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Which Broadway shows are coming to London? | Cancelled, rumoured, and unannounced West End transfers
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Mickey Jo
Now there is at least one unannounced Broadway to West End transfer I have been explicitly told is happening. It is not the one which I constantly get asked about and it's probably not the one you think, oh my God. Hey, welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel. Or hello to you if you're listening on podcast platforms. My name is Mickey Jo and I am obsessed with all things theatre. And over the coming weeks, all of the theatre industry's eyes are going to be turned towards New York and Broadway as we approach the Tony Awards, the height of the Broadway theatrical calendar. This is an annual celebration of extraordinary achieve of plays and musicals within the New York theatre season. And because it's such a widely recognized mark of quality, it also has a tangible impact on shows box office sales. So if you do well at the Tony Awards, then you are likely to subsequently do well at the box office. Struggling shows can be reinvigorated by a Tony win. Likewise, however, we do sometimes see faltering shows struggle even more if they fail to pick up a Tony statue. And then there are other productions which were doing well already and will continue to do well regardless. Now, you might be wondering for a conversation about potential Broadway transfers to the West End, why am I talking so much about the Tony Awards? Well, all of this is inevitably linked and not just because a Tony win for a show with a less obviously marketable title or concept may give them slightly more impetus to, you know, begin about international productions, including London based ones, but also because in the run up to the Tony Awards we see a lot of campaigning for those nominated for best new play or best new musical campaigns which in this very competitive year have become fascinating to watch. And I will talk about those in another video because I think it's really worth diving into. But very often something that we see here is the announcement of national touring or international productions to indicate that the show has a future life and, you know, it is worth investing in as a brand because that's what the Tonys recognize as much as anything else. They're a celebration of quality, yes, but also of a brand. In any case, we have just seen a handful of shows announcing national and international tours, but we haven't yet seen that many announcements of West End transfers. And so today, today I'm going to talk through some of the Broadway shows of this season as well as previous seasons and speculate about which ones we might be expecting to see in London over the next couple of years. Now, if there are any shows which I don't mention today, feel free to let me know in the comments section down below and I will let you know what I have heard and whether I expect that we might see a West End transfer. In the meantime, if you want to stay up to date with all of the theatre news on Broadway and in the West End, make sure that you're subscribed right here on YouTube or following me on podcast platforms. While you're at it, feel free to turn on notifications so that your devices let you every time I share something new. In the meantime, while you're pressing all of those buttons, let's talk about transfers. So I want to begin with a little bit of an update about previous shows from seasons past which announced London productions that have yet to materialize. And we could go all the way back to Jagged Little Pill, which I think. I mean, maybe 2021 was the year that they were meant to come to London and then, you know, it's just been radio silence thereafter. There was an Australian production subsequently, but there has been no update whatsoever since the initial announcement that it was going to be transferring. Oh, I'm sorry, I lied. An initially planned opening in November of 2022. They never confirmed a theater nor a cast, and they never said anything about it again. We're approaching three years down the line with no updates, and Jagged Little Pill courted a little bit of controversy during its Broadway run. Less so, I feel, in Australia, or perhaps I was just less aware of it. But, you know, even though we have jukebox music do quite well in the uk, I recently shared that they might not be doing as well as they used to. We haven't heard anything more about Jagged Little Pill. Perhaps it's waiting in the wings just like Mean Girls did, for the right theatre to come along. It took quite a few years for Mean Girls to open at the Savoy Theatre in London, and these things get planned deceptively far in advance. So, you know, Jagged Little Pill may indeed be lined up for a theater, or perhaps we will never hear about it again. From slightly more recently, Some Like It Hot announced plans to head to the UK. The producers revealed in late 2023 that we're looking at a West End run for the musical in 2025. And for those of you not currently sat near a calendar, I'll let you know that is the year that we are currently in, and we are almost halfway through that year with no indication that Some Like It Hot is going to open anywhere in London this year. And we would sort of need to know by now. We would expect to know by now, what's