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Opening Night - LON [36785]

Header Image Opening Night 1

Opening Night

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Production image of Opening Night in London starring Sheridan Smith in the lead role.

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Production image of Opening Night in London featuring Sheridan Smith and Hadley Fraser.

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Production image of Opening Night in London featuring full cast.

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Special Offer

The incomparable Sheridan Smith returns to musical theatre in the world premiere of Opening Night from the creative minds of Rufus Wainwright, one of the most acclaimed songwriters of his generation, and celebrated director Ivo van Hove. 


Born in Epworth, Lincolnshire in 1981,&nbsp;Sheridan Smith&nbsp;has performed in numerous television shows and musicals, earning an OBE in 2015 for services to drama.&nbsp;With a keen interest in drama from a young age, Smith studied dance and performing arts at every opportunity, but did not attend drama school. Smith made her television debut at 18 years old, playing Emma in the BBC series&nbsp;The Royle Family. Three years after, she landed the role of Janet Keogh in&nbsp;Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, starring in the programme from 2001 to 2009.

Outside of theatre, she is best known for her roles in television. She has had roles in comedy shows such as Benidorm and Gavin and Stacey, in which she played Rudi, the sister of Smithy played by James Corden. She has also appeared in a number of dramas such as Mrs Biggs, which won her a BAFTA award, and The 7.39 alongside&nbsp;David Morrissey.

Smith played Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors at the&nbsp;<a href="/theatres/menier-chocolate-factory">Menier Chocolate Factory</a>&nbsp;in 2006, transferring to the&nbsp;<a href="/theatres/ambassadors-theatre">Ambassadors Theatre</a>.&nbsp;In 2009, she took on the role of Elle Woods in&nbsp;Legally Blonde&nbsp;at the&nbsp;<a href="/theatres/savoy-theatre">Savoy Theatre</a>, earning an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical.&nbsp;

In 2012, she played the title role in&nbsp;Hedda Gabler&nbsp;at the&nbsp;<a href="/theatres/old-vic-theatre">Old Vic</a>, and was then in a revival of the Terence Rattigan play&nbsp;Flare Path at <a href="/theatres/theatre-royal-haymarket">Theatre Royal Haymarket</a>, winning an Olivier for Best Actress.&nbsp;The following year, she starred in&nbsp;A Midsummer Night’s Dream&nbsp;at the&nbsp;<a href="/theatres/noel-coward-theatre">Noël Coward Theatre</a>, alongside David Walliams.

In 2015, Smith went on to play the role of Fanny Brice in the musical&nbsp;Funny Girl, which initially ran at the&nbsp;Menier Chocolate Factory, before transferring to the&nbsp;Savoy Theatre and touring the UK. She was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical following the show’s West End transfer.

More recently, Smith has played Cilla Black in the ITV biographical drama&nbsp;Cilla, as well as releasing her debut album titled ‘Sheridan’ in 2017, with her second album ‘A Northern Soul’ a year later. She's recently starred in&nbsp;the West End revival of&nbsp;[Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat](http://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/joseph-and-the-amazing-technicolor-dreamcoat)&nbsp;as the Narrator, appearing alongside <a href="/actor-profile/jason-donovan">Jason Donovan</a>. 

In 2023, Smith will star in the one-woman play, *Shirley Valentine.*

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Shirley Valentine

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Watching [Sheridan Smith](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/news/discover-sheridan-smith-theatre-roles-tv-performances-and-more) connect with an audience is truly mesmerising. Even while holding a West End stage, she makes every single person in attendance feel as if she’s sat at the kitchen table with them, chatting away like a lifelong friend. 

It’s a magic power ideally suited to Willy Russell’s 1986 one-woman play [*Shirley Valentine*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/27242-shirley-valentine), which relies on us investing heavily in his title character’s domestic troubles and modest, but ultimately cheer-worthy, ambitions.

Shirley is a working-class Liverpudlian housewife whose two children have left home. Her marriage barely exists; her belittling, semi-abusive husband only notices her when she makes him the wrong dinner (Smith actually cooks chips and egg live on stage). At 42, she’s completely lost her sense of self, and it takes a chance encounter with an old schoolmate to make her question: whatever happened to Shirley Valentine? 

Thankfully, her pal Jane (recently divorced, budding feminist) intervenes to give Shirley, who has never been abroad, a golden opportunity: a two-week holiday in Greece, without her family. Will Shirley find the nerve to go, and will the trip prove transformative? Well, suffice to say this isn’t a story that ever confounds expectations.

Russell’s piece operates like a direct-address monologue, although technically Shirley addresses her kitchen wall rather than us - indicative of her desperate loneliness. It’s an irritating but effective device, giving us a strong sense of how this relentless and isolating routine has ground her down over the years.

However, several elements of Russell’s script are inescapably dated. In particular, I felt bludgeoned by the endless old-school comic one-liners: “Marriage is like the Middle East - there’s no solution”; “Sex is like Sainsbury’s - overrated.” There’s also an interminable riff on the discovery of the clitoris, which feels hopelessly tame in a post-Fleabag world, and a nativity anecdote that would only really interest you if it was about your own child. 

But when Russell switches gear and has Shirley candidly, painfully expose her vulnerabilities - like recalling how a cruel headmistress damaged her confidence, making her feel that dreams were only for the clever or moneyed pupils - Smith (who has had her own struggles with mental health, famously during her run of *Funny Girl*) is in her element. She gradually dims Shirley’s determinedly sunny facade, conveying a wealth of emotion in just a wavering smile.

