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Micky Jo
Is Beetlejuice finally coming to the West End? Is Shucked going to be playing at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre? Could one of this year's most Tony Award winning shows reach London before Christmas? Here is what I oh my God. Hey. Welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel. My name is Micky Jo and I'm obsessed with all things theatre. Here are my I am a freelance professional theatre critic here on social media. I'm also a theatre pundit and it's in that capacity today that I'm going to be bringing you a selection of news, rumours and unsubstantiated gossip, much of which I believe to be true, having heard it from multiple credible sources, others of which is formed of chatter online. And I'll be sure to let you know as I talk through this video, which is which but there are various things that we have learned recently about a handful of Broadway shows and their potential transfers to the West End. If you don't know, I'm talking theatre and predominantly musical theatre here. Broadway is where the shows play in New York and the West End is where the largest shows play in London and often when a show is really successful in New York and they think that there might be interest for the British market, they will transfer the show. The show will then open a production in the West End. We have seen this recently with Mean Girls which finally arrived in the West End after years of waiting. Similarly, the West End has sent a bunch of shows to Broadway recently. The recent award winning revival of Sunset Boulevard that began at the Savoy Theatre in London is about to open at the St James Theatre on Broadway. But there are many shows from this year, from last year, from the past few years that have yet to announce a West End production despite considering considerable interest from British theatre fans. And I'm going to give you an update about the trajectory of hopefully all of those shows in this one video because we have found out some things, let me tell you, and I'm going to cover a whole host of shows including some from a few years ago in this video and I'm going to be saying a few things that I haven't seen anyone else talking about yet online, but things that I have been hearing for a while now. So if you want to know all of the stagey gossip, stay tuned for the whole video. And if you want to keep up to date with all of the theatre news both on Broadway and in the West End, as well as getting to see all of my reviews and theatre going vlog vlogs, make sure to subscribe to my theatre themed YouTube channel right here. Turn on the notification button down below so you don't miss any of my upcoming videos. You can also find more from me across the Internet. I'm also on TikTok and Instagram and the app formerly known as Twitter. But I'm very excited to tell you about all of these potential Broadway to West End transfers. If there are any shows I haven't mentioned or anything you'd like to know a little bit more about, comment down below and I will do my best to answer those queries. For now though, let's talk about the Broadway shows coming to the West End. So the first one everyone is going to ask me about, and I still get questions about this almost every time that I go on live or every time a new transfer is announced, is Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. Because this show, despite having had historically mixed success on Broadway for a variety of different factors, including the pandemic including theater owners ousting it in favor of the more profitable revival of the Music man starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster. You know, a handful of things that didn't go Beetlejuice's way. It found an audience online, a considerable audience online online, and there is a huge amount of interest among British theatre fans. People are desperate to get Beetlejuice over here and have been for some time. Obviously this is a musical adaptation of the iconic film, the sequel to which has just been released in cinemas. Notably, though, the stage musical has a discernibly different tone to the film. It is lighter, it's campier, it's wackier, it's not dissimilar to a lot of other comedy musicals like the Book of Mormon, Avenue Q. That kind of a tongue in cheek musical style, very self reverential, but also containing some really great musical theater songs like Dead I remember when everyone was obsessed. Remember back before my days from the Notebook when everyone loved Dead Mom. Anyway, you want to know when Beetlejuice is coming to the West End and the last I heard was out of the mouth of an associate creative on the show who said they are still very interested in bringing it to London, but they are waiting for the right theatre and they seem to be waiting very patiently. Now here's some insider info for you. Often when Broadway shows are waiting for the right theatre in London, especially big musicals, it means they are waiting for the Adelphi or the Savoy. Something about the capacities of these theaters, something about their configurations, the size of the stages. That's a big Factor as well makes them the most attractive to big Broadway musicals. I mean, Beetlejuice played originally at the Winter Garden, where Back to the Future is now playing. Back to the Future in London is playing at the Adelphi, and I think it still has a little bit of time left at the Adelphi. It's been playing for a few years now, but it wouldn't be surprising to me if there was a queue of shows waiting to go to the Adelphi when Back to the Future potentially concludes its run. Not that I