Thoughts on the shows going under down under as well as reviews of Every Brilliant Thing, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Misanthrope, and more.
OHMYGOD HEY!
Welcome back to my weekly collation of the various reviews, opinion pieces and theatre news updates I’ve shared across multiple social media platforms.
I’ve been wondering some time now if the bubble is set to burst when it comes to the propagation of new stage musical adaptations of well known films. While Broadway’s critics (and by extension its audiences) have for some time rejected anything less than truly artistically justified in this arena, shows such as Doubtfire, Pretty Woman, and Back to the Future the Musical have all found a warmer embrace in the West End. And yet, are recent new arrivals into this subgenre struggling to endear themselves to UK audiences? Heathers and Burlesque are set to perpetrate return runs, but others such as The Karate Kid or 50 First Dates didn’t achieve the same cultural impact. Such observations leave me very curious about how new shows such as One Day the Musical will be greeted on arrival.
Meanwhile, there’s a noticeable trend among the slew of major commercial musical tours in Australia which have been forced into early closure and cancellation due to low advance sales. The aforementioned Delorean-centric sci-fi musical fell victim to Aussie apathy last year while Beetlejuice and Waitress have since joined it. Though we see audience appetites differ around the world (proximal European countries prove that quickly), ought we be concerned that in times of financial hardship, such shows as these are crumbling? And does this mean that audiences are preferring wholly original new musicals or, conversely, that those harder-to-market new gems are in an even more vulnerable position if the established juggernauts can’t even succeed?
In the proverbial town hall of social media, meanwhile, the audiences of tomorrow are lamenting the most recent Broadway season’s largely unoriginal new musicals, but is a newly conceived narrative always a metric of quality? Stay tuned for more thoughts from me on this… I feel a video essay brewing.
Meanwhile, in a quieter week for theatregoing (in which perhaps I busied myself by planning for a major life event), standout gems included a visit to the Royal Academy of Music’s production of Chess, a return to the RSC’s rapturous Cyrano de Bergerac, gifted to West End audiences for the Summer, and a rehearsal room Q+A at the Almeida Theatre where outgoing Associate Director Rebecca Frecknall discussed her fascinating career thus far and her approach to staging Cleansed, which I eagerly await…
Prefer to read on email? Subscribe to free weekly Substack newsletter
What’s going on with shows in Australia?! Why so many touring musicals have been closing early…
In the last few weeks, two more musicals have cancelled forthcoming dates of their Australian tour, citing low ticket sales and economic challenges.
Waitress and Beetlejuice will close early, with Back to the Future the Musical and Dear Evan Hansen having shuttered similarly in the last couple of years.
In this conversation, we’re trying to figure out what’s going wrong in the Australian theatre industry and whether there is hope for improvement for commercial musicals…
Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
The PHANTOM 40th cast is phan-tastic! Thoughts on The Phantom of the Opera West End casting news…
The West End production of The Phantom of the Opera has announced the cast for their upcoming 40th Anniversary Celebrations.
Broadway breakout star Jordan Donica will return to the musical, this time as the Phantom, with Beatrice Penny-Touré also returning as Christine Daaé and Rhys Whitfield as Raoul.
They will be joined by new and familiar faces, including Joseph Millson and Sierra Boggess who were both among the principal cast of Love Never Dies and will each play new supporting roles.
Check out why this cast is so exciting as well as my thoughts on how the show is approaching this milestone…
Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
Meet the cast of DEATH NOTE: the musical – the stars discuss the upcoming 2026 West End production
I recently had the chance to meet the cast of Death Note: The Musical, which arrives in London later this Summer with a fully staged limited run at the Barbican Centre.
The newly announced cast includes Xander Pang, Colin Ryan, Telly Leung, Stephanie Zaharis, Grace Mouat, Paolo Montalban, Chloe Saracco, and more.
Check out what they have to say about their characters, the story’s huge following, and building this epic, brand new production.
Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
This Week’s Reviews
Every Brilliant Thing at Hudson Theatre, Broadway, New York City
Review available YouTube / Spotify / Apple Podcasts
The Truth at Apollo Theatre, West End, London
★★ Review available YouTube / Spotify / Apple Podcasts
The Misanthrope at Lyttelton Theatre, National Theatre, London
★★★ Review available YouTube / Spotify / Apple Podcasts
A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London
★★★★ Review available YouTube / Spotify / Apple Podcasts
Cyrano de Bergerac at Noël Coward Theatre, West End, London
★★★★★ Review available YouTube / Spotify / Apple Podcasts
We went to West End Live 2026! Theatre vlog ft Operation Mincemeat, Nell Gwynn, Shakespeare, & more
Check out another week in our life of seeing theatre in the UK!
This week the heatwave continued but it didn’t slow down our theatregoing as we headed to the new musicals Hot Mess and Sinatra, plus the play The Truth. I also made it to the opening night performance of Pride at the National Theatre, and we attended the launch of the UK return of Billy Elliot the Musical.
Join us vicariously in this brand new vlog to find out what a week in our lives looks like!
What’s coming up this week?
Another uncharacteristically quiet week of shows beckons, but I’ve news to bring you imminently of a more personal nature, plus an interview with Josh Radnor and Noah Galvin, each making their UK stage debuts this month in The Hit Machine.
What I will be seeing is the opening night performance of Jesus Christ Superstar at the London Palladium, this summer’s undisputed hot ticket, as well as Fun Home at the Royal Exchange in Manchester – a musical I surprisingly haven’t yet experienced!
Until next week, I hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have a stagey… week! – Mickey-Jo
Prefer to read on email? Subscribe to free weekly Substack newsletter
Leave a Reply