Annoyingly, Russell’s overwritten piece doesn’t trust her - or us. Just as we’ve inferred something obvious, like that Shirley pretended to hate everything in her teens because she hated herself, or that she hasn’t left her husband because she’s scared of the unknown, the script spells that out for us. It starts to conflict with the characterisation: if she’s so au fait with every feeling, as though she’s gone through years of intense therapy, why is she so paralysed? It would make more sense if she was telling this story in retrospect, but it’s meant to be played in the present. 

However, judging by the numerous chuckles and murmurs of recognition on my night, plenty of Russell’s observations still chime with people — including the suspicion when a woman is sitting on her own in a restaurant, or (groan) the embarrassing antics of Brits abroad. The tale’s brief use of a fantastical Greek lothario is rather wince-inducing, though, and I longed for more grit. With Smith’s chirpy telling lacking the acid moments of Pauline Collins’s original Oscar-nominated version, it risks descending into broad sitcom-meets-cloying wish fulfilment. 

But then perhaps that cosiness is a tonic right now — and there’s no doubting the kitsch charm of Matthew Dunster’s production. Paul Wills supplies a 1980s mint-green kitchen (matched by Shirley’s trousers) and later a dazzling splash of blue sky, melting into a pink sunset - shimmering in Lucy Carter’s luscious lighting design. It’s basically [*Mamma Mia!*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/304-mamma-mia-tickets) without the ABBA.

But, even if the lessons about learning to love yourself and how (gasp!) women, too, can enjoy sex feel rather hoary, the core message of not leaving any “unused life” resonates deeply after Covid. And it’s a pleasure to see Smith back centre stage, once more casting her spell.

*Shirley Valentine is at the Duke of York's Theatre through 3 June.*

[![Book Tickets CTA - LT/NYTG](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/3qAtGOdQq9x3k1WcHlaJnw/90ece91bbe47ed07e142c2e43c7a7a3f/BookTickets-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=27242&content_product_id=27242&venue_id=116)

*Photo credit: Sheridan Smith in Shirley Valentine (Photo by John Wilson)*

'Shirley Valentine' review – Sheridan Smith casts a spell in this endearing, if dated, one-woman play

Read our three-star review of *Shirley Valentine* at the Duke of York's Theatre, starring Sheridan Smith, running through 3 June. Get *Shirley Valentine* tickets on London Theatre.

The Duke Of York’s Theatre opened as the Trafalgar Square Theatre in 1892.The playhouse received its current name three years later in 1895, in honour of the future King George V. 

Famous productions to play at the Duke Of York’s Theatre include David Belasco’s *Madame Butterfly* in 1900 – Puccini was in the audience and famously turned the story into an opera. J. M. Barrie's famous creation *Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up* opened at the theatre on 27 Dec. 1904.

Typically, the Duke of York's Theatre is home to short-running plays, with West End and Broadway stars appearing.

## Duke of York's Theatre Seating Information

The auditorium has three levels – Stalls, Royal Circle and Upper Circle.

The Stalls offer good legroom throughout, and the raking of the seats is very good, noticeably from Row D onwards. 

In the Royal Circles, there is no visual obstruction from the Upper Circle. 

The seats in the Upper Circle curve towards the stage. The final two rows of the Upper Circle are bench seats.

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Duke of York's Theatre

Funny Girl [993]

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The Savoy Theatre opened on 21 Oct. 1929. The building was known for being the first public building to be lit entirely by electricity. 

When a fire ravaged the theatre in 1990, destroying the interior, it was meticulously restored by Sir William Whitfield to the original 1929 designs. The theatre reopened on 19 Jul. 1993.

The D’Oyly Carte Opera Company played several seasons at the theatre over the past 20 years, their last production being *HMS Pinafore* in 2003. 

The theatre has also housed several musicals, including *She Loves Me* in 1994 starring John Gordon Sinclair and Ruthie Henshall, and has played host to musicals exclusively since 2006. 

## Savoy Theatre Seating Information

The auditorium has three levels - Stalls, Dress Circle and Grand Circle.

In the Stalls, the legroom throughout is very good, and the seating is well raked to ensure good views.

In the Dress Circle, the overhang of the Grand Circle affects the view from Row K onwards. The amount of legroom also decreases the further back you sit.

The Grand Circle feels rather far from the stage.

## Where is *Pretty Woman: The Musical* in London?

*Pretty Woman: The Musical* is at the Savoy Theatre in London. The Savoy Theatre is located on the Strand. It's close to West End theatres including the Adelphi Theatre and the Vaudeville Theatre.