think that's going to necessarily be soon. And the Savoy is another one. I mean, I don't know know how long Sonja Friedman was waiting to get Mean Girls into the Savoy, but that's definitely not going anywhere anytime soon. Mean Girls has huge cross generational appeal with, you know, the teens who were teens when the film came out and the teens who are teens now. Teens who are teens love Mean Girls. So I think Mean Girls is going to be around for some time. I had heard rumors of Beetlejuice eyeing the likes of the Dominion. Maybe they're waiting to see how Devil Wears Prada fares there. Maybe they're looking at somewhere like the Gillian Lynn. This is another one I hear coming up a lot. When Theatre Royal Drury Lane became vacant with the news Frozen was closing, a lot of people were saying, should Beetlejuice go there now? I don't know if Beetlejuice has the same kind of cross generational broad appeal to sustain a huge house like the Dominion or like Theatre Royal Drury Lane. And after its ultimately early closure on Broadway the second time around when it reopened at the Marquee Theatre, I wonder if producers feel the same way. They don't want to go into something completely vast. Needless to say, we are just going to have to be patient. Like I said with Mean Girls, it took a very long time for it to get here. And it seems as though increasingly recently, producers are recognizing a West End transfer of a potentially less successful Broadway show as a very lucrative opportunity at Redemption and the opportunity to, like, slightly improve the show. I keep mentioning this, but we've seen this with the likes of Pretty Woman and with Frozen and with Doubtfire. So I am convinced we are getting Beetlejuice. But just like Aaron Burr tells us in Hamilton, we are just going to have to wait for it. Here is one that is coming a little bit sooner, although not as soon as we had originally been led to believe. Let's talk about Shucked. So shucked was a 2023 Broadway music all about Korn again, another one that is hugely funny. I like to say that it combines a thigh slapping script with a knee slapping score, by which I mean it's brilliant country music and it's absolutely hilarious. Alex Newell won a Tony Award for their performance as Lulu singing the song Independently Owned, which is one of the things that really catapulted the show into, you know, theatre fandom awareness online. So people were very excited when a West End production was announced for Shucked. However, it was initially announced for 2024 and it is already late September. And you will notice there are no Korn based musicals currently playing in the West End. That's because when the show closed on Broadway, they hid within that press release about the closure that it would be aiming for London in winter 2025. And though you could call January winter, I'm betting what they really meant was like November, December time. However, there is a big juicy corn update to all of this because director Jack O'Brien, who has just finished directing the Roommate on Broadway starring Patti LuPone and Mia Far, gave an interview to Frank DiLella for broadwaydirect.com where he talked about his upcoming projects. He said, after this, I'm going to go work with the U.S. national Tour Company of Shucked, who have just been announced, and then I'm going to London to cast the British production. And he said it's going to be at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre next summer, summer 2025. This is a huge, surprising update because last we had heard Cameron Mackintosh was producing this show and we presumed it was going to be going to one of his theatres that is maybe the Noel Cowart, maybe the Wyndhams. But Regent's park is not normally the place where we see shows transferring to. Normally they originate their own self produced productions which if they're very successful, will transfer out of the park to a different venue. Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, as its name implies, is an open air amphitheater that only programs shows over the summer. It's the London equivalent of the Delacorte, basically. And it's kind of ingenious for Shuck to be here, but it's also a big surprise. What I'm hoping for in my Heart of Corn shaped Hearts is that it's playing. It's kind of like pre West End run there to get a little bit of notice. You know, there's a certain quantity of inbuilt ticket buyers that a show will get at Regent's park because they have a mailing list because There's a lot of people who will just go and see shows there over the summer because of the novelty of the experience. It also might give it a little bit more credibility in terms of awards. Not that Regent's park productions have been sweeping the Olivier Awards recently, but does it make it seem a little bit less commercial to play there first? I don't know. What I'm hoping is that then subsequently it transfers into West End theatre. This may also be a symptom of the scarcity of West End theaters at the moment. Mean Girls isn't the only show that recently came in and is going to be around for a while. Moulin Rouge at the Piccadilly, I don't think that's going anywhere anytime soon. We've had a lot of shows come in and stay put and so it's harder to find theatres now. If this interview hadn't come from Jack O'Brien, I would be wondering whether this was a non replica production. But he's the original director, so presumably this is going to be, as far as it can be, the same production but outdoors, which is something I don't think we've ever really seen before. So I'm fascinated by this. I don't know whether Sir Cameron Mackintosh is still involved. He doesn't