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Well, bless my soul. Herc was on a roll until it was announced that the stage adaptation of Disney's Hercules, currently playing at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in the West End, would end its run later this year, in spite of what seemed to be heroic business at the box office. So what is actually happening here? Has the production gone from hero back to zero? Or is there some ulterior motive for Disney wanting to end the run of Hercules in September? Is it because, as I have previously reported, the greatest Showman is the inevitable Next 10 Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and Hercules was just keeping it warm for them? Or have those plans surprisingly fallen through and we're looking at a completely different eventuality. Could it be that Hercules has simply run out of steam? Much for us to discuss in today's Theatre News Update. But first, an introduction from me. Oh my God. Hey. Welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel or hello to those of you listening to this on podcast platforms. My name is Mickey Jo and I am obsessed with all things theatre. I am a professional theatre critic, a content creator and a pundit here on social media. If you want to hear more of my thoughts about all the goings on in the theatre industry around the world, then make sure you're subscribed here, following me wherever you might be hearing my voice and go and find me in places like Instagram and check out the link in my bio to sign up to my weekly substack. I report on the biggest theatre news stories happening worldwide. And today's update is overdue because it has been a few days since it was announced that Hercules would be closing in the West End. And my immediate response to this was surprise. Because even though I had been saying for some time and in previous updates months ago that Hercul was only ever going to be a limited run at Theatre Royal Drury Lane because it was actually going to be the home of the Greatest Showman once it had finished its already sold out Bristol Hippodrome World Premiere out of Town run, which is beginning performances next month. More on that in just a moment. No sooner had I said that on the Internet than I began to hear differently. And I have a little bit of an update for you when it comes to the Greatest Showman. But first, much for us to discuss with regards to Hercules. Now, if you have any input you would like to share on this particular story, any insights or any thoughts about the show and the others that I mentioned, feel free to share all of those in the comments section down below. In the meantime, here is everything that I can possibly tell you about what is going to be happening for the next year at Theatre Royal Drury Lane and possibly in a couple of other West End theaters as well. Because a strange phenomenon is occurring where we know what is happening in many of them in 2027 before we know what's happening in 2026. So you and I together, tiny people and my camera, are going to try and figure out today what is going on in the West End, starting with why Hercules is closing. Let's talk about it. So let's read some of the coverage of this closing announcement. These are the facts as they were reported in Playbill by Andrew Gantz and Logan culwell block on February 9 Hercules musical sets closing date in London's West End the London stage production of Disney's Hercules, which officially opened June 24, 2025 at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, has extended its run for a final time and will play its last performance in the September 5th. Previews began on June 6th, meaning that the run will, at the time of closing, have played for a year and three months. Three months. July, August, September. Yeah, nailed it. They don't tell us exactly how many performances and previews that is, but you have a good idea. It's a 15 month run at a very, very big theater. They go on to tell us about the current cast led by Luke Brady as Hercules, as well as the creative team led by Casey Nicolor as director and choreographer, before sharing a little of this stage production's backstory because Hercules has had an interesting ro shall we say. This is far from the first iteration of Hercules on stage, as they report here. Adapted from Disney's 1997 animated film, Hercules played several earlier runs, premiering in 2019 via the Public Theater's Free Shakespeare in the park series as a public works project in collaboration between professional performers and amateur participants. Big cast Roger Barter's Hades puppets, I believe, and playing New Jersey's Papermill Playhouse in 2023, where I saw the show for the very first time. I reviewed it here on my channel or on podcasts. Wherever you're seeing or hearing this, you can go and find out how much I did not enjoy that production. I enjoyed it a little more though when it arrived in Hamburg. This being when Tony winner Casey Nicholaw was taking over as director and choreographer and this being the staging that is the basis for the West End production as they suggest here. However, there are still pronounced differences between the two, and as much as I felt as though the Hamburg production was