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Savoy Theatre

The smash-hit musical is back with a dream cast including Jason Donovan

LW Theatre - Entry Requirements 

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat [18933] Palladium - LON

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

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Go go go Joseph! Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest work, <a href="https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/cinderella">Cinderella</a>, is still yet to open thanks to the pingdemic, but his very first is up and running again. Laurence Connor's buoyant revival of Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Biblical musical charmed audiences back in 2019, and remains an absolute winner. If we can't go to the ball quite yet, at least we've got this technicolour dream.Connor and choreographer JoAnn M Hunter, who also collaborated with Lloyd Webber on School of Rock and Cinderella, understand&nbsp;how to balance the heart and the sublime silliness of Joseph. Essentially a summer panto, it retains its DNA as a school show, with designer Morgan Large scaling up the classic nativity styling that transforms a child purely via a fake beard, a tea towel on their head, and the goodwill of the audience.The theatrical inventiveness is delightful - from the camel bike riding to the toy sheep on skateboards and acrobatic goat (new Olympic events?) - as is the integration of children into the cast, including, on the night I was there, scene-stealing moppet Ethan Sokontwe as a tiny imperious Potiphar. That fits beautifully with the accessible, hyper-efficient storytelling, courtesy of an agile pastiche score and Rice's witty lyrics. It's effortless fun.Yet the lead role requires an awful lot of effort. Connor's version substantially bulks up the Narrator; as well as guiding us through the story, she now plays several characters and leads the dance numbers. It was built around Sheridan Smith and her vaudevillian talents, but gets a very different spin from its new inhabitant, <a href="https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/actor-profile/alexandra-burke">Alexandra Burke</a>.While Smith did too much mugging for my taste, Burke is almost the opposite: she largely plays it straight, treating the drama seriously. When the brothers misbehave, she really takes them to task, and her Jacob is genuinely grief-stricken. The former Strictly finalist is also a dynamite dancer, sharp and grounded, and particularly at home in the hip-hop-fuelled Megamix.Yet there are also times where she's visibly battling the material. Rice's gags are a strain (lots of gesticulating with the hands, not enough enunciating), and there are some wobbly vocals in the fast sections. "A Pharaoh's Story" is more convincing, allowing Burke to let loose with vocal runs and big, belting notes, but that's a rare diva moment for the Narrator.Still, many will likely warm to her inviting and sincere performance, while Joseph purists can, on a few shows, catch Linzi Hateley, who last played the Narrator 30 years ago - and is somehow better than ever. It's a cheering sign that this role is now a boon to actresses of all ages, and I hope we see plenty of creative casting in future.Hateley's early 1990s Joseph was <a href="https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/actor-profile/jason-donovan">Jason Donovan</a>, who is back hamming it up as the Elvis-esque Pharaoh. It's a generously self-deprecating turn; he groans when he has to stand up, knees cracking. And <a href="https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/actor-profile/jac-yarrow">Jac Yarrow</a>, the drama graduate who, like the title character, became a star thanks to Joseph's dreams, returns with a more mature performance and superbly controlled vocals. His "Close Every Door" is just as emotive, but with added power.Steffan Lloyd Evans and Bobby Windebank are standouts as, respectively, brothers Reuben and Simeon, the athletic chorus excel during Hunter's high-voltage hoedown and can-can numbers, and John Cameron's orchestrations, jauntily delivered, are like a vibrant new lick of paint. A few problems remain, though: the calypso is simply irredeemable, and there's a dismaying tendency to use the female ensemble as sexy set dressing.However, from its opening minutes, in which the Narrator begins her fireside tale for the children, there's a lovely emphasis on the pleasures of collective storytelling. It's just the tonic after our long separation. That, and being part of a full-capacity theatre audience all up and dancing to the Megamix. Go go go join the party.<a href="/show/joseph-and-the-amazing-technicolor-dreamcoat">Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat&nbsp;is at the London Palladium to 5 September. Book Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat tickets on LondonTheatre now.</a>Photo credit: Jason Donovan and Jac Yarrow in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Photo by Tristram Kenton)

'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' at the Palladium is a jubilant, joy-filled revival

Read our review of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium on London Theatre.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium Review | London Theatre

The London Palladium opened on 26 Dec. 1910. The 1955 television hit *Sunday Night at The London Palladium* cemented the public’s affection for the venue, and made stars of Bruce Forsyth, Norman Vaughan and Jimmy Tarbuck who hosted the show. 

From the early 1990s, the theatre housed longer runs of several large scale musical productions, starting with the [Jason Donovan](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/actor-profile/jason-donovan)-led revival of *Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat* in 1991. Owned by the Really Useful Theatres Group from 2000, Andrew Lloyd Webber has produced musical revivals of *The Sound of Music* in 2006 and *[The Wizard of Oz](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/reviews/the-wizard-of-oz)* in 2010, both of which cast their leading ladies through audience-voted talent shows broadcast on BBC1. 

After an absence of 29 years, pantomime returned to the Palladium in 2016, which has now become an annual Palladium Christmas tradition.

## London Palladium Seating Information

The auditorium has three levels – Stalls, Royal Circle and Upper Circle. In the Stalls, the view of the stage is slightly obscured by the overhang of the Royal Circle from Row S onwards, and the seats further back do suffer from a slightly lower ceiling. The seats are raked from Row D of the Stalls.

In the Royal Circle, the top of the stage is slightly obscured by the overhang of the Upper Circle in Row J onwards. The Royal Circle is raked and generally has an excellent view from all seats.

In the Upper Circle, the view from the central block of seats is still very good.

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London Palladium

The Gielgud Theatre opened on 27 Dec. 1906, and was built for Seymour Hicks. The Gielgud was built as a pair with the [Sondheim Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/sondheim-theatre).

The house was renamed the Globe Theatre in 1909 by its new manager, Charles Frohman from America. It was known as the Globe Theatre for the next 85 years until a 1994 name change to avoid confusion with [Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/shakespeares-globe-theatre) on the South Bank. It was then that the theatre received its current name, the Gielgud.