always produce shows at his theatres straight away, like the Oliver revival, which has just originated at Chichester before coming into town in a few months time. Needless to say, I am deeply curious about this one. It has yet to be confirmed anywhere else other than in this interview by director Jack O'Brien, but it seems pretty credible. He said it with a lot of confidence. Unbeknownst to him, it was presumably hugely embargoed. But now we know, and now I'm telling you now. Another show that was on Broadway around the same time as Shucked was Some Like It Hot. They had also announced plans for a West End transfer and this one I thought for sure was going to be heading to the Savoy. And that's still what I think. And I think, you know, there's no rush in bringing Some Like It Hot over. It's going to be going on a US national tour. And another thing we've seen recently is Broadway shows that didn't necessarily get like complete critical praise, tinkering elements of the script, elements of the material of the production when they go out on tour. Mean Girls did this before coming to the West End. Doubtfire did this and it wouldn't surprise me if Some Like It Hot maybe did a similar thing. I think they're also going to want to be very careful with the casting and making sure they get that right when they come to the West End. But I wouldn't be surprised at all if they're willing to wait years for the Savoy Theater to be available post Mean Girls because it just seems like a Savoy show. Let's shift to something a little bit more recent, in fact, a show that is still on Broadway and I teased at the beginning of this video a multi Tony Award winning hit from this year that could be coming to the West End before Christmas. And it's getting to the point that I don't know if that is the case, but I am talking not about the Outsiders, I'm talking about Stereophonic, this year's Tony Award winner for best play. And this was probably the only play I'm going to be telling you about in this video because not only is it the musicals that we tend to be more curious about, but it's the musicals that tend to jump over the Atlantic more. Like we send more plays to America, they don't tend to send their plays over to us. And I think a lot of that is because a lot of the the most successful plays on Broadway feel very rooted to American culture. But Stereophonic, if you didn't know, is now the most Tony Award nominated play of all time, having just overtaken Slave Play, which also recently played in the West End this summer. And it's a little bit of a Fleetwood Mac esque behind the scenes look at a band who are on the brink of success and simultaneously are on the brink of collapse. There is friction in their interpersonal relationships, there is drug abuse and we see them just trying to record this album and experiencing emotional and creative differences. It's a really fascinating fly on the wall piece. I just loved it on Broadway and I believe I can say with some certainty it is definitely going to be coming to the West End. I have heard now from a couple of sources very close to the production, like unprecedentedly close to the production, that it may be coming to London and it may be coming with some of the Broadway cast, which I think would be very exciting. It's just recently announced it's playing its final Broadway performance in early January of next year. If I had to bet, I would say that we would see this at somewhere like the Harold Pinter Theatre. That really wouldn't surprise me and I think it'll do very well in London actually. I think people will really enjoy this and I don't believe we know what's going to the Harold Pinter after David Tennant's in Macbeth there with Kushjumbo. So that's why I say we could see this possibly very soon. Now, at this point in the video, you are probably wondering, Mickey Jo, why are you wearing two pieces of Kimberly Akimbo merch? And you haven't yet talked about it. So this is another one. This is last year's Tony Award winning best musical. It's based on a play of the same name adapted by that playwright along with composer Janine Tesori, that playwright being David Lindsay Abair. And it's the story of a young girl who has this fictitious disease where she is aging rapidly. This puts her in a position where though her peers are going through puberty, she is facing her own mortality. She comes from a hugely dysfunctional family. It's a really beautiful, very intelligent show that I think would do very well in the right theatre in London. I don't think that this would necessarily succeed if catapulted immediately into the commercial West End because, and I've said this before, multiple times, the West End certainly right now feels more commercially driven than Broadway shows based on films. Doing better over here. Unknown titles without a celebrity casting are not guaranteed success. Which is why I think something like Kimberly Akimbo would do well at somewhere like the Young Vic or even the Old Vic. One of the themes of the show is age and so I think that would also be cute for it to go to the Young Vic or the Old Vic. I also wouldn't be surprised if it went somewhere like the Hampstead. They have produced work by Janine Tesori before they produced Caroline or Change there before it went into the West End. And I think casting would also be key with this one. Now there is a British actress who was comped to see the show two nights in a row on Broadway. I've been teasing this for a while because I didn't know if I was allowed to say anything. I'm now hearing she's not doing the show, but I guess was considering the possibility of it. I'm talking about Dame Imelda