beginning to aesthetically at least move in a stronger direction by allowing Phil to have goat legs again and other surrounding details, parts of that, including Phil's goat legs, were walked back when the show arrived in London. It did, however, just about fill the expectations of the vast Theatre Royal Drury Lane stage, and without robust statistical information about the success of each of those runs, it felt as though the London opening was the most anticipated and the most popular among ticket buyers for a long time. Disney's Hercules seemed to be a really hot ticket. Audiences were incredibly excited, and I put a lot of that down to the nostalgia thing and the delayed cross generational impact. That isn't me suggesting that kids Today love Hercules in the same way that they do Frozen and Moana, etc. Certainly not to the same extent as those of us who were children when the film came out. I, at 2 years old, thought it was great. But you will obviously get family audiences taking their kids to go and see this show in spite of their prior familiarity with it, because it's Hercules, because it's the new Disney musical, and because usually there aren't that many big, exciting new openings for family audiences in the West End. Admittedly we have more here in London than they have over in New York. I think they have more of a family audience show scarcity problem in Manhattan. But on top of those family audiences going to see Hercules because it's the new Disney family musical and Disney is the trusted brand for families and entertainment. You also have people perhaps my age, perhaps a little older, going to see it out of nostalgia and familiarity, because we still love the music of Hercules and we know in our heroic hearts that a great show can be made of it. And that very specific era of Disney, which became a little more cult, a little more niche, late 90s, early 2000s, is very rarely explored on stage, especially in the UK. We've never had Tarzan make it here. All of which I think goes a lot of the way towards explaining the show's success. And it was selling really well. Like I say, we don't have published grosses here in the West End, so we don't have the same kind of information about how well it's selling, about average ticket prices. But it was hard to get a ticket. There weren't an abundance of discounts going around and they weren't doing any kind of a daily rush. They weren't even initially doing the Disney daily rush or lottery thing that they were doing on their website rather than on one of the ticket buying apps, which is sort of secret. I mean, it's not. I just don't feel like many people know about it. And so I inferred from all of that that Hercules must be doing very well. And soon enough, I heard through the grapevine that Disney themselves were surprised at how well Hercules was doing, perhaps because they underestimate the appeal of certain titles within their catalogue and on the possibility of a later millennial audience. Now, of course, this news has been picked up and reported in various different outlets. I want to read you some of what has been said in timeout, because a lot of places just kind of present the facts and there's a little bit of commentary here. Critic and editor Andrzej Lycowski, who is always a great read, wrote, it's got to be viewed as a small disappointment for Disney, whose stage version of the L King as the most successful musical in history and still going strong on the West End and Broadway, not to mention in various other countries around the world. Hercules has lasted notably less time than Frozen, which preceded it in the Gargantuan Theatre Royal Drury Lane. That said, a year and a bit at Drury Lane is nothing to sniff at, and it's so big that there's rarely the expectation that a show will run and run there. Hercules didn't do as well as Frozen, but it would be kind of nuts if it did, given how much more popular the movie version of Frozen was than the relatively culty Hercules. I had to read that word twice, but it does, I promise you say culty and it's hardly leaving in disarray with its closing date over seven months of away. And I said something similar recently when I was talking about the announced closure of Moulin Rouge on Broadway. When a closing date is announced that far in advance, it's all carefully planned, that tends to be what happens here in the West End more often than not. Anyway, it's a more graceful landing of the plane, and I would assume that Hercules will have recouped its investment at the time of closing based on the amount of performances that it will have sustained. But I would challenge the idea suggested there that this is any kind of a disappointment for Disney, because I think, if anything, it continues to be a slightly pleasant surprise for them given the reception that Hercules has had elsewhere on its previous runs. The Hamburg production eventually closed and was replaced by Tarzan, which moved to Hamburg from Stuttgart. The paper mill production was inherently limited, but was not particularly positively received. This is undeniably the biggest and most successful commercial outing that Hercules has had on dry land. I say that because there is also a recent cruise ship production which