West End News & Gossip

The West End has been awash with rumors, news and gossip. Here we get the facts straight and bring you this months hottest stories from London’s theatreland. From shows opening, extending and closing, to new casts announced and awards won. Keep up-to-date, not just with the hearsay, but with the real West End news.

West End News & Gossip

The company of Into the Woods. Photo by Johan Persson
West End News & Gossip

Into the Woods cast to switch on the first St Martin's Lane festive lights

The company of Into the Woods will press the button on St Martin's Lane's first festive lights switch-on on 3 November.

The cast of Jesus Christ Superstar, with Sam Ryder at the centre, at the Cancer Research UK gala performance at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Photo by Justine Matthew
West End News & Gossip

Graham Norton, Amy Dowden and Self Esteem at Jesus Christ Superstar's Cancer Research UK gala

Graham Norton, Amy Dowden and Self Esteem were among the guests as Jesus Christ Superstar gave a gala performance for Cancer Research UK at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

Matthew Lyons as Billy in Billy Elliot the Musical. Photo by Alastair Muir
West End News & Gossip

Royal Variety Performance 2026: The Greatest Showman, Billy Elliot and Operation Mincemeat lead the West End line-up

A first television look at The Greatest Showman, Electricity from Billy Elliot the Musical and Idina Menzel singing Wicked with Stephen Schwartz: musical theatre fills much of this year's Royal Variety Performance bill…

The Shaftesbury Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue, which becomes the Judi Dench Theatre in February 2027. Photo by Shaftesbury1911, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
West End News & Gossip

Shaftesbury Theatre to become the Judi Dench Theatre in February 2027

The Shaftesbury Theatre will carry the name of Dame Judi Dench from February 2027, a tribute from owners whose association with the actress goes back to the Theatre of Comedy company of the 1980s.

The company of Disney's High School Musical at the press night curtain call. Photo by Piers Allardyce
West End News & Gossip

McFly's Tom Fletcher joins Harry Judd at High School Musical's Wembley press night

A basketball court washed in purple light, the company in their Wildcats whites and the front rows holding their phones up high: the press night pictures from Disney's High School Musical at the Troubadour Wembley Park…

Tom Price, Harriet Scott, Harry Judd, Kat Shoob and Jordan Lee on the set of Disney's High School Musical at Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre. Photo by Danny Kaan
West End News & Gossip

Harry Judd welcomes four radio presenters to High School Musical's first London performance

Harriet Scott, Tom Price, Kat Shoob and Jordan Lee were in the audience for the first London performance of Disney's High School Musical at Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre, and stayed on afterwards to be photographed on…

The company and creative team of As You Like It at the RSC press night in Stratford-upon-Avon
West End News & Gossip

Russell T Davies and Russell Tovey join Jonathan Groff at the RSC's As You Like It press night

The company of the RSC's all-male As You Like It lined up on a pink carpet in Stratford-upon-Avon for press night, and Jonathan Groff and his fellow cast members were joined by a guest list running from Russell T Davies…

Walkers in Acting for Others t-shirts outside the London Palladium during the Big West End Walk 2026
West End News & Gossip

Big West End Walk raises over £6,000 for Acting for Others

Twenty-nine walkers covered 58 West End theatres in fifteen miles on Sunday, raising more than £6,000 for the theatrical charity Acting for Others and beating the event’s previous record.

The company of The Play That Goes Wrong with seven Guide Dogs puppies in training and their volunteer puppy raisers on stage at the Duchess Theatre. Photo by Ellie Kurttz
West End News & Gossip

Seven guide dog puppies take the stage at The Play That Goes Wrong

Seven puppies in training for Guide Dogs UK spent an afternoon on the set of The Play That Goes Wrong at the Duchess Theatre, meeting the cast and watching extracts as part of their training.