Hit shows at the Gielgud Theatre include Simon Stephens' [*The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/the-curious-incident-of-the-dog-in-the-night-time), Jez Butterworth's *The Ferryman* and a gender-swapped revival of Stephen Sondheim's *Company*.  Delfont Mackintosh Theatres own the Gielgud Theatre.

## Gielgud Theatre Seating Information

The auditorium has three levels – Stalls, Dress Circle and Grand Circle.

The Stalls offers very good sightlines with each row being offset from the one in front. The overhang of the Dress Circle becomes apparent from Row R onwards.

The Dress Circle doesn’t have a strong rake. The stage is not obstructed by the overhang of the Upper Circle.

The Upper Circle seats offer good legroom. The seats curve inwards towards the stage.

## Where is *To Kill a Mockingbird* in the West End? 

*To Kill a Mockingbird* is at the Gielgud Theatre. The Gielgud Theatre is located on Shaftesbury Avenue, and is one of six theatres on the West End road.

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Gielgud Theatre

Read all about Sheridan Smith (Gavin and Stacey, Cilla, The C Word) and her latest appearances on stage at LondonTheatre.co.uk

Sheridan Smith - Stars on Stage | London Theatre

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Born in 1980 in Windsor, Hadley Fraser is a West End actor. Fraser returns to the West End to star in *The Lehman Trilogy* at the Gillian Lynne Theatre.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from Birmingham University, Fraser then enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music. Following his postgraduate studies, Fraser made his West End debut as Marius in *Les Misérables*, alongside Carmen Cusack and Rosemary Ashe. Following *Les Misérables*, he then played Curly in *Peter Pan* and Frederic in *The Pirates of Penzance*, both at the Savoy Theatre.

In 2006, Fraser made his Broadway debut in *The Pirate Queen*. He played Tiernan, a young sailor who is in love with Grace, played by Stephanie J. Block. The musical ran on Broadway for two months. [Read *The Pirate Queen* New York reviews.](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/reviews/the-pirate-queen)

Shortly after, Fraser returned to his *Les Misérables* roots, playing Grantaire in the 25th anniversary concert at the O2 Arena. Fraser starred alongside Ramin Karimloo, [Samantha Barks](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/stars-on-stage/samantha-barks), and Alfie Boe. He continued the concert trend by playing Raoul in *The Phantom of the Opera*, once again alongside Karimloo as The Phantom, and Sierra Boggess as Christine Daae.

In 2011, Fraser returned to *Les Misérables* in the West End, taking over the role of Javert for a year. He then played the Army General of the National Guard in the *Les Misérables* film.

In 2013, he then starred in a regional production of *The Pajama Game* in Chichester. The following year, he then found a London home at the Donmar Warehouse: *Coriolanus* starring Tom Hiddleston, *City of Angels* directed by Josie Rourke, and *The Vote* in 2015.

Fraser was then a part of Kenneth Branagh’s season of plays at the Garrick Theatre, starring in *The Winter’s Tale* and *Harlequinade*. [Read our *Harlequinade* review on London Theatre.](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/reviews/harliquinade-all-on-her-own) He then returned to the Donmar Warehouse, playing Dunois in *Saint Joan.*, and went back to the Garrick Theatre for *Young Frankenstein.* 

Fraser’s recent theatre credits include *The Antipodes* at the National Theatre, the original cast of *2:22 A Ghost Story* alongside [Lily Allen](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/stars-on-stage/lily-allen), and a *Chess* concert. He will return to the West End to star in *The Lehman Trilogy* at the Gillian Lynne Theatre.

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Under 4s will not be admitted. Anyone under the age of 16 has to be accompanied by an adult aged 18+.

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The Lehman Trilogy

The Lehman Trilogy - LON Product Media

The fifth time furthers the charmed life of [*The Lehman Trilogy*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/25743-the-lehman-trilogy-tickets), the mightily moving play that premiered at the National Theatre in July 2018. The show has since twice crossed the Atlantic, winning five Tony Awards last June on the occasion of its Broadway premiere.

And here it is back in the West End for a first showing since the pandemic, equipped with a new cast that lands the play differently from the astonishing trio I saw twice before, but with a cumulative power that acquires a weight all its own.

A tale of both the tenacious grasp and collapse of capitalism refracted across 164 turbulent years, Ben Power’s remarkable compression of Stefano Massini’s five-hour original continues to astonish on a third viewing. And, truly, no praise is too high for Sam Mendes’s production and an assemblage of design creatives that reveals Es Devlin’s sets, Jon Clark’s lighting, and Luke Halls’s video work as star turns all their own. My companion for the play, a newcomer to the show, gasped in wonder at the start, and the dazzle is sustained across 3.5 hours even as the terrain traversed by the show grows ever darker.

I confess to feeling vaguely proprietary about a first cast that united Simon Russell Beale, Ben Miles, and Adam Godley in a sort of symbiotic commitment to storytelling that had much to do with their roles in helping shape a sprawling, diffuse text into a complete theatrical experience, not merely a beautifully appointed history lesson.

But though aspects of those originators’ protean star turns go unequaled here, the engaging trio of Nigel Lindsay, Michael Balogun, and Hadley Fraser locate an underlying fury to the narrative leading to Lehman Brothers’ 2008 collapse that feels appropriate to the apocalypse described. You watch an initially enchanting America come to all but engorge its citizenry, as the story moves from one of dynastic renewal to a day of reckoning within the banking community whose fallout is felt still: The resulting detritus provides a visual frame to a propulsive narrative that manages to be both intimate and epic at once.