interestingly enough, does things quite differently. Admittedly, my entire perception of exactly how well Hercules is selling is quite anecdotal based on a variety of factors. But you can look at the availability of tickets for forthcoming performances, remembering that ticket sales in advance have hugely dwindled and more patrons are buying closer and closer to the date of the performance. And you will still see very well sold auditoriums. And it's worth pointing out the capacity of this venue, Theater Royal Jewelry Lane, which is semi flexible but sits at around 2,000. It is also entirely possible that after those exciting opening months and after the initial in advanced sales, some of the opening night Reviews. Perhaps the word of mouth may have caught up to the show and depleted some of the audience enthusiasm. They have now, for what it's worth, added a 29 pound 50 rush via today ticks. And this could be an example of those die hard fans seeing the show early and then beginning to slow down a little bit. It could also be us moving into the slower times of year for family audiences. January, February, very difficult. This is the first winter that Hercules has had to survive in the West End. It could also be as a result of another family musical which arrived a couple of months ago and is taking everyone's attention. I am talking once more about Paddington the Musical. Yes, I am talking about you, you tiny theatrical bear. And if Paddington seems to be coming up in conversation a disproportionate amount recently, it's because he's having an enormous impact across the West End theatre industry. And I did hear a whisper on the wind that other shows geared towards family audiences, such as Matilda the Musical playing at the Cambridge Theatre, might have been not slightest depletion in their usual attendance as a result of Paddington opening. And we've said this before, there can only be so many shows playing simultaneously catering to the same audiences. It's possibly the reason why the likes of Mean Girls and Clueless waited for Heathers to close before finally making their way to the West End. And so if Paddington is making Matilda feel a little bit nervous, it wouldn't be a surprise if Hercules at this huge theater was also feeling the effects of that. Alternatively, it could also be the case that Hercules is thriving and selling perfectly well, only closing because something else is waiting.
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To arrive, So let's talk about the greatest showman of it all. And it for a long time felt like a sort of an open secret that the Greatest Showman, the stage adaptation of which was announced around the time that Frozen, was closing at Theatre Royal Drury Lane would ultimately be bound for that venue, one of the largest and grandest in the West End, if we are going to get the Greatest show and it is going to have that kind of an extraordinary theatre. Ultimately, it was revealed that the production would play a regional venue first, the Bristol Hippodrome, a very large, grand regional venue here in the uk, also a very high capacity theatre, although that has not stopped it selling out its regional world premiere run entirely in advance. Congratulations to everyone who did get tickets. Meanwhile, Hercules was announced for Drury Lane, so the assumption was logically, oh, Disney are just putting Hercules in there as something of a stopgap before the Greatest Showman arrives. And I was in insisting to everyone that that was exactly what was happening. However, a couple of months ago, I started to hear from sources unprecedentedly close to the head of the Greatest Showman's creative team that the plan was potentially different. Either it had been reworked or the West End was never part of the plan in the first place. And that the Greatest Showman, after having its world premiere run in Bristol, would actually head to Broadway first before London. Which is news that I'm sure will disappoint many Western theatre fans, especially those who didn't get tickets to see it in Bristol. But it's good news for Broadway. And Disney haven't opened a new musical on Broadway in quite a while. I'm not sure, as per original rumors dating back years, whether the show is ultimately heading to the Palace Theatre, which was not too long ago renovated itself and lifted off of the ground so they could put in retail space down below, or if they would shuffle Aladdin out of the New Amsterdam Theatre to a different venue or close it entirely so that the Greatest Showman could open there. And the New Amsterdam is gorgeous. It's Disney's theater. It's a former Follies house. I think that would probably be the perfect home for the Greatest Showman. And if rumors are to be believed, that might just be the case. And it would go some of the way towards explaining the way in which the show has been cast in Bristol with a lot of performers who had been doing the various workshops that had been taking place in the uk. It does feel in some ways not that the cast aren't brilliantly talented and would be perfect for a West End run, like the assembly of an All Star workshop cast. Instead, this just happens to be a very public workshop. It's almost like Disney are flying over to the UK