Staunton, multi Olivier award winning, iconic, beloved British actress, just recently seen leading the revival of hello Dolly at the London Palladium. She saw Kimberly Akimbo on Broadway two nights in a row on a comp ticket. At least that's what I've heard. That's what I've been told from multiple people. And I see no other reason why that would have happened if it weren't for like them seeing if she wanted to do the show. And I don't think that would have been in New York, because even though she is known for some of her international work in New York, she's far more known in London. It seems more like she was getting prepped to open a London production. And even if she's not doing it, that seems to imply they are considering a London production. Imelda has also worked at the Hampstead before. I wouldn't be surprised if that's where we see Kimberly Akimbo now. Speaking of online rumor, and I truthfully have heard nothing credible about this from anyone in the UK theatre industry. There is chatter I have heard about one or both of the Great Gatsby musical adaptations coming to London, and I think this is a symptom of them not knowing. Knowing quite what to do with each other in New York. So you had the copyright expiring on the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, and 2 different dueling musical adaptations being developed at the same time. One of them opened a Paper Mill Playhouse and then sped on into Manhattan, made its way to Broadway, opened at the Broadway Theatre, and it's doing commercially quite well with Jeremy Jordan and even Oblizada. It's doing great on social media and it's delivering a lot of what audiences expect when they think Broadway show huge vocals, beautiful rhapsodic music, fireworks on stage, cars, high energy dance numbers, gorgeous costumes. It didn't do too well at the Tony Awards, it didn't do as well critically, but it's giving you all of the flash and spectacle of a Broadway show with some fantastic casting. Meanwhile, there is a very different adaptation of the same source material, which played this summer at the American Repertory Theater in Boston. I'm talking about Gatsby and American Myth. That one is interesting because it's scored by Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine, and it was directed by Rachel Chavkin of Hadestown, recently of Lempicka. And many of my friends saw that production and said it was considerably darker. We had heard it was going to be a little bit more queer. I didn't get the chance to go and see it because I'm trying to not force myself to attempt to see all of these regional American things, as well as the Broadway stuff, as well as the regional British stuff, as well as the West End stuff. It's too much. And I am just one person. But since the Paper Mill Gatsby made it to Broadway first, it's not really desirable for the other Gatsby to now head to Broadway Especially being the less flashy, perhaps the less obvious one, it would confuse tourists. And much as I would live for the drama, it's not a recipe for success for either show. It was confusing enough when there were two different wild parties in New York and that wasn't even both on Broadway. One was off Broadway, one was on. So the rumor is that the Florence Welch Gatsby Gatsby in American Myth is potentially eyeing coming to London for a little bit of development, not unlike how Hadestown played at the National Theatre before making its way to Broadway. And that was very valuable development to the show. So it seemed they did a lot of good work on it there, just subtle tinkering. The rumor is also that Rachel Chavkin would no longer be attached to direct, that they would be ousting potentially the entire creative team and instead bringing in Rebecca Frecknell, who recently directed the Olivier Award winning revival of Cabaret. Now, Rebecca Frecknell was actually attached to this project before Rachel Chavkin was. So that would also motivate a move off the show to London. That's where Frecknell is based. And if it is her directing, it wouldn't shock me if we saw it at the Almeida. Now, the set they had in Boston, far too big for the Almeida space, but they may be reconceiving it in a slightly more intimate way. Rebecca Frecknell often works at the Almeida. She is directing two of their upcoming shows that have just been announced for this season. Wouldn't surprise me at all. But people are also saying that the Broadway Gatsby, the one that's already there, is also eyeing a West End run. You know, they're trying to beat them to that one as well, potentially. And this I really don't believe, at least in the immediate future because there are no free theaters, where are they going to go that they can drive a car across the stage? We don't have anywhere free. I will believe this only when I see it. Now let's talk about some revivals that originated on Broadway that people were hoping to see in the West End. So Parade was last year's Tony Award winning best revival, starring Ben Platt, starring Michaela diamond, directed by Michael Arden. It originated at New York City Centre Encores as a semi staged concert presentation transfer to the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Broadway did very, very well, won the Tony Award. There were rumours this was going to come over very last minute, either at the national or at the Barbican, possibly to also be filmed, but I think this was a possibility due to the writers Strike. And that then ending changed things a little bit because for whatever reason that got pulled, we may yet see it. It's currently going on a US national tour. I'm optimistic that we could get Parade in the uk. It doesn't quite