Willetts and Webb in 42nd Street national tour
Dave Willetts and Marti Webb will star as Julian Marsh and Dorothy Brock in a national tour of the backstage musical 42nd Street commencing in Rhyl on 1 June.
Will Young makes West End debut in Cabaret
The first ever winner of TV's Pop Idol in 2002, Will Young, will make his West End debut as the Emcee in Rufus Norris's production of Cabaret by Joe Masteroff, John Kander and Fred Ebb at the Savoy Theatre from 3 October following a brief tour to Southampton, Nottingham, Norwich and Salford.
Casting for Superstar arena tour
Casting for the UK arena tour of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar revival has been announced.
Comedian, musician and co-writer of Matilda the Musical Tim Minchin will play Judas Iscariot with Melanie Chisholm—formerly Spice Girl Mel C—as Mary Magdelene and Radio 1 Breakfast Show host Chris Moyles as King Herod. The part of Jesus will be cast through another TV casting show series.
The arena tour will start on 21 September at the O2 in London and close on 21 October in Sheffield. Tickets are on sale from 18 May, and the cast album will be released on 16 July.
Bhattacharjee and Syal in RSC Much Ado
Paul Bhattacharjee will star as Benedick opposite Meera Syal's Beatrice in Iqbal Khan's India-set Much Ado About Nothing for the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford from 26 July to 15 September and the Noël Coward Theatre in London from 22 September to 27 October.
Stephen Mangan in Birthday at Royal Court
Stephen Mangan will join Lisa Dillon as a couple awaiting the arrival of their new baby in Joe Penhall's new play Birthday at the Royal Court from 22 June to 4 August.
Vivienne Franzmann's Witness at Royal Court
Bruntwood Prize-winning playwright Vivienne Franzmann's new play The Witness at the Royal Court Theatre in London from 1 to 30 June will be directed by Simon Godwin with a cast of David Ajala, Pippa Bennett-Warner and Danny Webb.
RSC's Nations At War trilogy
The casting has been announced for he Royal Shakespeare Company's Nations At Way trilogy running from 22 March to 15 September at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Jonjo O'Neill will play the title role in Shakespeare's Richard III directed by Roxana Silbert with Pippa Nixon as Lady Anne, Paola Dionisotti as Margaret, Siobhan Redmond as Elizabeth and Brian Ferguson as Buckingham. Also appearing are Neal Barry as Ratcliffe, Iain Batchelor as Grey and Richmond, Simon Coombs as Dorset, Sandra Duncan as Duchess of York, David Fielder as Derby, Mark Holgate as Brackenbury, Mark Jax as Edward IV and Ely, Joshua Jenkins as Murderer and Blount, Edmund Kingsley as Clarence, Jim Kitson as Rivers, Citizen and Scrivenor, Natalie Klamar as Young Elizabeth, Oscar Pearce as Tyrrel, John Stahl as Hastings, Susie Trayling as Mistress Shore and Alex Waldmann as Catesby.
Alex Waldmann will make his RSC debut in the title role of Shakespeare's King John directed by Maria Aberg with Pippa Nixon as The Bastard and Paolo Dionisotti as Pandulph, plus Neal Barry as Pembroke, Iain Batchelor as Robert Faulconbridge, Mariam Bell as Wedding guest and Citizen, Simon Coombs as Executioner, Sandra Duncan as Lady Faulconbridge, David Fielder as Salisbury, Mark Holgate as Melun, Mark Jax as Austria, Joshua Jenkins as Essex, Edmund Kingsley as Chatillon, Jim Kitson as Executioner, Natalie Klamar as Blanche, Oscar Pearce as Lewis, Siobhan Redmond as Elinor, John Stahl as Philip of France and Susie Trayling as Constance.
Roxana Silbert also directs Gary Owen's translation of A Soldier in Every Son—The Rise of the Aztecs by Luis Mario Moncadafeaturing six Mexican actors: Diego Jauregui, Mariana Giménez, Hector Holten, Israel Islas, Marco Antonio Garcia and Andres Weiss.
Further casting for Globe Twelfth Night, includes Stephen Fry as Malvolio
A further casting announcement from Shakespeare's Globe includes the surprise return to the stage of Stephen Fry as Malvolio in Twelfth Night directed by Tim Carroll. Also appearing in Twelfth Night will be Liam Brennan as Orsino, Peter Hamilton Dyer as Feste and Colin Hurley as Sir Toby Belch. it runs from 22 September to 14 October.
Making Noise Quietly at Donmar
Robert Holman's Making Noise Quietly at the Donmar Warehouse from 19 April to 26 May will be directed by Peter Gill with a cast including Jordan Dawes, Matthew Tennyson, Susan Brown, John Hillingworth, Ben Blatt and Sara Kestelman.
Antony Sher at the National
Antony Sher will return to the National Theatre in two leading roles in 2012 and 2013: in Travelling Light, a new play by Nicholas Wright, opening in the Lyttelton in January 2012, directed by Nicholas Hytner; and a year later, in the title role of The Captain of Köpenick by Carl Zuckmayer, opening in the Olivier in January 2013.
Julie Walters at the National
Julie Walters is to star in the National Theatre production of The Last Of The Haussmans, a new comedy by writer and actor Stephen Beresford, in summer 2012. Howard Davies directs.
Globe casting
Janie Dee will play the Countess of Roussillon in Shakespeare’s Globe production of All’s Well That Ends Well. Joshua McGuire will take the lead in Hamlet.