to build everything here before taking it to Broadway. They have learned with shows like Frozen, that it pays to be able to rework the thing until you get it right. The West End production being the finished product of a show that wasn't working quite as well on Broadway. And I hope that's not the case, because UK or audiences deserve better than just getting the tryout version and then having to wait for a prolonged number of years until we get a West End transfer. Shows like Beetlejuice, like Mean Girls, made us wait for ages and we are perhaps about to enjoy a whole slew of Broadway transfers coming over. But it would also be very exciting to get the Greatest Showman here first in a full, proper West End opening capacity. Now, the basis for this decision, as I understood, was that Hercules was selling unprecedentedly well and they were surprised and they didn't want to, you know, look a gift horse in the mouth and shut that down while it was still being successful. So they thought, we'll give that more time, greater showman to Broadway first, and then eventually, further down the line, it will come back. But now that Hercules is closing, have they reversed that decision? Is this just Greatest Showman going to the West End as we originally thought? Could it be that the even higher demand for the regional run of the Greatest Showman reminded Disney that that is their hottest property and they need to prioritize it? Or was there some kind of an intervention from venue owners LW Theatres and impresario Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, as well as Hercules was doing? Was there some insistence that Disney bring the Great Showman there after all, because that's what the West End want in one of their grandest theaters in Theatre Royal Drury Lane, rather than losing it to Broadway? Much that we can speculate about here. What I can tell you is that I have booked tickets for what is currently scheduled to be the first performance of the world premiere run of the Greatest Showman. I am very excited to be hopefully among that first audience. I say hopefully because first previews, especially for complicated shows, do have a habit of getting cancelled. So we are manifesting, show manifesting, if you will, that that does not happen on this occasion, and that I report back, not review as such, but let you know what the show is like after the first preview, from which point onwards it will presumably change. And here's another question. If Hercules is closing because there is an incoming tenant at Theatre Royal Jewelry Lane, but it isn't the Greatest Showman, as I have been hearing, as people continue to insist to me, what is actually coming next at one of London's biggest theaters.
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So I have heard some alternate rumours for the possibilities of the next show at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and each is sort of as strange as the last Last There has been this frequently resurfacing rumor about Sunset Boulevard making some kind of a limited West End return for the purposes of being filmed as a pro shot, which I increasingly don't believe. Not just because we heard it about three different theatres. We heard it about like this three week Gap at the Savoy, which was never feasible. We've heard it about other theaters. We're now hearing it about Theatre Royal Drury Lane. I simply don't believe that this is the case. Not just because I don't believe it would be financially viable, but also because having seen that production on either side of the Atlantic on multiple occasions, I don't know that a pro shot necessarily makes sense for its theatrical approach. I think it's in conversation with everything that's happening on screen and all of the camera work, but it only really works. The thrill of the whole thing only works if it's happening live, watching like the music video version of Tom Francis's Backstage and Outdoor Walk while singing the opening number of the second act is very cool to see everything that went into it technically, but it's not nearly as thrilling. Not in the same way that is a performance which was always meant to be experienced, live screens or otherwise. And besides, how would a pro shot even work? Would you simply see the footage being captured on the cameras, or would there be Additional cameras that would come in in like third person the cameras would you see the screen in the backdrop. That's not going to do anything for you watching a pro shot. Like there's no way that that comes across a screen beyond a screen. And again the Lloyd Webber of it all could mean that some strings have been pulled here. And if he wanted to get Sunset filmed badly enough, I dare say that he could put his foot down in a way way that might make it happen. However, since the time of Sunset Boulevard, Jamie Lloyd has not worked again with the award winning camera team that helped develop the approach to that show. He has started working with a different team and the team from that, Nathan Amsy and Joe Ransom have been working on different projects. So I don't know what it would take to bring them all back together or whether it would even be possible. Again, lots of speculation here. Nobody Sue Mickey.