have the same cultural significance to us, but I think it's still a beautiful and really impactful production that we deserve to see in London. Another revival from that same season was Sweeney Todd at the Luntfontanne Theatre. This starred Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford originally. They were then replaced later in the run by Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster. Casting. That definitely brought it to the attention of the online theatrical community. It was a little bit divisive. It's split opinion as to whether or not this was necessarily appropriate casting for the show. But a lot of people really enjoyed this revival and were wondering if it was going to come to the West End. And what I was hearing that it was even that they were casting. But now everything seems to have gone a little bit quiet on that front. And truthfully, it has been a long time since we have had a substantial Stephen Sondheim musical revival in the West End. Ever since that scuppered transfer of the Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford led production of Sunday in the park with George that was then destroyed by the pandemic that was meant to be at the Savoy Theater. We haven't had that many juicy Sondheim productions. We've had old friends. And at the time what I was hearing is that Cameron didn't necessarily want other Sondheim shows open to compete with that. But, you know, since then, what have we had? We've had a very lovely Pacific Overtures at the Meniere Chocolate Factory. We're about to get Roadshow produced for a second time in the uk Upstairs at the Gatehouse. I'm very excited about that production, but we haven't had Big Sondheim, certainly not at the rate that we used to pre Pandemic. So I would love to see Sweeney Todd over here, even if it's not my favorite production of the show. Just to get another Sondheim, just to have some brilliant British actors play those roles. Speaking of Sunday in the park with George, this rumor keeps coming back that maybe it is gonna come after all, but maybe with different stars. It's been mentioned that Andrew Garfield might do it again. I'm only hearing this from speculative Broadway rumor accounts on social media. I haven't actually heard that from anyone working in the uk. I did hear that Sweeney Todd was casting here, but I haven't heard anything substantial about Sunday in the park with George actually coming over. Nor to be completely honest with you, have I heard anything about Merrily Coming Back. I say coming back because the Tony Award winning revival of Merrily We Roll along actually originated at the Meniere Chocolate Factory around a decade ago where I saw it. It then went to the Harold Pinter Theatre in the West End and then years later they picked it back up. They took it to Broadway with perfect casting via Off Broadway, first with Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendes and Daniel Radcliffe. The only thing I think that could bring it back to the West End and for it to be a hit would be similarly great casting that combines a celebrity name with brilliant artistic viability in the role and a fantastic trio. I'll let you decide who that would be in the comments section. Again, maybe an Andrew Garfield, but I don't think without that we'll necessarily get Merrily back anytime soon. The good news is they filmed it and hopefully we get to see that Broadway pro shot before too long. On the subject of Sondheim, though, I think there's another one we're going to see first. And again, it's not one of the big Sondheim's you're thinking of. It's not the Night Music production we've been waiting for. It's not like even A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. It's his last ever show that he wrote the score for. David Ives wrote the book It Is Here We Are which played off Broadway last year. I went to go see it. Famously, I did not enjoy the show that much, but I would really welcome an opportunity to see it a second time now that I know what to expect. What I was expecting was like a full Sondheim musical. And truthfully, that's not really what this is, partially because of its unfinished nature, but also because I don't feel as though he had the opportunity really to be as significant a collaborator as he was on his previous shows. It feels more like a David Ives play with some Sondheim music. It's also wildly abstract, which I don't usually fare well with, I'll be honest. But I would love to see it again. And I may be getting the chance because there are heavy rumors it is going to be part of the National Theatre's upcoming season, possibly playing in one of their smaller spaces, either in the Dorfman or the Littleton. The Dorfman is getting a lot of refurbishment next year, but we could be getting here. We are in London. There are a lot of big Sondheim fans here in London, so I think they deserve the opportunity to see this show as much as New York audiences did. So I really do hope it comes here. My feelings for the show notwithstanding. And if it's anything like that Off Broadway production, it could be bringing a very exciting cast. Now, there are many shows, as we glance back, that never came over from Broadway and what I would say is don't necessarily give up on those. Like I said, Mean Girls took a long time, but so did Next to Normal, which we finally got in the UK last year. It then transferred to the West End. It's been this gift of a production, beautifully cast. There are rumors it might be heading back to Broadway. I don't know about the truth of those. However, this kind of affirms that we could still see those shows that never made it over. Shows like a