interesting is that this got announced in September, so this wasn't Tony's campaigning. This, I think, was when the show's ticket sales were beginning to slow down. This may even have been alongside a closing announcement because the show closed, I believe, at the very begin beginning of 2024 in that January closure window. I've said it before, I'll say it again. There are a handful of theaters in the West End that big Broadway shows do tend to prefer. The Adelphi is one of them. The Savoy is another. Paddington the Musical is going into the Savoy after Burlesque, after Mean Girls closes next month. And I don't expect Paddington to be going anywhere for a really long time. So, you know, I guess it's waiting until Back to the Future closes at the Adelphi and then seeing which show is lined up to be next there. But somewhere like the Savoy, or perhaps even the Barbican is always where I expected Some Like It Go. Yeah, Some Like It Hot to Go. I accidentally made it Chapel Roan. Now, here's another one that I believe was talked about for 2025 and yet here we are and here it isn't. I am talking about how to Dance in Ohio. Now, they never said West End. This was announced for the uk, so I speculated, you know, with the show probably deserving a little bit more development. There's a really great show there, there's some really great material there, but it deserves to be worked on just a little bit and perhaps reframed and refocused slightly in terms of who its protagonist is and how we're telling this really important and heartwarming story. I thought perhaps because of all of that, it might end up going to a UK regional venue first, somewhere like the Leicester Curve. Now, there are a couple of curveballs here in terms of the producers attached to the show. I believe the American production company attached to how to Dance in Ohio are also producers on Call Me Izzy, the new Jean Smart play heading to Broadway over the summer, as well as what used to be called Gun and Powder and I think is now called Wanted, which is also planning its attack on Broadway, and we'll probably see it next season. How to Dance in Ohio, meanwhile, feels like it's a little bit in the rear view mirror and may not be getting quite as much focus. There was also a UK production company attached to the show alongside them doing general management, and I'm not entirely sure if that production company still exists, which is a shame, because I actually think how to Dance in Ohio is the kind of a story that will really do well with UK audiences. And because they've always been committed to authentic casting of an ensemble of autistic characters, it would be really great to have that produced in the uk. It would be a fantastic opportunity, obviously, for many actors. Now, another show that that American production company was attached to was Job Last summer at the Hayes Theatre. And this was very buzzy, very talked about after sold out Off Broadway runs. And when it closed, there was something in the press release announcing that there were going to be like a large number of subsequent international productions, including in Europe. And some of the American regional productions of Job have already been announced. But I am waiting to hear about a London production of Job simply because I didn't get the chance to see it. And people great things and, you know, I've avoided spoilers this entire time, but I know that it was sort of shocking. So I would like to see Job. I could see this happening somewhere, like the Young Vic or the Donmar even, or the Menier even, or the Almeida or the Hamster. There are a bunch of little intimate playhouses where this could be staged. We have so many plays produced in London, far more than in New York. I. I don't see why we can't have a production of Job yet. Give me Job. I would like Job. And while we're in a conversation about shows that previously announced plans for London, I do want to mention Shucked, because Shucked has recently opened at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. But that isn't initially what was talked about, because Shucked had initially stated they were going to open with the support of producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh, presumably at a Delfont Mackintosh Theatre, I believe, in 2024. And then that all went a little bit quiet. And when Shucked closed on Broadway, that date was pushed back quietly in the closing press release, but nobody really picked up on that. Eventually, a little down the line, Jack o' Brien in an interview divulged that the show was going to be produced at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. There is still every possibility that Shucked will transfer to a commercial West End venue, but, you know, it's made it across the Atlantic in some capacity. Yay for Korn. Moving on then, Here are the shows from previous seasons that have never made any announcement of a transfer, but still possibly could. And the one that people are going to ask me about every single time is Beatles. People want to see Beetlejuice here in the uk, it has become the new show that we are impatient for Mean Girls almost reached that level. But shows like Next to Normal and Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 certainly did. We waited a really, really long time to see Next to Normal. In particular, the Donmar Warehouse ended up bringing us both of those