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I'm also hearing weird things about Quentin Tarantino having been cited in the building and I don't know at what time and in what capacity but a lot of people are seen inside the building. There is some sort of a Quentin Tarantino stage project coming to the West End. I would not imagine that Theatre Royal Drury Lane is the most ideal home for that because of its size. And I'm still not entirely sure what this intel is. Maybe he was just there to see a show. Do you know what he would have loved the opening of 42nd Street. Would have loved that. Would Quentin. That is a niche joke but I have faith at least two of you got it. I do have a left field theory and this is based on nothing that anyone has actually told me me but we have been waiting on further updates about another big IP based theater show allegedly coming to the west end in 2025. And I think it was initially announced almost as long ago as the Hunger Games on stage was before we had to wait for a long time to hear anything else about that. And this was a Game of Thrones inspired stage show called the Iron Throne. And I believe that we are going to be finding out a little bit more about that soon. I think have a suspicion. But could it be heading to a venue like Theatre Royal Drury Lane? That kind of scale of ip if you were to get exciting actors in it, I think that could sell a limited run at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. There's really no way to predict what is going to happen next at this theatre because just when I thought I knew what was going to happen after Frozen bam. Back to back Shakespeare. I'm not at this point connecting this theatre's availability to any of the other projects that we know about that are looking for a West End home. Andrew Lloyd Webber's upcoming new musical, the Illusionist, I don't believe is going to open at Theatre Royal Drury Lane Lane. I think that one is going to find itself on the Strand. Meanwhile, there are rumored and semi confirmed transfers for Broadway musicals like maybe Happy Ending and the Outsiders and Buena Vista Social Club. I don't think either of those would find the perfect home at Drury Lane either, unless it were to be for a limited time. I think each of those has the capacity to be successful in London, but a venue that big would probably kill them off. At which point I am willing to crowdsource this. Do you have any ideas or any insights into what might be going to Theatre Royal, Drew Lane? Is it just that I'm hearing hoofbeats and refusing to see the horses approaching? Is it just the greatest showman? The notion that it's going to go to Broadway before the West End is one that I've heard from multiple different sources. But things change. People may have changed their minds. And it is, as I alluded to earlier, a very strange time for West End theater availability. We've got Beetlejuice readying to open at the Prince Edward Theater, another former favorite theater of Disney and Miss Saigon, announced for May 2027. Rather, stepping on the toes of what I thought was going to happen, which was that Death becomes her would be immediately following Beetlejuice. Is Death becomes her now without a confirmed West End theater? Or are they going to try their luck in Theatre Royal Drury Lane? We've also got the closing performance of Back to the Future approaching at 88mph, with no insight right now as to what is going to happen after that at the Adelphi Theater, one of the favorite theaters in the West End for Broadway musical transfers, because of its size, because of its stage, because of its capabilities. Other than the West End return of Billy Elliot in 2027, leaving a conspicuous limited gap between now and then, presumably to be filled by limited runs. Is the Adelphi Theater about to get 222 A Ghost Story and Elf Over Christmas? Anything's possible. In the meantime, what is next for Hercules? So Hercules has closed in Hamburg. It is closing in the West End. Is this a Disney screen to stage adaptation? We are going to see see again on a major stage. Is it going to head to New York? I'm sort of reluctant to assume that it will. Is it now just going to get licensed I had heard at the time of the Paper Mill production that that was their ambition at that point, simply to produce the show so that it could be licensed. That was allegedly also the reason for producing newsies there back in the day. It just gave way to unexpected demand and a surprise Broadway transfer. Is Hercules going to go the sort of Disney B route that circumvents Broadway like the recent revival of Beauty and the? Be East? Tour around Australia, tour around the us, tour around the uk? I wouldn't be surprised if we got a Hercules tour. I certainly think it's feasible, in spite of the fact that we still haven't had any indication of a Frozen tour around the uk. Because at the time it was said that Frozen was too big to tour. And having seen alternate productions of the same show, including the one in Hamburg, Germany, on a smaller stage than Theatre Royal Drury Lane's, I entirely reject the idea that Frozen is too big to tour. At least a handful of the UK's most prominent regional theaters who have accepted tours of the Lion King, for crying out loud. And Disney have the money to tour a show like Frozen if they wanted to. I mean, this is the company who paid to have doorways altered at theaters like Birmingham Hippodrome so that the animal puppets could continue to walk through the audience. I believe that's the story anyway. But if Disney are making alterations to the theater upon arrival, throwing Disney money at the problems, then they can tour Frozen. And it's not about having kids in the cast because they just taught members Mary Poppins, also not a small or uncomplicated show. And hell, the Greatest Showman, which is meant to be this huge big spectacle, is currently being developed. Where? At a British regional theatre and touring house, the Bristol Hippodrome. Ergo, no, we could tour Frozen, we just seem not to want to. And right now Disney is about to have the fewest number of shows that they have had in the UK for a long time. Greatest Showman will be doing its little limited sold out run. The Lion King continues to go strong, but they will only have one show in the West End at the end of the year. After Hercules closes, Greatest Showman will be over, possibly with an announcement of a West End transfer. We can hope, but nothing else from what we know so far on the touring circuit. On this and on other fronts, we will just have to wait and see. And you can bet that when we find out more, I will be letting you know right here on social media. Make sure you're subscribed or following me on podcast platforms so you don't miss that update. And if you haven't had a chance yet to see Disney's Hercules on stage and you would like to catch it in the West End, you have until September of this year. In the meantime, thank you so much for listening to this Theatre News update. I hope that you enjoyed. Stay tuned for more reviews and updates from me coming very soon. As always, I hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have a stagey day for 10 more seconds. I'm Mickey Jo Theatre. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a stagey day. Subscribe.