We first see Lindsay’s Henry Lehman newly arrive in wonder on American shores. Before long he is making his way in the cotton industry in Alabama, well before the items sold, traded, and speculated upon shift to coffee and, of course, toward cold hard cash in all its heady glory.

Balogun plays the volatile middle brother Emanuel (born Mendel), with Fraser as Mayer Lehman, the youngest brother, who is less sweetly goofy than was the inimitable Godley.

I doubt anyone will do the twist, near the end, with quite the sublimely silly grace achieved by Godley, though the earthier Fraser takes his own joy in the shape-shifting required: I smiled at the sight of him as a demure Pauline Sondheim, wife of Emanuel, which seems an apt fit for Fraser, given that this actor’s gifted wife, Rosalie Craig, was the first female Bobby in *Company*, from that later Sondheim known as Stephen.

The actors shift gender and age as required, often stepping outside the family to embody the worlds of religion and business. That's to say a senior rabbi one minute (Lindsay nails that one) or a hard-nosed representative of a financial climate that has scant time for blood ties the next, Devlin’s turntable set scrawled upon throughout as the characters’ fortunes and names change. (The emphasis on Mayer as the “potato” of the three brothers outstays its comic welcome.)

Told in three acts, each of which comes with a title, Mendes’s sleek staging has been overseen for the West End by Zoe Ford Burnett, who has presumably encouraged the cast to best energise the material as they see fit. Perhaps our own straitened circumstances just now account for an undertow of savagery – from Balogun, in particular – that forestalls cutesiness and keeps the whirligig of performative theatrics on view before us from ever seeming like a stunt.

Nick Powell’s score, played live by Yshani Perinpanayagam, reinforces the sense that we’re watching a symphony of sorts in play form that exerts a baleful power all its own. (I found myself wondering what kind of opera Shostakovich might have fashioned from this material.) And though the makeshift chalkboard that is the shell of the set gets wiped clean, *The Lehman Trilogy* itself builds to an overwhelming conclusion that makes something both heroic and hurtful out of the merciless onward march of history. These brothers and their progeny could be any of us or, at the very least, anyone who has supped with success only to know that life swings in roundabouts and that most tightrope walkers - a key image in the play - at some point or another will sustain a fall.

*The Lehman Trilogy is at the Gillian Lynne Theatre through 20 May. Book The Lehman Trilogy tickets on London Theatre.*

[![LT - CTA - 250](//images.ctfassets.net/6pezt69ih962/1t6HRGmhlYl70k6PmR0mOZ/3caac861bc1d4233cd7844652c925623/LT-CTA-250.png)](https://ticket.londontheatre.co.uk/booking/calendar?product_id=25743&content_product_id=25743&venue_id=129)

*Photo credit: The Lehman Trilogy (Photo courtesy of production)*

'The Lehman Trilogy' review — epic play continues to astonish with new cast

Read our review of The Lehman Trilogy starring Hadley Fraser at the Gillian Lynne Theatre on London Theatre.

The Lehman Trilogy at the Gillian Lynne Theatre Review | London Theatre

Read our four-star review of Hadley Fraser in *The Lehman Trilogy*, now playing at the Gillian Lynne Theatre through 20 May.

The Gillian Lynne Theatre originally opened in 1847 as the Mogul Music Hall. From 1919 to 1965, it was named the Winter Garden Theatre, but after renovations, the theatre opened as the New London Theatre in 1973. 

The theatre housed Andrew Lloyd Webber’s *Cats*, which was the longest-running musical in West End history when it closed in 2002.  It was also used as a television studio, and was the home of Masters Snooker for two years.

Since the closure of *Cats*, the theatre has hosted productions of Lloyd Webber’s *Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat*, *School of Rock*, and *Cinderella*.

In 2018, Andrew Lloyd Webber announced the theatre would be renamed the Gillian Lynne Theatre, the first London theatre to be named after a woman. Lynne worked on productions with the English National Opera, Royal Shakespeare Company and many West End and Broadway shows. She collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber on *Cats, The Phantom of the Opera* and *Aspects of Love.* 

## Gillian Lynne Theatre Seating Information

The Gillian Lynne Theatre features a thrust stage that juts into the auditorium. Seats are on three sides of the auditorium. 

Some seats offer side views of the action on stage. But every seat guarantees a view that's close to the action.

Gillian Lynne Theatre - LON

Gillian Lynne Theatre

Anyone under the age of 16 has to be accompanied by an adult aged 18+.

Chess - The Musical In Concert - LON

Chess - The Musical In Concert

Chess - The Musical In Concert - LON Product Media

The Theatre Royal Drury Lane that we see today opened on 10 Oct. 1812. However, this was not the first theatre on this site – there have been four theatres at this location since 1663. Today’s building was designed by Benjamin Wyatt and is the only theatre in London to have two royal boxes in the auditorium. 

Over the life of this incarnation of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the venue has become heavily associated with musical theatre. Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals played in succession from 1947 starting with *Oklahoma!*, *Carousel* in 1950, *South Pacific* in 1951 and *The King and I* closed the series with a three year run ending in 1956. The transfer of musicals from Broadway continued in 1958 with Lerner and Loewe’s *My Fair Lady*, starring Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison. The writing duo followed this up in 1964 with their next musical, *Camelot*.