shows. And that's not the venue I expect to bring us Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice is always one that I had heard was trying to transfer. But producers were waiting for the right theater and there were rumors circulating about them eyeing up the Dominion, which is vast, and Gillian Lynn, which is now the home to my neighbor Totoro, which again is another show that's not going anywhere anytime soon. There were rumours that Sir Cameron Mackintosh might be interested. There were also rumors that after the show closed for the second time on Broadway at the Marquee that this might have dented UK producers enthusiasm to bring the show over here, which I think would be short sighted. But I do also simultaneously think that opening Beetlejuice at a venue like the Dominion could be a mistake. I definitely think it needs the right house with the right kind of a capacity. That is not going to prove too formidable task for the show if it ever opens here. And I do think that it will. You know, it's just recently started performances in Australia. It's been done on cruise ships around Europe, but not yet in the uk. I think South America has also had Beetlejuice. Obviously we want Beetlejuice to open here. There are a lot of people who are very excited about this. I do think it's going to happen. I think they're waiting for the right theater and that wait could take a long time sometimes. That's how it works. Now here's another one I was thinking about just earlier today. Little Shop of Horrors. Not a Broadway production, but the ongoing Off Broadway production currently running at the west side Theater in New York. This production has become notable for its rotating starry casting of Seymour and Audrey. So many brilliant people have starred in this production. Corbin Blue and Jinx Monsoon and Milo Manheim and Liz Gillies and Andrew Barth Feldman and Sarah Hyland. So many great performers. Jonathan Groff and Jeremy Jordan and Matt Doyle and Joy Wood. So many have gone through little trop of horrors off Broadway and they have really been producing it very smartly and what I have called a quintessential essential staging of the show. I really love this production. I think it would do very well here in the UK again at the right venue. And I have heard anecdotally from people close to the production that they have been trying. They have been looking into the possibility. However, every few months here we get announcements of another touring or regional or regional and touring production of Little Shop of Horrors. And another of those announcements came this morning. There is going to be another UK production in Manchester, I believe, produced by Thomas Hopkins and the Hope Mill Theatre team. And I'm sure it's going to be incredibly special and I look forward to that production. I really enjoyed getting to go and see the one done over Christmas at Sheffield, which was a really different interpretation of the show, very far from the current Off Broadway version. But it does also make me a little bit sad because I would love that Off Broadway version to come over here. Maybe if the Criterion Theatre were to become available again, not that I want Titanique to go anywhere that could be a great home for Little Shop. I think the Charing Cross Theatre would be a perfect space for it. But it's not really how they tend to operate to have one long running production. And another one we should talk about is the Outsiders, the Tony Award winning best musical of last season. Now, I speculated that this wouldn't necessarily find the same stratospheric instant success in the UK as it did in the US because it doesn't have quite the same amount of recognition here in terms of, you know, everyone having studied the book in school or indeed the story having quite so much cultural relevance. I don't think this would necessarily prevent the show from transferring over here. You know, American shows come to the UK all the time, even with very American set stories and themes. And the same thing happens in reverse. Operation Mincemeat made it to Broadway after all. But unless I've missed it, there has been not even a suggestion from the Outsiders that there is any kind of a UK production planned. In spite of rumors that continue to circulate about that possibly being the next show that we will see at the Adelphi. I think whatever is next at the Adelphi, presuming Back to the Future does eventually decelerate and park the car. Whatever that next show is, I do feel as though it is going to be something very special and exciting. So now that we've talked about shows from seasons past, let's talk about the season that we are in right now, beginning with the shows I don't expect to transfer and the reasons why. And I will start with the musical revivals and the play revivals simply because these are not productions that you tend to see making transatlantic transfers. Sometimes it happens. Sunday in the park with George was set to transfer over the Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford production. This is my villain origin story that that got cancelled due to the pandemic. Of course, going back over the years, things like the revival of Chicago transferred and these big Jamie Lloyd revival productions do tend to transfer, like Sunset Boulevard. I'm anticipating that Evita, which is beginning in London, also probably will. But I don't