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MickeyJoTheatre – Is HERCULES closing for THE GREATEST SHOWMAN... or not? | What's going on with the Disney musicals
Host: Mickey Jo (MickeyJoTheatre)
Date: February 15, 2026
In this episode, Mickey Jo dives into the surprising announcement that Disney’s Hercules musical will close in the West End in September 2026, despite reports of strong ticket sales and positive reception. The discussion delves into the rumors about what’s next for the historic Theatre Royal Drury Lane—especially speculation surrounding The Greatest Showman and other high-profile productions. Mickey Jo unpacks the context behind the closure, analyzes the possible strategic moves by Disney and LW Theatres, and surveys the current and future landscape of West End musicals based on industry insights and rumors.
Background:
Ticket Sales and Audience Appeal:
Comparisons with Other Disney Musicals:
Possible Causes for Closing:
"It's got to be viewed as a small disappointment for Disney, whose stage version of The Lion King [is] the most successful musical in history ... but a year and a bit at Drury Lane is nothing to sniff at."
— (Quoting Timeout/Andrzej Lukowski) ([09:20])
Previous Assumptions:
Current Rumors and Industry Intrigue:
Still a Mystery:
What about Theatre Royal Drury Lane?
Sunset Boulevard & Film Stage Crossovers:
Rumors About High-Profile Visitors & New Projects:
Game of Thrones’ “The Iron Throne” Stage Show:
Other Transfer Rumors:
Big-Picture Theatre Availability:
Call for Community Input:
Hercules’ Next Steps:
Disney’s UK Stage Presence Shrinking:
On rumors and “insider” info:
“Widespread belief that Hercules was only ever going to be a limited run at Theatre Royal Drury Lane because it was actually going to be the home of The Greatest Showman once it finished ... but then I began to hear differently.” (Mickey Jo, [04:08])
On show longevity and Disney’s expectations:
“A year and a bit at Drury Lane is nothing to sniff at, and it's so big that there's rarely the expectation that a show will run and run there ... I would challenge the idea that this is any kind of disappointment for Disney because I think, if anything, it continues to be a slightly pleasant surprise for them.” (Mickey Jo, quoting and responding to Timeout, [09:30])
On Disney’s priorities and West End/Broadway relationships:
“It would also be very exciting to get The Greatest Showman here first in a full, proper West End opening capacity. But it would also be very exciting to get The Greatest Showman here first in a full, proper West End opening capacity.” (Mickey Jo, [16:42])
Inviting theories:
“Is it just that I'm hearing hoofbeats and refusing to see the horses approaching? Is it just The Greatest Showman? ... But things change. People may have changed their minds.” (Mickey Jo, [24:28])
Mickey Jo delivers an insightful, energetic analysis of the state of Disney and large-scale musical theatre in the UK, drawing from both hard reporting and the rumour mill. While the immediate fate of Drury Lane remains unclear, the episode offers valuable context for understanding the business and creative strategies at play—and the sometimes mysterious machinery behind marquee West End productions.
“If you haven’t yet seen Hercules on stage and want to catch it in the West End, you have until September of this year.”
(Mickey Jo, closing call, [28:30])
For more updates, reviews, and theatre news, subscribe to Mickey Jo Theatre’s channels and follow on podcast and social platforms.