Bradley Cooper in The Elephant Man
Hold the front page! American Sniper star Bradley Cooper is heading our way. He’ll make his West End debut when the Broadway production of The Elephant Man transfers to the Theatre Royal Haymarket in May.
Meanwhile, from down on the South Bank, we heard news of another former Oscar nominee’s impending arrival. Chiwetel Ejiofor, who was nominated in 2013 for his dazzling portrayal of Solomon Northup in 12 Years A Slave, will lead Rufus Norris’ first season as Director of the National Theatre when it kicks off in April. He takes the title role in Carol Ann Duffy’s new adaptation of 15th century primal myth Everyman.
In other casting news, John Goodman, the Golden Globe-winning star of The Artist, will join Damian Lewis in heist drama American Buffalo in April. Oh and Olivier Award winner Kevin Spacey will make his final performance as Artistic Director of the Old Vic in March when Clarence Darrow returns to the Waterloo venue.
From Hollywood to Bollywood, we also learnt that Natalie Dew, Lauren Samuels and Jamie Campbell Bower will follow in the footsteps of Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley and Jonathan Rhys Meyers to star in the musical adaptation of Bend It Like Beckham, and Beyond Bollywood, a brand new musical celebrating the Indian film industry, will hit the stage of the London Palladium in May.
There’s so much more to tell you but we’ll leave you with one – well, technically two – very important dates for your diary. This year’s West End LIVE, the annual live musical theatre event that brings together performances from London’s world famous musicals, will take place in Trafalgar Square on 20 and 21 June.