think necessarily that Gypsy, for example, is going to come here. It might. It could. If Audra wanted to do it. I don't think that would mean quite as much. It would still mean a great deal, but not quite as much in London as in New York. We have not that long ago had the very celebrated production starring Imelda Staunton, who does carry an awful lot more weight with audiences here. Lady Day transferred with Audra and was really sold on her star power. I got to see that production at the Wyndham's theater. So, you know, it is still possible, but I find it unlikely. I find even more unlikely musical revivals like Floyd Collins. I don't think necessarily that's something that we're going to see in the uk. And I feel similarly about the last five years currently running at the Hudson Theater starring Nick Jonas and Adrian Warren. I did hear that that production was initially conceived to begin life in the UK with a very different director attached with other differences as well. It may even have been set to star a different Jonas brother. Who could possibly say? But I don't expect with, you know, the lack of Tony nominations, with the critical response that has happened to the show that we're going to see it coming over here. Now I mentioned play revivals also, if Denzel Washington wanted to do Othello over here, then it would happen. I just don't think that he'd be does see also the cast of Glengarry Glen Ross and Romeo and Juliet. A I think you'd struggle to find a comparable space to stage that production in the same way. But also, Rachel Zegler and Kit Connor are both far too busy to do that play again. We're lucky that it happened the once. Finally, here are the new musicals that I sadly don't think will transfer. And for all three of these, it really has to do with how they've been performing at the box office. I'm talking about Redwood. Real Women have Curves and Boop. Now Redwood is another one that, despite its universal themes, I think would feel slightly more divorced from its cultural relevance in the UK because of the specificity of its subject matter. But also it would be entirely reliant on whether or not Idina Menzel wanted to do it over here. She transferred with Wicked just under two decades ago. But I really don't anticipate this being something that would happen here. Where would it even be staged? Where would Redwood happen here? And also I really wouldn't envision the show getting any kind of a critical response to compare with the New York Times critics pick that it received in New York. Real Women have Curves, a show that I haven't yet seen but have heard wonderful things about, is another one. I just don't know if it would have the same cultural relevance. And they've been struggling. Admittedly they have been struggling to really sell at the James Earl Jones Theater. I hope that that turns around still. But it's also worth saying that doesn't necessarily imply that it wouldn't transfer at some point. It's not always the most successful, the most award winning musicals that are the quickest to come over. Sometimes there are shows that struggled on Broadway and then look towards the UK and London and the West End as their opportunity to redeem themselves. Pret Woman and Doubtfire, admittedly they have a very different kind of a marketability, but Real Women have Curves also shares its name with a film. And while we're on the subject, here's another one that I forgot to mention earlier. This was not a big winner at the Tony Awards, but Water for Elephants is, I believe, eyeing up a UK not London, but UK production regionally in 2026. I think it may even be later. I remember when I was told this, it felt like it was a considerable distance into the future future. And Boop is another one. Not that I think that New York audiences were particularly crying out for a Betty Boop musical. Sorry to the dog behind me, but I think London audience is perhaps even less so. And it's just so Broadway. That opening number, the top of Act 2, it is. It is very Broadway. I don't know that it would necessarily do particularly well here. Sadly, it's not really setting its box office on fire in New York at the Broadhurst either. Although it must be said that Jerry Mitchell seems to be having considerably more success on this side of the Atlantic with the Devil Wears Prada, with Legally Blonde, etc. And I neglected to mention it with those other three because I feel it is in a slightly different place. But Smash is probably another one that feels a little too Broadway centric to find a UK audience, even though I know there are lots of musical theatre fans here in the UK who would love the chance to see Smash on stage. But after all of that doom and gloom, this may be the real reason that you clicked on this in the first place. Let's talk about those productions from the current Broadway season that could transfer or even will transfer. Now, having said previously that shows which struggled at the box office, closed early, didn't get Tony nominations, were inherently more unlikely to transfer, here is one we shouldn't necessarily count out. I am talking about Swept Away. Just because we see a lot of shows like this here in the uk, and it might seem a little ludicrous to suggest it, but it also really wouldn't surprise me. I wouldn't be shocked if Swept Away were to announce some kind of a UK production production. Another one I'd