Something Rotten that was recently produced in concert. It was meant to be produced at the Birmingham Rep. Again, pre Pandemic that all got a little bit messed up. Hopefully someone picks that up again. I don't know why they aren't fighting to produce Something Rotten over here. It's hilarious. And it's all about Shakespearean theater in a funny, accessible way. And British audiences in the UK has a very uniquely specific relationship to Shakespeare. Like could you imagine Something Rotten being done at the RSC? Or something Rotten being done at the Globe? Why are they not desperate to do this? The RSC has new artistic directors in Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey and they have both done musical theatre before. So I'm hoping we see more musicals at the RSC and I think Something Rotten would be a great choice. Another one is A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. I know that the rights are available to British theatres. I know that there was interest in from a couple of theaters to do this that never really turned into anything. This is a show again that I would love to see and I think would do very well in the uk. It has a very British sensibility to it. And we're also in the time now that we may begin to see non replica productions of these shows. So it might not be the original production of Something Rotten, the original production of Gentleman's Guide, but we might see other theatres around the uk, not necessarily in London, doing their own productions in a different style with a new director. We have just seen a UK tour of Dear Evan Hansen open in Nottingham. That is non Replica. That is not the original Broadway West End production that's about to tour around to a bunch of different places. And one final little rumor I will leave you with is that I have heard it might not be too long before we see a non replica production of the musical be more chill produced at a regional British venue. If you are a fan of that show, and I dare say there are a few of you watching this channel because that's kind of how I got my start on social media, was making content for the London production at the other palace. Stay very tuned. I hope to be able to bring you the news of that production very, very soon. In the meantime, I've probably forgotten something. Guess what? I had forgotten something, but it wasn't something I hadn't already told you about in a previous video. Take a look. And I'm wondering if we might be seeing the Notebook before too long at the Shaftesbury Theatre where Jamie Wilson has a 10 year lease. Currently. Mrs. Doubtfire the musical is still doing great business there. I wonder if that is going to tour around the UK where it would continue to do great business, allowing the Notebook to come into a house that he has control of. The Notebook, which recently closed early on Broadway and which Jamie Wilson and Kevin McCullum, who have this producing partnership, this producing relationship at the very least were both involved with in New York and which I believe has always been slated for a West End run since pre Broadway. I think they have always had this in mind because they're also not blind to the reality that shows based on films are doing better in London. Doubtfire taught them that if they hadn't realized it already. So even though the Notebook didn't necessarily find the critical or commercial success it may have been hoping to in New York, my expectation is that it's going to be the show that comes to the Shaftesbury Theatre opening in February of 2026, which is a little bit of time to wait, I grant you. But that I think is what Jamie Wilson has planned here. Do comment down below with any shows you're curious about and I will answer questions as fully as I think that I can and to the extent of my knowledge. But that I believe is everything I know about the Broadway shows potentially coming over to the West End. We are going to have to continue being patient for many of them. But as many shows have shown us recently, it is worth the wait. And it's worth saying Broadway transfers are also not the be all and end all. We have really great shows being produced and created and written here in the uk. So go and support new British musicals to help keep the industry viable and make the Broadway shows that you love want to come here. Thank you so much for watching this video. I hope that you've enjoyed. I hope it's been informative, and I hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have a stagey day. For 10 more seconds, I'm Mickey Jo Theater. Oh, my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a stagey day. Subscribe.
Podcast Summary: MickeyJoTheatre Episode - "Which Broadway Shows Are Coming to the West End? | Theatre News, Updates and Rumours"
Host: MickeyJoTheatre (Micky Jo)
Release Date: September 23, 2024
Platform: YouTube
Subscribers: 60,000+
In this episode, Micky Jo delves into the latest news, updates, and rumors surrounding Broadway shows that are potentially making their way to the West End. With a focus on musical theatre, Micky Jo explores several high-profile productions, providing insights based on credible sources and online chatter. The episode aims to inform theatre enthusiasts about upcoming transfers, revivals, and original productions that may soon grace London's stages.
Timestamp: [00:00 - 05:30]
Micky Jo opens the discussion with "Beetlejuice," a Broadway adaptation of the iconic film. Despite its mixed success on Broadway—affected by factors like the pandemic and competition from more profitable shows—the musical has garnered significant online interest and a dedicated fanbase hungry for its West End debut.
