Theatre News

Forbidden Broadway transfers to West End in September

Three of the Menier Chocolate Factory production cast will stay with the show, to be joined at the Vaudeville Theatre by YouTube star Christina Bianco

Damian Humbley, Anna-Jane Casey and Ben Lewis will all transfer to the West End
Damian Humbley, Anna-Jane Casey and Ben Lewis will all transfer to the West End
© Alastair Muir

The Menier Chocolate Factory's production of Forbidden Broadway will transfer to the West End's Vaudeville Theatre for a limited 11-week run from 9 September.

Three of the cast – Damian Humbley, Anna-Jane Casey and Ben Lewis – will remain with the production, and they will be joined by YouTube star Christina Bianco.

Bianco, whose latest YouTube video of "Let It Go" has received over 5 million views, has appeared in Forbidden Broadway: Goes to Rehab in New York.

Forbidden Broadway offers an alternative take on some of the biggest productions from Broadway and the West End, including The Book of Mormon, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Once, Matilda, Wicked and Miss Saigon.

Menier artistic director David Babani said: "I can't think of a more fitting way to celebrate our 10th anniversary year than to transfer our wonderful production to the Vaudeville Theatre in the West End so that many more people will get to the opportunity to enjoy it!"

The West End run of Forbidden Broadway will mean a postponement for the previously announced Rabbit Hole starring Joanne Froggatt, which was due to open on 11 September. The producers of the play have said that they "remain committed" to bring the production to London.