be very curious about would be Dead Outlaw. Now, they may go on to win big at the Tony Awards next month. I will be very intrigued to see what happens there. They do have a big producer behind them in the form of Sonja Friedman, who is British but produces huge shows on either side of the Atlantic simultaneously. And it's not necessarily a prerequisite for her to bring the show over here that it wins the Tony Award. If she wants to bring the show to London, she's going to bring the show to London regardless. And from the brief interactions that I've had with her, they would seem to indicate that, like alongside other factors, that decision is determined by whether or not she thinks the audiences in each of those places would respond to those shows. She shared the other day that the reason she got behind Stereophonic when she did was because she explicitly wanted to bring it to London. This was before the show had yet transferred to Broadway, I believe. And Dead Outlaw is one I wouldn't necessarily see going straight into the commercial West End unless it wins the Tony, which might give it a little more license to do so. But what I know about the show is that it's a little quirky and offbeat and unusual. There's a lot of great venues where. Where that could work. I'm thinking about the Many A Chocolate Factory. But you know, I'm also thinking about the Harold Pinter Theatre. Actually, having just said not commercial West End, something inside my head seems to just think that that makes sense. And here is another one I feel similarly about, and it is my beloved, maybe happy ending. If you haven't heard me talk about this particular musical before, it is my favorite musical, my favorite show currently running on Broadway. I love those robots. I love them so much. They recently announced a North American Tour and I saw the fans in the comments asking for a UK production. In part, their social media work has been so brilliant in allowing the fans to fall in love with the show without having yet had the chance to see it. Shout out to everyone working on the show's marketing and social media, but in particular Catherine Quinn for and that's Showbiz. She is also one of the people who helped to propel the Great Gatsby musical to the heights that it has now reached, which of course is currently playing at the London Coliseum here in the uk. That however, has a very different kind of a title in terms of its marketability to something like maybe Happy Ending, which is telling a wholly original story. Now again, there is some star power to be considered here. If Darren Criss, who is not only a leading performer in the show but also one of its producers, wanted to bring the show to the UK and star in it here in the uk, then I think it could find a West End theater. Otherwise, I don't know if it would have to consider downsizing to somewhere like the Young Vic. Just off the top of my head, I would love to see it in one of the National Theatre spaces like the Littleton. I don't think that's necessarily going to happen. Like here we are going there, fine. But because of its Sondheim and Sondheim's history with the National Theatre and there's a prestige quality to it, all of this conversation probably gets a little bit easier. If maybe Happy Ending wins the Tony for Best New Musical, Darren Criss could also win himself as well. But there are some other new musicals nominated this year that could also go on to transfer. One of those is Buena Vista Social Club, a story entirely rooted in Cuban and Latinx culture, which has slightly more relevance again in North America than it does in the uk. But we also really love stories like this. Our audiences really get involved with stories like this. And there is a UK production company called Playful Productions who I believe are involved with Buena Vista Social Club currently, and I don't know them to be heavily involved with that many solely New York based productions. So I find that to be intriguing and I wonder if that is a precursor to some kind of a UK announcement. Ultimately, that show is about great music and the power of music and that's something that our audiences always respond to. Like my parents would love Buena Vista Social Club on stage. I think that could do really well here. And then there is also Death becomes her. This, like Beetlejuice before it has become, become really beloved on Social Media. There are a lot of theater fans in the UK who would love to see this here. People have been talking about who could possibly play these two diva leading lady roles. I also wouldn't be mad if Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard transferred with the production and, you know, played a lovely West End theater. There's plenty of places where you could put this. I think because of the recognition of the movie title and the visuals of it all, I think this could go straight into the West End. This could be the next show at the Adelphi. Who knows knows. But it's definitely a show that I would love to see here in the UK at some point. And I know that conversations are happening. I know that there is intrigue among some British producers about the idea of bringing Death becomes her here. They're sort of sniffing around to try and figure out whether they think it would do well in London. I think the answer is yes, but as always, I'm very intrigued to know if people agree. What do you