London musicals

This long-gestating musical version of ‘Back to the Future’ is so desperate to please that the producers would doubtless offer a free trip back in time with every ticket purchase if the laws of physics allowed…

Where is it? Adelphi Theatre

Brace yourself for a shock: ‘South Park’ creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s Broadway-munching musical is a big-hearted affair that pays note-perfect homage to the sounds and spirit of Broadway’s golden age.

Where is it? Prince of Wales Theatre.

This 1947 musical from My Fair Lady writers Lerner & Loewe has faded out of fashion in recent years, presumably largely because its premise of a couple of American tourists stumbling across a magical Scottish village that only appears every couple of hundred years is actually pretty patronising to the Scottish. That’s presumably why top Scottish playwright Rona Munro has been brought in to update the book of the first major UK revival since 1988, which will see Drew McOnie direct his in augural production as Open Air Theatre artistic director. 

Where is it? Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.

Amy Heckerling’s musical adaptation of her cult 1995 screen comedy Clueless makes a strong case for the enduring appeal of her slyly clever valley-girl revamp of Jane Austen’s Emma.  

Where is it? Trafalgar Theatre.

A labour of love that has worked its way slowly to the West End over the five years since it debuted at Southwark Playhouse, at its best Jethro Compton’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is an extraordinary thing, a soaring folk opera that overwhelms you with a cascade of song and feeling.

Where is it? Ambassadors Theatre.

The Devil Wears Prada had me flummoxed. It is an adaptation of the 2006 millennial classic about a mousy young journalism graduate who blunders into the job of PA to a tyrannical, Anna Wintour-alike fashion editor. The songs are by none other than Elton John, with lyrics by Shania Taub and Mark Sonnenblick. The director-choreographer is Broadway veteran Jerry Mitchell. There’s some serious talent involved. And yet being turned into a musical does… almost nothing for it.

Where is it? Dominion Theatre.

Following its acclaimed summer 2024 run at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Fiddler on the Roof transfers to the Barbican as park of a tour of the UK.

Where is it? Barbican Centre.

Never at any point during The Great Gatsby’s near century in copyright did F Scott Fitzgerald or his heirs allow a musical adaptation and you have to hand it to them: they were right. 

Where is it? London Coliseum.

What a long, strange trip it’s been. Indie-folk musician Anaïs Mitchell’s musical retelling of the Orpheus story began life in the mid-’00s as a lo-fi song cycle – going through the next 14 years blow-by-blow would be time-consuming, but in short thanks to what I can only describe as THEATRE MAGIC, Hadestown is now a full-blown musical directed by the visionary Rachel Chavkin, its success as a show vastly outstripping that of the record.

Where is it? Lyric Theatre.

Okay, let’s just get this out of the way. ‘Hamilton’ is stupendously good…

Where is it? Apollo Victoria.