Southwark Playhouse could never be accused of not championing musicals including productions of new work. Next year’s season will see the transfer Aspects of Love from Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester; the one-man musical Stay Awake, Jake in its first full-length run and the world premiere of new musical The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. A trio of treats!

Our #FirstNightTakeover series continues with Perry O’Bree attending the West End opening of COMPANY at the Gielgud Theatre, probably the most eagerly-anticipated musical theatre opening of 2018. Perry was there on the Red Carpet and at the after-party to grab selfies (with Patti LuPone, no less) and chat to stars of Marianne Elliott’s gender-bending production, including those important guys: Ben Lewis, Richard Fleeshman, Matthew Seadon-Young, Jonathan Bailey, Alex Gaumond & Gavin Spokes. We’ll drink to that!

What an incredible line-up there is once again for the Palladium panto Snow White, with Charlie Stemp back in London from his stint on Broadway alongside Danielle Hope, Dawn French, Julian Clary, Paul Zerdin, Gary Wilmot & more. Plenty of #StageFaves to look forward to seeing!

TV star Jorgie Porter, soul legend Mica Paris and theatre star Keith Jack, currently appearing in the critically-acclaimed UK tour of Fame, will reprise their roles in the show’s West transfer, arriving at London’s Peacock Theatre in September 2019. Time to dig those legwarmers out of the drawer!

Following on from one final, sold-out show at the O2 arena, comes news that the musical Tainted, featuring the memorable sounds of Marc Almond and Soft Cell, will have its first-ever public performances in a special showcase at The Vaults on 24 October 2018, supported by an ambitious KickStarter campaign.

It was standing room only at Ronnie Scott’s for the London press launch of Sara Bareilles and Jessie Nelson’s Broadway musical Waitress, arriving at the Adelphi Theatre in February 2019, but luckily Caroline Hanks-Farmer was there filming all the chat and performances, including a guest appearance from popular US actor and singer Gavin Creel. Sit back and enjoy!

Nathan Amzi saves the day as smash-hit musical Heathers has its official opening at the Theatre Royal Haymarket this week. His name is now on the Westerberg High register and will remain there until the end of the semester on 24 November.

The Barn Theatre's production of THE RISE AND FALL OF LITTLE VOICE is going from strength to strength. With a host of great reviews and awesome responses from audiences, the Cirencester show really is theatre worth travelling for! The Barn team has just released a video filmed on opening night. If you're not already sold, why not follow in the footsteps of Ruthie Henshall and Verity Rushworth and get yourself to the Cotswolds!

Our #FirstNightTakeover series continues with Perry O'Bree at the world premiere of wacky American musical It Happened in Key West at London's Charing Cross Theatre. How much love is there for this life-and-death romantic comedy? What did stars Alyssa Martyn and Wade McCollum profess? (And spot #stagey blogger Charlotte O'Growney with Perry at the interval!)

Last night, TINA - THE MUSICAL officially opened on London's West End and if these reviews are anything to go by, it's..."Simply The Best!" We've put together a round-up of the top reviews from this new musical charting the astonishing life of the legend Tina Turner, battended by the woman herself!

December 21st may be the shortest day of the year but the stars were aligned and shining brightly for the fantastic opening night of HAMILTON in London! And as soon as the show finished the rapturous reviews started pouring in! Still on a HAMILTON high we’ve rounded up our top 15 tweets from the big night!

We'll have to wait just a little longer for them to show us their paso doble as it has been announced that the opening of Baz Luhrmann's STRICTLY BALLROOM will be delayed by two weeks. The first preview will now take place on Thursday 28th March, with the opening night moved to Thursday 24th April.