Tamzin Outhwaite, Samantha Spiro and Jenna Russell star in the West End transfer of Amelia Bullmore’s DI AND VIV AND ROSE

Hampstead Theatre’s critically acclaimed production Di and Viv and Rose, will open at the Vaudeville Theatre on 29 January 2015 with previews from 22 January. Anna Mackmin returns to direct Amelia Bullmore’s funny and insightful comedy about female friendship. Tamzin Outhwaite* reprises her role as Di and will be joined by Samantha Spiro as Viv and Jenna Russell as Rose.

Aged eighteen, three women join forces at university. Life is fun. Living is intense. Together they feel unassailable. Di and Viv and Rose is a hilarious and thoughtful exploration of friendship’s impact on life, and life’s impact on friendship.

Amelia Bullmore’s debut play Mammals, also directed by Anna Mackmin, co-won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and shortlisted for the What’s On Best New Comedy Award. Bullmore’s work as an actress includes The Norman Conquests (The Old Vic and on Broadway), Twenty Twelve, State of Play, Alan Partridge, Jam, Big Train and Scott and Bailey. Her TV writing credits include This Life, Black Cab, Attachments and Scott and Bailey series 2, 3 and 4; radio writing includes 5 series of Craven, Cash Flow, The Middle, Family Tree and The Bat Man. 

8 of the best West End trios!

Following my Best Performances and Best Duos features, the nature thing to do next is the best trios! Here is our selection of the Best West End trios. Tweet us if you think we've missed any out! @PocketSizeBoy

Mark Umbers, Jenna Russell & Damian Humbley in Merrily We Roll Along

Robert Lindsay, Rufus Hound & Katherine Kingsley in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Jenna Russell, Marc Elliot and Jonathan Singer return to West End transfer of URINETOWN

Jenna Russell will lead the cast of the West End transfer of Urinetown when it opens at the Apollo Theatre in September.

The musical theatre star will reprise her role of Penelope Pennywise from the St James Theatre run in Jamie Lloyd's production.

Richard Fleeshman will not return to the show, citing 'other commitments' on Twitter, but he wished it every success.

Many of the other cast members from the St James will return, including RSC actor Jonathan Slinger who plays Officer Lockstock and Eastenders' Marc Elliott who plays Mr McQueen.

Casting is announced for Mr Burns at the Almeida Theatre

Casting is announced for the European Premiere of Anne Washburn’s Mr Burns. Almeida Theatre Associate Director Robert Icke directs, following the success of 1984 which transfers to the West End this week.

The company includes Fiona Digney, Adrian der Gregorian, Demetri Goritsas, Adey Grummet, Michael Henry, Justine Mitchell, Wunmi Mosaku, Annabel Scholey, Michael Shaeffer and Jenna Russell.

Mr Burns will be designed by Tom Scutt who most recently worked on the Almeida’s current production of King Charles III. Philip Gladwell will design the lighting, sound design will be by Tom Gibbons, with joint composition and musical direction by Orlando Gough and Michael Henry. 

It's the end of everything in contemporary America. A future without power. But what will survive?

Mr Burns asks whether the stories we tell make us the people we are, explodes the boundaries between pop and high culture and, when society has crumbled, imagines the future of America's most famous TV family.

Merrily We Roll Along the Musical: Theatre Review

Based on the 1934 play of the same name, Merrily We Roll Along originally opened on Broadway in 1981 to a very poor reception. It officially opened on the 16^th November 1981 to mostly negative reviews but the score by Sondheim was widely praised. It closed after only 16 performances and 52 previews. An off-West End production opened (with Maria Friedman) in 1992 at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester and ran for three weeks. A West End production opened at the Donmar Warehouse in 2000 where it won the Olivier Award for Best Musical and it now has returned to the West End, this time transferring to the Harold Pinter Theatre from the Menier Chocolate Factory directed by Maria Friedman. 
Merrily We Roll Along follows three best friends, Franklin Shepard, Mary Flynn and Charles Kringas. It’s a story of friendship and how working with your friends can destroy and strengthen relationships. Throughout the show Franklins love life is one of the main stories, showing his relationships crumble and blossom with Beth and Gussie and of course Mary and Charles. The show actually goes backwards, so the last scene is first and the first scene is the last. This may sound confusing but the way Sondheim has written the show it flows really well and is clearly stated what and where they are in each scene.