Paul in London

It is not due to open at the Aldwych Theatre until February 2015, but Beautiful – The Carole King Musical’ has now started to appear on posters underground. The musical tells the story of Carole King’s journey from Brooklyn girl to someone who wrote or co-wrote some of the most well-known songs of the last fifty or so years. Her music could fit several musicals but the show includes a range of her hits including ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’ and ‘I Feel the Earth Move’.

The West End production of the comedy Neville's Island opens at the Duke of York’s Theatre tonight, Tuesday 21st October. Following its run at the Chichester Festival last year, the show is booking to Saturday 3rd January 2015.

New production images have been released for Memphis the musical , which has its opening night on Thursday 23 October.   Led by Beverley Knight as club singer ‘Felicia Farrell’ and Commitments star Killian Donnelly as radio DJ ‘Huey Calhoun’ it follows the fame and forbidden love of a radio DJ who wants to change the world and a club singer who is ready for her big break. And looks like it has some snappy dance numbers too... Pictures by Johan Persson.

Rehearsals have now begun for the West End production of hit Broadway musical  Memphis , which will have preview performances at the Shaftesbury Theatre, London from 9 October 2014 with Opening Night on 23 October 2014. Winner of four 2010 Tony Awards® including Best Musical, the show is led by multi award-winning recording artist Beverley Knight as club singer ‘Felicia Farrell’ and stage star Killian Donnelly as radio DJ ‘Huey Calhoun’. With Rolan Bell as ‘Delray’, Tyrone Huntley as ‘Gator’, Claire Machin as ‘Gladys’, Jason Pennycooke as ‘Bobby’ and Mark Roper as ‘Mr. Simmons’

After a sellout run at the Almeida earlier this year, Mike Bartlett's new play King Charles III will transfer to the Wyndham’s Theatre for a limited run. Previews commence from 2 September. Tim Pigott-Smith will once again play Charles and Oliver Chris will reprise his role as William. They will be joined by Katie Brayben, Richard Goulding, Nyasha Hatendi, Adam James, Margot Leicester, Miles Richardson, Tom Robertson, Nicholas Rowe, Tafline Steen and Lydia Wilson. The play explores the people underneath the crowns, the unwritten rules of our democracy, and the conscience of Britain's most famous family, and what just might happen once The Queen is dead...

Savio(u)r, which is dedicated to presenting work by American playwrights in the UK, will present in August Neil LaBute play Autobahn at the Kings Head Theatre. Directed by Off-West End Award nominee Tim Sullivan, this short-play cycle follows colourful, complicated people making their way across America’s highways. Their stops, starts, and stalls along the way are detailed in seven one-act plays, all which make the most of LaBute’s flair for the dark and sinister. It's at The Kings Head Theatre from Wednesday 27th August – Saturday 20th September, 7.15pm

The Theatre Royal Plymouth's production of Carl Grose's Grand Guignol is to play in Plymouth and the Southwark Playhouse this October. A Grand Guignol play (which takes the name from the theatre in Montmartre that produced them), are designed to give you thrills and chills. Madness, murder and a healthy dose of gruesomeness prevail throughout. And no doubt it all looks delightful when offset against some white tiles or a red curtain. The piece plays with these conventions and centres on the original Parisian theatre company and its members, combining black comedy and blood spattering and psychological thriller. One to watch out for... Perhaps literally... Photo credit: 2009 Production by Manuel Harlan

Some lovely photos have been released highlighting some of the strange and unusual people you are likely to encounter on the South Bank this summer as part of the London Wonderground .  As part of a boardwalk freak show, presenting some of the world’s strangest acts and unusual entertainers, an international cast is being assembled to recreate the sideshow with a modern twist. Hosted by The Space Cowboy, and The Lizard Man voted by Ripley’s Believe it or Not as The Strangest Man Alive (which must be a pretty competitive award nowadays), it will be running through the summer until 31 August. Photo credits: The Space Cowboy, The Lizard Man, Zoe L'Amore, Missy Macabre, Heather Holliday and Danik Abishev at London Wonderground. Photos by David Jensen

Following a run at the Bristol Shakespeare Festival, Stance Theatre presents a powerful Richard III ahead of other summer blockbuster productions. Drag King Richard III explores switching gender as lead character Laurie embarks on the challenging journey of transitioning from female to male. Life in the wrong body is explored through Shakespeare’s deformed villain and the long term friendship Laurie has with La Femme - a butch lesbian who enjoys the trappings of femininity when opportunities arise. The play weaves classical dialogue through contemporary text, and seduction lines are quipped over a sexually charged Tango sequence... It's on for a week at Riverside Studios from 28 July... Tickets are available from Riverside Studios .

First images of the stage adaptation of Shakespeare in Love have been released this week. 

Rehearsal images have been released for The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess which runs at Regents Park Open Air Theatre from 17 July to 23 August. In this production dialogue will replace the sung recitatives, but the loss of some of the original material might be offset by the glorious surrounds of Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. While it is unlikely to feel as warm as South Carolina in the summer, it will no doubt feel a lot more atmospheric than a traditional theatre space.

For some, catching Britten's The Turn of the Screw would be enough tense entertainment for an evening. But this week in Holland Park there is also the opportunity to see the opera and then embark on an eerie theatrical promenade piece, The Dwindling House of Holland. The piece will explore the tangled history of the Holland family. After catching the opera you then proceed (possibly with a sensible drink to calm the nerves) under the cover of darkness through Holland Park with the cast, who evoke visions and sinister tales of the dwindling families of Holland Park.

Christmas also means that Panto season is coming and aside from the usual blockbusters in the West End or the likes of slightly edgier Jack and the Beanstalk at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, they are designed to lure families in with a mix of childrens comedy and dirty innuendo for the adult members of the audience. Or in the case of Dame Edna's foray into Dick Whittington last season, it was an opportunity graft Edna's material onto a panto format for a new unsuspecting audience... Others are taking this to another level, with less innuendo and just filth and good ol' vulgarity. There is Snow White and the Seven Poofs that has its run at the Green Carnation in Soho from early December... Subtitled, "The Climax" it looks like it leaves little to the imagination... With pop numbers and a show billed not for children (or for the faint hearted), it will be fascinating to see what they (ahem) come up with... The Drama Queens Drag Theatre Company is also

I couldn't pass up the chance to see David McVicar's production of Aida at the Royal Opera on Tuesday. I liked the first time around so an invitation to see the dress rehearsal with a few other bloggers seemed like an awfully sensible way to spend a Tuesday morning. After getting past the crowd of old age pensioners and students that seemed to make up this preview audience (and they are a tough crowd - well the pensioners anyway - steer clear of their elbows), having a strong cup of coffee, we settled down in our seats to watch the drama unfold. Johnnyfox and I were given the choice of the stalls or a box. We opted for the director's box. There is something thrilling about this production of the opera that lingers with you. It is alternatively bloody and sexual, but never feels out of place or over the top as Aida productions can tend to be. Instead there is an intimacy that draws you in to the central characters and recurring themes of war and love. War comes first,