think? Would Death Becomes her do well in the West End? That I think of all the musicals we've talked about today, regardless of whether or not it goes on to win the Tony is probably the most likely to get a transfer. Do with that information what you will, but just before that I was talking about audiences responding to great music and we do have a history of a lot of jukebox musicals here. Now in recent years, admittedly, they haven't necessarily been the guaranteed hits that they once were. I'm thinking about a show like Ain't Too Proud at the Prince Edward Theatre. It'll be interesting to see how long MJ continues to run. Tina, after a very successful few years, admittedly has just announced that it will close at the Old Witch Theatre. But I am wondering if perhaps we are more likely to see bio jukebox musicals like A Wonderful World, the Louis Armstrong musical, or Just In Time based around Bobby Darren. Are we more likely to see those transferring than the original stories like maybe Happy Ending and Dead Outlaw? It pains me to say it, but I do feel as though there is sort of an easier conversation to be had around bringing those ones over because there's more of that instant familiarity with audiences. There's a lot to be said in terms of marketing and producing the show for the ability of audiences to look at a poster and understand to some extent what the story is that's being told. Finally though, let's talk about the season's Tony nominated best new plays. One of those was the Hills of California, which started Its life here in London before transferring to New York. Would it at some point come back to the West End with its very different Broadway ending, the show having been reworked in the transatlantic transition? There's every possibility. Jerusalem, another Jez Butterworth play has returned. That one admittedly was a huge success the first time around. The others, Purpose O Mary and John Proctor as the villain, are all significantly more American. But that's not to say that they won't come over here. I could see Purpose going somewhere like the Young Vic or even to the National Theatre. It just won the Pulitzer Prize, which doesn't always guarantee a transfer, but it is another very esteemed mark of quality. There's also something of a recent history of Pulitzer Prize winning plays doing very well in the us, transferring to the UK and then getting torn to shreds by British critics. John Proctor is the villain, as I recently said in my review, is an extraordinary play that made me so excited. I really hope, hope that we get to see it here. It is culturally a lot more American in its approach, but just in terms of how it responds to the text and how it engages with young characters opinions. I think this at the National Theater, there's almost a responsibility to stage this kind of a play there. Or you know, the Royal Shakespeare Company are doing Fat Ham. They are producing the UK production of another Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway play, Fat Ham. Admittedly, that one has a more tangible connection to Shakespeare because of Hamlet, but I would love to see one of of those big organizations that has a real link to education and young people producing John Proctor as the villain. But I have saved the best news for last, which is oh Mary, the hit Broadway play written by and starring Cole Escola, is at some point planning to transfer to the uk, to the West End, I believe. I have not heard any specific details in terms of theatres or of individuals involved or of timelines. Part of me thinks that Coral Escola would have to come over and star in it because that's the whole narrative around the play. And you know, it hits. I enjoyed Titus Burgess in it very much, but it hits very differently when it's Cole doing their own shtick. Another part of me thinks that to really sell it here, this US presidential comedy that's very queer and sort of anarchic and a little subversive, a little John Waters esque is how I've always described it, would they need a more familiar UK comedy star? And there's a whole bunch of people that you could put into this because the role has already been played on Broadway by a wide variety of people performers. All I know is I have it on very good authority that Omary is eyeing a UK production. It could downsize to something smaller, like its original Off Broadway routes. It could go to somewhere like the Menier Chocolate Factory. That would really, you know, not surprise me if it hadn't been for the huge Broadway success that it found after its initial premiere. In any case, that is all of the insider gossip that I have for you today. But if you have any of your own, feel free to, I don't know, comment down below. DM me on Instagram, send me an email, and as and when we hear any more details about potential UK transfers from the US you know you're going to hear it here. So make sure that you are subscribed right here on YouTube. Turn on those notifications so you don't miss my theatrical updates and reviews. Or if it's easier for you, go follow me on other social media platforms including podcast apps. Thank you for listening to this. Let me know in the comments which potential Broadway transfer you are the most excited for, the one that you are manifesting the most. And 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 than for watching have a Stagey Day, subscribe.