Micky Jo [00:45]: "Beetlejuice found an audience online, a considerable audience online, and there is a huge amount of interest among British theatre fans."
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
Micky Jo [04:15]: "We are just going to have to be patient. Like I said with Mean Girls, it took a very long time for it to get here."
Timestamp: [05:30 - 15:00]
Next, Micky Jo discusses "Shucked," a 2023 Broadway musical celebrated for its humorous script and compelling country music score. Initially slated for a 2024 West End transfer, recent developments suggest a shift in plans.
Key Points:
Director's Announcement: Jack O'Brien, the show's director, revealed plans to cast the British production at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre for summer 2025.
Micky Jo [07:50]: "It's a huge, surprising update because last we had heard Cameron Mackintosh was producing this show and we presumed it was going to be going to one of his theatres."
Unique Venue Choice: Regent's Park is unconventional for major transfers, typically reserved for summer performances and less commercial productions.
Strategic Benefits: Micky Jo speculates that launching at Regent's Park could serve as a pre-West End run, building momentum and credibility before transitioning to a traditional theatre setting.
Market Conditions: Limited availability of West End theatres due to long-running shows like "Mean Girls" poses challenges for new transfers.
Notable Quote:
Micky Jo [12:30]: "I'm convinced we are getting Beetlejuice. But just like Aaron Burr tells us in Hamilton, we are just going to have to wait for it."
Timestamp: [15:00 - 20:00]
Micky Jo explores "Some Like It Hot," another Broadway production with anticipated West End ambitions. Originally expected to transition to the Savoy Theatre, recent activity suggests a more cautious approach.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
Micky Jo [18:40]: "I would not be surprised at all if they're willing to wait years for the Savoy Theatre to be available post Mean Girls because it just seems like a Savoy show."
Timestamp: [20:00 - 25:00]
"Stereophonic," this year's Tony Award winner for Best Play, is highlighted as a strong candidate for West End transfer.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
Micky Jo [23:15]: "It is definitely going to be coming to the West End. I have heard now from a couple of sources very close to the production."
Timestamp: [25:00 - 30:00]
Micky Jo shifts focus to "Kimberly Akimbo," the previous year's Tony Award-winning musical, discussing its possible West End venues and casting rumors.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
Micky Jo [28:50]: "Dame Imelda Staunton... was getting prepped to open a London production. And even if she's not doing it, that seems to imply they are considering a London production."
Timestamp: [30:00 - 35:00]
The episode also touches on rumors regarding two distinct musical adaptations of "The Great Gatsby" eyeing London.
Key Points:
Notable Quote:
Micky Jo [33:20]: "Rebecca Frecknell often works at the Almeida. She is directing two of their upcoming shows that have just been announced for this season. Wouldn't surprise me at all."
Timestamp: [35:00 - 40:00]
Micky Jo reviews notable Broadway revivals that fans hope to see in the West End.
1. Parade
2. Sweeney Todd
Notable Quote:
Micky Jo [38:10]: "There are a lot of big Sondheim fans here in London, so I think they deserve the opportunity to see this show as much as New York audiences did."
Timestamp: [40:00 - 50:00]
1. Merrily We Roll Along
2. Something Rotten
3. A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
4. Be More Chill
Final Speculation: The Notebook
Notable Quote:
Micky Jo [48:50]: "Even though the Notebook didn't necessarily find the critical or commercial success it may have been hoping to in New York, my expectation is that it's going to be the show that comes to the Shaftesbury Theatre opening in February of 2026."
Micky Jo wraps up the episode by encouraging viewers to remain patient as Broadway shows navigate their way to the West End. He underscores the importance of supporting British musicals to sustain the local industry and inspire future transfers.
Micky Jo [49:30]: "Broadway transfers are also not the be all and end all. We have really great shows being produced and created and written here in the uk. So go and support new British musicals to help keep the industry viable and make the Broadway shows that you love want to come here."
He invites listeners to engage through comments for further queries and to stay updated by subscribing to his YouTube channel and following him on other social platforms.
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This summary encapsulates the key discussions and insights shared by Micky Jo in the specified podcast episode, providing detailed information for those seeking comprehensive updates on Broadway to West End transfers.