Another Broadway transfer danced its way into Drury Lane in July 1976 - the Pulitzer Prize winning *A Chorus Line* came to London with its original Broadway cast and played for almost three years, recasting roles with English talent throughout its run. Stephen Sondheim’s *Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street* also made the move across the pond in 1980.

Short runs of *The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas* and *The Pirates of Penzance* followed in 1981 and 1982 respectively, but it was the arrival of the tap-dance heavy *42nd Street* in 1984 that saw the theatre packed and reignited the flame for long-running shows. The show played for five years, before *Miss Saigon* moved in and played over 4,000 performances over a decade. 

Recent musicals at Theatre Royal Drury Lane include *[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/charlie-and-the-chocolate-factory)* and an acclaimed revival of *[42nd Street](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/42nd-street)*. After two years of refurbishment, the Theatre Royal Drury Lane reopened in 2021 with the West End premiere of *[Frozen](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/frozen)*.

## Theatre Royal Drury Lane Seating Information

The auditorium has four levels – Stalls, Royal Circle, Grand Circle and Balcony. 

The seats in Row S of the Stalls and onwards are affected by the overhang of the Royal Circle, but the Stalls do offer great views of the stage and the legroom is very good.

In the Royal Circle the view of the stage is affected from Row H onwards by the overhang of the Grand Circle. The seats do feel quite set back from the stage, but the view is generally very good.

The Upper Circle feels relatively close to the stage for its height and views from this level of the theatre are surprisingly good.

The Balcony is set very high up and although a strong rake helps to give good sightlines to the stage many people have suffered from vertigo at this level.

Drury Lane Theatre Royal - LON

Drury Lane Theatre Royal

Age guidance: 14+ Please note the performance contains strobe lighting, flashing lights, loud sound effects, smoke effects and periods of darkness in the auditorium.

2:22 A Ghost Story - Criterion - LON

2:22 A Ghost Story - Criterion

2:22 A Ghost Story - Criterion - LON Product Media

<a href="/actor-profile/lily-allen">Lily Allen</a> shrieks before she even says a word in <a href="/show/222-a-ghost-story">2:22: A Ghost Story</a>, which tips you off immediately as to the way Danny Robins's debut West End play is due to proceed. But the name-grabbing debut on view is, of course, singer-songwriter Allen, who was due some years back to be penning a major musical of Bridget Jones's Diary from which she parted company along the way.Instead, here Allen is, looking sleek and glam and very much forming part of the four-person ensemble that has been assembled by the director Matthew Dunster (of Hangmen renown, amongst other titles) in a putative scare-fest that is at heart the story of two couples in crisis. That shifting dynamic finds itself in thrall to numerous tropes of the genre - tricks of sound and light and sudden screams intended to elicit the same from the audience and which you'll either find nerve-shredding or cheesy, depending on your susceptibility to such things. To my mind, none of the jump-scare moments rival the frissons I recall from the comparatively undemanding likes of <a href="https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/the-woman-in-black">The Woman in Black</a>, but 2:22 A Ghost Story to its credit has far more on its mind, including a meditation on the debilitating legacy of loss that stays with you long after the collective nervous laughter from the crowd has ceased.Allen knows her way around a stage and is part of an acting family, so it's not much of a surprise that this isn't the deer-in-the-headlights moment some might have feared. (Madonna's Broadway and London stage runs, both of which I saw, have been cited by way of comparison but aren't really relevant.) In fact, Dunster keeps the actor whooshing around designer Anna Fleischle's attractive set, as Allen's character, Jenny, tries to make sense of footsteps she has been hearing in baby daughter Phoebe's room at 2:22 across successive mornings. (Quite why they don't simply bring Phoebe downstairs until the very final scene, rather than leaving her so long unattended, is left unanswered.)To try and make sense of this recurring conundrum, Jenny has enlisted over risotto and quite a lot of wine an assist from her sceptical, hyper-rationalist husband Sam (Hadley Fraser, the musicals veteran in expert form) along with Sam's longtime American psychoanalyst chum Lauren (Julia Chan) and her builder-boyfriend, Ben, who showed up to do Lauren's bathroom and evidently never left. That role seems intended as comic relief and is rather belligerently played as such by Jake Wood until such time as the character darkens and all bets are off. At one bizarre moment, Ben ends up in spiritualist mode rather like an EastEnders equivalent of <a href="https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/blithe-spirit">Blithe Spirit</a>'s Madame Arcati.Robins commendably has plenty on his mind, in marked contrast with usual shows of this kind: you don't expect societal commentary, for instance, from Deathtrap. But I'm not sure it's in the best of taste to compare ghosts to refugees, given the very real suffering experienced by the latter, and some of the angst is very clunkily expressed: "I want to be more than just a sponge," Jenny protests well into the second act, around the same time that we get the cod-philosophical "life is pointless and life is final."&nbsp;Elsewhere, Julia responds to the rising tensions by proffering herself as "Switzerland" in human form - evidence of a script that gathers humour into its fearful embrace.The evening is on stronger ground layering the strangeness on view in a stylish home whose skylight is singled out as a thing of beauty and whose sliding door seems to give way to a landscape of foxes whose piercing night cries (indices of copulation, we are told) are used several times to fearmongering effect. Add to all this a dodgy boiler, windows that seem mysteriously to open, and the unexplained presence of white spirit in the sink, and it's no wonder that Jenny is soon striding about with a hammer when, that is, one or another character isn't heard demanding the impossible from a mobile phone. (Alexa is given enough of a workout to merit inclusion on the payroll.)"This isn't The Exorcist," Sam maintains at one point, noting the absence of ectoplasm from an increasingly shouty narrative that wants to disturb on a human level well away from the familiar horror-landscape theatrics. (The film Ghost gets its own name check.) There's plenty said about the trauma of childbearing and class and marital tensions, not to mention the primacy in our psyche that is granted to fear over love, to command attention well before the sounds of thunder arrive seemingly on cue. If 2 22: A Ghost Story is remembered as the play that posited Lily Allen as a viable theatrical presence, its primary debt is owed less to the likes of, say, Andy Nyman's Ghost Stories than to the eternal challenge, at times truly fearful, that most of us will recognise inherent in simply being alive.<a href="/show/222-a-ghost-story">2: 22 A Ghost Story is at the Noel Coward Theatre to 16 October.</a>Photo credit: Julia Chan, Lily Allen, Hadley Fraser and Jake Wood in 2:22 A Ghost Story (Photo by Helen Murray)

