Tracie Bennett as Judy Garland
Tweet

Opening: Rainbow, Rivals, Kin & Invisible Man

Amongst the major London openings, in the West End and further afield, this week are:

OPENING TONIGHT, Monday 22 November 2010 (previews from 15 November), Tracie Bennett stars as Judy Garland in the West End transfer of Peter Quilter’s “play with music” End of the Rainbow at Trafalgar Studios 1, where it’s initially booking until 5 March 2011.

The show, which had its world premiere at Sydney Opera House in July 2005, centres on Garland's final months and features several of her best-known songs, including “Get Happy”, “Come Rain or Come Shine”, “The Man That Got Away” and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”.

OPENING TUESDAY, Peter Hall's Bath Theatre Royal production of Sheridan's The Rivals, featuring a cast led by Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles (who famously starred together in the sitcom To the Manor Born), transfers to the West End's Theatre Royal Haymarket during the week of the legendary director's 80th birthday.

ALSO ON TUESDAY, Theatre503 stages Coalition, a series of short plays examining the current political climate, written by ten writers - including Dominic Cavendish, Ella Hickson and Ben Ockrent - in collaboration with ten artists from other mediums. It's presented in two parts: a ‘Blue’ programme and a ‘Yellow’ programme, performed on alternate nights.

OPENING WEDNESDAY, 24 November 2010 (previews from 19 November), EV Crowe’s Kin, set in a girls’ boarding school in the 1990s, premieres at the Royal Court Upstairs, directed by Jeremy Herrin and running until 23 December.

ALSO ON WEDNESDAY (previews from 12 November), former Open Air artistic director Ian Talbot revives Ken Hill’s music hall version of HG Wells’ classic novel The Invisible Man at the Menier Chocolate Factory, with a cast including Maria Friedman, Natalie Casey, John Gordon Sinclair and Gary Wilmot.

The show, which continues until 13 February 2011, includes comedy music hall performance with magic and illusions by Paul Kieve, whose previous stage credits include The Lord of the Rings and The Witches of Eastwick at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

ALSO ON WEDNESDAY, direct from Las Vegas, Barbra and Frank - The Concert that Never Was, which features Sharon Owens as Barbra Streisand and Sebastian Anzaldo as Frank Sinatra, opens at the New Players Theatre for a run to 18 December.

OPENING FRIDAY, 26 November 2010 (previews from 24 November), Janet Steel directs Bettina Gracias' Gandhi and Coconuts at Arcola Studio 2, centring on a woman whose imaginary meeting with Gandhi inspires her to transform herself and attempt to reignite her marriage. Until 18 December.

Related Content