghost Stories was written only recently and is more contemporary in every way. The production feels more like an experiment in fear, presenting archetypal myths and using clever technology to make them come alive. As you take your seat, there is no light or programme sellers to welcome you in, instead the dimly lit Duke of Yorks Theatre is haunted with a soundtrack of drips and rumbles and eerie screeches. There is no interval, which builds up tension and you are warned: if you leave the theatre during the performance you will be unable to return.

What both shows have in common is a real talent for inducing terror through all the senses. Employing mostly sound and sight, but also touch and smell as scare tactics.  As for taste, I know I left both theatres with the taste of fear in my mouth.

More spooky shows to see in London:

• Phantom of the Opera: a masked man haunts the Paris Opera House in this well-loved musical
• Wicked: the tale of the Wicked Witch of the West
• Deathtrap: this onstage thriller plots the ideal murder and cuts close to the bone
• Alice Cooper: the grandaddy of shock rock comes to London’s Roundhouse for Halloween
• Terror 2010: Death and Resurrection: four scary short plays

Halloween is only a week away, so book your tickets to London’s scariest shows now!