Lily Allen makes an admirable stage debut in the scary and shouty '2:22: A Ghost Story'

Read our review of 2:22 A Ghost Story starring Lily Allen at the Noel Coward Theatre at London Theatre.

2:22 A Ghost Story starring Lily Allen Review | London Theatre

When the Criterion Theatre first opened in 1873, the space was designed as a concert hall. The Criterion Theatre is the only West End theatre to be situated almost entirely underground — even the Upper Circle is not at street level. 

The Criterion Theatre housed comic opera in its early years, including works by W. S. Gilbert and George Grossmith. A decade after opening, the theatre had to be renovated to meet the Metropolitan Board of Works standards for ventilation. This work also saw the installation of electricity to the theatre. The building surrounding the theatre was extensively rebuilt between 1989 and 1992, but the Victorian auditorium was well-preserved and still stands today. 

Notable shows at the Criterion Theatre include *The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)* by the Reduced Shakespeare Company, the long-running play *The 39 Steps* and Mischief Theatre's *The Comedy About A Bank Robbery*.

## Criterion Theatre Seating Information

The auditorium has three levels – Stalls, Dress Circle and Upper Circle.

The front rows of the Stalls offers good views of the stage, though the seating is not raked steeply. 

The Dress Circle has specifically designated ‘restricted view’ seats due to the number of pillars supporting the Upper Circle in Row C.

The Upper Circle offers unrestricted theatre views.

Criterion Theatre - LON

Criterion Theatre

City of Angels [19484]

City of Angels

City of Angels [19484] Product Media

The Garrick Theatre opened in 1889, and is named after actor David Garrick. When the theatre was built, architects discovered an underground river on the site!

The theatre became associated with comedy in 1982 with a four-year run of the farce *No Sex Please, We’re British*. This was the longest-running show at the Garrick, until J. B. Priestley’s *An Inspector Calls* transferred from the [Aldwych Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/aldwych-theatre) in 1995 and resided for six years.

In recent years, a number of musicals have played here, including *A Little Night Music*, *Chicago*, and *The Scottsboro Boys*. In 2015, [Kenneth Branagh](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/stars-on-stage/kenneth-branagh) took up residency at the Garrick for a year-long season of plays with his own theatre company. 

## Garrick Theatre Seating Information

The auditorium has three levels – Stalls, Dress Circle and Grand Circle. In the Stalls, the view of the top of the stage is slightly obscured by the overhang of the Dress Circle from Row N onwards. 

In the Dress Circle, the view of the stage is not obscured by the overhang of the Upper Circle, but the ceiling can feeel low for those in the last row. The seats are designed in a horseshoe shape around the theatre and the Dress Circle offers good sightlines.

Garrick Theatre - LON

Garrick Theatre

Young Frankenstein [6170]

Young Frankenstein

Young Frankenstein [6170] Product Media

Carousel In Concert [16213]

Carousel In Concert

Carousel In Concert [16213] Product Media

Cadogan Hall is a 900-seat venue which is two minutes walk from Sloane Square tube station in the heart of Chelsea. Over 300 concerts and events take place at Cadogan Hall every year.

Cadogan Hall first opened in 1907 as a church, but with fewer attendees staying involved in religious practices over the years, the property was sold to Cadogan Estate in the 2000s. 

In its early years, Cadogan Hall was used by the Royal Philarmonic Orchestra to rehearse and perform. Now, Cadogan Hall is home to musical theatre concerts, as well as gigs and touring productions. 

## Cadogan Hall Seating Information

Despite the scale of Cadogan Hall's auditorium, steeply raked stalls and a low gallery leave audience members feeling as if they're part of the show.

Cadogan Hall - LON

Cadogan Hall

Suitable for ages 8+. Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by and sat next to a ticketholder who is at least 18 years old. Children under the age of 3 will not be admitted.

