Today, I’m presenting a look at the London theatre landscape of 2024, commissioned by London Box Office.
The West End has had yet another busy year in 2024, proving that the commercial theatre at least continues to recover from the one-year shutdown of 2020-21.
It was a year of anniversaries, with The Lion King ‘s 25th birthday, and SIX turning 6. In 2025 it will be the 40th birthday of the hugely popular Les Miserables.
As Sunset Boulevard (Savoy) said goodbye and headed for Broadway, we welcomed another Andrew Lloyd Webber revival as Starlight Express (Troubadour Wembley) once more took to the tracks, this time with more diverse characters and some new musical arrangements.
Hadestown (Lyric) proved a hit on its return, highlighting Melanie Le Barrie’s bravura performance as Hermes. Sister Act (Dominion) returned to a new home that seemed to suit it much more than the Eventim Apollo, while Why Am I So Single (Garrick) divided critics and audiences.
The huge fringe to West End surprise hit of last year, Operation Mincemeat (Fortune), went from strength to strength, with several extensions as well as an exciting move to Broadway for the original cast and creators.
The closing of Frozen (Theatre Royal Drury Lane) led to several concert performances of musicals across the year, with highlights including the return of Pippin to celebrate its 50th anniversary, and a handful of new shows including Wild About You, Your Lie in April (which then enjoyed a West End run), and Mozart and Her.
Concerts of older shows were popular with both Oklahoma (Drury Lane) and Carousel (Royal Festival Hall) providing an sharp contrast with the recent, modernised, productions at the Young Vic and Open-Air Regent’s Park.
The trend of films becoming musicals continued with Mean Girls (Savoy), The Devil Wears Prada (Dominion), Cruel Intentions (The Other Palace), Bronco Billy (Charing Cross) and Spirited Away (London Coliseum). However, original musicals triumphed too with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’s Cornish folk songs (Ambassadors) and Next to Normal (Wyndham’s).
2024 was full of excellent dramatic plays. Arthur Miller’s A View From The Bridge (Theatre Royal Haymarket), and Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Wyndham’s) offered solid productions. Sean O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock (Gielgud), with Mark Rylance, was an interesting watch.
A modern take on Oedipus (Wyndham’s) is now running to great acclaim, while Samuel Beckett’s absurdist comedy Waiting for Godot (Theatre Royal Haymarket) found itself putting up roots with a comedic slant.
Video continued to loom large in West End plays, as Jamie Lloyd’s Romeo and Juliet (Duke of York’s), and The Picture of Dorian Gray with Sarah Snook (Theatre Royal Haymarket), allowed the line between stage and film to become increasingly blurred.
An interesting experiment came with White Rabbit, Red Rabbit (@sohoplace) bringing a different actor each night to a play they had not read or rehearsed. Andrew Scott tackled Vanya solo (Duke of York’s), with Eddie Izzard doing the same for Hamlet (Riverside Studios).
At the National Theatre, a varied programme of biopics and classics was offered, while modern musical Standing at the Sky’s Edge (Gillian Lynne), offered a contrast to the nostalgic Kiss Me Kate (Barbican).
King Lear (Almeida), Between Riverside and Crazy (Hampstead), The Marilyn Conspiracy (Park), Just for One Day (Old Vic), Eurydice (Jermyn Street), and Macbeth (Donmar) flew the flag for new and innovative shows off-West End.
Immersive theatre shone with a variety of innovative productions across London, in venues as diverse as Hackney Town Hall, Stone Nest, Trafalgar and Roundhouse.
2025 looks exciting, with Oliver! Clueless, and Hercules highly anticipated.. And with the London fringe in fine form, there’s no better time to support the theatre.
Check out the ticket listings on London Box Office now and enjoy your next trip!