Opening: Children, Prisoner, Aspects & ENO Malfi

Amongst the major London openings in the West End and beyond this week are:
OPENING TONIGHT, Monday 12 July 2010 (previews from 4 July), York Theatre Royal’s production of The Railway Children pulls into a specially-built space at Waterloo Station for a two-month run (See News, 25 Mar 2010).

Adapted by Mike Kenny from E. Nesbit’s classic 1906 novel, the production uses the old Gentleman’s saloon carriage from the seminal 1970 film version, and also features a period steam train – the ‘Stirling Single’ – from the National Railway Museum.

OPENING TUESDAY, 13 July 2010 (previews from 30 June), Hollywood’s Jeff Goldblum stars in Neil Simon comedy The Prisoner of Second Avenue at the Vaudeville Theatre, the Old Vic’s first West End production beyond its own home base on The Cut in Waterloo. A black comedy depicting a New York couple, Mel (Goldblum) and Edna Edison (Mercedes Ruehl), enduring the trials and tribulations of city life, it continues to 25 September.
** DON’T MISS our exclusive Whatsonstage.com Outing to THE PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE on 14 July 2010 including a top-price ticket and a FREE programme – first 25 signed for early bookers! – all for £35 is now sold out! Please join the waiting list in case of cancellations – click here for details **

ALSO ON TUESDAY (previews from 25 June), Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman‘s stage thriller Ghost Stories transfers to the Duke of York’s, following its premiere at London’s Lyric Hammersmith in March  (See News 15 Apr 2010).

ALSO ON TUESDAY, Punchdrunk and English National Opera’s first collaboration, The Duchess of Malfi, is performed in an old office space on Great Eastern Quay in London’s Royal Albert Basin. Featuring the ENO Orchestra (conducted by Stephen Higgins) and a cast of 17 performers, it proved so popular it crashed the ENO website when it first went on sale. Until 24 July.

OPENING WEDNESDAY, 14 July 2010 (previews from 6 July), artistic director Dominic Dromgoole helms Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 at Shakespeare’s Globe. The cast includes Roger Allam, recently seen in the Menier Chocolate Factory’s West End production of La Cage Aux Folles, as Falstaff (See News, 18 Mar 2010). In rep until 3 October.

OPENING THURSDAY, 15 July 2010 (previews from 7 July), Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Aspects of Love is revived at the Menier Chocolate Factory by Trevor Nunn, who also directed the musical’s 1989 West End premiere (See News, 18 Feb 2010). The cast features Broadway’s Michael Arden making his London stage debut opposite Katherine Kingsley. Until 11 September.

ALSO ON THURSDAY (previews from 13 July), Peter Nichols’ first new play in ten years, Lingua Franca, premieres at the Finborough Theatre. It follows an innocent abroad, Steven Flowers (Chris New), as he travels from National Service in South-East Asia to 1950’s Florence. Until 7 August.

OPENING FRIDAY, 16 July 2010 (previews from 14 July), Caryl Churchill’s rarely performed play Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, set in the aftermath of the Civil War, is revived at the Arcola Theatre by Polly Findlay, continuing until 7 August.

ALSO ON FRIDAY, Hip-hop artists Boy Blue Entertainment return to the Barbican for two weeks with A Nite With Da Bratz and Over the Edge.