Les Misérables - LON [300]

Les Misérables

Les Misérables [300] - LON Product Media

Another fantastic chapter in West End history has been gloriously (re)written, with not one but two spectacular reinventions -&nbsp;first of a theatre itself, in which the Queen's on Shaftesbury Avenue has been reincarnated as the <a href="/theatres/sondheim-theatre">Sondheim Theatre</a> and completely refurbished by its owner Cameron Mackintosh to restore it from a threadbare functionality to which it had previously been brought back 61 years ago from wartime bomb damage to a glowing and welcoming new warmth. Meanwhile, its current tenant -&nbsp;already the West End's longest-running musical -&nbsp;has itself been entirely overhauled, with Mackintosh taking the opportunity of its temporary 20-week closure for the theatre's refurbishment to replace the original landmark RSC production with a touring version that was first created for a UK tour as part of the show's 25th-anniversary celebrations in 2010. It was briefly seen in London that year at the Barbican - the show's original London home - running contemporaneously with the West End edition, and is even now on a new European and UK tour, currently playing in Zurich before it returns to continue across the regions in March. The first thing to say about it is that it still owes a lot to the original Trevor Nunn and John Caird production -&nbsp;the famous revolve of John Napier's original design may have gone, for instance, but now the actors merely mime the identical movement (originally the work of Kate Flatt, with musical staging now credited to Geoffrey Garratt, long an associate on the original production) as they advance across the stage in the ever-rousing Act One finale of "One Day More" as the iconic red flag is waved above them. Fans of the original will check off numerous such instances, including the indelible image of a dead Enjolras lying across the back of a cart. Crucially, too, the original costume designs of Andreane Neofitou are also retained, so visually there are plenty of references to the original production. There are also several cast veterans of the previous incarnation, including principals Bradley Jaden who was Javert in the final cast of the original and reprises that role now; Jon Robyns, previously Marius and Enjolras, who now graduates to the role of Jean Valjean; and <a href="/actor-profile/carrie-hope-fletcher">Carrie Hope Fletcher</a>, previously Eponine and now playing Fantine (and all three in spectacular voice); amongst others in the ensemble who also include fellow West End returnees Ciaran Bowling, Sarah Lark and Luke McCall. The show remains an ensemble effort, as it was when it was first created by Nunn and Caird. That establishes a welcome sense of continuity from past to present versions, but it is also given a fresh 21st-century inventiveness with Matt Kinley's sets being complemented by stunning painterly projections, inspired by Victor Hugo's own paintings, that have been niftily realised by Fifty-Nine Productions and Finn Ross, all of which are lavishly lit by Paule Constable. Mick Potter's sound is also thrilling, wrapping the theatre is swathes of sumptuous melody, richly played by the pit orchestra under the direction of Steve Moss. As both a producer and theatre owner, Cameron Mackintosh has always been about attention to detail; the reopening of this theatre and show gives him an opportunity to prove his meticulous care in both. But I also love fresh new details, whether it be the reintroduction of rear dress circle boxes that are newly named in honour of Maggie Smith and Judi Dench, or new cast members like West End regular Josefina Gabrielle, who - cast entirely against her usual sophisticated type as Madame Thenardier -&nbsp;is virtually unrecognisable and truly hilarious. The show remains a thrilling triumph. Here's to the next 35 years, as it looks set to become <a href="/show/the-mousetrap">The Mousetrap</a> of musical theatre; but unlike that murder mystery, there's hardly any mystery to why it's such an enduring success.<a href="/show/les-miserables">Les Miserables</a>&nbsp;is at the <a href="/theatres/sondheim-theatre">Sondheim Theatre</a>.<a href="/show/les-miserables">Les Miserables&nbsp;tickets</a> are available now.

Review - Les Miserables at the Sondheim Theatre

Read our review of Les Misérables at the Sondheim Theatre on London Theatre.

Les Misérables at the Sondheim Theatre Review | London Theatre

‘A THRILLING INSPIRATION’ The Guardian

The Sondheim Theatre opened on 8 Oct. 1907. TThe Sondheim was built as a pair with the Hicks Theatre, now called the [Gielgud Theatre](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatres/gielgud-theatre). 

The theatre was badly damaged in September 1940 when a World War II German bomb dropped directly on the building. The façade and front of house areas were destroyed. It took 20 years before the damage was repaired and the theatre reopened. Whilst the auditorium remained untouched, the exterior and foyer were rebuilt with a modern look.

The theatre has seen performances from several notable stars, including Fred Astaire, Noel Coward, and [Kenneth Branagh](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/actor-profile/kenneth-branagh). 

The Sondheim Theatre is currently home to [*Les Misérables*](https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/show/les-miserables), where it's played since 2004.

## Sondheim Theatre Seating Information

The auditorium has three levels - Stalls, Dress Circle and Upper Circle.

The Stalls offers good views of the stage, helped by a noticable rake in the seating from Row H onwards. 

The Dress Circle offers good legroom, but the curving of the area means that the sightlines from the outermost seats to suffer. 

The Upper Circle has a very good rake in the seating allowing for good views.

## Where is *Les Miserables* in London?

*Les Miserables* is at the Sondheim Theatre in London. The Sondheim Theatre is located on Shaftesbury Theatre. It's close to West End theatres including the Lyric Theatre and the Gielgud Theatre.

Sondheim Theatre - LON

Sondheim Theatre

Read more about Hadley Fraser in the West End and book tickets to see shows starring Hadley Fraser.

Day of week	Matinee	Evening
Monday	-	7:30 PM
Tuesday	-	7:30 PM
Wednesday	2:30 PM	7:30 PM
Thursday	-	7:30 PM
Friday	-	7:30 PM
Saturday	2:30 PM	7:30 PM
Sunday	-	-

Opening Night Tickets

About Opening Night

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Stars on stage

Sheridan Smith

Hadley Fraser

Opening Night cast and creative team

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Gielgud Theatre

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