New West End Shows To See In 2020
It’s February already! And for those of us that eagerly follow theatre news, that can only mean one thing: we’re officially going to be in a new season in London’s West End.
Already home to long-running big-ticket shows such as Hamilton, Phantom of the Opera, and Les Miserables, there are plenty of new up and coming shows to see in London this year. Whether transferring from Broadway or celebrating world premiere performances, make sure you mark your calendar for a chance to see these shows in the coming months!
The Prince of Egypt (Dominion Theatre)
We’re starting off with my personal hands-down favourite show coming to London this season, launching its world premiere performances. Based on the popular 1998 Dreamworks animated film, this dazzling show tells the Old Testament story of Moses, from being a favoured prince of Egypt to being the deliverer that leads his people out of slavery. It’s brought to us by none other than Stephen Schwartz, the three-time Academy Award winning mastermind composer behind the global hit musical Wicked.
The much-anticipated musical promises to be full of all the favourites from the film, including the Oscar-winning number “When You Believe”, as well as new songs written exclusively for the show. So far we’ve only been given sneak previews of costume designs and a few (incredible) new songs, but after a smash performance from the cast earlier this month on Dancing on Ice on ITV, we can only assume that this is going to be a hit from its first heart-wrenching note.
Tickets available for performances beginning February 5, 2020.
Frozen the Musical (Theatre Royal Drury Lane)
For the first time (in forever!), Frozen the Musical is finally coming to the West End! Get ready to join Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven on the magical journey that received worldwide fame from the film of the same name in 2013, and again for its sequel in 2019. This musical rendition of the well-known Disney smash includes a slew of new numbers, as well as the lightning-in-a-bottle phenomenon that is “Let It Go”.
With Disney’s well-documented history of successful Broadway renditions of their films (The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Mary Poppins to name a few), as well as a wildly successful New York production that includes three Tony Award nominations, Frozen promises to have you asking that (dreaded?) question once more: Do you wanna build a snowman?
Tickets available for performances beginning October 2020.
Pretty Woman (Piccadilly Theatre)
Based on the 1990 film of the same name, Pretty Woman is coming to us fresh off of New York’s Broadway stages, and promises to bring all the sass, romance, and sky-high leather boots that we’ve all come to expect from this classic.
The story follows Edward Lewis, a high-profile businessman, and Vivian Ward, a prostitute whom he hires to play his “girlfriend” for several social functions over a week’s time. With a Broadway run behind it and an upcoming fall 2020 national American tour, Pretty Woman promises to be a high-energy, nostalgia-packed night at the theatre. To miss it would honestly be a big mistake. Big. Huge.
Tickets available for performances beginning February 14, 2020 to January 2, 2021.
The Wedding Singer (Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre)
While we’re on the topic of films that became musicals, The Wedding Singer is also set to make its West End bow this year. The 20’s might be back, but there will always be a soft spot for the flair (and hair) of the 80s!
Revolving around the story of Robbie (the wedding singer himself), his failed relationship after his fiancé leaves him at the altar, and his budding romance with the young waitress Julia, The Wedding Singer originally premiered in 2006, followed by a succession of successful national and international tours. Starring Kevin Clifton of Strictly Come Dancing fame, the show will play a limited number of performances this winter.
Tickets available for performances from Thursday January 30 2020 - Sunday March 1 2020.
Be More Chill (The Other Palace)
One of Broadway’s latest sensations is transferring to the West End this year in the form of Be More Chill. It tells the story of a teenaged boy named Jeremy, who takes a pill containing a computer chip that will change his behaviour and make him “cooler”. (Oh…and the computer chip casually wants to take over the world. Small details, right?)
Full of teenage troubles and triumphs, the show was an out-and-out smash hit, garnering a massive fan following during its Broadway run, and was already being produced as a film adaptation before the show even opened. Nominated in 2019 at the Tony Awards for Best Original Score, Be More Chill is absolutely a must-see for all audiences this season.
Tickets available for performances beginning February 12, 2020.
The Secret Garden (London Palladium)
If you’re a lot more organized than I am and are already planning for Mother’s Day this year, look no further than a pair of tickets for you and your mum to see The Secret Garden. Ramin Karimloo, Lucie Jones and Jac Yarrow will star in an epic one-night only concert performance of this Tony Award-winning musical.
Join Mary Lennox, a young British girl who has grown up in India and has now been sent to Yorkshire to a family she has never met, where she uncovers a secret that she never expected.
Tickets available for performances for one night only, April 4, 2020.
To Kill A Mockingbird (Gielgud Theatre)
If the play’s the thing, and you’re not as big a musical fan as yours truly is, don’t despair! The hotly anticipated Broadway transfer of To Kill A Mockingbird is arriving on the West End stages this year, promising a literary classic brought to life onstage.
In this new adaptation, we are told the story of Atticus Finch, a small-town lawyer tasked with defending a black man in the segregated south of America, all told through his young daughter’s point of view. Starring Rhys Ifans, To Kill A Mockingbird is a literary classic packaged into a show that’s been hailed as a gripping and emotional drama that stands the test of time.
Tickets available for performances beginning May 21, 2020.
Endgame (The Old Vic)
With an easily recognizable star-studded cast that includes Alan Cumming and Daniel Radcliffe, Endgame gives us the dark humour of two individuals locked in an argument and refusing to back down from their savage attitudes and mutual dependence. While the plot summary itself might come off as simple, with performers like this I’m willing to bet that there’s a lot more to this play than meets the eye. With this performance showing in a double bill with Beckett’s Rough for Theatre II, this show promises to be a ride from curtain up to the final bows.
Tickets available for performances from January 28, 2020 to March 28, 2020.
Blithe Spirit (Duke of York’s Theatre)
The iconic comedy of Noël Coward is once again coming to haunt the West End stage! In a time where it seems like we need to laugh at even the blackest humour just to tolerate the evening news, this hilarious story of the occult seems to be just what the doctor ordered.
Blithe Spirit brings us into the lives of a widowed (and then newly married) novelist and the eccentric (to say the least) medium he hires to perform during a party. When the spirit of his dead wife seems to manifest — and seems hellbent on destroying her husband’s new marriage — things become hilariously complicated very quickly.
If you’re the sort of person who insists that Halloween spirit is something to keep in your heart year round (aka, my kind of person), then this is exactly the show for you!
Tickets available for performances from March 5, 2020 to April 11, 2020.
The Drifters Girl (Garrick Theatre)
Last but certainly not least, I’ll wrap this list up on a high note — literally! The Drifters Girl, a musical following the lives of the legendary soul group The Drifters and their manager Faye Treadwell, is making is world premiere this year on the West End Stages.
Follow Faye, the first female African-American music manager, as she fights through personal tragedy and legal battles to get her Atlantic Records group to the top. Promising well-known numbers from The Drifters including “Save the Last Dance for Me”, “Under the Boardwalk”, and “Stand by Me”, The Drifters Girl has itself set to have you humming to yourself the whole way home!
Tickets available for performances from October 1, 2020 to February 13, 2021.
Written By Meg Williams
